The Origins of Lent

Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent which lasts 40 days and ends on Maundy Thursday (although this varies in different cultures). During this periods, Christians cut out certain food items and read selected Bible verses and prayers each day.

Today, though, is a day of celebrations in many parts of the world. The carnival celebrations, which in many cultures traditionally precede Lent, are seen as a last opportunity for excess before Lent begins. Some of the most famous are the Carnival of Barranquilla, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Carnival of Venice, Cologne Carnival, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the Rio de Janeiro carnival, and the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. Mardi Gras means “fat Tuesday”. In many European countries and in US it is marked as Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday. The expression “Shrove Tuesday” comes from the word shrive, meaning “absolve”.

The English word Lent is a shortened form of the Old English word lencten, meaning “spring season”, as its Dutch language equivalent lente (Old Dutch lentin) still does today. A dated term in German, Lenz (Old High German lenzo), is also related. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘the shorter form may possibly have reference to the lengthening of the days as characterizing the season of spring’.

Despite the existence of many ancient fasting pre Spring traditions that predate Easter, the origin of Lent is not certain. There are three prevailing theories: –

1) It was created at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE and there is no earlier incarnation.

2) It is based on an Egyptian post-theophany (meaning after the appearance of a deity – the manifestation of a deity in an observable way) fast.

3) It is a combination of origins syncretized around the Council of Nicea.

Of the three, it seems likely that the third is the most probable, since a lot of early Christian traditions were adapted from pre Christianity.