Why is Lent forty days long?
In the very early church, adult baptisms were most frequently performed at Easter vigil or on Easter morning. Following Jesus’ example of forty days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness after his own baptism, early Christians spent forty days in prayer, fasting, and study as preparation for their own baptisms. Then the early Christians realized that forty days of prayer, fasting, and study were a good idea for everyone in order to remember his or her own baptism at Easter, as well as celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, which is what Christianity is all about. The forty days are also the length of time that Moses spent in prayer and fasting on the mountain top when he received the Ten Commandments and the length of time Elijah spent in meditation after hearing God’s call. The Israelites also spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. And as we remember our baptisms, we remember the forty days and nights of the Great Flood in Noah’s time, when God promised he would never destro
