Lent

[Maximus]

Where does the tradition of Lent come from anyway? Is it an adaptation of some pre-Christian custom or an invention of the Roman church?

[HVC]

Where does the tradition of Lent come from anyway? Is it an adaptation of some pre-Christian custom or an invention of the Roman church?

it's when we remember jesus' 40 day camping trip in the desert. not sure if it was copied from other religions, but i know the jews had a thing for 40 days.

[Scipio]

Where does the tradition of Lent come from anyway? Is it an adaptation of some pre-Christian custom or an invention of the Roman church?

it's when we remember jesus' 40 day camping trip in the desert. not sure if it was copied from other religions, but i know the jews had a thing for 40 days.

In the OT, 40 is the number you tack onto a measure of time to indicate it's really long.  40 days=a lot of days.  40 years=a lot of years.  40 minutes=typical Southern Baptist sermon.

[Josephus]

40 years old = fucking dead man!

[Martinus]

Yeah, to me the customs surrounding the end of the Carnivale and the Lent itself are a quintessential Catholic thing. There is very little actual spirituality in that, but a lot of obscure ritual and "fun" stuff (like sinful excess followed by for-show penance). I could see how Puritans, Baptists and the like would consider it to be some of the worst examples of Catholic excesses.

To me, stuff like this actually makes it worth to be a Catholic - a bunch of middle class people reading Bible and refraining from alcohol and sodomy is where the snooze fest begins.

FYI....Catholics frown on that whole sodomy thing.

Catholics sin all the time - you just need to go to a confession and get an absolution.

[The Brain]

Never played the game of Lent.

[Sheilbh]

Where does the tradition of Lent come from anyway? Is it an adaptation of some pre-Christian custom or an invention of the Roman church?

It's in all the Orthodox Churches (the Great Lent) so it's not a Roman thing and my understanding is that it's mentioned in the Council of Nicaea for timekeeping purposes.  There's lots of stuff before then about an Easter fast but Lent as forty days emerges afterwards.  Apparently the ancient fasting was more severe and resembled Ramadan in that you weren't allowed to eat during daylight hours, plus certain foods were entirely banned.

I don't know of any clear pagan comparison as with Easter or Christmas.  The nearest comparisons are in other organised religions.  The Muslims have Ramadan and I'm fairly sure there are some Jewish fast days.  I think the Buddhists and Hindus have fasting periods before some major festivals too.  So I think it's more likely it's a growth from Easter as the major festival combined with general religious traditions of fasting, abstinence and reflection - possibly more to do with the early Church's love of hermits and self-denial?

[dps]

Yeah, to me the customs surrounding the end of the Carnivale and the Lent itself are a quintessential Catholic thing. There is very little actual spirituality in that, but a lot of obscure ritual and "fun" stuff (like sinful excess followed by for-show penance). I could see how Puritans, Baptists and the like would consider it to be some of the worst examples of Catholic excesses.

To me, stuff like this actually makes it worth to be a Catholic - a bunch of middle class people reading Bible and refraining from alcohol and sodomy is where the snooze fest begins.

FYI....Catholics frown on that whole sodomy thing.

They'll look the other way, though, if it's priest on small boy action.

[Caliga]

We have the Fat Thursday (the Thursday preceding the Ash Wednesday), and the Shrove Tuesday (literally "Leftovers") when people eat a lot of sweets, especially "paczki" (jelly-filled dougnuts) and "faworki" (crisp delicate pastry made of dough twisted into ribbons, deep-fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar).

Believe it or not I've seen paczki at grocery stores here around this time of year.  There were a lot of Polacks in my area when I was growing up, so we ate them too... where I heard them pronounced "pozz-key".  Just yesterday I was talking to one of my co-workers in Chicago about paczki and he pronounced them like "ponch-key".  His name is Wojciech so I'm guessing he must be of Polish extraction.

[Brazen]

I'm amused by the fact that Lent is actually 46 days long but you get Sundays off from shriving. This presumably represents when the ice-cream van drove through the desert and Jesus had a 99 to sustain himself.

[MadBurgerMaker]

I always enjoyed watching my friends at StMU suffer while trying to quit smoking during lent.  One of the benefits of going to a Catholic school while not being Catholic.

e:  Also "what the fuck is that on your face?" whenever that whole thing is.

And because I want to go back and do all that again, hey check it out:



Ike and Mamie in front of St. Louis Hall kind of a while ago.  The head ball coach was pretty damn young (25-26ish, I think) in this photo.  Those doors are pretty beat up these days. 

[Martinus]

We have the Fat Thursday (the Thursday preceding the Ash Wednesday), and the Shrove Tuesday (literally "Leftovers") when people eat a lot of sweets, especially "paczki" (jelly-filled dougnuts) and "faworki" (crisp delicate pastry made of dough twisted into ribbons, deep-fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar).

Believe it or not I've seen paczki at grocery stores here around this time of year.  There were a lot of Polacks in my area when I was growing up, so we ate them too... where I heard them pronounced "pozz-key".  Just yesterday I was talking to one of my co-workers in Chicago about paczki and he pronounced them like "ponch-key".  His name is Wojciech so I'm guessing he must be of Polish extraction.

"Ponch-key" is closer to the correct pronounciation.

If you know French, the "a" in "paczki" is actually pronounced more like the French "on", since it is a nasal vowel spelled "ą" (just that the comma s frequently ommitted in non-Polish transcripts).

[CountDeMoney]

I always enjoyed watching my friends at StMU suffer while trying to quit smoking during lent.  One of the benefits of going to a Catholic school while not being Catholic.

e:  Also "what the fuck is that on your face?" whenever that whole thing is.

You mean, Ash from Mass? Stay classy, MBM.

[MadBurgerMaker]

You mean, Ash from Mass? Stay classy, MBM.

I ooze class.  Did I mention my wife's family is Catholic too?  It's the gift that keeps on giving.

[CountDeMoney]

It's just we expect that kind of stuff from gay Polish pedo-apologists and other ignorant dirt farmers, s'all.