Isidore of Seville, and others of the Holy Fathers, assure us that Lent was instituted by the Apostles, although, at the commencement, there was not any uniform way of observing it. Over time, however, differences arose over how the 40 days of fasting were to be observed—though never of the necessity of 40 days of fasting. The practice of this Church being never to fast on Saturdays, the number of fasting-days in Lent, besides the six Sundays of Lent, on which, by universal custom, the Faithful never fasted, there were also the six Saturdays, which the Greeks would never allow to be observed as days of fasting : so that their Lent was short, by twelve days, of the Forty spent by our Saviour in the Desert.
To make up the deficiency, they were obliged to begin their Lent so many days earlier. In the Western Church, however, the practice was different:.
The Church of Rome had no such motive for anticipating the season of those privations, which belong to Lent; for, from the earliest antiquity, she kept the Saturdays of Lent, and as often, during the rest of the year, as circumstances might require, as fasting days.
At the close of the 6th century, St. Gregory the Great, alludes, in one of his Homilies, to the fast of Lent being less than Forty Days, owing to the Sundays which come during that holy season.
As we do not fast on the six Sundays, there are but thirty-six fasting days;. As early, however, as the 9th century, the custom of beginning Lent on Ash Wednesday was of obligation in the whole Latin Church. All the manuscript copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, which bear that date, call this Wednesday the In capite jejunii , that is to say, the beginning of the fast; and Amalarius, who gives us every detail of the Liturgy of the 9th century, tells us, that it was, even then, the rule to begin the Fast four days before the first Sunday of Lent.
There can be no doubt, but that the original motive for this anticipation,—which, after several modifications, was limited to the four days immediately preceding Lent,—was to remove from the Greeks the pretext of taking scandal at the Latins, who did not fast a full Forty days. Thus it was, that the Roman Church, by this anticipation of Lent by Four days, gave the exact number of Forty Days to the holy Season, which she had instituted in imitation of the Forty Days spent by our Saviour in the Desert.
If the Church, both East and West, considered it of paramount importance that the Lenten fast be exactly 40 days, why did the Western Church extend the Lenten fast back to Ash Wednesday , which falls 46 days before Easter? We have already seen, in our Septuagesima [Volume Four], that the Orientals begin their Lent much earlier than the Latins, owing to their custom of never fasting on Saturdays, or, in some places, even on Thursdays. They are, consequently, obliged, in order to make up the forty days, to begin the Lenten Fast on the Monday preceding our Sexagesima Sunday.
These are the kind of exceptions, which prove the rule. We have also shown, how the Latin Church,—which, even so late as the 6th Century, kept only thirty-six fasting days during the six weeks of Lent, for the Church has never allowed Sundays to be kept as days of fast, —thought proper to add, later on, the last four days of Quinquagesima, in order that her Lent might contain exactly Forty Days of Fast. However, the abstinence from even dairy products led to the practice of blessing Easter eggs and eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.
Over the years, modifications have been made to the Lenten observances, making our practices not only simple but also easy. Ash Wednesday still marks the beginning of Lent, which lasts for 40 days, not including Sundays.
The present fasting and abstinence laws are very simple: On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, the faithful fast having only one full meal a day and smaller snacks to keep up one's strength and abstain from meat; on the other Fridays of Lent, the faithful abstain from meat.
People are still encouraged "to give up something" for Lent as a sacrifice. An interesting note is that technically on Sundays and solemnities like St. Joseph's Day March 19 and the Annunciation March 25 , one is exempt and can partake of whatever has been offered up for Lent. Nevertheless, I was always taught, "If you gave something up for the Lord, tough it out.
Although the practices may have evolved over the centuries, the focus remains the same: to repent of sin, to renew our faith and to prepare to celebrate joyfully the mysteries of our salvation. Saunders, Rev. Serving Catholics for 25 Years. Contact Us. Many evangelical leaders, including Bill Bright of Campus Crusade and Jerry Falwell are promoting fasting as a way to prepare for revival.
For many evangelicals who see the early church as a model for how the church should be today, a revival of Lent may be the next logical step. Sections Home. Bible Coronavirus Prayer. Subscribe Member Benefits Give a Gift. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. Christian History Archives Eras Home. The Beginning of Lent. Like all Christian holy days and holidays, Lent has changed over the years, but its purpose has always been the same.
Current Issue November Subscribe. Read This Issue. In late winter, many Christian denominations observe a day period of fasting and prayer called Lent. This is in preparation for the spring celebration of Easter, a religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But facts about the early origin of the religious observance are not as well known. As a scholar who studies Christian liturgy , I know that by the fourth century, a regular practice of day fasting became common in Christian churches.
The practice of fasting from food for spiritual reasons is found in the three largest Abrahamic faiths : Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In all three, refraining from eating is intimately connected with an additional focus on prayer, and the practice of assisting the poor by giving alms or donating food.
In the Gospels, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness to fast and pray.
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