The importance of Lent in the Church year is emphasized by the fact that each day in this season has its own Mass and its proper stational church. In olden times, each day in Lent the Christian community in Rome would gather in the designated or stational church, to participate in the Mass celebrated by the Pope. These Masses are among the most ancient in the liturgy going back at least to the time of Pope Gregory the Great (604).
The custom of stational churches emphasized both the unity of the Christian community and the importance of Lent as a time of special prayer. It showed too that Lent is not an individualistic affair, but a corporate action that involves the whole community. The Church at Rome instinctively felt that solemn corporate offering of the Eucharist by the whole community, gathered around its chief shepherd, was the ideal way of observing Lent.
Lent in the Early Church
The first mention of a period of forty days occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicaea (325). Saint Athanasius often alluded to it in his letters. The Council of Laodiacaea (360) expressly commanded its observance. By the end of the fourth century the forty day fast was observed everywhere throughout the East and West.
The custom of fasting may have originated in the prescribed fast of candidates for Baptism; it is certain that the catechumenate had a great deal to do with the formation of Lent. The number forty was suggested by Our Lord’s forty-day fast in the desert. The forty days of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and the six Sundays before Easter are exempt from fasting.
Purification of the Spirit
Through Fasting and Almsgiving
From a sermon by Pope St. Leo the Great (400-461)
At every moment the earth is full of the mercy of God. Nature is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the seas and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator. The marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey Him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.
With the return of the Lenten season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the Paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.
The special note of the Paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in Holy Baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God’s adopted children. Initially, we are made new by the rebirth of Baptism. Yet we need to strive daily to progress in the spiritual journey on a path to holiness, to repair for the shortcomings of our mortal nature. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.
What Christians should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the Apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food, but above all by the renunciation of sin.
There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of giving alms to the poor. This action embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of all the faithful may be of equal value, even when their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth. The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only for the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.
Lord, bless the sinners who ask for your forgiveness. Pardon our sins and keep us faithful to the discipline of Lent for you do not want the sinner to die but to live with Christ.
Prayer: Bless the Lord, my soul,
and all my being bless His Holy Name.
Bless the Lord, my soul,
remember all His kindnesses,
for He pardons all my faults
