So when does Lent begin this year?

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Timbothefiveth

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I’m having trouble getting a clear answer, and I don’t want to miss it. When exactly does Lent begin this year?
 
Ash Wednesday is February 17, 2010. Am I missing something? any calendar issued by any Catholic church, an almost all secular calendars, as well as diocesan and parish websites have this information, not exactly a secret. did you call their parish, don’t they have the information about dates, services etc on their website or bulletin?
 
puzzleannie said:
Ash Wednesday is February 17, 2010. Am I missing something? any calendar issued by any Catholic church, an almost all secular calendars, as well as diocesan and parish websites have this information, not exactly a secret. did you call their parish, don’t they have the information about dates, services etc on their website or bulletin?
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Please be a little more charitable. 🙂
 
[edited]

Ash Wednesday (for Western Christians) falls on 17 February this year.

Pure Monday (for Eastern Christians, including Orthodox and Eastern Catholics) falls on 15 February.
 
Ok, this may be a dumb question but is there something wrong with the calendar? I thought Ash Wed. always came 40 days before Easter but according to my calendar its 46 this year.
 
Rachel84 said:
Ok, this may be a dumb question but is there something wrong with the calendar? I thought Ash Wed. always came 40 days before Easter but according to my calendar its 46 this year.
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Sundays don’t count as they are always considered mini Easters. So if you go back and count and skip all the Sundays, then you will end up with 40. 😃
 
KarenElissa said:
Sundays don’t count as they are always considered mini Easters. So if you go back and count and skip all the Sundays, then you will end up with 40. 😃
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This is one of the greatest most well know Catholic urban legends.

jimmyakin.org/2004/03/sundays_in_lent_1.html

jimmyakin.org/2004/03/sundays_in_lent_4.html

he limits of the season of Lent are defined as follows:

"Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive [General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar 28].

This means, as we saw below, that Lent includes forty four days of penance. If you want to have the number of “penitential days between Ash Wednesday and Easter,” then the total will be forty five because Good Friday is also a day of penance under Canon 1250. (Holy Saturday, while it is a day on which fasting is recommended, is not technically a days of penance in the law.)
 
I was at Mass today at the Cathedral and the priest ended saying “Remember, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, a Holy Day of Obligation.” :dts: 🙂
 
it has Begun Feb 17, 2010 Lent starts during Ash Wenesday a time of reflection and thinking of the sins we made against God the Father the Lent will end of April 4, 2010 (Easter Sunday)
 
Wait I’m confused. Sundays are part of Lent, right… but are they fasting days? Do we fast on the Lord’s day during Lent?

Or rather, if part of my Lent is to give up facebook, or read the bible 20 min a day, would I be able to get on facebook or not read the Bible on Sunday and still participate fully in Lent?
 
Jerok said:
Wait I’m confused. Sundays are part of Lent, right… but are they fasting days? Do we fast on the Lord’s day during Lent?

Or rather, if part of my Lent is to give up facebook, or read the bible 20 min a day, would I be able to get on facebook or not read the Bible on Sunday and still participate fully in Lent?
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Sundays are not part of Lent. Some will insist that Lent was never considered to be 40 days and that Sundays are a part of Lent. They may also tell you that Lent ends at midnight before Holy Thursday. This is also incorrect. Yes, there is a 3 day “season” called the Tridium. This was introduced after VII. For centuries previous to VII Lent began on Ash Wednesday and ended at midnight on Holy Saturday and, excluding all the Sundays, it was 40 days long - corresponding to the 40 days Jesus was in the desert prior to beginning his public ministry.

Since the introduction of the Tridium - which finishes Lent, there has been total confusion regarding (a) how long Lent is and (b) whether Sundays are included.

Sunday is the Day of the Lord and we are never required to fast or abstain on a Sunday.

Of course, with the drastic lessening of the rules of fasting and abstinence, there is further confusion, since most of our Lenten days require neither.

For those who contend that the Tridium is not a part of Lent, why are we told, each year that the only two days on which both fasting and abstinence are required in Lent are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday if Good Friday is not part of Lent?
 
Joan_M said:
Sundays are not part of Lent.
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Then why are these Sundays called “DOMINICA I IN QUADRAGESIMA”, “DOMINICA II IN QUADRAGESIMA”, etc. They’re Sundays in Lent. Are there no Sundays in Advent either?!
 
japhy said:
Then why are these Sundays called “DOMINICA I IN QUADRAGESIMA”, “DOMINICA II IN QUADRAGESIMA”, etc. They’re Sundays in Lent. Are there no Sundays in Advent either?!
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Yes, the Sundays are in Lent. Please do not be disingenuous. It is not pleasing.

Sundays have never been a part of the penitential season, since Sunday is the Lord’s Day and is always a celebration. Even in the time of the most severe fasting, when milk, butter, cheese and eggs were also a part of abstinence and also limited to the one full meal in fasting, (which my mother told me about) Sundays were not included.

That is why you do not include the Sundays when counting the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. You have six weeks of six days each plus Ash Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which together make up 40 days.
 
As to when Lent ends, Paschale Solemnitatis states this:
The lenten season lasts until the Thursday of this week. The Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, is continued through Good Friday with the celebration of the passion of the Lord and Holy Saturday, to reach its summit in the Easter Vigil, and concludes with Vespers of Easter Sunday.
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Good Friday’s observance of Fasting and Abstinence does not mean that it falls during Lent. On Holy Thursday, Lent is over. However, the Church requires that we fast and abstain, not because of a Lenten regimen, but, because:
  1. On this day, when “Christ our passover was sacrificed,” [63] the Church mediates on the passion of her Lord and Spouse, adores the cross, commemorates her origin from the side of Christ asleep on the cross, and intercedes for the salvation of the whole world.
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  1. On this day, in accordance with ancient tradition, the Church does not celebrate the Eucharist: Holy Communion is distributed to the faithful during the celebration of the Lord’s passion alone, though it may be brought at any time of the day to the sick who cannot take part in the celebration. [64]
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  1. Good Friday is a day of penance to be observed as an obligation in the whole Church, and indeed, through abstinence and fasting. [65]
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I hope this helps.
 
Joan_M said:
Sundays are not part of Lent. Some will insist that Lent was never considered to be 40 days and that Sundays are a part of Lent. They ?
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yes Sundays are part of Lent, that is why they are called 1st 2d 3rd Sunday of Lent and so forth. No the discipline of fast and abstinence does not apply on Sunday, but they are still part of Lent which ends with the commencement of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Tridduum. The rules for Good Friday are fast and abstinence. Holy Saturday is an anticipatory, preparitory fast, primarily for the catechumens and all those in support of them, rather than a penitential fast. and yes the Triduum is 3 days, evening Holy Thursday to evening of Good Friday, comprising all the events of the Paschal sacrifice, from the passover meal, to the agony, arrest, passion, crucifixion, and entombment, accomplished before sundown, because the Sabbath was beginning. Sundown Good Friday to Sundown Holy Saturday, the day of waiting, the second day. The Easter Vigil commences the third day, when the resurrection and appearances to the disciples are accomplished, and when today we rejoice. It ends at vespers on Easter Sunday, “stay with us Lord, because the day is far spent.”
 
Joan_M said:
Yes, the Sundays are in Lent. Please do not be disingenuous. It is not pleasing.

Sundays have never been a part of the penitential season, since Sunday is the Lord’s Day and is always a celebration. Even in the time of the most severe fasting, when milk, butter, cheese and eggs were also a part of abstinence and also limited to the one full meal in fasting, (which my mother told me about) Sundays were not included.

That is why you do not include the Sundays when counting the 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. You have six weeks of six days each plus Ash Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which together make up 40 days.
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"Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive [General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar 28].

This means, as we saw below, that Lent includes forty four days of penance. If you want to have the number of “penitential days between Ash Wednesday and Easter,” then the total will be forty five because Good Friday is also a day of penance under Canon 1250. (Holy Saturday, while it is a day on which fasting is recommended, is not technically a days of penance in the law.)
 
kage_ar said:
"Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord’s Supper exclusive [General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar 28].

This means, as we saw below, that Lent includes forty four days of penance. If you want to have the number of “penitential days between Ash Wednesday and Easter,” then the total will be forty five because Good Friday is also a day of penance under Canon 1250. (Holy Saturday, while it is a day on which fasting is recommended, is not technically a days of penance in the law.)
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As I have said before (not just in this thread), for hundreds of years the 40 days of Lent were made up of the six weeks of Monday through Saturday plus the four days of Ash Wednesday through Saturday - 6 X 6 = 36 + 4 = 40. Sundays were not counted. What has caused all this confusion is naming the 3 days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday a separate “season”, so that we end up with 37 days if we stop at Spy Wednesday, and therefore, start adding in the Sundays, then ending up with 43 days…

Certainly, the ceremonies of the Tridium are the climax of the Lenten Season and the introduction to Easter Sunday, but Lent ends at the moment of Resurrection. While Holy Thursday is glorious with the institution of the Eucharist, we must not miss the fact that it is also the start of the Passion, since Jesus was arrested that night.
 
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