Season of Lent

The Season of Lent is a solemn and reflective season of the Church Year, extending for forty days from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, not counting Sundays, which remain celebrations of the Resurrection.

It begins with the imposition of ashes, often accompanied by the words of Genesis 3:19, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” calling the faithful to repentance and humility before God. The liturgical color of purple is used throughout this season, symbolizing penitence, self-examination, and the royal suffering of Christ as He journeys toward the cross.

Lent recalls our Lord’s forty days of fasting in the wilderness recorded in Matthew 4:1–11, and it invites the Church into a similar posture of prayer, fasting, and repentance. This season is not merely about sorrow for sin, but about returning to the Lord who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13).

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Throughout the Season of Lent, the lectionary readings focus heavily on themes of repentance, forgiveness, and the saving work of Christ as He sets His face toward Jerusalem and the cross. The Gospel lessons often trace Jesus’ path toward His Passion, culminating in the events of Holy Week. The Church reflects deeply upon Christ’s suffering and death so that the depth of His mercy may be more fully known. Lent is therefore both a mirror and a promise: a mirror that reveals our sin through the Law, and a promise that proclaims our redemption through the Gospel. It is a season of returning to the font, to the Word, and to earnest prayer, trusting that through repentance the Lord prepares His people to rejoice all the more fully in the victory of Easter.