In her fascinating The Reformation of Ritual: An Interpretation of Early Modern Germany , Susan Karant-Nunn notes that Protestants in Germany continued to observe some traditional medieval Lenten prohibitions: “Night weddings, except for people of high rank, were widely prohibited. In Saxony, where they were permitted, the higher fees charged such couples for having the church bells run suggest that here too, only richer people availed themselves of the evening hours . . . . That they thought weddings in... Read more

Bryan Spinks summarizes some of the debates concerning the Book of Common Prayer in his essay in The Oxford History of Christian Worship . During 1549, Parliament considered the adoption of a uniform liturgy for the church of England, and this event was recorded by Charles Wriothesley: “at this session of Parliamente one uniforme booke was sett fourth of one sort of service with the ministration of the holie communion and other sacraments to be used in this realme of... Read more

Nathan Mitchell points out in his essay in The Oxford History of Christian Worship that “just as Luther wanted to retain Lent, Palm Sunday, and Holy Week (though not their obligatory fasts and ceremonial ‘trickery’), so he wanted all liturgy to ‘center in the Word and Sacrament.’ The services of Lent and Holy Week permitted daily preaching on the gospel accounts of Christ’s cross and passion. And for Luther the ultimate gospel – the ‘summary of the gospel’ – is... Read more

A couple of years Michael Horton wrote the following in a Christianity Today article on Lent: “For the most part, the Protestant Reformers continued to celebrate Lent, but in a more evangelical way. They inveighed against the connection between fasting and penance ‘as a work of merit or a form of divine worship,’ as Calvin put it. Lent is still celebrated today in Lutheran, Anglican, and many Reformed churches.” Horton added, “I believe an evangelical celebration of Lent affords an... Read more

Hugh Latimer preached three series of Lenten sermons before Edward VI. In the seventh of his 1549 sermons, he explained the purpose behind Lent (I have updated the spelling): “All thing that be written, they be written to be our doctrine. By occasion of this text . . . I have walked this Lent in the broad field of Scripture and used my liberty and entreated of such matters as I thought meet for this auditory. I have had a... Read more

In his explanation of the German Mass, Luther wrote, “Lent, Palm Sunda, and Holy Week shall be retained, not to force anyone to fast but to preserve the Passion history and the Gospels appointed for that season. This, however, does not include the Lenten veil, throwing of palms, veiling of pictures, and whatever else there is of such tomfoolery -0 nor chanting the four Passions, nor preaching on the Passion for eight hours on Good Friday. Holy Week shall be... Read more

In chapter 12 of de Regno Christi , Bucer’s programmatic treatise on reformation of church and state, the Reformer of Strassbourg, and mentor of Calvin, discusses “Lent and other fasts.” He begins with a brief summary of the history of Lent, pointing out that the early church had a diversity of practices regarding fasting. He concludes that “it is anti-Christian to prescribe fasting for Christians as something per se necessary for salvation,” since Jesus and the apostles “left its observance... Read more