Replies

What is "Lent," and how to find grace though it? From the

pages of Our Sunday Visitor's 2004 Catholic Almanac, we learn:

"The penitential season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which occurs between Feb. 4 and Mar. 11, depending on the date of Easter, and lasts until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday). It has six Sundays. The sixth Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and is known as Passion (formerly called Palm) Sunday.

"The origin of Lenten observances dates back to the fourth century or earlier."

In addition, the Almanac explains the Easter season:

"The Easter Triduum begins with evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper and ends with Evening Prayer on Easter Sunday.

"… The Easter season, whose theme is resurrection from sin to the life of grace, lasts for 50 days, from Easter to Pentecost. Easter, the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, occurs between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25. The terminal phase of the Easter season, between the solemnities of the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost, stresses anticipation of the coming and action of the Holy Spirit."

As Catholics honor the crucified and risen Savior through liturgy and worship, our prayer is that, through the penitential time of Lent, we can find the grace we need to cast off sin, and rejoice in the light of Easter.

On this Lenten site, Our Sunday Visitor has gathered ideas, information, and resources to help make Lent more reverent, more meaningful, and more prayerful.

On this web site, you can:

Participate in the Stations of the Cross
Learn about the Stations
Find the Stations on the U.S. Bishops web site
Print out the Liturgical Calendar for Lent
Read Scripture
Learn to make a better Confession
Participate in My Daily Visitor meditations
Pray
Read Pope John Paul II's 2003 Lenten Message
Read an excerpt from the book This Week of Salvation by James Monti
Try some new Lenten recipes
Download some family activities from The Catholic Parent Book of Feasts
Download children's activities from TeachingCatholicKids.com
Try This! for Lent from our stewardship site, Grace In Action
Contact us with questions, comments or suggestions
Order recommended books from www.osvbooks.com

Stations of the Cross

Learn about the Stations

Stations of the Cross from the USCCB

Liturgical Calendar

Make a Good Confession

Read Scripture (The Resurrection)

My Daily Visitor meditations

Prayers

Pope John Paul II's
Lenten Messages

This Week of Salvation by James Monti

Lenten recipes

Lenten Family Activities

Download children's activities (PDF)

Try This! from Grace In Action

Order from www.osvbooks.com

Lent: Where Did It Come From?

Do you know that Lent literally means “lengthening of days,” or the “coming of spring time”?

Do you know that Lent is the only season of the Church that starts on a weekday?

Do you know how Lent has come to be what it is today? Here is the story at a glance…

The early Jewish Christians superimposed their worship of Jesus, the new Passover, on the annual celebration and understanding of Jewish Passover. This was preceded by a day of fasting.

The early Gentile Christian’s custom of fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays and celebration of the breaking of bread after Sabbath merged with the new Passover celebration and the annual Easter feast was now celebrated on the Sunday closest to the Jewish Passover.

The Saturday before Easter Sunday became designated as a fast day and since the Friday fast was already in place, there emerged a two-day pre-Easter fast that later was extended to begin the Sunday before Easter (weeklong fast).

A process of initiation to become a Christian emerged in the third century that extended over a period of time and included several stages marked by a ritual celebration with baptisms most often celebrated during the 50 days between Passover and Pentecost.

The Council of Nicea set forth a forty day preparatory fast and a determined fixed date for the celebration of Easter.
A three week preparatory fast for baptism emerged in the 5th century.

Lent emerged as a six week period beginning on the first Sunday of Lent in the 4th century.
Since Sundays were not fast days in the sixth century, four more days were added into the six weeks to get the 40 days of Lent (modeled on Jesus’ 40 days in the desert) by beginning Lent on the Wednesday before the first Sunday of Lent.

Three scrutinies for those preparing for baptism emerged in the 8th century and are celebrated on three consecutive Sundays (3rd, 4th, and 5th Sundays of Lent).

The Second Vatican council restored a simpler earlier version of Lenten observance that eliminated the three penitential Sundays that had emerged in the 5th and 6th centuries. Lent now was to begin with Ash Wednesday and continue with the five Sundays of Lent, concluding with the Mass of Holy Thursday.

(Adapted from the Word and Worship Workbook for Year C. Mary Birmingham. New York: Paulist Press, 1998, pp.113-114.]