Lent

===== Lutheranism =====
Following the birth of Lutheranism in the [[Protestant Reformation]], Lutheran church orders in the 16th century "retained the observation of the Lenten fast, and Lutherans have observed this season with a serene, earnest attitude."<ref name="Gassmann 180">{{cite book|last=Gassmann|first=Günther|title=Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism |date=2001|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc.|isbn=978-0810866201|page=180}}</ref> Many [[Lutheran]] churches advocate fasting during Lent,<ref name="GassmannOldenburg2011">{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism|last1=Gassmann|first1=Günther|last2=Oldenburg|first2=Mark W.|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year= 2011|isbn=978-0810874824|page=229|language=en|quote=In many Lutheran churches, the Sundays during the Lenten season are called by the first word of their respective Latin Introitus (with the exception of Palm/Passion Sunday): Invocavit,[sic] Reminiscere, Oculi, Laetare, and Judica. Many Lutheran church orders of the 16th century retained the observation of the Lenten fast, and Lutherans have observed this season with a serene, earnest attitude. Special days of eucharistic communion were set aside on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=246&IssueID=19 What is the holiest season of the Church Year?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209190015/http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=246&IssueID=19 |date=9 February 2009 }}. Retrieved 3 February 2010. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090209190015/http://www.lcms.org/pages/wPage.asp?ContentID=246&IssueID=19 Archived copy] at the [[Internet Archive]]</ref> especially on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.<ref name="Hatch1978">{{cite book|last=Hatch|first=Jane M.|title=The American Book of Days|year=1978|publisher=Wilson|language=en|isbn=978-0824205935|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanbookofda00hatc/page/163 163]|quote=Special religious services are held on Ash Wednesday by the Church of England, and in the United States by Episcopal, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches. The Episcopal Church prescribes no rules concerning fasting on Ash Wednesday, which is carried out according to members' personal wishes; however, it recommends a measure of fasting and abstinence as a suitable means of marking the day with proper devotion. Among Lutherans as well, there are no set rules for fasting, although some local congregations may advocate this form of penitence in varying degrees.|url=https://archive.org/details/americanbookofda00hatc/page/163}}</ref><ref name="GassmannOldenburg2011"/><ref name="Pfatteicher1990">{{cite book|last=Pfatteicher|first=Philip H.|title=Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship: Lutheran Liturgy in Its Ecumenical Context|year=1990|publisher=Augsburg Fortress Publishers|language=en |isbn=978-0800603922|pages=223–244, 260|quote=The Good Friday fast became the principal fast in the calendar, and even after the Reformation in Germany many Lutherans who observed no other fast scrupulously kept Good Friday with strict fasting.}}</ref><ref name="JacobsHaas1899">{{cite book|last1=Jacobs|first1=Henry Eyster|last2=Haas|first2=John Augustus William|title=The Lutheran Cyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_93ErAAAAYAAJ|year=1899|publisher=Scribner|language=en|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_93ErAAAAYAAJ/page/n126 110]|quote=By many Lutherans Good Friday is observed as a strict fast. The lessons on Ash Wednesday emphasize the proper idea of the fast. The Sundays in Lent receive their names from the first words of their Introits in the Latin service, Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Lcetare, Judica.}}</ref> ''A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent'' published by the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]], a [[mainline Protestant|mainline]] Lutheran denomination, offers a number of guidelines for fasting, abstinence, and other forms of self-denial during Lent:<ref name="ELCA1978"/>
{{blockquote|
#Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with only one simple meal during the day, usually without meat.
#Refrain from eating meat (bloody foods) on all Fridays in Lent, substituting fish for example. 
#Eliminate a food or food group for the entire season. Especially consider saving rich and fatty foods for Easter. 
#Consider not eating before receiving Communion in Lent. 
#Abstain from or limit a favorite activity (television, movies etc.) for the entire season, and spend more time in prayer, Bible study, and reading devotional material.
#Don't just give up something that you have to give up for your doctor or diet anyway. Make your fast a voluntary self-denial (i.e. discipline) that you offer to God in prayer.<ref name="ELCA1978">{{cite web|url=http://www.ststephenlutheranchurch.org/pdf/Disciplines%20of%20Lent-%20Handbook.pdf|title=A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent|last=Weitzel|first=Thomas L.|year=1978|publisher=Evangelical Lutheran Church in America|language=en|access-date=17 March 2018|archive-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164940/http://www.ststephenlutheranchurch.org/pdf/Disciplines%20of%20Lent-%20Handbook.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}
The [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]], a [[Confessional Lutheranism|confessional Lutheran]] denomination, likewise encourages (but does not require) members to give things up for Lent, while emphasizing that the purpose of Lent is repentance from sin rather than minor acts of self-denial in themselves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs/worship-and-congregational-life|title=Frequently Asked Questions — Worship & Congregational Life|access-date=12 April 2022|publisher=Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://witness.lcms.org/2018/what-to-give-up-for-lent|last=Petesen|first=David|title=What to Give up for Lent?|date=13 February 2018|access-date=12 April 2022|publisher=Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod|language=en}}</ref>