What Is Lent?

Lent is the six-week season that leads up to Easter. The Lenten season is one of the most significant times of the year for many Christians around the world, especially those within the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox churches, held at a comparable level of meaning to Advent, the arrival of Christmas.

This year, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023.

While Advent is a time of rejoiceful anticipation, Lent is commonly regarded as a period of sober observance. The Lenten season is a preparation for commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus at Easter. From its start date on Ash Wednesday until its conclusion on Easter Sunday, Lent has been a customary time for fasting, giving something up, or abstinence. Just as we thoughtfully prepare for events in our individual lives, such as weddings or birthdays, participating in Lent invites us to prepare our minds and hearts for glorifying Jesus’ life, death, and bodily resurrection.

Ash Wednesday starts Lent with a day of remembering our humanity, the reality of death, and the need for repentance. Churches symbolize this by putting ashes on foreheads, often in the shape of a cross.

What Is the Meaning of Lent?

Lent is meant to be a time of repentance. A humble understanding of knowing that we are all born with the curse of sin and that repentance is required. The purpose of Lent is to fully recognize our brokenness as humans and the need for a Savior. The time period of Lent allows us to reflect and open our hearts to Jesus. 

The main observation of Lent, fasting, is done to clear distractions and focus on Christ. Giving up something and replacing it with prayer and worship gives way to a deeper relationship with God.

"A more profound and closer communion with God is the reward of sacrifice and devotion.

 His love and one’s salvation are not reliant on denying oneself chocolate or beer, but idolatry stands in the way of worshiping the one true God. These 40 days are set aside to praise and worship the Lord; to read the Bible more, and to pray more often. Christians who observe Lent correctly anticipate deeper intimacy with the Lord, which is the blessing; they do not expect rewards such as more favorable answers to prayer or the resolution of health concerns, although many Christians have reported that, following Lent, they experience freedom from long-standing issues." ~ Excerpt by Candice Lucey

The 40 Days of Lent (not counting Sundays) honor the period of time similar to multiple stories in the Bible:

Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by the devil ( Matthew 4:1-2, Mark 1:12-13, Luke 4:1-2).

The Hebrew people wandered 40 years in the desert while traveling to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33)

Jonah's prophecy of judgment gave 40 days to the city of Nineveh in which to repent or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4).

Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18)

Elijah spent 40 days and nights walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8)

God sent 40 days and nights of rain in the great flood of Noah (Genesis 7:4)

What Is the History of Lent?

Christians honor the 40 days and nights following Christ’s baptism when He went into the wilderness without water and food and was tempted by Satan. During that time, Christ did what we do today when we fast: wrestle with temptation. This was not the first fast; biblical figures often fasted when petitioning God for something important. “So we fasted and implored our God [...], and he listened to our entreaty” (Ezra 8:23). The Israelites “mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword” (2 Samuel 1:12). 

Ft. Geoff Harvey describes the development of the 40-day fast in the early centuries of the Christian church, saying:

There is no evidence of a forty-day fast in the pre-Nicene period. The first explicit reference to such a fast is in Canon 5 of the Council of Nicaea (325), where it is treated as something familiar and established, not as an innovation on the part of the Council. By the end of the fourth century the observance of a forty-day fast seems to have been the standard practice in most parts of Christendom, but in some places – possibly including Rome – a shorter fast may have been kept.

This forty-day fast, found in evidence from the fourth century onwards, differs somewhat in scope and character from the one-week fast of the pre-Nicene period, and the precise relationship between the two is not easy to determine. It is, however, clear that whereas the pre-Nicene fast was specifically a Paschal observance in preparation for Easter, the forty-day fast was connected more particularly with the final preparation of the catechumens for the sacrament of Baptism or “illumination”. In the weeks before their baptismal initiation, the candidates underwent a period of intensive training, with daily instruction, special services, and fasting. The existing members of the church community were encouraged to share with the catechumens in this prayer and abstinence, thus renewing year by year their baptismal dedication to Christ. So the forty-day fast came to involve the whole body of the faithful, and not just those preparing for Baptism.

Who Celebrates Lent?

You may think that all Christians celebrate and traditionally observe the Lenten season, but that's actually not the case. While some Christians dutifully follow the customs of Lent, others do not participate in traditional Lenten practices such as strict fasting. Christians who honor and abide by the historical Lent tradition include Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Lutherans, and Methodists.

Suggestions for Lent 2023

Whether you attend a church that observes Lenten traditions or not, you can use Lent as a time to reflect, repent and grow. Here are three things you can do this Lenten season:

Repent of sin. Identify a sinful activity that keeps coming up in your life, something you know you need to work on. If you can't think of one, pray and ask God if there is any sin he wants you to know about. You can probably identify several sins, but choose one for now, so you don't lose focus during Lent.

 Confess that sin to God and ask for repentance. If you are in a church community with Christians you trust to hold you accountable, arrange to talk to each other about how you're doing. 

Set a prayer time. If you don't already, pick a time each day, or a day of the week, to spend time with God in prayer. There are many prayer guides or Christian contemplation techniques, such as lectio divina, that you can use to guide this time. If you want a Bible passage to meditate on during this time, consider reading the passion story or something else Lent-related.

Choose something to fast from. Fasting is traditionally associated with food, but you can fast from anything you ordinarily devote lots of time to.

 Some Christians will fast from video games, junk food, or non-Christian music during Lent. Use the time you normally spend on those activities in prayer or contemplation. If you have other Christians in your life that are interested in fasting, consider becoming each others' accountability partners. Remember that the important thing is not to make fasting an obligation but something that focuses your mind on God. Therefore, have grace with yourself and with others if you stop fasting or only do it for part of the Lenten season.  - Christianity.com