longer.
The original period of Lent was 40 hours. It was spent fasting to commemorate the suffering
of Christ and the 40 hours He
spent in the tomb.
In the early 3rd century, Lent was lengthened to 6 days. About 800 AD it was changed to 40
days.
Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, is celebrated in many parts of the world
with feasting. The French call it
"Mardi Gras". The Germans call it "Fausching". The feasting comes from the custom of using
up household fats prior to the
40 days of Lenten fasting, when no fat is used.
During Bach's day, often the organ and choirs were silent during Lent.
Since Lent is a penitential season of preparation for Easter, the Stations of the Cross, which
follow the path of Christ from Pontius Pilate's praetorium to Christ's tomb have been a
popular devotion in parishes. In the 16th century, this pathway was officially entitled the "Via
Dolorosa" (Sorrowful Way) or simply Way of the Cross or Stations of the Cross.
Tradition holds that our Blessed Mother visited daily the scenes of our Lord's passion.
Passiontide is the last two weeks of Lent, when the readings and prayers of the liturgy focus
on the Passion of Our Lord. The word 'passion', in the Christian sense, does not mean an
intense emotion; it refers to the historical events of Jesus' suffering and death. Although for
several centuries the Fifth Sunday of Lent was known as Passion Sunday, after the Second
Vatican Council this name was restored to the Sunday at beginning of Holy Week , formerly
called Palm Sunday. As a penitential season of the Church, Passiontide is evidently even
more ancient than Lent.
When the Moslem Turks blocked the access to the Holy Land, reproductions of the Stations
of the Cross were erected at popular spiritual centers, including the Dominican Friary at
Cordova and Poor Clare Convent of Messina (early 1400s); Nuremberg (1468); Louvain
(1505); Bamberg, Fribourg and Rhodes (1507); and Antwerp 1520). Many of these stations
were reproduced by renowned artists and are considered masterpieces today.
St. Leonard Casanova (1676-1751) of Porto Maurizio, Italy, reportedly erected over 600 sets
of the Stations of the Cross throughout Italy.
In the early 3rd century, Lent was lengthened to 6 days. About 800 AD it was changed to 40
days.
Those 40 days correspond with Christ's 40 days in the wilderness.
According to the account of a fifth-century Spanish pilgrim to the Holy Land, Passion Sunday
Mass was celebrated in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After this the people
were invited to meet again in the afternoon at the Mount of Olives, in the Church of Eleona
(the grotto of the Our Father). They then proceeded to the Church of the Ascension for a
service consisting of hymns and antiphons, readings and prayers, where at five o'clock in
the afternoon the Gospel of the palms was read and the procession set out for the city. The
people responded to the antiphons with the acclamation, "Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord," as we say even today.
Hunting was for many ages considered as forbidden during Lent: the spirit of the holy
season was too sacred to admit such exciting and noisy sport.
After Constantine legalized Christianity in the year 312, the pathway of our Lord's passion
was marked with its important stations. St. Jerome (342- 420), living in Bethlehem during the
later part of his life, attested to the crowds of pilgrims from various countries who visited
those holy places and followed the Way of the Cross.
A plenary indulgence is granted for those who piously exercise the Way of the Cross, actually
moving from station to station where they are legitimately erected and while mediating on the
passion and death of our Lord ("Enchiridion of Indulgences," No. 63).
Those who are impeded from visiting a church, during the Stations Of The Cross, may gain
indulgences by piously reading and meditating on the passion and death of our Lord for
one-half hour. The continued importance of the stations in the devotional life of Catholics is
attested by both Pope Paul VI, who approved a Gospel-based version of the stations in 1975,
and Pope John Paul II, who has also written his own version.
Jesus of Nazareth underwent Jewish and Roman trials, was flogged, and was sentenced to
death by crucifixion. The scourging produced deep stripelike lacerations and appreciable
blood loss, and it probably set the stage for hypovolemic shock, as evidenced by the fact that
Jesus was too weakened to carry the crossbar (patibulum) to Golgotha. At the site of
crucifixion, his wrists were nailed to the patibulum and, after the patibulum was lifted onto the
upright post (stipes), his feet were nailed to the stipes. The major pathophysiologic effect of
crucifixion was an interference with normal respirations. Accordingly death resulted primarily
from hypovolemic shock and exhaustion asphyxia. Jesus' death was ensured by the thrust of
a soldier's spear into his side. Modern medical interpretation of the historical evidence
indicate that Jesus was dead when taken down from the cross.
On Holy Saturday the Church is, as it were, at the Lord's tomb, meditating on his passion and
death, and on his descent into hell, and awaiting his resurrection with prayer and fasting. It is
highly recommended that on this day the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer be
celebrated with the participation of the people (cf. n. 40). Where this cannot be done, there
should be some celebration of the Word of God, or some act of devotion suited to the mystery
celebrated this day. The image of Christ crucified or lying in the tomb, or the descent into hell,
which mystery Holy Saturday recalls, as also an image of the sorrowful Virgin Mary can be
placed in the church for the veneration of the faithful. On this day the Church abstains strictly
from the celebration of the sacrifice of the Mass. Holy Communion may only be given in the
form of Viaticum. The celebration of marriages is forbidden, as also the celebration of other
sacraments, except those of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick. The faithful are to be
instructed on the special character of Holy Saturday. Festive customs and traditions
associated with this day on account of the former practice of anticipating the celebration of
Easter on Holy Saturday should be reserved for Easter night and the day that follows.
Mass is to be celebrated on Easter Day with great solemnity. It is appropriate that the
penitential rite on this day take the form of a sprinkling with water blessed at the Vigil, during
which the antiphon Vidi aquam, or some other song of baptismal character should be sung.
The fonts at the entrance to the church should also be filled with the same water. The
tradition of celebrating baptismal Vespers on Easter Day with the singing of psalms during
the procession to the font should be maintained where it is still in force, and appropriately,
restored. The paschal candle has its proper place either by the ambo or by the altar and
should be lit at least in all the more solemn liturgical celebrations of the season until
Pentecost Sunday, whether at Mass, or at Morning and Evening Prayer. After the Easter
season the candle should be kept with honor in the baptistry, so that in the celebration of
Baptism the candles of the baptized may be lit from them. In the celebration of funerals, the
paschal candle should be place near the coffin to indicate that the death of a Christian is his
own passover. The paschal candle should not otherwise be lit nor placed in the sanctuary
outside the Easter season.
