The Season of Lent

You always have to learn something new.  In my case, I usually have to re-learn some things forgotten.  One of these is the Season of Lent.  It isn't that I'm a bad Catholic, I am, but that's not the reason I've forgotten the teachings.  I was a lazy Catholic as well.

One thing I have learned while posting a blog is how much I can learn while doing research.  I also have the opportunity to re-learn that which I was too lazy to learn the first time around.  It kind of goes with what I believe about this life:  If you don't learn what is set down for you in this life, you are doomed to repeat it until you do.  So, I present to you a "crib notes" post of the Season of Lent, in celebration of Easter (as I best understand it, anyway).

Lent; Quadragesima; Fortieth

The Christian season of Lent begins 40 days prior to Easter Sunday, not including Sundays in the count.  Ash Wednesday marks the season's first day of preparations for Easter which include fasting, penance, moderation, reflection and spiritual discipline.  This is meant to prepare the faithful to receive redemption through Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday.

On Ash Wednesday the foreheads of the faithful are marked with sacramental ashes, blessed by the Church, to humble our hearts and remind us of our limited time on this earth.  "Remember, man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Friday of Passion occurs the day before the start of Holy Week, the last week of Lent, sometimes referred to as Passion Week.  Friday of Passion remembers the solace and desolate emotional state of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Mary Magdalene.

Passion Week, or Holy Week,  is the week preceding Easter and begins with Palm Sunday.  It is a week set aside by Christian faithful to commemorate the Passion of Christ, Jesus who died on the cross to make amends and earn forgiveness for the sins of all mankind, rising from this death on Easter Sunday to give new life for all that would believe.  Passion Week should be a time of joy and celebration of God's love in sending His only begotten Son to die for our salvation.

Palm Sunday commemorates the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem when palm fronds were placed on His path.  Four days hence, on Holy Thursday, Christ would have the Last Supper with His disciples and just hours later Judas would betray Christ.  Holy Thursday is the oldest of the celebrations of Holy Week.  The next day, Good Friday, Jesus would be tried, tortured, and crucified.  The crucifixion would be carried out against the laws of Rome.  The crucifixion had to happen, as it was the will of God.  The Jews no more had a choice in the outcome than Christ had in dying.  It was all by the will of God, for the salvation of mankind.

Good Friday commemorates the Passion and Death of Christ by crucifixion.  It is a day of strict fasting by Catholics between the ages of 14 and 60.

Holy Saturday marks the final day of Lent, and of Passion Week.  Holy Saturday is the day the faithful prepare for Christ's Resurrection.  Also known as Joyous Saturday, it is believed by some that on this day Christ descended into Hell and performed the Harrowing of Hades, preaching to the imprisoned spirits and raising up to Paradise all those who had been held captive.

Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday are also known as the Paschal Triduum, the final three days of Lent beginning with the Last Supper until the Easter Vigil on the evening of Holy Saturday.

Christ's death saved mankind from sin and death.  Lent prepares the faithful to rise again with Him on Easter when His Resurrection reminds us of the promise of a new life on this world, and in the next.