Some Notes on Lent
Just some points and Scripture passages about Lent
The name of Lent is an Old English word which means Spring. In languages other than English, it is called Quadragesima, which means forty days.
Lent is the 40 days (not including Sundays) prior to Easter Sunday. After the change to the Novus Ordo Mass, and the change in the liturgical calendar that accompanied it, the end of Lent was said to be at the start of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. But this is just silly and wrong. Stick with the traditional 40 days all the way until the Easter Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday night. It’s just perverse and wrong to end our Lenten fasting prior to Good Friday and our commemoration of the Passion of Our Lord. It’s theological nonsense to end our fasting while Our Lord is being crucified and while He lies in the tomb on Holy Saturday. Stick with tradition and keep your Lenten fast until Easter.
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, 2 For the space of forty days; and was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry. 3 And the devil said to him: If thou be the Son of God, say to this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him: It is written, that Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil led him into a high mountain, and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time; 6 And he said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them. 7 If thou therefore wilt adore before me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answering said to him: It is written: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and he said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself from hence. 10 For it is written, that He hath given his angels charge over thee, that they keep thee. 11 And that in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering, said to him: It is said: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And all the temptation being ended, the devil departed from him for a time.
Giving up something for Lent is important. And it needs to be something that we genuinely like and enjoy. It needs to be uncomfortable and it needs to sting a little. If you are giving up something for Lent but don’t feel any suffering because of it, then you didn’t give up something you actually care about. We need to follow in the footsteps of Christ, and this includes following Him as He makes His way into the desert. We must work to separate ourselves from the good things of this world so that they do not become an idol that is more important than God and our relationship with Him.
Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry; 2 he went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. 3 In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.
The thing(s) you give up for Lent cannot be sins. We are required to always give those up. The thing given up for Lent needs to be something that is either neutral or a genuinely good thing that we enjoy. We need to exercise self control and mastery over our bodies, desires and wants.
1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
If you are able, fasting and abstinence are also vitally important actions that we need to undertake during Lent. Controlling our appetites and controlling our passions is a necessity. We cannot let our love for food, recreation or anything else become more important that God in our lives.
Children, the elderly, those with dietary/medical conditions, and pregnant/nursing mothers should not participate in fasting. Abstinence by these groups should only be done if it is safe to do so. Christ was adamantly clear that the laws of God and the Church are in service to God and the salvation of mankind. They are not to put the health of people in risk. If you are in these groups, there are other activities you can perform that can be substitutes which are spiritually beneficial. Do not beat yourself up over this. Keep your health in good condition and instead read 20-30 minutes of Scripture each day, or attend daily Mass, or say an extra rosary as reparation for our sins.
Mark 2:27 And he said to them: The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath also.
Consider also in our ridiculously electronic age, where we are slaves to our phones, TV’s and computer screens, that we engage in fasting from electronics as well. This for some people is not possible for all 40 days of Lent, but perhaps one or two days a week during this period? Or perhaps a fasting for certain hours of each day so that you can spend that time with your family, in prayer, reading Scripture or some other healthy recreation or spiritual activity. Consider limiting your time on electronics to only the hours of 7AM to 7PM. This would leave several hours each night with time for our families and time for God.
Daniel 10:2 At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks. 3 I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks.
For married couples, this can also be a period of abstinence from marital relations if it is agreed upon by both spouses. Learning to control even our romantic desires is spiritually beneficial, especially for our current culture and time where sex is shoved in our faces nonstop. Now each spouse must freely agree to this and it must be for a limited time. The purpose of this is that it could allow a couple to learn better mastery over their own healthy desires and to enter a deeper prayer life with God.
1 Corinthians 7:3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Do not forget to also perform acts of charity during Lent. Find even small ways to perform charitable acts of love to others during this time. Look to the spiritual works of mercy and the corporal works of mercy for guidance in ways that you can do these acts of love towards neighbor.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
For those who are spiritually mature and in great physical condition, you may consider attempting a Black Fast that was common in Christianity in centuries prior. The rules for the Black Fast are:
No more than one meal per day is permitted
Meat, eggs, butter, cheese, and milk are forbidden
No eating until after sunset
Alcohol is forbidden
During Holy Week, the meal consists exclusively of bread, salt, herbs, and water
Again, the Black Fast is extreme and should only be considered for those who are spiritually very mature in the Catholic faith and those in great physical condition. And if at any point it is too much or it is harming you, it should be ended immediately. The practices of penance and fasting are to bring us closer to God and not to harm us.
Jonah 3:4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8 Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change His mind; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that He had said He would bring upon them; and He did not do it.
You will of course run into Protestants and Atheists who will claim that Lent, Easter, Easter eggs, bunnies and a whole assortment of things associated with the seasons of Lent and Easter are actually of Pagan origin and were incorporated into the Catholic faith at some point in the distant past. Be assured that this claim is laughably false.
Easter is not the worship of the goddess Eostre, it’s just gotten that name because it happens during this time of year in the month named for this goddess. In places around the world that speak something besides German and English, Easter is not called that but instead is called Pasch or Pascha, which is because Jesus is the Paschal Lamb of God and the New Covenant is the fulfilled and transformed Passover meal that Christ instituted on Holy Thursday at the Last Supper.
Easter eggs and rabbits became symbols for Easter because in centuries past, the abstinence during Lent included bans on eating meats, fats and eggs. Well during these 40 days, chickens don’t stop laying eggs and bunnies don’t stop having more bunny babies. So by the time Easter rolled around, there were a glut of eggs and bunnies. Families would hard boil the eggs to save them until after Easter and rabbit was a common food after Easter as well.
Today in fact is Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday. It is a day for feasting and families would eat up their supplies of meats and fatty foods prior to Lent. People did not want to simply throw away their best foods so they held big parties and feasts to celebrate before their 40 day journey into the desert with Christ.
Happy Mardi Gras! Happy Lent to everyone! I pray that your Lent will be very spiritually beneficial and you find a greater depth of love for Christ and become an even larger vessel ready to receive the overflowing graces that God is ready to lavish on you if you would just turn towards Him. God bless you all!