Lent

"Take up your cross and follow Jesus, and you will enter eternal life. If you die with Him, you will also live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you will also share His glory."

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry”

Luke 4:1-2

Lent is the penitential season of 40 days (approximately 6 weeks) excluding Sundays in commemoration of the forty days in accordance to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, where Jesus spent fasting in the desert  and he endured temptation by Satan. The word "Lent" actually means "fast, abstinence, and penitence" and Lent always begins on a Wednesday, called Ash Wednesday.  Lent is actually 46 days rather than 40 days, because the 40 days of Lent are supposed to be days of fasting, which means days of discipline and self-restraint. But Sunday, the day designated as the Lord's day by Christians, should never be a day of fasting, but a day of celebration. Lent is a time of soul-searching and repentance in preparation for Christ’s passion on Holy Thursday, His death on Good Friday and His resurrection on the third day which is clebrated on Easter Sunday. During the 40 days of Lent, we seek to wash away the stains of sin and to rid ourselves of all that prevents us from living a truly Christian life as Christ taught us in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and commanded us through his commandments. Lent is a liturgical season  inextricably connected to the Paschal Mystery, the Catechumens prepare for Christian initiation, and the faithful prepare for Easter by a recalling of Baptism and by works of penance, such as prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Lent is a time for ;

• Time to prepare new converts for baptism.
• Time for Christians to review their lives, faith and renew their commitment to their beliefs.
• Time for backsliders to be re-indoctrinated into the faith.

The Church has proclaimed Lent as a time of fasting and self-denial and she teaches by example. The priest is vested in violet (purple), “the gloomy color of affliction and mortification”, except on the Fourth Sunday of Lent ( Laetare Sunday) when he might choose the festive option of rose vestments. The sanctuary is bereft of flowers, and less ornate linens and candlesticks adorn the altar. The Gloria will not be said or sung on Sunday, while the Alleluia will be entirely absent throughout Lent.  Musical instruments is limited when singing hymns and praises. Weddings are discouraged during Lent and in fact, all celebrations should be characterized by restraint. Feast days of Saints are observed in a simple manner, with the priest wearing the violet (purple) of the Lent season instead of red or white of the saint. By this penitential ‘fast of the senses’, Holy Mother Church prepares our hearts for a jubilant Easter renewal. There are only two exceptions to the Lenten austerity, the Solemnities of St. Joseph (19 March, Patron of the Universal Church and foster father of Jesus) and the Annunciation (25 March, Jesus, the Savior who will shortly give his life for our sins, is this day conceived in the Virgin Mary’s womb.) where the Church sets aside her purple for white vestments, sings the Gloria and prays the Creed.