Lent: a time of healing

Fr. Chino Biscontin

It is instructive to see how Lent has gradually been formed under the impetus of a vigorous ecclesial faith. Since the second century we have evidence of preparation for Easter celebrations through a period of fasting. But it was in the fourth century, first in the East and then in the West, that the “forty days” acquired their own structure. They are full of biblical symbolism: forty days of the flood, of Moses on Sinai, of Elijah’s pilgrimage to the Horeb, of Jonah in the belly of the whale, the forty years of the people in the desert, the forty days of Jesus in the desert. In imitation of Jesus, they prepared for the Easter celebrations with the practice of fasting, accompanied by prayer with meditation on the Scriptures, and alms given to the poor. This time was also used in the preparation of adults for Baptism, the catechumenate, of which it represented the last part: Baptism was celebrated during the Easter Vigil. This period was also wisely chosen as the last stage of the penitential journey for those Christians who, after Baptism and in spite of its grace, had committed serious sins that involved “excommunication”, with a view to…