Lent – Its Origin and Purpose    

Lent is a time when the whole Church reflects on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; at the same time, it is a time for the unbaptized to prepare for baptism and for those already baptized, it is a time for personal spiritual renewal. 

In the 3^rd to 4^th century Church, preparation for baptism lasted several years. During that time of preparation, the unbaptized were instructed in the faith, given support in discontinuing their pagan practices and loyalties, and taught to live in a new way of life. It was in the final phase, which eventually came to be known as Lent, that they fasted and did penance, participated in sacred rituals and were baptized at the Easter Vigil.

The custom of imposing ashes on the heads of people was an ancient penitential practice among the Hebrews. In the 3^rd to 4^th centuries, ashes were imposed on the heads of those who were temporarily excommunicated from the Church community due to scandals such as apostasy, heresy, murder and adultery. In the 7^th century, ashes were imposed during Ash Wednesday. Along with the imposition of ashes, penitents were dressed in sackcloth and during the forty days of Lent, they abstained from meat, alcohol, bathing, haircuts, sex and business transactions.

Fasting and abstinence are two different disciplines. Fasting has to do with the quantity of food eaten, while abstinence has to do with the kind of food which is denied to oneself. Both disciplines, however, promote self-denial, cleanse the conscience and enhance one’s prayer life. Another discipline of Lent is almsgiving, but the intent is to give to the needy what one has saved during fasting, abstinence and self-denial, rather than giving from one’s surplus. 

The stations of the Cross are a popular devotion during Lent. It draws the faithful to focus on the Passion and Death of Christ. During the crusades, it was popular for pilgrims to go to the Holy Land and walk in the footsteps of Jesus to Calvary. After the Moslems captured the Holy Land, these pilgrimages stopped. A substitute pilgrimage, called the Stations of the Cross, soon became a popular outdoor devotion in Europe. Later on, the Stations of the Cross were allowed to be held inside churches. In the 18^th century, the Stations of the Cross were fixed at 14 stations. 

The practices and devotions during Lent may have changed through the centuries, but its purpose and meaning remains the same. The encounters of Jesus with evil, including His betrayal, arrest, suffering and death on the Cross, attest to the reality of suffering in life. From Jesus, we learn to accept what we must and to change what we can. But Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit attest to God’s triumph over evil and eternal death. Armed with this truth, Christians embrace setbacks and suffering as a means to the eternal glory that is to come; they also live happier and more fulfilling lives.