This article is a work in progress and may be edited at any time.
The Season
Lent (which simply means “the spring season”) is a time of renewed repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for Easter. In church history, it was a time to prepare catechumens for baptism at the Easter Vigil. Lent is 40 days in length (not including Sundays), commemorating Christ’s 40-day fast in the wilderness. It always begins on a Wednesday, sometimes called “Ash Wednesday,” especially in traditions which sign their forehead with ashes in the shape of a cross (Daniel 9:3). Lent ends on Maundy Thursday, the evening before Good Friday, though fasting often continues until Easter Sunday. The burial and descent of Christ to the dead is remembered on Holy Saturday, the day after Good Friday. The period of time from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday is called the Paschal Triduum. For more information, see “articles” and “books” below.
For more information, see Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal (IVP, 2022).
Color and Decorations
The color of Lent is purple, a sign of penitence because of its association with Christ’s suffering (Mark 15:17).
- Purple communion table overlay — Purple Trinity Cross Overlay Cloth
- Purple banners — Maltese Jacquard Banner or All Seasons Series Banner – Crown of Thorns
- Banner hangers — Banner Hanger Set – 24″ 2/pk
Red is sometimes used during Holy Week as a sign of Christ’s passion.
Worship Resources
- Sample Liturgies — the Service of the Word and Lord’s Supper adapted with readings, prayers, and songs for Advent
- Collects and Readings for Lent and Holy Week — prayers and Scripture readings (compare multiple lectionaries) for every Sunday in Advent
- Lent and Holy Week Hymns, Songs, and Metrical Psalms — see also our Spotify Lent Playlist (useful for prelude or musical inspiration)
Preaching
- Expound the texts in the lectionary.
- Preach on Christ’s fasting and temptation in the wilderness.
- Preach on the basics of faith and repentance.
- Preach on the spiritual disciplines, especially prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
- Preach on humility, self-examination, and holiness.
- Preach on the meaning of baptism.
- Preach on passages that look forward to the cross.
Creeds and Confessions
- Apostles’ Creed — “Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.”
- Nicene Creed — “was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried.”
Artwork
- Sister Wendy Beckett, (IVP, 2022).
- Christ in the Wilderness (1872), Ivan Kramskoi, oil on canvas.
- Icon of the Entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) from Uncut Mountain Supply.
- Icon of the Mystical Supper from Uncut Mountain Supply.
- Icon of the Crucifixion from Uncut Mountain Supply.
- See also the art included in each of the sample liturgies for Lent and Holy Week.
Catechism Book
- The Whole Counsel of God catechism book contains a wealth of resources for Lent
- See “A 40-Day Guide to Using the Catechism Book for Lent“
Articles
- Larry Smith, “Ash Wednesday and Lent: Preparation for Easter.”
- Joel Webb, “Not a Fan of Lent? Consider This!“
- “Jim Hart on Lent, Fasting, and Prayer” — podcast
- Johnathan Arnold, “Arrive at Easter With a Heart Fully Prepared: 5 Practices for a Holy Lent“
- Jayson D. Bradley, “5 Suggestions for Observing Good Friday,” Logos.
Books
- Esau McCaulley, Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal (IVP, 2022).
- Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent: Journey to Pascha (SVS Press, 1974).
- Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death (Eerdmans, 2005). Book of sermons.
- Andreas J. Köstenberger and Justin Taylor, The Final Days of Jesus: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived (Crossway, 2014). Includes a Scripture reading plan.
- Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection (Ignatius Press, 2011).
Devotionals
- N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Matthew, Year A: A Daily Devotional (Westminster John Knox Press, 2013).
- N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Mark, Year B: A Daily Devotional (Westminster John Knox Press, 2012).
- N. T. Wright, Lent for Everyone: Luke, Year C: A Daily Devotional (Westminster John Knox Press, 2012).
Related Books
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Popular Patristics Series (SVS Press, 2012). Focuses on Christ’s defeat of death by death as the reason for the incarnation.
- Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, 2017).
- John Stott, The Cross of Christ (IVP, 2006).
- Joshua McNall, The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ’s Work (Zondervan Academic, 2019).
- N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’s Crucifixion (HarperOne, 2018).
- Thomas McCall, Forsaken: The Trinity and the Cross, and Why It Matters (IVP Academic, 2012).
- Locating Atonement: Explorations in Constructive Dogmatics (Zondervan Academic, 2015). See especially Chapter 3, “The Patristic Atonement Model” by Ben Myers.
- Adam Johnson, Atonement: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark, 2015).
- Hans Boersma, Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition (Baker Academic, 2006).
On Holy Saturday
- Matthew Emerson, “He Descended to the Dead”: An Evangelical Theology of Holy Saturday (IVP Academic, 2019).
- Samuel D. Renihan, Crux, Mors, Inferi: A Primer and Reader on Christ’s Descent (Independently Published, 2021).
- Justin W. Bass, The Battle for the Keys: Revelation 1:18 and Christ’s Descent into the Underworld (Wipf and Stock, 2014). Monograph.
- Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev, Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent into Hades from an Orthodox Perspective (SVS Press, 2009).
