During this season faithful prepare themselves by prayer and fasting for the Resurrection and a more fruitful reception of graces which Jesus Christ merited by his suffering and death.
In the Latin Rite, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days. Before the Council of Nicaea (325) the preparation for Lent did not exceed two or three days. After the council, following the example of Jesus’ forty days in the desert, forty days become customary.
The entire Lenten season remains penitential. It includes designated days of abstinence, focus on prayer, reception of sacraments, almsgiving, and general practice of charity. These penitential practices also include offerings of sacrifices as a reparation for personal sins, sins of the world and for the souls in purgatory. Such a penance is a personal offering of love for Jesus in appreciation for His ultimate act of love for humanity on the cross.
