Lent

During the 40 days of Lent, we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. The time of Lent reminds us that to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, we must also know the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we are called to struggle against everything that leads us away from the love of God and neighbor.

History of Lent

The schedule of services known to us as Holy Week services was a gradual development in the early church.  Some features were known quite soon in the ancient church, while others took much longer to become accepted worship traditions. 

Ash Wednesday, though not a part of Holy Week, is yet a well known service since it marks the beginning of Lent.  It appears that the first clearly datable order of service for Ash Wednesday was about 960 AD.  By the 12th century the custom of using ashes became quite common in Europe.  Of course the name "Ash Wednesday" is taken from the custom of rubbing ashes on the forehead.  The picture of ashes as a sign of repentance can go back to the Old Testament custom of sackcloth and ashes as outward signs of contrition and repentance.

Early on Holy Week was also called  the "Great Week."  The early church father Chrysotom (born 347 AD and died 407AD) explained that name as referring to "the great things wrought at this time by the Lord."  Probably the early church already had established worship customs connected with the well known passion events of Palm Sunday, Maunday Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.

In fourth century Jerusalem there seems to have been a very specific observance and custom that inscribed  the name Palm Sunday on the church's calendar.  On that day, believers gathered on the Mount of Olives and proceeded into Jerusalem carrying palm and olive branches.  Sometimes the bishop rode in their midst sitting on a donkey.  By the sixth century many services in western Christendom included some type of procession with palms on this Sunday.

Maundy Thursday, because it is the day our Lord instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion, has always had high significance for believers.  Maundy is a word derived from the Latin mandatum and refers to the "new command" that Jesus gave on that day of his washing the disciples feet:  "love one another."  Other customs connected with the day include the reconciliation of penitents, which is why in German the festival is sometimes called Grundonnerstag or green Thursday.  The symbolism here is that the "withered branches" of sinful humans are now brought back into the fellowship of the church and the life it offers in Jesus. 

Good Friday was first called Preparation, and also Day of the Lord's Passion, Day of the Absolution, Day of the Cross.  The name Good Friday seems to have developed through English usage.  Perhaps originally its  meaning could have been God's Friday.  Once more, it is difficult to try to specifically date the when and where of the custom of worship on Good Friday.  No doubt, since many early church fathers allude to the day, it was quite common for early believers to remember that day with special time for hearing the Passion account and pondering the depth of the Lord's love for us.

Easter was the first festival consistently observed by Christians.  The whole period from Easter to "Pentecost" was fifty days of rejoicing.  One scholar notes, "This continued observance of Easter, together with the weekly commemoration in the services of the Lord's day, combined to make the fact of the Resurrection a dominant note in the life and thought of the early church and gave a joyful though reverent character to early Christianity."  (Luther Reed in The Lutheran Liturgy.)

Source: WELS.net

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