| Frequently Asked Questions on Great Lent |
WHEN DID LENT ORIGINATE?
The earliest potential reference to Great Lent is in Canon 5 of the Council of Nicea (325 AD). The Greek phrase, pros tessarakostys which means “before the fortieth.” This could refer to Easter as the summit of a forty-day fast, or, equally possibly, to the Ascension, the fortieth day after Easter.
The first indisputable reference to Great Lent is from St. Athanasius, the great theologian-bishop of Alexandria (died 373 AD). In one of his “festal letters,” which announced the date of Easter each year to all the churches of the world, he speaks of a 40-day Fast beginning the sixth week before Easter and including “Holy Week,” which he called “Holy Paschal Week.” This is a week of more intensive fasting, vigils, etc., in preparation for Pascha.
By 340 AD Lent is universal. By 384 AD, we have clear evidence that Lent is fully developed in Jerusalem, with a cycle of liturgical services. This evidence comes to us from the diary of the Spanish nun Egeria, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 384 and took copious notes about what she saw, especially the liturgical life...
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