Lent - Introduction
Lent is the forty-day season before Easter which was traditionally marked by fasting and prayer. In the Western church fasting has fallen out of favour, but many Christians will still choose a treat - often chocolate or alcohol - and abstain from this during Lent, donating the money saved to the Church or other charitable causes. There is no biblical mandate for Lent - it isn't a sacrament instructed by Jesus - but was developed by the early church to prepare Christians for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus through prayer, penitence, charitable giving and self denial. Although there is no biblical mandate for Lent there is considerable biblical references to forty days, including the time Jesus spent in the desert where he was tempted by Satan; the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God; the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb; the forty days and forty nights of rain during Noah's flood; the forty years the Hebrew people spent travelling to the Promised Land and the forty days the city of Nineveh had to repent in Jonah's prophecy of judgement. Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday. The actual dates vary each year as Easter is a "movable feast". In 2011 Ash Wednesday is 9th March and Holy Saturday is 23rd April. Holy Saturday is the day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Recently it has become increasingly common for people to mistakenly refer to this day as Easter Saturday. Easter Saturday is actually the Saturday after Easter Sunday - in 2011 Easter Saturday is 30th April. The six Sundays in Lent do not count as part of the 40 days and the fasting does not apply. This is because every Sunday is a mini-feast day in which Christ's Resurrection is celebrated. The word Lent is derived from the Old English word 'Lencten', which means 'spring'. Before the Middle Ages Lent was referred to by the Latin name quadragesima. This is translated from the Greek word tessarakoste which means, literally, the fortieth day before Easter. The Bishop's Lent Appeal
Transforming Communities
Luke 6:38 The Bishop of Lichfield's Lent Appeal provides an annual opportunity for churches and churchgoers to raise vital funds for essential caring projects here in Lichfield Diocese and across the world. This year, under the bannerTransforming Communities, the appeal is funding a number of pojects at home and overseas, including Street Pastors here in the north West Midlands; and a reconcilation scheme with First Nations Canadians in Saskatchewan. |