.But tell me...Is the author correct when he says 'Lent' was initially a Pagan practice??? That sounds like a good research project for you to undertake. I'd be interested in your findings, if they came from a better source than this article.
I've always thought that in regions of the earth w where things stop growing in, say, September it would be not so much good as almost inevitable that eating would tend to get restricted until the sheep lambed and some early crops came in.
And of course the English word "Lent" comes from an older word meaning "Spring" and related to length (The days get longer in the Spring! -- More time in the LIGHT!)
I also imagine there were many places where those most civilized food-stuffs, bread and wine, which although civilized yet seem so almost elemental, are used in religious meals.
And there are a number of stories where a God-hero dies and comes back to life, or so I'm told.
So there are two questions: (1)Are there "pagan" pre-cursors to Lent and (2) So what?
Too bad these good questions come up in a thread about an article which makes the laughably ignorant assertion that Catholics think they can buy their way out of hell.
From this
Reglection thread for Lent
Lenten Question
Q: What is Lent?
A: Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). [This traditional ennumeration does not precisely coincide with the calendar according to the liturgical reform. In order to give special prominence to the Sacred Triduum (Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday, Easter Vigil) the current calendar counts Lent as only from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, up to the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Even so, Lenten practices are properly maintained up to the Easter Vigil, excluding Sundays, as before.]
Lenten Question
Q: Why are the forty days called Lent?
A: They are called Lent because that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year during which they fall. This is something unique to English. In almost all other languages its name is a derivative of the Latin term, or "the forty days."
Lenten Question
Q: When does Lent begin?
A: Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is the day on which the faithful have their foreheads signed with ashes in the form of a Cross. It is also a day of fast and abstinence.
Lenten Question
Q: Why are Sundays excluded from the reckoning of the forty days?
A: Because Sunday is the day on which Christ arose, making it an inappropriate day to fast and mourn our sins. On Sunday we must celebrate Christ's resurrection for our salvation. It is Friday on which we commemorate his death for our sins. The Sundays of the year are days of celebration and the Fridays of the year are days of penance.
Lenten Fact
The word "lent" means "lengthen" and stands for that time in spring when the days grow longer.
Lenten Fact
The original period of Lent was 40 hours. It was spent fasting to commemorate the suffering of Christ and the 40 hours He
spent in the tomb.
In the early 3rd century, Lent was lengthened to 6 days. About 800 AD it was changed to 40 days.
Lenten Question
Q: Why are the forty days called Lent?
A: They are called Lent because that is the Old English word for spring, the season of the year during which they fall. This is something unique to English. In almost all other languages its name is a derivative of the Latin term , or "the forty days."