Matthew 4:1-11: “ Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. When people give up something, they remember about how he resisted the temptation of the devil, whilst being very hungry. The reason why people do this is because Jesus went for 40 days without eating food in the desert. Other people may refrain from sweets, junk food, or in some cases, food altogether. Perhaps they will not go on a social media platform for the entirety of Lent. For instance, someone may choose to social media fast. Some people do what I like to call “freestyle” where they pick and choose what they want to give up for Lent. The rules of Lent may differ depending on the congregation or person. With that said, for 2022, here are some important Lenten dates.Įaster Sunday: April 17 What Are the Rules for Lent? If you want to follow a literal 40 days, and want to exclude Sundays from that, as per the Pope’s instructions from the 6 th century, then I also suggest getting out a calendar to make sure you use up all the literal 40 days. However, for this year, 2021, I can include the dates of some of the important Lenten days, so you can decide for yourself when you choose to end Lent. When Does Lent End?Īs described above, it really does depend on your denomination or convictions, and depending on how you count the 40 days of Lent. But should you feel a strong conviction to end on a particular day, plan accordingly.
I would advise the reader to follow their own church calendar (whether they end Lent on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, or Easter Sunday). Lent offers a time of reflection, where we can remember Jesus’ life on earth, his horrific death, and his glorious resurrection. We need to remember the core reasons why we celebrate Lent.
In reality, it doesn’t truly matter who chooses to end on what day. But depending if you start on Clean Monday, Ash Wednesday, or whether you do or don’t count Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday, you may find yourself ending on Good Friday or Easter. So that reduced the days of fasting to 34.Īgain, it depends on which denomination you ask, but traditionally, Lent ends on Holy Saturday. Usually, because Sundays tend to have a more celebratory tone in the Lenten season (think Palm Sunday). Gregory didn’t want people of the church fasting on Sundays. But then in the sixth century, a pope named St. Originally it was 40 days, per the request of the famous Council of Nicaea. So how did we end up with 46 days for Lent, then? The 40 days symbolizes the 40 days which Jesus spent in the desert. With the Sundays added in, it adds up to 46. After all, technically the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is 46 days instead of 40, so we may spend six of those days eating fasting foods or hopping onto social media, should we have chosen to stay off Facebook during that time.Īlthough Lent is “40 days” it’s not a literal 40 days. Many of us may even incorporate some “cheat days” where we splurge on the fasting items on Sundays. When we begin to crave sugar or meat, we may wonder when does Lent end this year? And why does it last for 40 days?īut why does Lent last 40 days (give or take six)? And when does it end on the Easter calendar? We’ll explore some of Lent’s origins and the reasoning behind the dates of this holiday. Many believe the time frame is based on the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by satan.We don’t often realize just how long Lent lasts until we start a fast during it. Lent is a period of time leading up to Easter marked by fasting and prayer to seek repentance. Lent begins Ash Wednesday and ends size weeks later before Easter Sunday.
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