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153 | Understanding Lent: Traditions, Sacrifices, and Spiritual Growth
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Join us in this enlightening mini-episode as we delve into the rich history and profound spiritual meaning of Lent! In this video, you'll discover the origins of Lent, what makes up it's three pillars, and more about the traditions that surround this annual event leading up to the highest of Holy Holidays.
Join us as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ's resurrection! 🙏
Mentioned in this Episode:
📗 Seasonal Celebrations: https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/product/seasonal-celebrations-ebook/
📕 Loved to Life: https://annvoskamp.com/lovedtolife/
📒 Hope for Holy Week: https://phyliciamasonheimer.com/free-holy-week-devotional/
📙 Sacred Seasons: https://amzn.to/3QJX4Hs
Subscribe to Verity Podcast:
➡️ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/verity-by-phylicia-masonheimer/id1495210734
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Transcript
Introduction to Lent
00:00:00
Speaker
It's a great time to take 40 days to really focus on your prayer life, to think about, have I been hospitable? Have I been generous? Who can I give to in this season as we come up on the highest holiday of the Christian calendar?
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello friends, in this mini episode of Verity Podcast, I want to simply welcome you to the season of Lent.
Historical Roots of Lent
00:00:25
Speaker
While we won't be doing any particular Lenten series on this podcast, I wanted to introduce Lent to you if you did not grow up in a liturgical church environment or are curious what it is after hearing Christians talk about it.
00:00:39
Speaker
The Lenten season is 40-day fast. fat during which we lament and we dwell on the sacrifice of Christ, looking forward to his coming resurrection during the events of Holy Week, ultimately celebrated on Easter.
00:00:58
Speaker
Lent goes all the way back to the early church. In those first few hundred years of the church, when it was developing and growing, what we saw was a 40-hour fast leading up to the day of Easter, or Resurrection Sunday.
00:01:13
Speaker
On Easter itself, you would often see many new converts baptized. And so what began as a 40-hour fast eventually expanded into a 40-day period of time where they would often train catechumens or people who were hoping to be baptized on Easter.
00:01:32
Speaker
From what we know of the early church, it actually appears that many times they only baptized new converts on Easter. So it was a once a year event. So these 40 days leading up to Easter were an opportunity to train these new converts on the fundamentals of the Christian faith, the basic doctrines that they needed to know before they made their public commitment and testimony to come into the body of Christ.
00:02:01
Speaker
And so what we now know as this season of fasting was indeed a season of fasting in the early church that carried through the medieval era to today.
Modern Observances of Lent
00:02:10
Speaker
But it was also a time of reflection and meditation on the core truths of Christianity.
00:02:16
Speaker
Today we often hear about Lent in relation to social media fasts or you know giving up chocolate or sweets especially because traditionally that is what Lent was for.
00:02:26
Speaker
We had Fat Tuesday, the Tuesday before Lent, also known as Mardi Gras, and then Ash Wednesday when Lent begins. And from Fat Tuesday to Easter, you would be fasting from things like sugar, sometimes dairy, eggs.
00:02:42
Speaker
This is actually where eggs came from in regard to Easter, is that and many people were not eating them throughout the season of Lent. And then on Easter, they were breaking their fast by finally having eggs.
00:02:55
Speaker
and so eggs became a significant part the Resurrection Sunday holiday. We see this first mentioned in the Middle Ages.
Lent's Relevance to Non-liturgical Christians
00:03:05
Speaker
There are three pillars to this season of Lent, and these are fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, generosity.
00:03:13
Speaker
Now, many Christians who grow up in non-liturgical environments don't celebrate church holidays except for Christmas and Easter. So they're not familiar with the traditions and the rich history behind seasons like Lent like Advent, things like Pentecost, and other church holidays like Epiphany and Candlemas.
00:03:34
Speaker
Now, I talk about these on my Instagram, at Felicia Masonheimer, but hopefully in future weeks and years, we will be able to do more church holiday-specific episodes as well. If you'd like to explore this, two resources you can use are in our shop,
00:03:49
Speaker
our book on the church holidays, Seasonal Celebrations, which goes through many of the main church holidays with a fun guide for practicing them and celebrating them in your home.
00:04:01
Speaker
And then if you want a more robust guide to church holidays, Sacred Seasons is another great resource that's much more in-depth.
Spiritual Practices During Lent
00:04:09
Speaker
Now, back to Lent. Prayer, almsgiving, fasting, these are the pillars of this season. And for 40 days, we get to pursue spiritual disciplines that maybe we don't really focus on the rest of the year.
00:04:22
Speaker
So during this season, whether you are fasting from something or not, it's a great time to take 40 days to really focus on your prayer life, to think about, have I been hospitable? Have I been generous? Who can I give to in this season?
00:04:36
Speaker
as we come up on the highest holiday of the Christian calendar? Have I reflected recently on what it means to be saved? What Jesus did on the cross and the beautiful gift of salvation that I've been given?
00:04:48
Speaker
All of these things are great things to think about and reflect on in this Lent season. If you want to go deeper, you can always pick up things like sacred seasons to study more about the Lenten season.
00:05:00
Speaker
I also love Ann Voskamp's new book, Loved to Life, and my friend Amy Gannett's amazing Lent resource in her shop at the Bible Studies Schoolhouse.
00:05:11
Speaker
All of these resources can help you in celebrating your Lenten season in a deep and more meaningful way, but you also don't need anything but the Bible and your prayer life. You can keep it so simple.
00:05:23
Speaker
Just stay in the word and talk to God throughout these 40 days. Ask him to make it more meaningful to you as you get closer and closer to the celebration of his resurrection.
Resources for Lent Reflection
00:05:33
Speaker
When we get into April and we get close to celebrating Holy Week, I have a free resource that will walk you through every single day of Holy Week.
00:05:42
Speaker
and help you to learn more about what happened on each day of Jesus' life leading to the crucifixion and then to the resurrection. It's very practical, easy to use, has discussion questions and scripture readings, and you can download it at feliciamasonheimer.com forward slash resources.
00:06:00
Speaker
This devotional is called Hope for Holy Week. It's completely free. And again, that's at feliciamasonheimer.com forward slash resources. I hope that your Lenten season is a time of reflection and a deepening of your prayer life and that you get to end it celebrating with us as we go through the Holy Week devotional with our family, looking forward to the amazing power and significance of Resurrection Day.