"Lent is a time of grace to the extent that we listen to Jesus, who speaks to us in the Word of God and through our brothers and sisters, especially in the faces and stories of those who need help." This is how Pope Francis defines on Twitter this period of preparation for the Easter party. But this 40-day liturgical calendar is not only followed by Catholics, but also by Orthodox, Coptic, and most Protestant churches.
The word Lent comes from the Late Latin quadragesima (fortieth) and indicates 40 in ordinal numbers. The date of this liturgical time changes every year, although it always oscillates between February 4 and March 10. This variation in days is due to the rule used to calculate the date of Holy Week, which is as follows: Easter Sunday is the day after the first full moon following the spring equinox (that is, , from the northern hemisphere).
Lent marks the countdown to Holy Week. It begins with Ash Wednesday, which this year is celebrated on February 22, and ends on Holy Thursday (April 6, 2023). There are 40 days between the two dates, not counting Sundays.
The Christian symbology of the 40 days recalls the experiences of the humanity of Jesus Christ that elapsed since the temptations in the desert. With fasting and prayer, he thus began his public ministry, facing the suffering that he was going to suffer until his death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. Continuing with the meaning of the figure, there are also the 40 years that the people of Israel spent in the desert or the 40 days of fasting of Moses on Sinai and Elijah on Horeb.
During Lent, practices such as prayer (to remember God in life), fasting (to abandon selfishness) or almsgiving (to increase solidarity with the poor and needy) are intensified to carry out the preparation for the meeting with Christ.
As Pope Francis points out in his message for Lent 2023, at this time "we are invited to 'climb a high mountain' together with Jesus, to live with the holy People of God a particular experience of asceticism", that is, the rules and practices aimed at the liberation of the spirit and the achievement of virtue. "Lenten asceticism is a commitment, always animated by grace, to overcome our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross", he adds.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
