Starting on Ash Wednesday, more than 1 billion
Christians around the world will enter the
season of Lent, a time of solemn spiritual
preparation for Easter, the culmination of the
church's calendar.
Despite its ancient history (Lent became
standardised in the Catholic Church around the
year 325) myths about Lenten traditions
abound. Here are five of the most common, as
well as one fact that may surprise you.
Myth 1: Lent is 40 days
Counting from Ash Wednesday to Holy
Saturday, there are 46 days.
Then why do we always refer to the 40 days of
Lent? The 40 days of fasting during Lent do not
include Sundays.
Every Sunday Christians commemorate the day
of Christ's resurrection, thus, Sunday by its
nature is a day of joy and celebration. The
Sundays during Lent are not prescribed days of
fasting and abstinence, so meat is permitted.
Myth 2: Lent ends on Easter Sunday
Lent ends on Holy Thursday.
The season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday,
February 18 this year, and ends on Holy
Thursday, April 2, which commemorates Jesus'
last supper with his disciples.
As stated in the Catholic Church's "General
Norms for the Liturgical Year and the
Calendar," the Easter triduum (Latin for "three
days" begins with the evening Mass of the
Lord's Supper, and includes Good Friday and
Holy Saturday. It closes with evening prayer on
Easter Sunday.
Myth 3: Catholics abstain from meat during
Lent
Only on Fridays during Lent are Catholics
required to abstain from meat in
remembrance of the sacrifice Jesus made on
Good Friday.
According to abstinence laws, meat includes
warm-blooded animals and birds. Fish and
other cold-blooded animals are not prohibited.
Local Catholic bishops may determine specific
prescribe about what foods are included in
abstinence. This can lead to interesting
exceptions. For instance, in the Catholic
Archdiocese of Detroit, eating muskrat is
allowable on Fridays during Lent. Puffin, beaver
and alligator are permissible in some places,
too -- provided your local butcher has good
connections!
Myth 4: The Pope decides the date of Easter
Thanks in part to astronomers who figured out
when all full moons would occur, for nearly
1,700 years Easter has fallen on the first
Sunday after the Paschal, or Passover, full
moon. The earliest possible date of Easter is
March 22, and the latest is April 25.This year
Easter is on April 5.
The way to calculate the date of Easter was
determined at a meeting of church bishops and
others called the Council of Nicea in 325 near
Constantinople in what is now modern day
Turkey.
Myth 5: Jesus went into the desert for 40 days
before he was put to death
Actually, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert
before beginning his public ministry, several
years before he was crucified.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke --
individual, yet similar, interpretations of
Christ's message -- each tell of Jesus spending
40 days in the desert, where he fasted, prayed
and was tempted by the devil. After this he
went to Galilee where he called his first
disciples and began his public ministry.
The 40 days of Lent are a time to remember
and imitate the life and ministry of Jesus as
Christians prepare to commemorate his death
and resurrection at Easter.
Fact : Since 1975, American Catholics have
donated $250 million during Lent to feed the
hungry around the world
Catholic Relief Service's Rice Bowl project
began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, 40 years ago,
when Americans began to take up a collection
to help a famine in West Africa. More than
13,000 faith communities participated in CRS
Rice Bowl last Lent.

For me its a count down to easter...the hallmark of my Christian faith.

so today is ash Wednesday.

oh! I miss been a catholic. MARRIAGE

Is it only catholic and anglican that observe this