Forty Is Here! - Part 1

Technically, it’s “fortieth.” The Latin word is “Quadragesima,” the official name for the season that we know as “Lent.” Our English title for this season comes for a Germanic word meaning “spring.” That fact is a hint at the pre-Christian origins of some of our practices at this time of year—like fasting and abstinence.

Quadragesima/Lent begins toward the end of winter. In an earlier time (and in some countries, still), food supplies would have been running short. Until new crops and supplies could be harvested or collected, then, it became important for the stronger members of a community to restrict their own meals in order to provide for the children and the older people, so they could survive until better weather. So the healthy adults would cut back on their daily intake and even cut out meat entirely.

With the arrival of Christianity, some of these very practical practices were given a spiritual meaning. Early Christians celebrated two major feasts: the weekly feast of Sunday and the annual feast of Pascha (a name taken from the Jewish “Passover”), which was also know by the English title “Easter” (a name drawn from the name of a spring goddess or springtime itself).

Because Easter was the great annual celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, it soon became the time for new members to join the Church through the “rites of initiation”—what we know as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist. Preparation for initiation into the Church could take several years, ending with an intense period of several weeks called “election.” It was a time for those joining the Church to spend time in prayer and in fasting, which helped to concentrate their attention, and in a final set of formational sessions with leaders of the Christian community. The rest of the community prayed and fasted with them, renewing their own commitment to the Christian way of life.

How are you renewing your commitment to a Christian way of life?

Lenten Peace!
Gordon Truitt