Lenten customs can be bizarre

I have always been enormously intrigued by Lent. As a child I didn’t much like it because I had to give up something nice and the quality and quantity of food in our house went into a severe decline.

But as I got older it became a very special part of the year for me. Among other things, it’s a time of reflection and deliberation on what we humans were put on earth to do. I decided recently to devote some time to researching Lent on the Internet and to my absolute amazement I found so much information it could all keep me occupied for years and years. Here are a few snippets I found of particular interest.

When Christianity became the state religion in Rome in the 4th century, the 40-day Lenten fast included compulsory three hour a day instruction classes before baptism on the eve of Easter. Lenten observance in those days was strict with only one meal a day near evening and it could not include any animal products. This continued to be practiced at my house in the 1950s because I can still hear my parents saying: “If it’s got a mother, we’re not eating it.”

By 800AD Lent was becoming more lenient. Christians were allowed to eat after 3pm and by 1400 it had been moved up to noon. As time went by fish was allowed. Nobody remembered to tell my mother.

Lent is undoubtedly the most fascinating of all Christian observances, given the sometimes bizarre rituals.

The parades, floats, dancing and revelry in South America and New Orleans come to mind when thinking of Mardi Gras. According to my Internet source, this carnival is actually celebrated all over the world and has a long history.

Ancient Greeks would kill a goat, cut the hide into strips, run naked through planted fields while priests of the Greek god Pan would lash their skin with bloodied goat whips. As part of their spring fertility rite, it was accompanied with lewdness, drunkenness and orgies.

In the early days of the Church, leaders were appalled by such practices. This rite was considered perverted even by pagan standards, and they tried to put a stop to it.

The Church was largely unsuccessful so a new tactic was tried. The early Church incorporated this spring rite as an acceptable feast before the Lenten season. The Church named it “carnival”, which comes from the Latin words carne and vale, meaning “farewell to the flesh”. The French named it Mardi Gras, which means “fat Tuesday”, a day of gorging oneself on meat, milk and eggs as a prelude to 40 days of abstinence.

At the same time of year that Christians observe Lent, there is the festival of Losar, the Tibetan new year. At this time one prepares for the coming new spiritual year. According to tradition, one cannot properly celebrate until one deals with the last year’s unfinished business or unhappy memories—a spiritual house cleaning or purification. This is called the “Gutor”, where houses are cleaned and offerings made to chase away evil. A ritual dance is done which symbolises the triumph of good over evil, and offerings are burnt.

In the Philippines, Holy Week (or Semana Santa) contrasts with other Christian countries. Filipino Catholics give emphasis to the suffering of Christ, rather than on his resurrection, in the belief that salvation comes at the end.

Religious piety is passionately displayed in different parts of the Philippines, particularly in the provinces where communities go on pilgrimages to as many churches as possible and with devotees re-enacting Christ’s Passion through real-life crucifixions under the scorching heat of the sun.

Extreme forms of religious practices such as self-flagellation using whips tipped with sharp objects that scar the backs of hooded penitents form part of the rituals that are performed to this day. The penitents are taken down seconds after being nailed to the wooden crosses, using 5cm stainless steel nails soaked in alcohol. These crucifixions take place in the town of San Pedro, Pampanga, north of the capital Manila.

Real-life crucifixions are not countenanced by the Catholic Church, but the fine line that separates religious ritual from spectacle is slowly erased as hundreds of tourists troop to this quaint town to witness the tradition in awe and amazement. Such rituals are part of a folk religious culture that has deep roots in a brand of obscurantism that dates back to the Spanish colonial period. Hispanic Filipinos likened the suffering of Christ to their oppression in the hands of their abusive Spanish landlords and friars.

It is also a respite from the snarl of Manila’s traffic jams and the din of political campaigning and electioneering that follows the Lenten season.

Personally, I prefer our local South African Lenten rituals. Giving up chocolate is a lot more civilised, surely, than being lashed.