Fr. John Frauenfelder shares with us a brief overview of the signs and symbols of Lent.
This would be ideal for Parish bulletins or school newsletters.
Background & spiritual tradition and Lent in the southern hemisphere
The word “Lent” itself provides us with a starting-point in our reflection on the background and spiritual tradition of preparing to celebrate the Easter Mystery. The Old English word lencten originally meant “spring” or “springtime”, because in the northern hemisphere the forty-day fast coincided with the reawakening of nature after a long winter.
We can see here a marriage of ideas: nature regenerating in the season of springtime and the prophetic words of Jesus the Christ, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest” (Jn 12:24, NJB). These words of Jesus are a clear reference to his approaching Passion, Death, and Resurrection.
The tradition of Lent and Easter was set at a time determined by the lunar calendar. This was because Jewish Passover has always been fixed to the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the first day of the full moon after the spring equinox. Christian tradition has always set the date of Easter in accordance with this date, which of course varies from year to year as our fixed calendar adjusts to the lunar phases.
Lent in the Southern Hemisphere
Our experience in the southern hemisphere is not of hard, cold earth and the oncoming of spring. For us, the change of seasons is not such a stark contrast. Yet there is a noticeable period of change-over. There is a change of pace, after the height of summer and the often hectic “end of year” scramble. Depending on where we live in Australia, autumn can be for some people a more reflective time, cooler and maybe quieter.
The evolving of the Lenten season & meaning of the 40 days
Exploring the roots of a long-standing tradition is not just an academic exercise of delving into the past. Key concepts emerge which are relevant to us in the here and now:
- In the 1st and 2nd centuries, the fast before Easter was compulsory. The whole community kept a 40-hour fast on the Friday and Saturday before Easter Sunday when no food or drink. It was seen as emblematic of one’s membership of the Church and the best formative way of ecclesial preparation for the profound experience of grace in the revelation of the Easter Mystery, the Pascha.
- The 3rd century saw an extending of this period of preparation to what we now call “Holy Week”. The whole week was marked by fasting but not a complete fast as in the final two days.
- Finally, in the 4th century, the tradition of the full 40 days of Lent became a widespread custom and seen as the natural preparation for Easter. The 1st Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325 AD) clearly took a 40-day Lent for granted (cf Canon 5).
Why 40 days?
From the Church’s earliest times a strong spiritual movement sprang up, based on union or solidarity with Christ in every aspect of the Paschal Mystery. The early monks relived his forty days in the wilderness through rigorous fasting, penance and prayer. Outside monastic circles, this rapidly spread throughout the Church as a central theme in preparing for Easter.
In biblical tradition, “forty” corresponds to the span of a human generation (40 years) and so is used to express completion or fulfillment. Escaping from Egypt, Moses and his band of people wandered for forty years until they became the Chosen People with whom God at last made the Covenant which had been promised to Abraham (Exodus 34).
Finally, the Word of God became flesh and blood in the person of Jesus (Jn 1: 14). He was truly human, “tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin” (Heb 4:15). Anointed by the Spirit of God, he embraced Messiahship and immediately that same Spirit “drove him out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan: (Mk 1: 12-13; Mt 4:2; Lk 4: 1-2).
The Church’s traditional Lenten method
Lent is a time for personal conversion and change of heart. We can never presume that our conversion is complete, or that what has been planted in our hearts and souls over our lifetime does not need careful tending and cultivation. Three things stand out in the Church’s traditional Lenten kerygma, an ancient Greek word with a christianised meaning which means the life-changing revelation carried out by Christ, the living Word, himself: Fasting, Prayer, and Almsgiving. These things are set out clearly in the first few days of Lenten readings, as well as the inner attitude we should have in fulfilling them.

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