Liturgy Lesson for Sexagesima: Pre-Lent

February 6, 2010

The Pre-Lenten season is a period of about three weeks directly preceding Lent, extending from the last Sunday in Epiphany to the beginning of Lent itself. The early Church fathers designed this season as a transition time from the gaiety and celebration of our Lord’s nativity to the quieter, more focused time of examen and fasting in Lent. This time, marked by Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima count us back, in round numbers from the seventieth, sixtieth, and fiftieth days, respectively, before Easter and herald an excellent opportunity for us to begin review our spiritual lives in our Lord—what we are, and what He is calling us to be in His Body, the Church. Like our Lord’s entrance into Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion, it’s a time when we begin to prepare ourselves for our own Gethsemane in the wilderness of Lenten devotions and growth.

Posted by Father Chip | Filed Under Liturgy Lessons