Lent

Lent. The fast of forty days before Easter. In the first three centuries the period of fasting did not normally exceed two or three days. The first mention of a period of forty days, probably of Lent, dates from AD 325, though the period was long differently reckoned in different Churches. In the W. it now extends from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday (excluding Sundays).

In the early centuries the observance of the fast was rigid: only one meal a day was allowed, and flesh-meat and fish, and in most places also eggs and lacticinia, were forbidden. In the W. the fast was gradually relaxed. In the RC Church in 1966 the obligation to fast was restricted to the first day of Lent and Good Friday. In the E. Church abstinence from meat, fish, eggs, and lacticinia is still widely practised.

In the W. Church the penitential character of Lent is reflected in various features of the liturgy, and there is a proper Mass for each day. In the E. Church the celebration of the Eucharist is confined to Saturdays and Sundays; on Wednesdays and Fridays the Liturgy of the Presanctified is used. The period is also observed as a time of penance by abstention from festivities, by almsgiving, and by devoting more time than usual to religious exercises. In modern times the W. Church has emphasized these aspects rather than physical fasting.