There Are 46 Days in Lent, but Only 40 Days of Sacrifice

c. 2007 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Forty-six. Count ’em. That is the number of days between Ash Wednesday and the start of Easter in the Western tradition of Lent. So why do Christian churches often refer to the 40 days of Lent, and what should followers who sacrifice a favorite food or activity during the […]

c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Forty-six. Count ’em.

That is the number of days between Ash Wednesday and the start of Easter in the Western tradition of Lent.


So why do Christian churches often refer to the 40 days of Lent, and what should followers who sacrifice a favorite food or activity during the penitential period do the other six days?

Joseph Ramsey, an eighth-grader at St. Christine Catholic Church in Euclid,Ohio, knows the score. He gave up going on his computer for Lent, a sacrifice because normally he is connected, “my God, like forever, till I go to sleep.”

But he’s able to use his computer on Sundays.

“Sunday’s a holy day so you get a break,” he says.

Not everyone chooses the same approach.

Some people said they have extended their sacrificial acts over the Sundays in Lent either because they were unaware of a church teaching that each Sunday is a celebration of the Resurrection and not a time for fasting or because their habits were formed by the tradition in their families or parishes.

The Lenten tradition of 40 days of self-sacrifice evolved early in church history as a means of spiritual preparation for Easter, following the biblical example of Jesus fasting and praying for 40 days in the desert after his baptism.

But never on Sunday, the Lord’s Day. As early as 325, church leaders decided Sunday should not be a day for fasting or other acts of penance, but a day of celebration.

The Rev. Ralph Wiatrowski, chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, said the church teaches Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection, a day for rejoicing, but members are welcome to continue their acts of self-sacrifice.

(David Briggs writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.)

KRE END BRIGGS

Editors: See main story, RNS-LENT-SACRIFICE, also transmitted March 26.

Donate to Support Independent Journalism!

Donate Now!