LENT IS THE 40-DAY season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving beginning on Ash Wednesday in preparation for the Resurrection of the Lord on Easter Sunday.
According to Fr. Trinh Duc Pham, S.L.L., assistant professor of Liturgy at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, there are several Biblical bases for the 40 days.
“The Great Flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights,” Fr. Pham said. “And of course, in Exodus 34:28, we are told Moses prepared to receive the Ten Commandments ‘And he was there with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights.’”
He added, “Finally, Jesus fasted and prayed for ’40 days and 40 nights’ in the desert before beginning his public ministry.”
Even the date for Easter Sunday is not specified in the Bible because Easter is a moveable feast, that is, it does not fall on the same day every year, such a Christmas is always on Dec. 25.
The date of Easter is the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox, when day and night are roughly the same length. Catholics are asked to make the entire Lenten Season a period of special penitential observance.
Fasting is the act of doing with less. That is, Catholics aged 18-59 must fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On these days, the faithful may eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals. But the smaller meals should not equal a full meal. Between meal eating is discouraged, but liquids are allowed. Further, those over the age of 14 are asked to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. Those who are frail, pregnant or manual laborers are excused from these obligations.
Through fasting and abstinence, the faithful are reminded of what it means to suffer. This symbolic suffering should be met with joy and not misery as we are called to better understand the sacrifice that Jesus made on Calvary for the benefit of humanity.
In addition, there any many practices and norms that are observed during Lent in various cultures. In his book, “Why Do Catholics Eat Fish on Friday? The Catholic Origin to Just about Everything,” author Michael Foley explained that some Mexicans use piñatas during Lenten celebrations.
“What we currently associate as birthday party fun from Mexico began as good old-fashioned Italian sin-bashing during the holy season of Lent,” Foley wrote.
The author explained that “the idea of a piñata may have come from China via Marco Polo, but Italians in the fourteenth century applied the pignatta, or ‘fragile pot’, to their observance of the first Sunday of Lent.”
Vietnamese communities recite the Ngam (pron. “nam”) meditations, which are a meditation focusing on the mysteries of the Passion of Christ. The Ngam meditations are designed to help people more deeply experience the emotions of Jesus that he experienced during the Passion.
There are about 15 Ngam meditations that recall the excruciating pain and suffering that Jesus endured during His arrest, trial and eventual crucifixion. These meditations differ from the traditional Stations of the Cross because they focus mainly on what happened during the trial before Pontius Pilate and on the Cross at Calvary whereas the stations focus on what happened between the trial and Jesus’s eventual crucifixion. Many Vietnamese parishes even organize competitions of the Ngam meditations.
During this Lent, we are encouraged to pray, fast and give up something such as candy, alcohol or something else, volunteer our time with our parish or a local service organization and spend time attending daily Mass and study the Scripture readings for the day.
Have a Blessed Lent.