Lent

Lent is the forty-day Catholic liturgical season of penance, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that prepares the faithful for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ at Easter. The current calendar fixes the season's beginning on Ash Wednesday and its conclusion at the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening, when the Sacred Triduum begins.¹

The forty days of Lent

The number forty is drawn from the principal Old Testament and Gospel narratives of preparation: the forty days and nights of the flood (Genesis 7:12), the forty years of the wandering of Israel in the desert (Numbers 14:33), the forty days of Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:28), the forty days of Elijah's journey to Horeb (1 Kings 19:8), and most centrally the forty days of the fast of Christ in the desert before the inauguration of His public ministry (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). In Lent the Church liturgically retraces this fast.²

The arithmetic of the forty days, however, requires explanation. The days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday are forty-six in number; the six Sundays of Lent are not counted in the fast, since every Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection and the obligation of fasting on Sundays is suspended. The result is forty actual days of penance, ending with Holy Saturday.

Ash Wednesday and the imposition of ashes

Lent opens with the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday. The minister marks the foreheads of the faithful with the ashes blessed during the Mass of Ash Wednesday, with the words drawn from the Roman Pontifical: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19) or "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).

The ashes used for the imposition are made from the palms blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, burned and reserved for this purpose. The custom of the imposition of ashes at the start of the public penitential season is attested in the West from the eighth century onward and was made universal in the eleventh century.³

Ash Wednesday is also a day of fast and abstinence binding upon all Catholics fourteen years and older (abstinence) or eighteen through fifty-nine (fast).

The Lenten disciplines: fasting, abstinence, prayer, almsgiving

The traditional Catholic Lenten observance is structured around three pillars, drawn from the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:1-18): prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.⁴

• Fasting: in the discipline of the Latin Church (per Paenitemini, 1966), Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are universally days of fast, on which the faithful between eighteen and fifty-nine eat one full meal and may take two smaller meals. Other days of Lent retain a traditional but no longer universally obligatory call to voluntary fasting or other forms of self-denial.
• Abstinence: abstinence from meat is obligatory for all Catholics fourteen and older on Ash Wednesday, on every Friday of Lent, and on Good Friday.
• Prayer: the Church multiplies opportunities for the prayer of the faithful during Lent. The Stations of the Cross are commonly prayed on Lenten Fridays. The reception of the sacrament of confession is strongly encouraged at least once during the season, and many parishes hold communal penance services in Lent. The praying of the Divine Mercy Novena traditionally begins on Good Friday.
• Almsgiving: the giving of alms to the poor is a constitutive Lenten discipline. Many parishes participate in coordinated Lenten alms collections (in the United States, the Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl).

The liturgical character of Lent

The liturgical color of Lent is violet, signifying penance. Several liturgical austerities mark the season:

• The Gloria is omitted from Sunday and weekday Masses, except on solemnities and feasts.
• The Alleluia is suppressed throughout Lent and is replaced before the Gospel by an alternative acclamation.
• The use of the organ and other instruments is restrained, as during Advent.
• Floral decoration of the sanctuary is simplified.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, traditionally called Laetare Sunday from the entrance antiphon ("Rejoice, Jerusalem"), is marked by a softening of the penitential note, parallel to Gaudete Sunday in Advent. Rose vestments may be worn on Laetare Sunday.⁵

Holy Week

The final week of Lent is Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and ending at the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening. Palm Sunday commemorates the entry of Christ into Jerusalem (Mark 11:1-11) and is celebrated with the blessing of palms and a procession before the principal Mass; the Passion narrative according to Matthew, Mark, or Luke (depending on the lectionary cycle) is read at the Gospel.

The Chrism Mass is celebrated by the diocesan bishop at the cathedral, traditionally on the morning of Holy Thursday, at which the holy oils for the coming year are blessed and the priests of the diocese renew their priestly promises.

The conclusion of Lent at the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday evening hands the season over to the Sacred Triduum, the three days that are the heart of the entire Christian liturgical year.

Lent in the lay Catholic life

Lent is the great penitential season of the lay Catholic life. The Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving have always been observed not only in the church but in the home and at the workplace. The traditional question "What are you giving up for Lent?" reflects the universal Catholic awareness that Lent is a time for voluntary self-denial in addition to the obligations of fast and abstinence; the equally important question, less often asked, is "What are you taking on for Lent?" — the increase of prayer and almsgiving.

For Lent's deepest moment, see the Sacred Triduum. For the season that follows, see Easter.

Sources

Footnotes

1. General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, nn. 27-31. ↩

2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 538 to 540, on the temptation of Christ in the desert as the foundation of the Lenten fast. ↩

3. Roman Pontifical, the Rite for the Blessing and Distribution of Ashes. The custom is attested universally from the Synod of Benevento (1091) onward. ↩

4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1434, on the three forms of penance: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. ↩

5. General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 346. ↩