Officially, Lent begins Wed 2/18/2015 and ends on Saturday, 4/4/2015 (inclusive). Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday) is 2/17/2015.
A few facts about lent..
- The 40 days of lent is meant to honor Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the desert just after being baptized.
- From what I understand, the Pope has been know to gran special dispensation for the Irish on St. Patrick's day when it falls on a Friday. Remember, Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during lent (on top of what they choose to give up). The special dispensation is to allow the Irish to have their corn beef.
- But lent (from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday) is actually 46 days.
- Lent does not include Sundays. This is because of the Jewish tradition of the Sabbath where Saturday was a day of rest.
Christians moved their day of rest to Sunday and, keeping with tradition, that day of the week was excluded from lent.
So, there are 6 Sundays between ash Wednesday and holy Saturday, and when removed this lowers lent to just 40 days.
I like to include the Sundays. The primary reason that I do this every year is to simply see just how easy it is to go dry for a period of time. Drinking on Sundays kind of defeats the purpose for me. I already know I can go 6 days without even thinking about a glass of wine, but just how easy is it to give it up for 46 straight days??? (OK, some years I end my lent fasting on good Friday, but 43 days is also good)
Another reason is that I also like to diet during lent and removing those calories helps.
Finally, IMHO, doing something to honor "the man upstairs" may not help, but it couldn't hurt!
So, for those that want to join me, here are the rules..
THERE ARE NO RULES!! This is a personal choice!!! Include Sundays, Exclude Sundays, Give yourself 6 special days excluded from lent, it is all good!!!! My hope is that some will join me (for whatever reason) and that we use this thread to support one another.
In the mean time, I have a party to plan on Saturday. I think that I will start off with a nice Opus One!