The Lenten season is a time of preparation for the
liturgical celebration of the suffering, Death, and
Resurrection of Christ. Many Catholics spend that time
on the three practices of Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
It is also a timeto participate in the
Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
The season of Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday
until the evening of Holy Thursday. If Sundays are excluded from
the count, the season lasts forty days. The forty day length of Lent is
rooted in the biblical usage of the number forty.
Forty is typically indicative of a time of testing, trial, penance,
purification, and renewal. In the New Testament, forty days is the
length of Jesus’ time of trial in the desert in preparation for his
public ministry, proclaiming the Gospel.