Once again the Season of Lent is upon us. The word
Lent comes from the Old English “Lencten” which in turn
derives from the German “Lenz”, meaning Spring or the
time when days get longer. The Latin term, for Lent is
“Quadragesima,” meaning “forty days” or more literally, The
Fortieth Day.” The Latin term is more apt as it describes
the length of time of the Season which begins with Ash
Wednesday and ends with the Chrism Mass on Holy
Thursday. (Which is in truth forty-two days).
The observing of forty days of penance goes back to the
early days of the Church. St. Jerome makes reference to
Lent, and St. Leo even goes so far as to say that it is of
Apostolic origin. The span of forty days is one that
reoccurs a number of times in Sacred Scripture. The rains
of the Great Flood lasted forty days and nights. Elijah’s
trek to Mount Horeb was likewise forty days; and of
course, our Lord spent forty days in the desert before
beginning His public ministry. For us, these forty days are
to be a period of preparation, penance and purification.
The imposition of Ashes is one of the oldest penitential
practices we have, dating back to Old Testament times. It
is a reminder of the transitory nature of our lives in the
body. This is emphasized by one of the options for the
priest imposing the Ashes to say: “Remember you are dust
and to dust you will return.” If that were the end of the
matter we could be without hope and all the penance and
purification would be pointless. However the purpose of
Lent is not to prepare us for the end. Lent is to help us
prepare for the New Beginning that is offered to us by
Christ’s Death and Resurrection. This is reflected in the
other option the priest has in imposing Ashes: “Turn away
from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” That particular
formula for the imposition of Ashes describes not only what
our Lent should be like but indeed, our entire lives.