Lent. A fascinating time in the church year that Presbyterians and other Protestants are only beginning to appreciate. The name Lent has nothing to do with something previously loaned - it comes from an ancient word that meant "springtime," - that period of the calendar during which the days lengthen. Because the church season always fell at that time of year, the name came to apply there as well. Even after the word "Lent" no longer referred to spring, it was still used by the church to describe the season before Easter.

As you know, the season of Lent as currently observed lasts forty days, Ash Wednesday till Easter. The early church celebrated Lent only for a few days before Easter, but, over the centuries, the season grew until it was several weeks long. In the seventh century, the ch…