Lent

==== Other related fasting periods ====
[[File:Ashes_to_Go_at_Palmer_Memorial_Episcopal_Church.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The season of Lent begins on [[Ash Wednesday]], most notably by the public imposition of ashes. In this photograph, a woman receives a cross of ashes on Ash Wednesday outside an Anglican church.]]
[[File:Ash_Wednesday_Mass_at_Nazareth_Evangelical_Lutheran_Church.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A Lutheran pastor distributes ashes during the [[Divine Service (Lutheran)|Divine Service]] on Ash Wednesday.]]
The number 40 has many Biblical references:
*[[Moses]] spent 40 days on [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]] with [[God in Christianity|God]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|24:18|HE}}</ref>
*[[Elijah]] spent 40 days and nights walking to [[Mount Horeb]]<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Kings|19:8|HE}}</ref>
* God sent 40 days and nights of rain in the great flood of [[Noah]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|7:4|HE}}</ref>
* The Hebrew people wandered 40 years in the desert while traveling to the [[Promised Land]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|14:33|HE}}</ref>
*[[Jonah]]'s prophecy of [[judgment]] gave 40 days to the city of [[Nineveh]] in which to repent or be destroyed<ref>{{bibleverse||Jonah|3:4|HE}}</ref>
* Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where He fasted for 40 days, and was [[Temptation of Christ|tempted]] by the [[Devil in Christianity|devil]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|4:1–2|KJV}}, {{bibleverse||Mark|1:12–13|KJV}}, {{bibleverse||Luke|4:1–2|KJV}})</ref> He overcame all three of Satan's [[temptation]]s by citing scripture to the devil, at which point the devil left him, angels ministered to Jesus, and He began His [[Christian ministry|ministry]]. Jesus further said that His disciples should fast "when the bridegroom shall be taken from them",<ref>{{bibleverse||Matthew|9:15|KJV}}</ref> a reference to his Passion. 
* It is the traditional belief that Jesus lay for 40 hours in the tomb,<ref name="RC-en-lent-duration" /> which led to the 40 hours of total fasting that preceded the Easter celebration in the [[Early Christianity|early Church]]<ref>Lent & Beyond: Dr. Peter Toon – From Septuagesima to Quadragesima (web site gone, no alternate source found, originally cited 27 August 2010)</ref> (the biblical reference to 'three days in the tomb' is understood by them as ''spanning'' three days, from Friday afternoon to early Sunday morning, rather than three 24-hour periods of time). Some Christian denominations, such as The Way International and Logos Apostolic Church of God,<ref>{{Citation | title = Jesus Was Literally Three Days and Three Nights in the Grave | publisher = www.logosapostolic.org| url = http://www.logosapostolic.org/bible_study/RP208-2ThreeDaysNights.htm | access-date = 23 March 2011}}</ref> as well as [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] scholar [[E. W. Bullinger]] in ''The Companion Bible'', believe Christ was in the grave for a total of 72 hours, reflecting the [[Typology (theology)|type]] of Jonah in the belly of the whale.<ref>{{cite news | last =Burke | first= Daniel | title = Just How Long Did Jesus Stay in the Tomb? | publisher = www.huffingtonpost.com | date =13 April 2011 | url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/13/just-how-long-did-jesus-s_n_848872.html | access-date =23 March 2015}}</ref>

One of the most important ceremonies at Easter is the [[baptism]] of the initiates on Easter Eve. The fast was initially undertaken by the [[catechumen]]s to prepare them for the reception of this [[sacrament]]. Later, the period of fasting from [[Good Friday]] until Easter Day was extended to six days, to correspond with the six weeks of training necessary to give the final instruction to those [[Religious conversion|converts]] who were to be baptized.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}

[[Conversion to Christianity|Converts to Christianity]] followed a strict [[catechumenate]] or period of instruction and discipline prior to receiving the [[sacrament]] of [[baptism]], sometimes lasting up to three years.<ref name="Hinson1981">{{cite book|last=Hinson|first=E. Glenn|title=The Evangelization of the Roman Empire: Identity and Adaptability|date=1981|publisher=Mercer University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0865540149|quote=Like its parent, Judaism, earliest Christianity had a catechism for its converts, as much recent study has proven. […] Hippolytus required up to three years' instruction before baptism, shortened by a candidate's progress in developing Christian character.}}</ref> In [[Jerusalem]] near the close of the fourth century, classes were held throughout Lent for three hours each day. With the legalization of Christianity (by the [[Edict of Milan]]) and its later imposition as the [[state religion]] of the [[Roman Empire]], its character was endangered by the great influx of new members. In response, the Lenten fast and practices of [[Asceticism#Christianity|self-renunciation]] were required annually of all Christians, both to show solidarity with the catechumens, and for their own spiritual benefit.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}