Usually, this takes the form of abstaining from enjoying an unhealthy treat such as chocolate, meat, or alcohol. However, Lent is traditionally considered 40 days long, even though the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is actually 47 days. Sundays are always considered feast days in Christianity, as they are joyous, celebratory days used to remember the death and Resurrection of Christ. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews metro.
The reader put his finger on the point of confusion. Everybody knows that there are supposed to be 40 days in Lent , and yet if we count the days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday inclusive , we come up with 46 days. So how do we explain the discrepancy? The answer is that all of those 46 days are within the liturgical seasons of Lent and the Easter Triduum , but not all of them are part of the Lenten fast. And it's the Lenten fast that the Church has always referred to when She says that there are 40 days in Lent.
From the earliest centuries of the Church, Christians observed Lent by imitating Christ's 40 days in the desert. He fasted for 40 days, so did they. From the very earliest days, the Church has declared that Sunday, the day of Christ's Resurrection, is always a feast day, and therefore fasting on Sundays has always been forbidden. Since there are six Sundays in Lent, we have to subtract them from the days of fasting. Forty-six minus six is forty. Unlike earlier generations of Christians, though, most of us don't actually fast every day during Lent, in the sense of reducing the amount of food we eat and not eating between meals.
Still, when we give something up for Lent, that's a form of fasting. Counting every day from Ash Wednesday until Thursday afternoon of Holy Week the total is forty-four days. Removing the six Sundays drops the count to less than the ideal forty.
During the post-Vatican II reorganization of the Liturgical Year and calendar, there was diligence in obeying the instructions from Sacrosanctum Concilium Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy which called for returning the focus of Lent to original charisms and bringing it back to its simplicity. Some of the reforms were aimed at the lengths of the Pre-Lent and Lent seasons.
It was always extremely difficult to preach on it to the people just what meaning do the words Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima have? With the inclusion of Ash Wednesday through Saturday after Wednesday, the season of Lent will never equal exactly forty days, including Sundays or not.
The number of days is not really a deciding factor in determining if Sundays are included in Lent. Another source of confusion is the formerly stringent fast rules throughout all of Lent. In times past, fasting was everyday except Sundays. The Church never required fasting on Sundays, hence this former idea that Sundays were not included in Lent.
Above and beyond the works of abnegation, it calls for a greater openness to the word of God, a great zeal in attending the liturgy and performing works of charity, and a conversion cf. But this traditional view that Sunday should not be dominated by penance does play a large role in understanding the spirit of Sundays even in Lent.
Last week I explained how everyone is obligated to do penance, particularly during Lent. The difference between personal penance and the laws of abstinence and fasting is that practicing the former one is not bound by sin. The Church encourages us to have a spirit of conversion and to rend our hearts and pray, fast and give alms. Here is where the main question expands. Am I obligated to keep up all my penances even on Sunday? The final reason this question is raised about Sundays in Lent is recognizing the special character the Church has always held of Sundays.
Hence, Sunday must be considered the primordial feast day. Because of its special importance, the celebration of Sunday gives way only to Solemnities and Feasts of the Lord; indeed, the Sundays of Advent, Lent and Easter have precedence over all Feasts of the Lord and over all Solemnities. The Code of Canon Law provides our obligations for Sundays:. Sunday, on which by apostolic tradition the paschal mystery is celebrated, must be observed in the universal Church as the primordial holy day of obligation And finally, the passages of Catechism of the Catholic Church describes in more detail about Sundays:.
Since the beginning the Church has viewed Sundays as a day of celebration and remembrance of the Resurrection. Although the Lenten season — Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday — lasts 44 days, the number of days for penance and fasting before Easter is still Forty-four days, minus six Sundays, equals To make it simple, there is and has been a 40 day fast within Lent, whether you count Holy Week or Sundays.
Father Russo suggests Sundays be left to rest. In a very noisy world, we need time for quiet and reflection in order to hear the voice of God, who so often speaks to us in whispers," he said. The fruit of dismissing Sunday as a day of rest, in my opinion, is the unsettled hearts of many people in the world today.
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