The Liturgical season of Lent Aim: To explore the Liturgical Season of Lent. Objective: What marks the beginning of Lent? What does Lent remind us of?

I. What is Lent: Lent is a forty-day liturgical season that initiates the most sacred part of the Christian year. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes on the Great Vigil of Easter. Sundays are not included in the forty-day count because every Sunday is a joyful celebration of our Lord's resurrection. During Lent, Christians meditate on the great paschal mystery -- the salvation God won for us sinners by the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

II. Why does Lent last forty days? The duration of the season of Lent is based on the ancient church custom of requiring catechumens to undergo a forty-day period of doctrinal instruction and fasting before being baptized on the evening before Easter. This probationary period was called the quarantine (from the Latin word for forty). The number forty occurs frequently in both testaments of the Bible. It signifies the time that is required for discipline, testing, and separation prior to achieving a goal or new beginning. For example, we read in the Old Testament that it rained forty days and nights during the Great Flood (Genesis 7:12), Moses communed with God on Mount Sinai for forty days before receiving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:18), the people of Israel were forced to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 14:33-34), Elijah journeyed for forty days before he reached Mount Horeb and had a vision of God (1 Kings 19:8-9), and the inhabitants of Nineveh fasted and repented for forty days in response to the preaching of Jonah (Jonah 3:4-5).

The outstanding instances of the number forty in the New Testament are the account of Christ's ordeal in the desert fasting, praying, and being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; and Luke 4:1-13) and His various appearances to the apostles and others between His resurrection and ascension during which He strengthened their faith and prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:3).

III. How does worship change during Lent? Since Lent is a season of penitence, reflection, and prayer, worship during this time is solemn and restrained. The somber colors of purple and black replace the brighter white and green of the Epiphany season. Flowers are generally removed from the sanctuary. Songs of praise like the Gloria in Excelsis ("Glory in the highest") and expressions of joy like Alleluia ("Praise the Lord") are removed from the liturgy until Easter. Many churches hold special mid-week worship services and offer devotional activities that help their members concentrate on the traditional Lenten disciplines of fasting, almsgiving (gifts of mercy, or "charity" as it is usually called), and prayer. The practice of these disciplines goes back to the early days of the church and are meant to help Christians recall and be thankful for our Lord's atoning death on the cross.  

. The Liturgical Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday On this day, we are marked on our foreheads with the ashes taken from the previous years left over palms on Palm or Passion Sunday. The palms are burnt and blessed. The priest or celebrant reminds us of our mortality. He states, “Remember from the dust you came and to the dust you shall return.” He can also call us to, “Repent and return to the Gospel.” Lent lasts for a period of forty (40) days until Easter Sunday or the day of Jesus’ Resurrection.

There are several things we, as Christians, are called to do during the Liturgical Season of Lent. They are: Fasting- Limiting the amount of food we consume. Only people above the age of Fourteen (14) are required to fast.   Abstinence- Means to do without. Catholics abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent. Almsgiving- Giving financial or material assistance to those who are less fortunate. The money we would normally spend on trivial things is used instead as a donation to a worthy cause or organization for those in need. Acts of Penance- Doing acts of Penance by putting our faith into action. (Corporal Works of Mercy)

V. Holy Week: (Begins the Monday before Easter Sunday) V. Holy Week: (Begins the Monday before Easter Sunday) **Our religious practices are intensified. **We abstain from meat the entire week as a form of sacrifice and penance.

Holy Thursday:   Jesus shares His last meal with His disciples (Last Supper). Catholics re-live this moment in Mass when they share in the Eucharist. Jesus breaks bread and drinks wine which is symbolic of His Body and Blood. He informs His disciples that one will betray Him and another will deny Him three times. Jesus goes to the Garden of Gethsemane in the Mount of Olives to pray if this cup has to spill over Him and He accepts His Father’s will. Jesus washes His disciples feet to teach them that He came to serve, not to be served. He calls them to do as He has done, to serve others.

  B. Good Friday: Jesus is arrested and taken before the Jewish leadership (Pharisees, Sanhedrin,the High Priest, Caiphas). Jesus is charged with blasphemy in the mock trial held where they ridiculed, spat, and beat Him. Jesus is taken before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea and procurator. Pilate does not find fault with Jesus and sends Him to the king of Judea, Herod the Great. Herod sends Jesus back to Pilate because Jesus is out of his jurisdiction. Pilate sends Jesus to be scourged thinking that it will suffice the crowd. Pilate washes his hands and gives the crowd gathered the choice of freeing one prisoner to show clemency on the eve of the Jewish Passover feast. The crowd selects Barabbas, a notorious criminal, to be released. Pilate asks the crowd what do they want him to do with Jesus, the Galilean, the people respond, “Crucify Him!”

Jesus is condemned to death, a decree that only Pilate has the authority to impose. Jesus’ journey to Golgotha (Place of the Skull) is a torturous one. He carries His cross, falls three times, meets His mother, meets the women of Jerusalem, His face is wiped by Veronica, He is stripped of His clothing, is nailed to the cross and dies. His body is taken down from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea, a leading Pharisee of the Sanhedrin, requests that Jesus’ body is placed in an unused tomb provided by him. The feast of the Sabbath was about to begin therefore, Jewish Law required that no work be done. Jesus’ body was placed on a slab in a tomb. The customary Jewish burial rituals of washing and anointing did not take place because of the Sabbath. The women would return to the tomb after the Sabbath to wash and anoint the body. When the women went to the tomb, they found the stone removed and Jesus’ body was not there.

C. Holy Saturday: (Easter Vigil) Focuses on the time Jesus spent in the tomb. The celebration of Easter begins after dark on Saturday night with the Easter Vigil. The Easter Vigil consists of four main parts:  1. The Service of Light- This ceremony reminds us that Jesus is the Light of the world. The Church lights are turned off and the fire is lit and blessed. Everyone is given a Paschal or Easter candle. The Easter candle is lit from the fire and the priest or celebrant processes into the darkened Church until all candles that are lit, light up the Church. Those gathered hear the Easter Proclamation, how Christ conquered the darkness of sin and death.

2) The Liturgy of the Word- Scripture readings are read from the Old and New Testament, recounting God’s plan of salvation, the story of God’s saving action for humans. Events such as: God’s promise to Abraham, the Exodus, the Mosaic covenant, and the establishment of the kingdom of Israel under king David. In the New Testament it involves the story of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection. 3) Liturgy of Baptism- The water in the baptismal font is blessed by the priest. The catechumens, those who have been preparing for entrance into the Christian community (R.C.I.A.) Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, come forward to be baptized and confirmed. Those gathered rejoice as they await the Resurrection and are reminded of their calling to imitate Christ.   4) The Liturgy of the Eucharist- We partake in the gifts of bread and wine offered to us in the Eucharist. We pray that the Body of Christ we receive may strengthen us in faith and allow us to live as Christians in our daily lives. We are sent forth by the priest at the end of Mass to go forth in peace to love and serve the Lord.