Why is the season of Lent 40 days long?
• The rains that flooded the earth in the time of Noah lasted for forty days and forty nights, and symbolized the cleansing of the sin of the earth. For Christians, it also prefigures the cleansing and renewing waters of Baptism. • During the time of Moses, the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years in their journey to the Promised Land. Moses also fasted for 40 days before receiving the Ten Commandments. • The prophet Jonah was sent to the land of his enemies, the Ninevites, to proclaim to the people there, “Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” The people of Nineveh, including the king, heeded the warning of Jonah, put on sack cloth and ashes, and repented. • Jesus himself ventured out into the desert where he fasted and was tempted by Satan for 40 days. He returned from his desert experience to be baptized by John, and to begin his public ministry.
