February 12, 2010
The Christian Journey
Lenten customs, traditions developed over time
BY FATHER JIM SAUER
The Lord did not hand the Church her liturgical feasts and seasons on a silver platter. Our liturgical customs evolved over centuries by Christians reflecting and practicing their faith. Since each Christian community was somewhat independent, different customs sprang up while preserving the basic Mass structure. Two examples help us grasp this reality. First, the Diocese of Milan, Italy, still observes its ancient tradition of six Advent Sundays while the remaining Universal Church celebrates only four Advent Sundays. Second, in Rome, the Mass did not contain the Nicene Creed until the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II attended Pope Benedict VIII’s Mass in 1014 and ordered him to include the Profession of Faith henceforth as was the custom in Germany. The Church has always allowed variations in its liturgy as long as the basic Mass structure was preserved. “Unity” does not mean “Uniformity.”
If you have little or no interest in history, you may want to skip this article on the historical development of Lent. However, you do so at your own peril! For it has always been my belief that the more we understand Church history, the more relaxed we can be about changes the Church may make in our day. Liturgy is alive and evolving.
The early Christians initiated the traditional Friday fast to honor Christ’s death. Thus, the fast to prepare for the Holy Saturday Vigil was a natural step to take, eventually evolving into the Lenten fast of 40 days over the next several centuries. However, this 40-day fast did not happen overnight.
St. Hippolytus (215 A.D.) in his Apostolic Tradition describes the earliest process of baptism preparation prior to the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil (the only day for sacramental initiation). Hippolytus does not provide specific details regarding the length of this intense preparation prior to Holy Saturday’s rites of initiation. However, from other sources, we know that the Church in Rome celebrated a one-week period of fasting and prayer to prepare new candidates for baptism during the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil. This week of preparation extended backwards from Easter to the preceding Sunday, evidenced by the readings of the Passion Narratives during this week.
The 5th century historian Socrates described a practice of a three-week fast before Easter, which had been an earlier custom in the Roman Church around the 3rd century. (Customs come and go for various reasons, which are no longer known to us.)
During these three weeks of fasting, the three scrutinies took place on the third, fourth and fifth Sundays of Lent. These three weeks of Lent developed into a 40-day fast by the 4th century. St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria in Egypt, was inspired by this practice; so he encouraged his diocese in 340 A.D. to adopt the Lenten custom as celebrated in Rome. The pattern of 40 fast days quickly spread throughout the entire Western Church.
During the 6th century, adult baptisms declined, most likely because of the increase in infant baptisms among established Christian households. This gave rise to the doctrine of original sin, which led to the discontinuation of the catechumenate during Lent. The celebration of the liturgical rites of adult conversation during Lent was no longer necessary since infants are unable to make a personal commitment to Christ. Removing this baptismal dimension from the Lenten liturgy allowed its penitential aspects to blossom into full growth. Thus, Christians no longer saw Lent and the penitential practices they undertook in connection with their baptismal commitment. The penances chosen often had little to do with the Christian’s ongoing conversion and rising to new life in Christ celebrated on Easter.