Why 40 days (of fasting- and “fasting” is the key word here in understanding the number of days that determine the fasting portion of the Lenten Season)?
Well, throughout the Bible there are references to events taking place over 40 days or years, such as: the 40 days it took for the flood of Noahs time to drown sinfulness; the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert; the 40 days Moses and Elijah fasted and prayed before beginning their work; or Jesus’ 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert. For people in ancient times, 40 was deeply symbolic. In the biblical sense, “Forty days” is another way of saying ‘long enough’ or ‘enough time’ to bring something to completion or fulfillment. We begin those 40 days on Ash Wednesday when we receive ashes on our foreheads as a sign of mourning and penitence, and to remind us that we are entering a period of prayer and spiritual renewal, fasting and almsgiving. A Short History Lesson Christians of the second century engaged in a two-day fast; in the third century, the fast was extended to all of Holy Week; by the time of the Council of Nicea, the Quadragesima Paschae as a 40 day period of fasting and
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