LENT
 |
LENT (from Old English "Lenten" meaning Spring) refers to the fast of 40 days before Easter. First mention of such a period occurs in the Canons of Nicea (AD 325 Canon 5).
The custom may have originated in the prescribed fast of candidates for baptism and the number forty suggested by the 40 days’ fast of Moses (Deut 9:9), Elijah (1 Ki 19:8) and especially our Lord himself (Mt 4:2, Mar 1:12-13, Lk 4:1-13).
The Western Church normally left out the Sundays and the practice commencing from Ash Wednesday is first attested to in the 7th Century Gelasian Sacramentary. (The imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday Service is in token of mourning and penitence - a reminder of the ‘denouncing of God’s anger and judgements against sinners’).
Apart from fasting, this time of penance is observed by abstaining from festivities, by almsgiving, and by giving more time to religious exercises.
The practice of omitting the Gloria and floral arrangements; and the reciting of the 10 commandments are part of the tradition to emphasise God’s hatred of sin which culminated in the Lamb of God being the vicarious sacrifice for our transgressions.
Violet/Purple, the Liturgical colour signifies penitence and mourning.
THE SEASON OF LENT
This is the 40 day period leading up to Easter. It recalls these events :
- the 40 days and nights when the rains fell during the time of Noah
- the 40 years of the Israelites’ wanderings in the desert
- the 40 days when Jesus was in the wilderness
To find out more about Lent, you may wish to visit the following websites:
Lent
and Easter - Spirithome.com
The
Season of Lent - Ken Collin's Web-Site
All About
Lent - James Akin
The Season of Lent - Sunday
School Lessons.com
Passion Week is also known as Holy Week and is the last week of Lent. In this week, we focus on the Passion of Jesus Christ in the week leading to His crucifixion and resurrection. Find out more about the holy week from our Passion Week Webpage and from Ken Collin's Website.
[Top]