Ash Wednesday Marks the Beginning of Lent, the Period of Preparation for Easter

The forty-day fast in preparation for Easter begins on Ash Wednesday, which falls on February 18 this year. During this period of penance, Christians prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Easter, through deepening their faith, reconciliation, and renunciation.

The forty-day fast became common in the Christian world in the 4th century. The Church does not consider Sunday to be a day of fasting, as it is the day on which we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. Thus, since the 7th century, Lent has begun on Wednesday, meaning that the number of fasting days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday is exactly forty.

Until the 11th century, fasting was so strict that nothing was eaten until late afternoon, and meat, dairy products, and eggs were not consumed at all on fasting days. Today, the Church has relaxed the rules of fasting, but prescribes strict fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday: believers between the ages of 18 and 60 should eat only once and may take food twice more (in our country, this rule has become established in the form that they may eat only three times and eat their fill once). On these two days and on the other Fridays of Lent, the Church asks its members over the age of 14 not to eat meat as part of their Lenten discipline.

In the Greek Catholic Church, Lent begins on the Monday before Ash Wednesday.

However, it is important to note that abstaining from meat is not in itself considered an act of fasting. Simply put, for people in ancient and medieval times, eating meat was often a rare, festive occasion, so abstaining from it was indeed a suitable means of expressing sorrow and self-denial in that culture.

Continuing this line of thought, and adding that in Old Testament practice there could be many forms of individual sorrow, the question arises for modern people regarding the practice of external fasting: what is the value or custom in my life that I generally hold on to and would willingly give up as a sign of bowing before God?

Via katolikus.hu; Featured image: Pixabay

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