Lent

They shall look on Him

whom they have pierced

Jn 19:37
What is Lent?
Lent is the forty day period before Easter,
excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash
Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday
(the day before Easter Sunday).
Why forty?
In Latin, quadragesima which means forty.
A Spanish derivation of this is cuaresma.
In Filipino, is known as kuwaresma.
Why forty?
The number forty is found frequently in scripture to signify either a time
of penitential preparation, or a time of punishment and affliction sent
from God.

The Old Testament is replete with examples of the use of forty:

God punished mankind by sending a flood over the earth that lasted forty
days and forty nights (Gen 7:12);
the people of Ninevah repented with forty days of fasting when Jonah
preached the destruction of Ninevah (Jonah 3:4);
Moses and the Hebrew people wandered in the desert for forty years (Num
14:34);
the Prophet Ezekiel had to lie on his right side for forty days as a figure of
the siege that was to bring Jerusalem to destruction (Ez 4:6);
the Prophet Elijah fasted and prayed on Mount Horeb for forty days (1 Kings
19:8); and finally,
Moses fasted forty days and forty nights while on Mt. Sinai (Ex 34:28).
Why forty?
In the New Testament
we find Our Lord
fasting and praying for
forty days and forty
nights in the desert in
preparation for the
public ministry that By the solemn forty days of
would end in his Lent the Church unites herself
redeeming death. each year to the mystery of
Jesus in the desert.
Catholic Catechism, #540
 Why do we use ash?
In the Old Testament ashes were used as a sign of
humility and mortality as well as sorrow and repentance
for sin.

Biblical basis:
In the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard
of the decree of King Ahasuerus to kill all of the Jewish people in the
Persian Empire (Esther 4:1).

Job repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6).

Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel wrote, "I turned

to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and
ashes" (Daniel 9:3).

Jesus made reference to ashes, "If the miracles worked in you had taken
place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes
long ago" (Matthew 11:21).
Why do we use ash?
Church Tradition:

The use of ashes is thought to have begun with Pope Gregory

the Great in the 6th century.

Receiving ashes on the head as a reminder of mortality and a

sign of sorrow for sin was a practice of the church by the 10th
century.

The Church adapted the use of ashes to mark the beginning of

the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality
and mourn for our sins.

The ashes are from burnt palm. In some places the ashes are put
on the forehead, in the sign of the cross, as a reminder of the
anointing with oil in baptism. In other places, ashes are
scattered on the top of the head.
What are we to do in this season?
First, we are ask to perform 3 things:
Prayer
Fasting
Alms-giving
What are we to do in this season?
It is highly
recommended
that we receive
the Sacrament
of Reconciliation
during this
season.
What are we to do in this season?
Secondly, we are called to share in the suffering of
Christ through our fasting and abstinence. The
Church requires us to fast and abstain on Ash
Wednesday and Good Friday. Abstinence every
Friday of the season of Lent.

Abstinence means not eating any kind of meat and

by-products, except eggs, milk and cheese. In modern
times, we can abstain by refraining from engaging
anything that is pleasurable to oneself.

Fasting, on the other hand, means eating one whole

meal in a day, without any snacks in between.
What are we to do in this season?
Also, we can do the following Catholic
practices during this season:
Way of the Cross
Open Retreat/ Recollection
Acts of Mercy (Corporal and Spiritual)
Bible reading
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Holy week procession
What are we to remember in this
season?
As we begin this holy season of Lent in
preparation for Easter, we must remember the
significance of the ashes we have received:
We mourn and do penance for our sins.
We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who
suffered, died, and rose for our salvation.
We renew the promises made at our baptism, when
we died to an old life and rose to a new life with
Christ.
Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world
passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God
now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.
Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God,
you despise nothing you have made
and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts,
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our brokenness,
may obtain of you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.