Here are some answers to the "quiz"

There are forty-six days between Ash Wednesday and Easter. The traditional number of “forty” does not include Sundays. By tradition, Lent is a somber time of repentance. But Sundays have always been ‘little Easters.” That is to say, Sundays were always a time for celebrating the resurrection. This is why they are not included in the traditional number of forty days.


The Anglo-Saxon or old English word, lencten refers to the season of spring.

Jesus received thirty-nine lashes. The whip used had several tails with small pieces of sharp bone that tore the flesh. Forty lashes was considered a death sentence. Jesus must have been a very strong man to have endured the thirty-nine lashes and other abuse, yet still survive six hours on the cross.

Easter is determined to be on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. The formula was decided upon by the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. Thus the earliest day Easter can fall on is March 22. The latest is April 25.

Scholars aren’t completely sure where our word, “Easter,” comes from. It may have come from an early English word, Eastre, but it is unsure whether Eastre originally meant the pagan goddess of spring, the name of a spring festival or the name of the season itself. Other scholars believe it came from a German word eastarun, which means dawn. It would be an incorrect translation of a Latin word, Albae, which means both dawn and white. White is a traditional color for Easter because newly baptized church members wore white clothes at Easter observances. Christians in some European countries use the word, “pascha, which comes from the Hebrew pesah (passover). (You may have heard the term “paschal lamb.”

There are fifty days between Easter and Pentecost. Pentecost was a Hebrew holiday, which came fifty days after Passover and celebrated the completion of the harvest. It literally means “fifty days” or “fiftieth.” It is the day in which the Christians experienced the gift of the holy spirit.

The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday, and we remember the last supper of Jesus on Maundy Thursday. Ash Wednesday received its name from the cross that was often drawn in ashes on the forehead of Christian penitents. During Lent many Christians fast or give something up that they enjoy, practice spiritual disciples, and spend time in penitence and prayer. There are six Sundays in Lent, including Palm Sunday.