Season of Lent

Introduction:
The Season of Lent is a period of preparation for the celebration of what St Athanasius called, “Easter : the Great Sunday!’ The climax of the church’s Liturgical Year which marks the great saving events of the Passion,Death of Jesus, and the Resurrection

The season of Lent begins with the distribution of Ashes on Ash Wednesday, and is marked by personal and community prayer, penance, fasting, alms giving and other good works. It is also the period of special preparation for catechumens, those seeking baptism and full admission into the community of faith. There are several stages of Christian initiation celebrated usually on the Sundays during the Lenten season, and culminating with the celebrations at the Great Paschal Vigil of Easter. [this year † Sunday 23rd April 2000]

Liturgical background:
As we enter the period of Lent, we can find a liturgical focus for the season in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults[ RCIA]. The RCIA, or as some Catholic communities call it “Journey in Faith”, is a continuous period of spiritual growth in faith by which an adult freely comes to a full Christian faith and seeks admission into the Church.

• the pre-catechumenate - a time for hearing the first preaching of the gospel
  
• the catechumenate - a time set aside for catechesis, a combination of reading, study,reflection and discussion about the scriptures and other sources of Christian faith
  
• the period of purification and enlightenment - a time for a more profound spiritual illumination and spiritual preparation coinciding with Lent
  
• the ‘mystagogia’ the period of post-baptismal catechesis - a time for reflection on the new experience of the Sacraments and life in the Christian community, which coincides with the Easter season.