The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-18
THE BEGINNING OF LENT.
Origin of the Fast, and Some of the Cere-
monies Practiced During It's Prevalence.

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday and to-day is
Ash Wednesday, the first day of lent the spring
tide fast of forty days before Easter. To-day is
called Ash Wednesday because on this day, in the
Catholic churches, the ashes made of the palms
used on the last previous Palm Sunday are
blessed. This is done in our city churches this
morning, at o'clock, just before mass, and after
the blessing comes the imposition or distribution
of the ashes with which the sign Of the cross is
made upon the forehead, given with the words
lin Latin), Remember man. thou art but dust,
and unto dust shalt thou return"
Roman Catholic theologians, and many Prot
estants maintain that this fast is, in substance,
of apostolic origin, but the greater number of
Protestants consider it to be purely an &C.
cesiastcal institution. Lent is observed
with fasting not only in the Roman and
in the Greek, but in other Oriental churches.
The earliest illusions to it speak of it as es-
tablished usage, handed down from the fathers.
The forty-days period is commemorative of our
Lords forty days fast and of the similar per-
functory fasts of Moses and Elias Some au-
thors contend that in the beginning this prepare
tory fast limited to the first four days of
holy week, embracing fast of forty hours
which gradually extended to forty days.
According to others, the fast was one of forty
days from the very first.
There is considerable uncertainty regarding
the nature of the obligation of fasting The fasts
of holy week-the last week in ent-seem to
have been kept By all as obligatory, but the 9th
ers. it is thought, were assumed as voluntary,
and the general custom at length came to be
general law The period of fasting by the
Greeks was at one time seventy days in length;
at Rome it became fifty days. and, in the
year 311, was extended to sixty days
In the time c: Gregory the Great
it was but thirry-six days; but that
JoI IL
forty and so it has since remained. In the
present discipline of the Roman Catholic Church
only one meal is allowed daily, and at this the
use or flesh meats is interdicted Custom allows
a slight rejection, not exceeding two ounces, in
the morning, and a collation., not exceeding
eight ounces, in the evening, but this general
rule is modified to suit the necessities of climate
and occupation. In Spain, during the crusades
and the wars with the Moors, practice arose of
permitting in certain cases, the substitution of
a contribution to the holy war, for the observ-
ance of the lenten abstinence. and, although
the object has long since ceased. the contribu
ton is still permitted under the same title of the
'Cruzada," in Spain, the Spanish colonies and in
Spanish America In nearly all the Protestant
churches of continental Europe particularly
the Lutheran Church. lent is still penitential
season. The Church of England still keeps the
lenten fast on her calendar with appropriate
services, as does the Protestant Episcopal
Church.
AT the Catholic churches of this city each
wednesday during lent there Will be services
at o'clock in the evening. and also services
each Friday evening, while the usual Sunday
services will continue During the penitential
season the vestments worn by the priests will
be of purple until holy week, when ON Thurs
day the color will be white on Good Friday
black, and on Holy Saturday violet and white
different colOrs being used in different parts of
the ceremonies on Holy Saturday. The bless
ing of the baptismal font and the reading of the
prophecies will constitute part of the mass
that day. The blessing of the fire from which
the sanctuary lamp and all the lights of the al
tar are lighted Is that day, and the pascal
candle for Easter On Holy Thursday the chief
ceremony is the blessing of the holy oils used
in the administration of the sacraments. This
is done by the bishop. On Good Friday the pre-
sanctifed mass is said with ceremonies commem-
orative of the death of Christ.