The Lent Season: A closer Look

The Lent Season: A closer Look

YEMI OLAKITAN

The Lent season is a period of fasting, prayers, alms giving, repentance and sober reflections. Its origin is traced to the Roman Catholic Church reputed to be the earliest denomination in Christendom today. It is also said to be one of the oldest Christian practices, particularly among the orthodox denominations. Many orthodox churches such as the Catholic Church, Methodist Church, and the Anglican Church observe the Lent season. However, the Pentecostal and some Protestant churches do not observe the Lent season. Yemi Olakitan, Senior Correspondent goes on a fact-finding mission to unravel the significance of the Lent season in a Christian life. Is it still relevant today?  Should we observe it and much more importantly does it have a biblical backing?

The lent season is a solemn period of fasting, sanctification, rededication and prayer in which Christians spend time in supplications and religious devotions.  According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, ‘‘it is a time of penitential preparation for Easter. In Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, 6¹/₂ weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-day fast in imitation of Jesus Christ’s fasting in the wilderness. In Eastern churches Lent begins on the Monday of the seventh week before Easter and ends on the Friday that is 9 days before Easter. This 40-day “Great Lent” includes Saturdays and Sundays as relaxed fast days. Since apostolic times a period of preparation and fasting has been observed before the Easter festival. During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or give up certain types of luxuries as a form of atonement.’’  

In a chat with Father Julius Olaitan of our Lady Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Lekki, Ajah, Lagos, he said, the Lent season was introduced during the 4^th century. According to him, before that time, the Christian church was practicing their faith in hiding as they were under very heavy persecution from the Roman Empire. Christians were being thrown to the lions, and burnt at the stake for professing Christianity. However, a time came when the Lord answered the prayer of the saints and granted freedom of worship in Rome. This gave the early Church the opportunity to practice Christianity publicly without persecution or fear of harassment. It was also a time of great revelations and growth for the body of Christ.  It was during this period that the Lent season began.  He said, ‘‘Jesus himself fasted for 40-days and 40 nights and in many instances, he commanded us to fast, saying, this goeth not out except by prayer and fasting.  The Lent season is a way of following his example. We followed Jesus example by fasting the same number of days he fasted, which was 40 days.  The number 40 is also very significant from the stand point of the scriptures. The number forty has many Biblical references,’’ he said.

Speaking further, Father Olaitan gave many references to the importance of forty days in scriptures, namely:   the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18); the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount (1 Kings 19:8); the forty days and nights God sent rain in the great flood of Noah (Genesis 7:4); the forty years the Hebrew people wandered in the desert while traveling to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33); the forty days Jonah gave in his prophecy of judgment to the city of Nineveh in which to repent or be destroyed (Jonah 3:4).  Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where He fasted for forty days, and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2, Mark 1:12–13, Luke 4:1–2). He overcame all three of Satan's temptations by citing scripture to the devil, at which point the devil left him, angels ministered to Jesus, and He began His ministry. Jesus further said that His disciples should fast "when the bridegroom shall be taken from them" (Matthew 9:15) since, presumably, the Apostles fasted as they mourned the death of Jesus; Christians have traditionally fasted during the annual commemoration of his burial.

Father Olaitan further said that this period prepares the body of Christ for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. It commemorates it and allows the believer to know him more intimately therefore deepening his or her spiritual experience. ‘‘The Ash Wednesday which was observed on March 5^th, this year is a reminder that we were created from dust and we will one day return to dust. This a symbolic reminder of the vanity of materialism and the love of money that pervades our society today, If we will just remember that we will one day return to dust. This will help our relationship with God,’’ he said.

Reacting to other Christian denominations who do not observe the Lent season, Father Olaitan says that Christianity is not by compulsion.  ‘‘We also fast throughout the year as they do but in addition, the Catholic Church sets this period aside to help believers get closer to their creator. We observe four cardinal points closely during this period; fasting, prayer, abstinence and alms giving, ’’ he said.

Throughout Christendom, some adherents mark the season with an abstention from meat. In some Catholic countries, grand religious processions and cultural customs are observed, and the faithful attempt to visit seven churches during the Holy Week in honor of Jesus Christ heading to Calvary. This event is also observed by Christians in the Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist Churches.

In another chat with Anyahun Flaviana, a Catholic school teacher, she said, I grew up as a Catholic and from childhood I knew the significance of Lent season. It is a period of fasting and prayers. The Lent season is a very important one because it is a period of sober reflections where you get closer to God.’’ Speaking further, she said, When Jonah was called by God to preach to the people of Nineveh, he initially refused. However, when he finally agreed and did the will of God, The people repented and pour ashes on themselves and wore sack clothes as a sign of repentance. This is the origin of the Ash Wednesday; it is a sign of repentance and sober reflections. The priest use burnt palm leaves to make the sign of the cross on the believers’ foreheads. It is a reminder that we will all one day return to dust. Dust to Dust is the destiny of every human being. This should keep us focused on God and eternity with him who is far more important than our earthly pursuits,’’ she said.  

She further explained that the Lent season follows the example of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke and John, when Jesus spent fourty days and fourty nights fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he was tempted by the Devil.   The traditional purpose of Lent is for the believer to get close to God through prayer,  repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial. Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of the Holy Week, marking the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the tradition which includes  Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday, and the  joyful celebration on  Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. ‘‘It’s so important because if the Church does not declare it, many Christians will not even bother to fast,’’ she said.

 In current Western societies the practice is considerably relaxed, though in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches abstinence from all animal products including fish, eggs, fowl and milk sourced from animal. In the Roman Catholic Church for the duration of Lent, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday it is required to eat less than is customary for the day.

However the Pentecostal expressed a different opinion, in a chat with a Pentecostal cleric, Pastor Emmanuel Onoja of Hope of Life Evangelical Church, he said, the lent season is good. ‘in my own opinion, the person we are following is our Lord Jesus Christ  did not made it mandatory for Christians to observe the Lent season. He made the communion compulsory, saying do this in remembrance of me. He did not however declare a Lent season although our Lord Jesus commanded us to fast and pray. We cannot condemn or discourage those who observe the Lent season. Today, some churches fast for 100 days, some for 20 days, some 50 days and so on. The importance thing is to fast and pray, the duration does not matter.  The duration as declared by the Catholic Church in the Lent season should not be binding on all Christian denominations.’’ He said.

A deaconess of the Christ Embassy, Ms Uche Ikej said the aim of fasting is to develop ourselves spiritually and not just for our prayers to be answered. We do not need to put a time for fasting. We should fast all the time since Christ commanded us to fast. He did not fix a particular time. This is the way Christians should go about it. They should fast regularly and not just when the Pastor tells them to or when the church declares a season for it.’’ She said.   
A cleric of the Celestial Church of Christ, Superior Evangelist Peters Gandao said fasting is meant to strengthen the believers. According to him, the Celestial church of Christ fast for seven days during the Lent season; during the period of Easter. ‘‘There is no place from Genesis to revelation where the Bible commanded us to fast for forty days.  We in the Celestial Church of Christ fast all the time, not only during the Lent season. I started the work of the Lord at the age of 19 and I can tell you that the Lord has been answering our prayers. Any Pastor or Christian who want to develop himself spiritually must fast and pray regularly not only during the Lent season otherwise he will become a powerless Christian. Those who are doing it, do it as a sign of empathy to our Lord and we cannot condemn them. They are also developing themselves ‘’ he said.