ASH WEDNESDAY AND WHAT IS LENT ANYWAY?

At this time of the year many different people of many different regilions are celebrating Lent, which started off with Ash Wednesday. So exactly what is it and where does it come from. Is it from the Bible or the traditions of man that have been blindly passed down through generations?

If you are new to our site then you need to know that we go to the Bible for all our answers. If you are familiar with us then you know how we are. So to the Bible we go and lets see what we find out about this holiday.

The word ASH is listed one time in the Bible and it is in the Amplied. In the King James Version it is not listed at all. In Isaiah 44:14 it refers to a man planting a oak or ash tree.

The word ashes is listed 42 times and covers a number of issues: ashes from the furance, concerning the ashes of the altar, sitting in ashes, and Gomorrah turned into ashes.

There are 3 showing their bodies where covered in ashes. 2 Samuel is the only one I know of that states it was put on Tamar's "head."

2 Sa 13:19
1 Ki 20:38
Lam 3:16

There is no reference to any day being sat aside for ashes to be marked on anyone's forehead. It is not in the Bible.

Lent on the other hand is mentioned 7 times. And in each and every case it is speaking of loaning something to someone. Never any mention of Lent being a holiday, or special days set aside to worship the Lord.

Concerning fasting it is mentioned many times in the Bible, in fact it is listed so much that rather then write here about it I will write a separate article on it. This though I will say fasting is good, phiscally and spiritually. It is also something private between man and God. Matthew 6:16 tells us that when we fast, to wash our face and let no one know. We will speak more on this in the article on fasting.

To show you how far man will go to get people to follow manmade traditiions, and worship that comes from other sources. LJG has done the following research, which if taken by itself could surely convince someone to believe in and take part in this pagen traditons.

This is again why we ask you to study and know the true Word of God and not fall into believing the word of man.

Lent...
In Western Christianity, Lent is the period (or season) from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday. In Eastern
Christianity, the period before Easter is known as Great Lent to distinguish it from the Winter Lent, or Advent(known in Greek as the "Great Fast" and "Nativity Fast", respectively). This article tends to discuss Lent as understood and practiced in Western Christianity. Easter always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25, roughly corresponding to early spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Ash Wednesday, which may fall anywhere between February 4 and March 10, occurs forty-six days before Easter, but Lent is nevertheless considered to be forty days long, due to the fact that Sundays in this season are not counted among the days of Lent. The traditional reason for this is that fasting was considered inappropriate on Sunday, the day commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus.
Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while Lent is a time of preparation for Holy Week. Holy Week recalls the events preceding and during the crucifixion, which occurred in the Jerusalem of theRoman province Judea, circa AD 30.
Origins
The forty day period is symbolic of the forty days spent by Jesus in the wilderness; the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God; the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mt. Horeb; in the story of Noah, God makes it rain for forty days and forty nights (they were in the ark for much longer); the Hebrew people wandered forty years traveling to the Promised Land. Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh forty days grace in which to repent. Jesus is said to have retreated into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Afterwards He was hungry and the devil tempted Him. Jesus overcame all of the devilish temptation of the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life by citing Holy Scripture to the devil. The Devil left Him. Holy Angels ministered to Jesus. Now Jesus begins His Galilean ministry.

The Lenten period of forty days owes its origin to the Latin word quadragesima, signifying forty hours. This
referred to the forty hours of total fast which preceded the Easter celebration in the early Church. The main ceremony was the baptizing of the initiates on Easter Eve. The fast was in preparation to receive this sacrament. Later, the period from Good Friday until Easter Day was extended to six days, to correspond with the six weeks of training, necessary to instruct the converts who were to be baptized.

Initially the word simply meant spring, and later became associated with the fast. The English word lent derives from the Germanic root for Spring (specifically Old English lencten; also the Anglo-Saxon name for March - lenct - as the main part of Lent, before Easter, usually occurred in March). A strict schedule was adhered to in the teaching of the converts. In Jerusalem near the close of the fourth century, classes were held throughout seven weeks of Lent for three hours each day. With the imposition of Christianity as the state religion of Rome during this century, its character was endangered by the great influx of new members. To combat this hazard, the Lenten fast and practices of self-renunciation were required of all
Christians. The less zealous of the converts were thus brought more securely into the Christian fold.

Customs during the time of Lent
Formerly Lent was referred to by the term quadragesima (or the "fortieth day" before Easter). This nomenclature is preserved in Romance, Slavic and Celtic languages. The name change occurred in the late Middle Ages as Western sermons began to be spoken in the local vernacular instead of Latin. As such, the use of this particular term to describe the period at this point is unique to English. There are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigor during Lent are prayer fasting and almsgiving. Today, some people give up something they enjoy, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.
In the Roman Catholic Church, and many other liturgical Christian denominations, Maundy Thursday (also called "Holy Thursday", especially by Roman Catholics), Good Friday, and Holy Saturday form the Easter Triduum. Lent is a season of grief that necessarily ends with a great celebration of Easter, it is known in Eastern Orthodox circles as the season of "Bright Sadness". It is a season of sorrowful reflection which is punctuated by breaks in the fast on Sundays. The Lent semi-fast may have originated for practical reasons: during the era of subsistence agriculture in the West as food stored away in the previous autumn was running out, or had to be used up before it went bad in store, and little or no new food-crop was expected soon. In the Roman Catholic Mass as well as the Lutheran Divine Service and Anglican Eucharist, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is not sung during the Lenten season, disappearing on Ash Wednesday and not returning until the moment of the Resurrection during the Easter Vigil. On major feast days, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo is recited, but this in no way diminishes the penitential character of the season; it simply reflects the joyful character of the Mass of the day in question. It is also used on Holy Thursday. Likewise, the Alleluia is not sung during Lent; it is replaced before the Gospel reading by a seasonal acclamation. Traditionally, the Alleluia was omitted at Mass beginning at Septuagesima, but since the Second Vatican Council, it has become customary to retain it until Ash Wednesday, although many traditionalists continue to practice the former custom.

Pre-Lenten festivals

Although originally of pagan content, the traditional carnival celebrations which precede Lent in many cultures have become associated with the season of fasting if only because they are a last opportunity for excess before Lent begins. The most famous of pre-Lenten carnivals in the West is Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras
.
Fasting and abstinence
Fasting during Lent was more severe in ancient times than today. Socrates Scholasticus reports that
in some places, all animal products were strictly forbidden, while others will permit fish, others permit fish and fowl, others prohibit fruit and eggs, and still others eat only bread. In some places, believers abstained from food for an entire day, others took only one meal each day, while others abstained from all food until 3 o'clock. In most places, however, the practice was to abstain from eating until the evening and then a small meal without meat or alcohol was eaten. During the early Middle Ages; meat, eggs and dairy products were generally proscribed. However, dispensations for dairy products were given, frequently for a donation, from which several churches are popularly believed to have been built, including the "Butter Tower" of the Rouen Cathedral . Giraldus Cambrensis in his Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales reports that "in Germany and the arctic regions", "great and religious persons", classified the tail of beavers as "fish" because of its superficial resemblance to a fish and their relative abundance. Today, in the West, the practice is considerably relaxed, though in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Catholic Oriental Churches abstinence from the above-mentioned food products is still commonly practiced, meaning only vegetarian meals are consumed during this time in many Eastern countries. Lenten practices (as well as various other liturgical practices) are more common in Protestant circles than they once were. In the
Roman Catholic Church it is tradition to abstain from meat every Friday for the duration of Lent, although fish and dairy products are still permitted. On Ash Wednesday it is customary to fast for the day, with no meat, eating only one full meal, and if necessary, two small meals also. Current fasting practice in the Roman Catholic Church binds persons over the age of majority and younger than fifty-nine (Canon 1251 ). Pursuant to Canon 1253, days of fasting and abstinence are set by the national Episcopal conference. On days of fasting, one eats only one full meal, but may eat two smaller meals as necessary to keep up one's strength. The two small meals together must sum to less than the one full meal. Parallel to the fasting laws are the laws of abstinence. These bind those over the age of eighteen. On days of abstinence, the person must not eat meat or poultry. According to canon law all Fridays of the year, Ash Wednesday and several other days are days of abstinence, though in most countries, the strict requirements of abstinence have been limited by the bishops (in accordance with Canon 1253) to the Fridays of Lent and Ash Wednesday. On other abstinence days, the faithful are invited to perform some other act of penance. If St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday, the prohibition against meat may be lifted for North American Catholics of Irish origin who wish to enjoy the traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage. Fasting during Lent is a way for Christians to identify with Jesus' suffering, which according the Gospel, Christ underwent for the sake of humanity, in order to make propitiation for their failure to keep the laws instituted by God in the Pentateuch . This sacrifice is referred to by Christians variously as a substitutionary death, a redemptive death, and a death which satisfied the perfect justice of God, who actually provided the means for that satisfaction by sending Jesus, said in the Bible to be God's own son, to die in the place of humanity. It is this distinction which fulfills the Hebrews' hope for a Messiah (the "Christ" in Greek ) who would save the troubled nation, according to the New Testament writings. Many modern Protestants and Anglicans consider the observation of Lent to be a choice, rather than an obligation. They may decide to give up a favorite food (e.g. chocolate, alcohol) or activity (e.g. going to the movies, playing video games) for Lent, or they may instead decide to take on a Lenten discipline such as devotions, volunteering for charity work, and so forth. Roman Catholics may also observe Lent in this way, in addition to the dietary restrictions outlined above, though observation is mandatory under the threat of mortal sin
.
Holy Days
There are several holy days within the season of Lent.
* Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity.
* Clean Monday (or "Ash Monday") is the first day in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
* The fourth Sunday within Lent, which marks the halfway point between Ash Wednesday and Easter, is sometimes referred to as Laetare Sunday, particularly by Roman Catholics.
* The Sunday following is also known as Passion Sunday for traditionalist Catholics, though the latter term is also applied to the sixth and last Sunday of Lent, or Palm Sunday.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent
immediately preceding Easter.
* Wednesday of Holy Week is known as Spy Wednesday to commemorate the days on which Judas
spied on Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before betraying him.
* Thursday is known as Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, and is a day Christians commemorate the Last Supper shared by Christ with his disciples.
* Good Friday follows the next day, in which Christians remember His crucifixion and burial. For Roman Catholics, no Mass is scheduled after Good Friday until the end of Holy week. Holy Week and the season of Lent, depending on denomination and local custom, end with Easter Vigil at sundown on Holy Saturday or on the morning of Easter Sunday. In the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions, the altar linens and priest's vestments are violet during the season of Lent. However, during the holy days the linens often change or are completely removed from the altar.
Lent does not always involve sacrifice, but rather an offering. For some Christians, giving time to tutor, devoting more time to someone, or working for a non-profit organization is more of a sacrifice than sacrificing food, sex, or a common luxury It is also common for many Christians who are not obligated to participate in Lent to not observe Holy Days and other traditional practices. Many Christians who are not obligated to participate by their Church do so willingly. The degree of participation varies greatly from merely giving up eating candy to living on bread and water. The participants will often pray or fast to seek what God's will for them is in regards to Lent.

Many Protestants do not practice Lent and see it as an obscure tradition that the Catholic church practices without Biblical merit. And this is becasue they have searched the Word of God and found it to not be true.

As to seafood not being meat, Ljg came up with the following "I don't think people classify shrimp as "meat" cause it comes from water and didn't walk on earth." There is actually a fish that does walk on it's fins on land. But that is not important. Think about this, food is classified into a number of groups: Bread which includes cereal and potatoes; Fruit and vegetables; Dairy; Fish and meat; and Fat and sugar. Animals which include fish, eat, process what they eat, and give birth, therefore they are meat. Just a tidbit of info for you. We will go deeper into this in the article about fasting.

For now be sure to not listen to the words of one and take it for fact. Wisdom is what God desires for us to have and wisdom creates a desire in us to learn and grow, and come to our own conclusions. Not to accept the word of man but the Word of God.

This article belongs to the hard work of LJG. I merely filled in a few lines here and there. She did all the research and started the ball rolling.

God bless each of you.
LJG/rECj

SOURCE FOR THE "LENT" ARTCILE: Wekipedia (the only one that we have found so far that is not copyrighted.)