It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry.

[22] The purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for Easter through prayer, mortifying the flesh, repentance of sins, almsgiving, simple living, and self-denial.

Old Germanic type *laŋgito- , *laŋgiton-) seems to be a derivative of *laŋgo- long […] and may possibly have reference to the lengthening of the days as characterizing the season of spring'.

[1]Examples in non-Latin-based languages are: Albanian kreshma, Basque garizuma, Croatian korizma, Irish and Scottish Gaelic carghas, Swahili kwaresima, Filipino kuwaresma, and Welsh c(a)rawys.

Thus it is called "fasting period" in Czech (postní doba), German (Fastenzeit), and Norwegian (fasten/fastetid), and it is called "The Great Fast" in Arabic (الصوم الكبير – al-ṣawm al-kabīr), Syriac (ܨܘܡܐ ܪܒܐ ṣawmā rabbā), Polish (wielki post), Russian (великий пост – vieliki post), Ukrainian (великий піст – velyky pist), and Hungarian (nagyböjt).

[14][37] In the Old Testament, the prophet Moses went into the mountains for 40 days and 40 nights to pray and fast "without eating bread or drinking water" before receiving the Ten Commandments (cf.

[37] The early Christian bishop Maximus of Turin wrote that as Elijah by "fasting continuously for a period of forty days and forty nights...merited to extinguish the prolonged and severe dryness of the whole world, doing so with a stream of rain and steeping the earth's dryness with the bounty of water from heaven", in the Christian tradition, this is interpreted as being "a figure of ourselves so that we, also fasting a total of forty days, might merit the spiritual rain of baptism...[and] a shower from heaven might pour down upon the dry earth of the whole world, and the abundant waters of the saving bath might saturate the lengthy drought of the Gentiles.

[38] For the meal of the day consumed after sunset (when the fast is broken), the Apostolic Constitutions permit the consumption of "bread, vegetables, salt and water, in Lent" with "flesh and wine being forbidden.

"[40] Three main prevailing theories exist on the finalization of Lent as a 40-day fast prior to the arrival of Easter Sunday: First, that it was created at the Council of Nicea in 325 and there is no earlier incarnation.

Until this rite was revised by Saint Charles Borromeo, the liturgy of the First Sunday of Lent was festive, celebrated in white vestments with chanting of the Gloria in Excelsis and Alleluia, in line with the recommendation in Matthew 6:16, "When you fast, do not look gloomy.

"[48][49][50] During Lent, the Church discourages marriages, but couples may marry if they forgo the special blessings of the Nuptial Mass and limit social celebrations.

[64] Quartodeciman Christians end the fast of Lent on the Paschal full moon of the Hebrew calendar, in order to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread beginning on the 14th of Nisan, whence the name derives.

[68] The pre-Lenten period concludes with the opportunity for a last round of merrymaking, known as Carnival, Shrovetide, or Fastelavn, before the start of the sombre Lenten season.

"[69] In English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada, the day before Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday, which is derived from the word shrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament of confession to; to absolve.

[32] For Catholics, Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans, United Protestants, and Lent-observing Methodists and Reformed Christians, the Lenten penitential season ends after the Easter Vigil Mass or Sunrise service.

At the end of the service, the priest blesses cheese, eggs, flesh meats, and other items that the faithful have been abstaining from for the duration of Great Lent.

[86][87] Christians of various traditions, including Catholics and Methodists, have voluntarily undertaken the Daniel Fast during the season of Lent, in which one abstains from "meat, fish, egg, dairy products, chocolates, ice creams, sugar, sweets, wine or any alcoholic beverages" (cf.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's practices require a fasting period that is a great deal longer, and there is some dispute over whether fish consumption is permissible.

In the traditions of Lent-observing Western Christian churches, abstinence from eating some form of food (generally meat, but not dairy or fish products) is distinguished from fasting.

[107] The 1917 Code of Canon Law allowed the full meal on a fasting day to be taken at any hour and to be supplemented by two collations, with the quantity and the quality of the food to be determined by local custom.

[113] The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales made a similar ruling in 1985[114] but decided in 2011 to restore the traditional year-round Friday abstinence from meat.

[119] In Hong Kong, where Ash Wednesday often coincides with Chinese New Year celebrations, a dispensation is then granted from the laws of fast and abstinence, and the faithful are exhorted to use some other form of penance.

[25] For example, the Reformed Church in America, a Mainline Protestant denomination, describes the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, as a day "focused on prayer, fasting, and repentance," encouraging members to "observe a Holy Lent, by self-examination and penitence, by prayer and fasting, by practicing works of love, and by reading and reflecting on God's Holy Word.

"[133] Among Reformed Christians who do observe Lent, Good Friday, which is towards the end of the Lenten season, is an important day of communal fasting, as it is for many Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Methodists.

[citation needed] Converts to Christianity followed a strict catechumenate or period of instruction and discipline prior to receiving the sacrament of baptism, sometimes lasting up to three years.

[154][155] Some Mass compositions were written especially for Lent, such as Michael Haydn's Missa tempore Quadragesimae, without Gloria, in D minor, and for modest forces, only choir and organ.

Until the Ambrosian Rite was revised by Saint Charles Borromeo the liturgy of the First Sunday of Lent was festive, celebrated with chanting of the Gloria and Alleluia, in line with the recommendation in Matthew 6:16, "When you fast, do not look gloomy.

this practice is consistently observed in Goa, Malta, Peru, the Philippines (the latter only for the entire duration of Holy Week, with the exception of processional images), and in the Spanish cities: Barcelona, Málaga, and Seville.

Within many churches in the United States of America, after the Second Vatican Council, the need to veil statues or crosses became increasingly irrelevant and was deemed unnecessary by some diocesan bishops.

In 1970, the name "Passiontide" was dropped, although the last two weeks are markedly different from the rest of the season, and continuance of the tradition of veiling images is left to the discretion of a country's conference of bishops or even to individual parishes as pastors may wish.