50 Fun Facts About Lent

The forty days of Lent echo which episode from the gospels?

The same number appears in the fasts of Moses and Elijah. All three fasts are described as preparation for their work.

Where does the name of the season come from?

The word is lencten. It may refer to the lengthening of the days at that time of year.

Why are Sundays not counted as fasting days in Lent?

Every Sunday is treated as a small Easter. That is why the calendar count comes out at more than forty days.

In Roman Catholic practice, when does Lent end?

The Mass of the Lord's Supper marks the point. Many Protestant and Western Orthodox traditions run it to Holy Saturday evening instead.

What are the three traditional pillars of Lent?

They are meant to be taken up with renewed vigour for the season. Giving something up is a later popular addition.

What is the name for the practice of giving up a personal pleasure for the forty days?

It is traditional rather than obligatory. Chocolate, alcohol and social media are the modern favourites.

How many days before Easter does Ash Wednesday fall?

The gap is longer than forty because Sundays are not counted as fast days. Easter itself moves with the moon.

Where do the ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from?

Churches collect the previous year's palms and burn them. The cycle links one year's Holy Week to the next.

Which words are said as the ashes are imposed?

The alternative form is 'Repent, and believe in the Gospel'. Both are said while a cross is marked on the forehead.

What does the word behind Pancake Day's older English name mean?

Christians were shriven before the fast began. The pancakes are a practical side effect of the same custom.

Why are pancakes associated with the day before Lent?

Rich foods had to be cleared out before the fast. That is also where pancake races come from.

Which English town claims a pancake race dating from 1445?

A housewife supposedly ran to church still holding her pan. The race is still held there every year.

How many days before Easter Sunday does Pancake Day fall?

Easter is a moveable feast tied to the cycles of the moon, so the date shifts each year. Ash Wednesday follows the next day.

What does 'Mardi Gras' mean in French?

It refers to the last day of eating rich, fatty food. The fast begins the following morning.

What are the social organisations that stage New Orleans Mardi Gras parades called?

The first old-line one, the Mistick Krewe of Comus, formed in 1853. Each has its own parade, colours and traditions.

What does the word 'carnival' come from, in Late Latin?

The name announces the coming fast. The season runs through Shrove Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Which carnival is recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest in the world?

Venice was historically the most famous. The first modern parade in the Rhineland took place in Cologne in 1823.

Where did the first modern carnival parade take place, in 1823?

The Rhineland tradition dates from there. Rio's became the biggest a century later.

What does the Sunday before Easter commemorate?

All four gospels describe it. It opens Holy Week, the last week of Lent in the West.

What happens to the branches distributed on that Sunday?

Churches collect them the following Shrovetide. The ashes go on foreheads on the first day of Lent.

Which trees have been substituted for palms in colder climates?

Procuring real palms was impossible in northern Europe. In parts of Britain the day was once called Willow Sunday.

On which day does Great Lent begin in Eastern Christianity?

Ash Wednesday is not observed in the East at all. The season starts seven weeks before Pascha.

How does the Eastern count of the forty days differ from the Western one?

The arithmetic is the mirror image of the Western scheme. Fasting continues through Holy Week regardless.

Which foods are most commonly given up during Great Lent?

It is a considerably stricter rule than the Western one. Shellfish is usually still allowed.

What happens on Forgiveness Sunday in the Eastern churches?

Eastern Christians identify with Adam and Eve at a Forgiveness Vespers service. Great Lent begins the following morning.

When does the Eastern fast finally end?

Fasting runs right through Passion Week. The break comes early in the morning of Pascha.

Which two days are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics?

Abstinence alone applies on other Fridays. The obligation is much lighter than it was a century ago.

From what age does the law of abstinence bind Catholics?

Fasting binds from majority until the beginning of the sixtieth year. Abstinence starts earlier and never stops.

How much may a Catholic eat on a fast day?

The two smaller meals together must not equal a full one. Drinking water and medicine are never restricted.

Under Catholic abstinence rules, which of these counts as meat?

Birds count as meat because they are land animals. Fish, amphibians, reptiles and shellfish are all permitted.

Which animals are explicitly permitted on days of abstinence?

They fall into a different category from land animals. That is why Friday fish suppers exist at all.

In Western Christianity, on which days is abstinence observed beyond the start of Lent?

Many bishops' conferences allow another penance to be substituted. The rule still stands in principle.

What separates fasting from going without meat?

Abstinence generally means going without meat, but not dairy or fish. Fasting limits the amount eaten rather than the type.

Which fasts, besides Jesus's, does the season echo?

All three lasted forty days and nights. Each is described as preparation for the work that followed.

In many traditions, when does the season of Lent end?

Roman Catholic practice ends it earlier, on Holy Thursday evening. The difference is a matter of tradition rather than doctrine.

Which denominations observe Ash Wednesday?

Moravian, Methodist, Reformed and Nazarene churches are among those listed too. Eastern Christianity does not observe it at all.

Which practice happens in the last two weeks of Lent in some traditions?

It typically begins on the fifth Sunday, known as Judica or Passion Sunday. Purple cloth covers the images until Easter.

What is the last day before Lent called in the English tradition?

It is also known as Mardi Gras and Pancake Day. Traditional Christians were shriven that day.

Which season does the word behind 'Lent' describe?

It may also refer to the lengthening days. The timing follows the moveable date of Easter each year.

Which day marks the start of Holy Week?

In Western Christianity it opens the last week of Lent. Branches are blessed and carried in procession.

What does Quadragesima, the Latin name for the season, mean?

It gave rise to the French carême, Spanish cuaresma and Italian quaresima, while German and Czech simply call it the 'fasting period'.

Which word of praise is omitted entirely from Western liturgies throughout the season?

Before 1970 the Liturgy of the Hours swapped it for the Latin phrase Laus tibi, Domine, rex aeternae gloriae.

The midweek day of Holy Week, recalling Judas's bargain to betray Jesus, has which nickname?

The next day, Maundy Thursday, commemorates the Last Supper and opens the Easter Triduum.

Giraldus Cambrensis reported which animal's tail being eaten as 'fish' during the fast?

Thomas Aquinas was similarly lenient on sugared spices, classing comfits as digestive aids closer to medicine than food.

In the Lutheran Fastelavn tradition, children hit a barrel that represents fighting whom?

Once the barrel breaks, the children collect the sweets inside; they also carry Shrovetide rods decorated with sweets and little presents.

What does 'laetare', the name given to the season's fourth Sunday, mean in Latin?

Its lighter mood lets priests swap violet vestments for rose-coloured ones, and the same Sunday became Mothering Sunday in Britain.

Where is a dispensation granted when the first day of the fast coincides with Chinese New Year?

Ireland treats Saint Patrick's Day the same way, as a solemnity that lifts the Friday abstinence rule.

Which pope's 1966 constitution Paenitemini cut Catholic obligatory fasting to just two days?

Before the change, Catholics aged 21 to 59 were expected to fast on all forty days, with one full meal usually taken at noon.

Eastern Orthodox Christians describe the season with which two-word phrase?

The Greek word is charmolypê, and the Byzantine Rite's Great Lent is also called the 'Great 40 Days'.

How many continuous days does the Ethiopian Orthodox pre-Easter fast last?

It opens with the eight-day Fast of Heraclius, recalling the Byzantine emperor's vow before he set out to recover the True Cross.