Dear friends,

Whether you grew up with the practices of faith or came into the Church later in life, it can be easy to take things for granted or overlook the deeper meanings of the Church’s practices and devotions. This applies to Lent, a season of repentance, penance, and preparation. We may be familiar with the annual 40 days of fasting but not question or understand the core practices of Lent. Considering this, I would like to share a few interesting facts and insights about Lent that may be helpful as we partake in this purpled time of penance.

Why is it called Lent?

As with many things, we take names for granted and accept them without much thought. This, too, goes for the various words and titles we use in the Church. However, if someone were to ask us what Lent means, how would we respond? Likely, we would try to explain the Lenten practices but fail to explain what the word Lent itself means. In English we refer to the forty days of fasting before Easter as Lent, short for Lenten. Lenten comes from the Old English word Lencten which translates to Spring. If we go further back, we can trace Lent back to the Western Germanic word langitinaz which means lengthening of days. So why call it Lent? There is a practical and spiritual reason for this. The practical reason is that Lent takes place over Spring, so if we were to use the literal translation of Lenten fast, we would call it the Springtime Fast. It was necessary to identify the Lenten fast since in the past the Church would practice multiple seasons of fasting more regularly than we do today. Lent is also significant as it marks the lengthening of the short days of Winter. As we approach the celebration of Easter, the Solemnity of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have, to accompany our hope, the natural lengthening of daylight. In this, there is a reflection in the very changing of seasons on the themes of the Lenten fast, wherein we face the fallenness of the world and our own sinfulness as we hope for our redemption in Christ and his Resurrection. The days shorten as we anticipate the sun rising on the empty tomb of the Risen Lord.

Why is Lent 40 days long?

Outside of Germanic languages, the root word used to describe the springtime season of fasting is the Latin word quadragesima, meaning forty days. Lent is forty days long as a parallel to two significant instances in salvation history. Firstly, Lent parallels the time the Israelites spent in the desert:

Now, the Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness, until all he warriors among the people that came forth from Egypt died off because they had not listened to the voice of the LORD. For the LORD swore that he would not let them see the l and he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Joshua 5:6)

During these forty years of wandering the desert, the Israelites prepared to enter the promised land through acts of penance, all the while entrusting themselves to the Lord, whereas in the past and throughout salvation history, there are those who were unfaithful or untrusting of God. Therefore, this season of Lent provides an opportunity for us to depend more deeply on the Lord and push into greater acts of faith. Secondly, the forty days of Lent reflect the forty days Jesus spent in the desert in preparation for his ministry which would eventually lead to his passion, death, and resurrection. We see that Jesus entered into these forty days as a time for fasting and preparation and that he even resisted temptation while remaining faithful to his mission; “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.” (Matthew 4:1-2) Likewise, we celebrate Lent by fasting as a detachment from the world and a way of resisting temptation and relying more on God’s grace. In this, we prepare to celebrate the Easter festivities through practices of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that will hopefully bear spiritual fruits that assist us in our journey of faith beyond just Lent but into and through the Easter season.

Why do we fast if Jesus rose from the dead?

As we enter into the desert season of Lent, we are called to fast from things, both good and bad, as a way to detach ourselves from the world and, in doing so, gain greater appreciation for and dependence on God’s grace. Some may wonder why we would even think of taking on fasting since the Lord is resurrected and he has reconciled us to the Father. While it is true that Christ reconciled humanity’s fallen state, it is up to each and every one of us to actively seek out our salvation in the Lord. It is a reminder that the Lord has called us to follow him, not to make our home here in the world, but to intentionally follow Jesus as we cooperate with his grace and practice a spirit of poverty and detachment from the world. By fasting, we acknowledge that our final place of happiness and joy are not here on earth but in the heavenly kingdom of God. By fasting, we gain mastery over our bodies and order our will to God’s will. And we do not fast so as to be miserable, but as a joyful and zealous pursuit of the Lord as we also pray for others and even offer up our acts of mortification and fasting for the less fortunate, those who do not know Christ, and for the souls in purgatory. In fasting, we do not ignore the Resurrection but acknowledge the victory won for us on the cross once and for all as the Lord continues to sanctify us and invite us into a deeper cooperation with his grace as we follow him into the desert, through calvary, and out of the empty tomb.

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