the season of 40 days which starts on Ash Wednesday and ends with the celebration of the Easter Vigil on Easter morning During this is a time of fasting (optional) and penance Usually people also give up something so that they can grow closer to God as they abstain from whatever they have given up (BCP 166 167, 218 219)
A period of forty days of fasting, reflection, and preparation for Easter It recalls the time Christ spent, shortly before beginning his public ministry, overcoming temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4: 2, Mark 1: 13, Luke 4: 2)
A six week period extending from Ash Wednesday to sundown on Holy Thursday It is a retreat time in preparation for the Easter Triduum
The 40 days, from Ash Wednesday to Holy Week Represents the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness
A fast of forty days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing till Easter, observed by some Christian churches as commemorative of the fast of our Savior
A six-week period extending from Ash Wednesday to sundown on Holy Thursday It is a retreat time in preparation for the Easter Triduum
In some branches of Christianity, a period of fasting just before easter See Pentecost
(Gr Sarakosti) The fifty-days fast preceeding Easter for the spiritual preparation of the faithful to observe the feast of the Ressurection Besides Lent, the Orthodox Church has assigned a number of other fasting periods (see abstinence and special section of this book)
the period of fasting, sobriety and meditation following Ash Wednesday; in the past Lent was widely associated with denial or "giving something up for Lent ": "I gave up smoking for Lent " Or, "I gave up desserts for Lent " The season recalls the period of Christ's fasting and meditation in the wilderness, so traditionally is for a period of forty days--from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday The term is derived from an old word for 'lengthen' which referred to the lengthening days of early sping
Period of fasting before Easter starting on Ash Wednesday From Old English lencten (= lengthen), hence spring, when the days lengthen March was called lencten monath, > lencten faesten > Lent
From an Anglo-Saxon word, lencten, meaning, "spring," the time of the lengthening of the days Lent is one of the six seasons of the church year and is the forty-day period beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) The period is actually 46 days, but since Sundays are feast days, they are never included in the count Lent is intended to be a period of preparation and penitence marked by fasting, meditation and sobriety Lent is widely associated with denial -- "giving something up for Lent "
The 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter a season of penitence and prayer in preparation for the Resurrection of our Lord