Lent
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Lent is the solemn Christian religious observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according
High altar, barren, with few adornments, as is custom during Lent
An Evangelical-Lutheran Mass at Hedvig Eleonora Church on the sixth Sunday of Lent. Purple is the liturgical colour of the Lenten season.
Lent observers, including a confraternity of penitents, carrying out a street procession during Holy Week, in Granada, Nicaragua. The violet colour is often associated with penance and detachment. Similar Christian penitential practice is seen in other Christian countries, sometimes associated with fasting.
In Western traditions, the liturgical colour of the season of Lent is violet. Altar crosses and religious statuary which show Christ in his glory are traditionally veiled during this period in the Christian year.
Ash Wednesday
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Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of prayer, fasting, and alm
Lent
…days Jesus, as well as Moses and Elijah, went without food in their respective fasts. In Lent-observing Western Christian denominations, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later; depending on the Christian denomination and local custom, Lent concludes either on the evening of Maundy Thursday…
A cross marked in ash on a worshiper's forehead
The faithful receive ashes during the celebration of the Mass in an Evangelical-Lutheran parish church.
Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness (Jésus tenté dans le désert), James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum
A priest blesses ashes.