More and more Protestants are beginning to see Lent as less and less of a "papist" barnacle on the barque of the Christian Church and instead something to which they feel called to observe.
"So, how did Catholic Lenten traditions spread across the border [to Protestantism]? For one thing, the boundaries between traditions are not what they used to be. Crossing them is a steady traffic of believers and seekers. Want to meet someone who was raised Catholic? Try an evangelical megachurch, or the local United Church of Christ. About one-third of believers change churches at least once, according to commonly cited studies. Inevitably, all this changing of churches ends up changing the churches, as people bring bits of their worship traditions with them. Catholic liturgy has appropriated pop music and hand-holding in evangelical style. So, maybe it’s not that surprising that more Protestants are now dipping into the well of Catholic ritual and devotions. In that sense, Lent may be part of a trend: Check out the Ecumenical Miracle Rosary, which recasts Catholic devotional beads for Protestant use by eliminating those troublesome Hail Marys.
"Observing Lent is also part of a Protestant move in the last generation toward more classical forms of spiritual discipline. The hugely influential 1978 book Celebration of Discipline, by Quaker theologian Richard J. Foster, encouraged churchgoers to rediscover fasting and meditation in ‘answer to a hollow world’ and as a way to turn toward God. Some questing Protestants started making like monks, practicing silence and solitude. All this was made more palatable by the improved relations between Catholics and Protestants that followed the Second Vatican Council reforms of the 1960s.
"Perhaps it’s the things that made Lent hard to take as a Catholic kid — the solemnity, the self-denial, the disappearance of hot dogs from the lunchroom — that account most for the season’s broadening appeal. I was schooled to see Lent as a time apart, a respite from the daily pursuit of self-gratification. That apartness seems not unlike the ‘inward and spiritual reality’ that Foster suggested could be found in the ancient disciplines. Catholics have for so long thought of themselves as the defenders of ritual — the masters of incense, genuflection, and splendor — that it still seems strange to be sharing ash-wearing with Presbyterians and Methodists. But our shared affection of late for some of the old ways of worship represents a small victory for mystery, ritual, and awe. Now if we could just come to ecumenical agreement about the evils of frozen fish sticks."
Perhaps the main reason why Lent is migrating again is because the human heart sees in it a helpful spiritual discipline in which the Christian believer may draw near to Christ. That human longing for asceticism as a spiritual discipline may be stifled but cannot be smothered. The renewal of Lent in Protestant circles goes to show that when a wheel is useful enough, it will be reinvented.
I have know several pastors who have said, for years now, that their Ash Wednesday services are PACKED with non-Catholics drawn by, well, take your pick of attractions. As a “sacramental”, non-Catholics are eligible to receive these ashes and, I’m thinking, benefit by doing so.
During Mass last night, afer distibuting ashes, and while washing the ashes from my hands, I recalled that one doesn’t have to be a Catholic or even a Christian to receive ashes, since we gave ashes to people who were preparing for Baptism. So, at the end of Mass, I announced that ANYONE (even not Christian) who wanted to receive ashes from me after Mass could do so. They would simply have to be willing to have me tell them, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
Which brings me to a question I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to, but probably should. My wife is a Protestant, but she’s becoming Catholic (though it’ll have to wait til next year.) Would it have been appropriate for her to go get the ashes on her forehead in a Catholic service?
I’m thinking the answer is yes, but I wasn’t sure.
Heh, everyone answered my question before I finished writing my post.
Never mind.
The more liturgical Protestant churches have always celebrated (if that is the right word) Lent.
I first observed Lent when, as a Protestant, I went to college and got involved in a mostly-Protestant Christian fellowship group. Some of the people were discussing giving up things for Lent. Quite a few of them were doing it. I thought it sounded like a good idea, so I did my own little sacrifice for Lent. I had no idea at the time that it was a “Catholic” thing to do! 🙂
Only slightly OT:
“…all this changing of churches ends up changing the churches, as people bring bits of their worship traditions with them. Catholic liturgy has appropriated pop music and hand-holding in evangelical style.”
My wife has commented to me more than once that the Mass seems more Protestant than Catholic. At my parish, it is hard to argue against that.
There is an old World War I era song that had the line: “How are we going to keep them on the farm after they’ve seen Gay Paree?”
The Protestant answer: “Make the farm look like Gay Paree.”
Modern Protestants are looking to fill their spiritual emptiness and to stem the flow of converts to the Catholic and Orthodox communions by aping Catholicism and calling it “catholicism.”
My daughter tells me that in Northern Ireland everyone celebrates Lent and everyone has a confirmation name. They probably all do ashes too.
I think in the settlement of the American frontier a lot of Christian customs were lost, especially in Bible only, me-and-Jesus evangelicalism.
I think it is a wonderful thing for Protestants to learn and practice Catholic traditions. I know for me this was a gradual stepping stone toward the Catholic Church. For my family it started with observing Advent, as a way to bring Christ into Christmas, eventually adopting more and more Catholic spiritual practices, all the while without the thought of ever actually becoming Catholic — we saw ourselves as simply recovering the riches of our Christian heritage. I think sharing these riches with our Protestant brethren is a great low-key way to witness for the fullness of faith and spiritual riches within the Catholic Church. It just might lead them to Rome as it did me!
Yeah, I am happy to report that at the University of Washington Newman center, because of the protestant visitors in addition to the catholics, there was a record attendance for Ash Wednesday (filled nave and vestibule at least, and one even had people outside). It was the largest number of people at the center ever. The Friars were proud.