Lent

The practice

Lent is the church's season of preparation for Easter. It runs for forty days, not counting Sundays, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week. The number recalls the forty days Jesus spent fasting in the wilderness before he began his public work.

How it is kept

Christians keep Lent by fasting or giving something up, by added prayer, and by giving to the poor. Roman Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays; Orthodox Christians keep a demanding fast from animal products; many Protestants choose a personal discipline for the season.

What it means

The season is a training in hunger of the right kind. By setting aside comforts, Christians make room to notice God and neighbour. Lent ends in the dark of Good Friday, and its discipline is what makes the feasting of Easter morning taste like resurrection.