Lent us upon us. During this period before Pascha each year many people “give up something” as a token, others “take on something”, some of us still follow the traditional fast, still others don’t even bat their eyes at Lent ignoring it all together.

The “logic” behind many of our Lenten practices is asceticism – the spiritual discipline that emerged just before Christianity, and found its “home” within the lives of the holy men & women of the first four centuries of the church. Asceticism, contrary to popular perception, at its core is about developing the fullness of a beautiful personality, and not repentance, or hatred for the material world.

Asceticism was seen as cultivating a healthy life and a balanced personality. Thus, it is often cited in the texts of the fathers that talk about well-being, health, and even medical matters.

Asceticism was not solely the practice of, monks, hermits, and holy men. St. Athanasius for example encouraged everyone to live a life of discipline – describing the life of an “ascetic” as the “advanced life of virtue” everyone else could benefit, he argued from cultivating a moderate asceticism in their day to day affairs. Again, the logic of asceticism was to cultivate the fullest possible expression of one’s personality, one’s . . . “personhood”.

Starting from the fourth century when Lent began to take on the features we are now familiar with – it has been intimately linked with asceticism. Lent became a time of “re-awakening” to our relationship with the divine, peeling away the things of this World that weigh down our ability to fully “be” icons of the Living Christ – in preparation for the feast of the Resurrection.

Asceticism affects more than just our approach to, and understanding of Lent. It affects other areas of our historic theology – for example attitudes towards the “body”, sexuality, and thus to marriage – and even Lesbian and Gay relationships.

Finally, one reason this season is often called “Great Lent” or the “Great Fast” is because it is the longest in a series of other “lents” preceding or forming a preparation period for the other major feasts of the year. Originally, they all lasted about a week.

Pascha is the time when people were baptised. The preparation for baptism in the late antique church was more involved, and took more time than unfortunately it does today. Catechumens underwent a period of ascetic discipline (prayer, study, fasting) for about a month before their baptism at Pascha. The length of “Great Lent” increased out of the custom of the rest of the community – in solidarity with their catechumens – undertaking the same discipline.

During this Lent I would like to invite you to play with me and explore two questions:

What is the “value” of asceticism in our contemporary OC/IC community?

Assuming that we wish to re-claim that “value” would it not be more constructive if we restored the practice of little “lents” throughout the festal year – and thereby offering a greater opportunity for our folks to consciously cultivate the skill of asceticism? Would doing so mean that “Lent” could/should be restored to about a week before Pascha; why or why not?