Cuaresma

When I was a child I thought of Cuaresma or Lent happening only during the Easter week. The week my family would go on holidays. As I matured in Christian faith, my understanding of Cuaresma also changed.

Having worked in China for 2 years, I noticed that Ash Wednesday would almost always come right after the Chinese celebration of their Spring festival or as the world knows, the Chinese New Year. In old English, lencten means spring. In China, the celebration of the Chinese New Year also commences the beginning of spring. Perhaps in the Christian world, spring also begins on Ash Wednesday. In Latin Quadragesima means 40 thus the 40 days of Lent and the celebration of Easter (Easter, is also the name of the spring goddess).

Cuaresma is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparation for the celebration of Easter , the major Christian feast, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus after his crucifixion.

The observance of Cuaresma goes back to the 4th century. In Eastern churches it is known as the six weeks before Palm Sunday. In the West the penitential season begins liturgically with Septuagesima or the third Sunday before Lent or the ninth Sunday before Easter; the next Sundays are Sexagesima and Quinquagesima.

Cuaresma begins today, Ash Wednesday, the 40th weekday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind us of death, of the sorrow we should feel for our sins, and of the necessity of changing our lives. This practice, which dates from the early Middle Ages, is common among us Catholics. Other faithful practice this too, like the Anglicans and Episcopalians, and many Lutherans. It was also adopted by some Methodists and Presbyterians in the 1990s.

From the 5th to 9th century, strict fasting was required; only one meal was allowed per day, and meat and fish (and sometimes eggs and dairy) were forbidden. For the carnivore this would really be a big sacrifice. Fasting restrictions were gradually loosened during and since the 9th century. By the 20th century, meat was allowed, except on Fridays. In 1966, Pope Paul VI then began a trend toward penitential works like acts of charity in lieu of fasting during Cuaresma.

Having been schooled in Catholic institutions, there was always ash imposition in my schools. The bigger the cross on the forehead, the better I felt about it. I had this “looking good” feeling having it there. If it was small or not dark enough, I felt heathen. My family practiced meatless Fridays, abstaining from meat on Fridays during Cuaresma (and being a child was not an exception).

Even if we had meatless Fridays, as a child, I thought of Cuaresma as something that began on Palm Sunday. I looked forward to it not because I could eat meat but because I knew soon we would be taking a trip.

I remember my father would do the early centuries practice of one meal a day only, I’m glad he didn’t impose that on us. One of the things my father did during Cuaresma was fasting for 40 days not on food but on something he enjoyed doing – smoking and (some Lents) drinking his favorite San Miguel.

Cuaresma ends at midnight Holy Saturday. Then Papa would light his first cigarette and enjoy his first puff on Easter celebrating not with Easter eggs but bottles of San Miguel. My son always looks forward to the end of Cuaresma. Meatless Fridays are real sacrifices for him. He would count the many Fridays before Easter. This year, I have prepared myself for the beginning of 'Cuaresma' and looking forward to the 40th day because I know I will be celebrating Easter at home.