As a Lutheran, I observe Lent. This is the 40 day period before Easter, excluding the Sundays. It is a time to feast on the Word of God.It is a time of preparation for the celebration of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends with Holy Week. It is penitential and reflective as I prayerfully consider the meaning of Christ's suffering and death for my salvation.
The word "Lent" comes from the middle English "lente" (springtime) and the old Anglo-Saxon word "lengten" (the time when days grow longer).
By the second century, Christians were preparing for the festival of Easter with a two-day fast. In the third century this was extended to all of Holy Week and, by the first Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., a forty-day period of fasting was being observed. The Lenten period always had, and still has, an emphasis on baptism, for it was the period when new Christians were prepared for their baptism at the Easter Vigil. It is a time for us to affirm who we are, and whose we are.
