In book 2 of the series of 5 books entitled the Church’s Year of Grace, the time between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday – the start of lent, is called Pre-Lent with the book itself covering the liturgical year from Septuagesima to Holy Saturday. This book’s section on pre-lent describes it along with its purpose and message in the following quote:
“The Lord said to Adam: Of the tree which stands in the middle of paradise you shall not eat. As son as you taste of it, you shall certainly die” (Ant. Magn.).
“The Lord said to Noe: The end of all creatures of flesh is in My mind. Make an ark of resin-wood, that in it the seed of every creature may be saved” (Ant. Magn.).
“The father of our faith, Abraham the Great, offered a holocaust upon the altar in place of his son” (Ant. Magn.)
To effect a transition from the joyous spirit of Christmas time to the sober and serious character of Lent, the Church has inserted a period of mental conditioning before Ash Wednesday. Pre-Lent, as this period may be called, consists of three Sundays, Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, i.e., the seventieth, the sixtieth, and the fiftieth day before Easter. These numbers do not, of course, result from accurate calculation, but because the first Sunday in Lent was called Quadragesima the three previous Sundays received the name of the nearest round figure.
A little reflection upon the liturgy of these three Sundays will show a unified and beautifully constructed underlying plan. The three great station churches, St. Lawrenc, St. Paul, and St. Peter (arranged in ascending importance) indicate the extraordinary significance the Church attaches to these Sundays.
These three Sundays may be regarded as a prelude to the entire Easter season. In this prelude there are two main lines of emphasis:
- Using the Old Testament as a mirror, the Church shows us the approaching mystery. Three great patriarchs rise up before us: Adam, Noe, Abraham. Listening to the fathers of the Church as an interpreting chorus, we quickly understand how they were prototypes of “future good things.” Adam was indeed the originator of sin, but he is also the forerunner of the second father of mankind, Christ. Noe, saved by the ark, is a symbol of man’s deliverance through the waters of baptism by the Church. Abraham’s sacrifice serves as a premonition of Christs’s death on the Cross. What a splendid triptych the Church places before us! Christ is the true Adam, the true Noe, the true Abraham.
- The Gospels of these three Sundays focus their message upon a single theme: an invitation, a task, a goal. On the first Sanday we receive God’s invitation to enter the vineyard of His kingdom. On the second Sunday the liturgy tells us about God’s plans: the Church and the soul lie before Him as a great, unplanted field; the divine Sower will sow it with seed in order to gain and abundant harvest. How will His sowing affect us? Through the light of faith in baptism! Through the light of grace at Easter! Through the light of glory in heaven! Thus the Gospel pericopes of these three Sundays develop one basic course of spiritual instruction. This course was intended originally for catechumens; now it serves admirably well as a program for the approaching period of internal renewal.
The liturgy of pre-lent, . . .dates from the time of Pope St. Gregory . . . [and] In content they reflect the period of the migration of nations, and age of war, tumult, and suffering.
The above quote aptly summarizes pre-lent’s origins and message. The rest of the book is just as intreating and informative with regard to the parts of the liturgical year it covers!
Traditional Thomistic Catholic 