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May 18, 2024
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| Word of the Week--"Lent" |
Definition--the season of 40 days from Ash Wednesday (this year on March 8, 2000) until Easter day, a season of penitence for Christians.
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| Discussion--Soon "Fat Tuesday" will be here ending the Mardi Gras celebration and ushering in the
season of Lent. Do you plan on giving up something for Lent? How about dusting off those new year’s resolutions and finding something suitable?
Lent commemorates Christ's fast in the wilderness (Matthew 4.2). More common than fasting, members of some religions choose to go without something during Lent to remember Christ's fast. Things relating to Lent are referred to as Lenten, the adjectival form.
For those of other faiths, watching others go through Lent signifies the coming of Spring, which is in fact the derivation of the term Lent.
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| Etymology--Lent comes from the Middle English lente, originally "spring". |
Foreign Translations
| Dutch: |
vastentijd (de) |
| French: |
Carême |
| German: |
Fastenzeit (f)
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| Italian: |
Quaresima |
| Spanish: |
Cuaresma |
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Jane Ellis
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