Some Questions And Answers About Lent

Below is an educational piece on the meaning of Lent that may be reprinted in the church bulletin or other local publication. Adapt it to meet the needs of your congregation. What is the Lenten season, and why is it set apart? It is a period of six weeks preceding the anniversary of the Savior's death, and is set apart as a special season of fasting, penitence, and prayer. Why is it called Lent? Because it always comes in the spring of the year, and the old Saxon word lent means "spring. " With what remarkable event in Jesus' life does the Lenten season correspond? The forty days which He spent fasting in the wilderness. Why is the first day of Lent called Ash Wednesday? It is called so from the custom that prevailed in the early church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents the first day of Lent in token of humiliation and sorrow for sin. Are there any examples of this custom mentioned in the Bible? Yes, the example of Daniel and of David and the people of Nineveh…