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Tracing the
evolution of Lent
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
If
you don’t know that Lent began on Feb. 6 (Ash Wednesday), you have not
been paying attention.
The United
States Catholic Catechism for Adults teaches that Lent is “an annual
period of 40 days beginning Ash Wednesday for Latin Catholics, which is
set aside for penance, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for the
coming celebration of Easter.”
Lent has an
interesting history. It began as a period of final preparation for
adults preparing for baptism. Fasting was a prescribed part of that
preparation, a way to identify with the Christ who had fasted in
preparation for his public ministry. Initially, the fast did not exceed
a week: in some places one day, in others two days, and in still others
40 consecutive hours (according to the New Catholic Encyclopedia). The
first mention of a 40-day fast comes from the Council of Nicaea in 325.
The fact that
fasting has always been part of Lent obviously is rooted in the 40-day
and 40-night experience of Jesus. The 40 days of Lent also have their
origin in the desert experience. The reckoning of 40 days, however,
varied in different parts of the Christian world. The Eastern Catholic
Churches spread Lent over seven weeks, with both Saturday and Sunday
exempt from fasting. The Western Catholic Church set aside a period of
six weeks, with Sunday the only day exempt from fasting. That meant
there were only 36 actual days of fast, a situation which was corrected
in the seventh century by adding four days beginning with Ash Wednesday.
Today, Sundays are considered part of Lent. No longer are they Sundays
in Lent (as prior to the Second Vatican Council), but the Sundays of
Lent. Another adjustment is found in the fact that Lent ends with the
celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on the evening of Holy
Thursday. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Lent did not end until
Holy Saturday. People broke their fast at noon.
With the
passage of time, the Lenten emphasis on preparation for baptism shifted
to the penance expected of all Christians, the conversion of the
baptized, if you will. The sacrament of penance was received at the
beginning of the Lenten Season. A penance was imposed on Ash Wednesday
and penitents guilty of various serious sins were excluded from the
Eucharist until they were absolved on Holy Thursday.
At one time,
only one meal a day was allowed during Lent, a meal to be taken toward
evening. Meat and fish, and in some places eggs and dairy products as
well, were forbidden.
However, from
the ninth century, the strict fast of previous times began to be
relaxed. The time for the one meal a day allowed during Lent began to be
anticipated. By the 15th century, it was a general custom to have this
meal at noon. Once that was generally accepted, the way was opened for a
light meal in the evening. The prohibition against fish eventually was
removed. Dispensations were also granted permitting the use of dairy
products.
These severe
practices are rooted in Scripture: “Return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning; rend your hearts and not your
garments says the Lord Almighty” (Joel 2:12-13). As Christ suffered and
died for his people, the baptized were expected to sacrifice for Christ.
At a time when food was rarely plentiful, fasting and abstinence were
the primary ways in which people poured themselves out for God as Christ
had poured himself out for them.
Over the
years, substantial mitigations to the law of fasting were granted by the
Holy See. It began when meat was allowed at the principal meal on
Sundays. Then, meat was allowed on the weekdays of Lent, except Fridays.
While fasting and abstinence from meat continued to be urged as a way of
identifying one’s self with the desert prayer of Jesus, other forms of
works, particularly exercises of piety and works of charity, were held
up as desirable forms of Lenten penance. Then, during the pontificate of
Paul VI in 1966, the mandated fast and abstinence days were reduced to a
bare minimum: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday remained days of fast and
abstinence. The Fridays of Lent remained days of abstinence from meat.
At the same
time, Pope Paul VI placed great emphasis on the need for penance. That
penance, it was pointed out, can take a variety of forms, from the
prayerful acceptance of illness, trials and disappointments, to denying
ourselves pleasures that impede growth in holiness. For some people,
there is more “penance” in giving up time spent in front of a
television, and visiting nursing homes or volunteering their time and
energy to challenging endeavors, than there would be in abstinence from
meat or fasting.
In the
meantime, an understanding of the Lenten Season as a period of
intensified preparation for the Easter sacraments, lost for centuries,
has been recaptured through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.
The two great Lenten liturgies have become the Rite of Election and the
Call to Continuing Conversion and parish communities have become an
important part of the catechumenate experience.
In our Local
Church, the Rite of Election is celebrated in our cathedral church on
the first Sunday of Lent. Catechumens (unbaptized adults) in the final
stages of preparation for the reception of baptism, the sacrament of
confirmation and their first Communion are officially “called” (the
liturgical term is “elected”) to receive these sacraments at the Easter
Vigil. These sacraments of initiation make them full members of the
Church. Remembering the Scripture that teaches us we do not choose
Christ but Christ chooses us (Jn. 15:16), it is the diocesan bishop, as
pastor of the Local Church, who in the name of Christ calls the
catechumens to become Catholics.
During the
Call to Continuing Conversion, held on the second Sunday of Lent (in
this Local Church at least), baptized non-Catholic Christians seeking
membership in the Catholic Church are introduced to the bishop, who as
pastor “calls” them to become full members of the Church by making a
profession of faith, receiving the sacrament of confirmation and making
their first Communion.
Catechumens
and candidates are not the only ones involved in the conversion process.
The entire community of the Church, through prayer, self examination and
rededication, is challenged to acknowledge that conversion is not a
one-time phenomenon, but an ongoing process. The faith community is
called to walk with those who will receive the sacraments of initiation,
even as they prepare themselves in an intensified way by prayer, fasting
and almsgiving to renew their own baptismal covenant with the Risen Lord
and his Church. The culmination of this Lenten preparation comes when
baptismal promises are made on Easter.
Even though
far less strenuous than in ages past, it is hoped that this Lenten
Season of 2008 will trigger within each one of us a spiritual
rejuvenation and genuine conversion. If that is to happen, we must
recognize the selfishness within us, embrace the self discipline
necessary to distance ourselves from sin, and accept the healing which
the Lord offers through the sacraments of his Church. |
