Feb 21 2007
Lent
Since today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 40 Days of Lent, I offer my readers this description of Lent, courtesy of Wikipedia. Click for more details. Join me on the journey to the Cross on Good Friday & to the Open Tomb on Easter Morning.
“In Western Christianity, Lent is the period (or season) from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. In Eastern Christianity, the period before Easter is known as Great Lent to distinguish it from the Winter Lent, or Advent (known in Greek as the “Great Fast” and “Nativity Fast”, respectively). This article tends to discuss Lent as understood and practiced in Western Christianity.
Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, roughly corresponding to early spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Ash Wednesday, which may fall anywhere between February 4 and March 10, occurs forty-six days before Easter, but Lent is nevertheless considered to be forty days long, due to the fact that Sundays in this season are not counted among the days of Lent. The traditional reason for this is that fasting was considered inappropriate on Sunday, the day commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus.
Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while Lent is a time of preparation for Holy Week. Holy Week recalls the events preceding and during the crucifixion, which Christians believe occurred in the Jerusalem of the Roman province Judea, circa AD 30.”
