Lent/La Cuaresma
The liturgical season of Lent is a 40-day period of preparation consisting of more focused prayer and penance, including fasting. The word Lent comes from the Old English lencte meaning Spring, when we annually experience a lengthening of daylight hours. In Spanish the Lenten season is more fittingly called La Cuaresma, from the Latin quadragesima, meaning 40th.
Forty Days
Why is the Lenten season 40 days? In the Bible, 40 is the number of preparation and discipline. Some of numerous examples include the 40 days God flooded the world (Genesis 7:12), the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness (Numbers 14:33), the 40 days that Goliath challenged Saul’s army (1 Samuel 17:16), and the 40 days that God gave the people of Nineveh to repent (Jonah 3:4). Most significantly, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, where he prayed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights to prepare for his public ministry and, ultimately, his Passion and Death (Matthew 4:2). Our Lenten fast is meant to imitate Jesus in preparation for our share in Jesus’ suffering and death (Matthew 16:24, see also Colossians 1:24 ).
Quarantine
The English word quarantine similarly comes from the Latin via the Venetian quarentena, meaning a period of 40 days. Newly-arrived ships were to be quarantined during the Black Plague in the late 14th Century to ensure that passengers and crew would not bring the communicable disease ashore with them.
At this writing much of the world is in some sort of quarantine, though the actual number of days is as yet undetermined. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which was February 26 this year. At our local parish on the Sunday the 29th there was some trepidation during the Sign of Peace, a period during the liturgy when we traditionally shake hands with those around us in a gesture of Christian unity. During Mass on March 7, the Sign of Peace was dispensed with completely. On Thursday March 12 the diocese announced that public liturgies would be temporarily suspended as of Saturday, and so we made it point to celebrate the Eucharist on Friday in anticipation of being deprived of the Real Presence for a time. The school district announced that classes would also be suspended starting Monday March 16.
A Lent to Remember
The March 12 diocesan proclamation stated that Masses would again be publicly celebrated in two weeks. Today, April 21, 2020, marks 40 days since that announcement. We commemorated Christ’s Resurrection with an online streaming of the Easter Vigil Mass, followed by a family celebration of the Lucernarium, the blessing of candles over a bonfire which symbolizes keeping vigil with the Lord and sharing the light of Christ with the world. After the liturgical blessings we broke our Lenten fasts, and cooked s’mores over the fire.
One beauty of the Lenten season lies in knowing that the sacrifices and penances we are undergoing will joyfully climax in an Easter season of feasting and celebration. This Lent is different in that there remains great uncertainty as to when our quarantine will end, and what “normal” will look like when it does. Regardless of whether or not one commemorates the season of Lent, this particular Cuaresma has been a season of fasting that none of us will soon forget.
The Crown of Life
I greeted a customer who stepped out of her house holding her screaming toddler son. I tried to engage the boy but could not distract him from his tantrum. His mom smiled and said, “he’s just expressing what we all feel.” The quarantine has been trying for everyone, and has even brought some to despair. May we their neighbors and extended family bring solace and encouragement. As difficult as this corona virus has been, its very name is appropriate. The word corona means “crown,” a metaphor God uses throughout scripture to encourage disciples during trying times. There is great reason to hope! “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials,” the Bible reassures us. “Blessed is he who endures trials, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:2,12)
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase your Mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor grow despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your Holy Will, which is love and mercy itself. Amen. (from the Chaplet of Divine Mercy)
JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU!
Feature image from the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, https://www.thedivinemercy.org/
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