The Golden Trident

By Olly Johnson

It should come as no surprise that Christianity, the most widely practiced religion worldwide, has some of the most well-known holidays in American culture. The most popular of which, aside from the obvious answer of Christmas, is Easter. 

Easter, the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, is often regarded as the most important and involved holiday in the Christian liturgical year. Most know it as the holiday with egg hunts and the titular Easter Bunny. But what many don’t know is how massive the Easter season really is. There are months upon months of work and preparation that go into this holiday season. Without this prep work, the true meaning of Easter is lost. The main case for this is the 40-day fasting before Easter, known as Lent.

Lent is an almost six-week-long event dedicated to reflection and penitence before Easter.  It starts on Ash Wednesday, which was March 5th of 2025, and ends on Good Friday, which is April 18th of 2025. It represents the multitude of 40-day fasts that occur in the Bible. Notable prophets, like Moses and Elijah, were said to endure this fasting, but Jesus’s version of fasting is what Lent is based on. According to the book of Matthew, Jesus spent 40 days in the desert fasting and praying.

While there, the devil would approach Jesus with what’s known as the temptation of Christ. The temptations vary based on the source, but they are usually a set of three suggestions given by the devil to “tempt the Lord thy God”(Matthew 4:7), such as turning the stones around Jesus into bread. Jesus did not accept any of these temptations and returned from the desert. Lent is built on three pillars: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (which is a fancy way of saying donating). These three pillars must be upheld during the entirety of  Lent. However, the most well-known part of Lent is the Lenten sacrifice. 

The Lenten sacrifice is the removal of a certain luxury during Lent, alongside the other mentioned pillars. The Lenten sacrifice is something that has some sort of value to the person, like certain foods or an item. Most Christians think long and hard about what to give up for Lent, finalizing their decision on the day before Lent, known as Shrove Tuesday. Common Lenten sacrifices are foods like chocolate or soda. Some give up meat and go vegetarian. Students around Golden who are participating in Lent often give up fast food restaurants, like Taco Bell and Starbucks. Some opt to remove technology, like social media or screens in general.

No matter what you give up, Lent ends during the Holy Week on Good Friday and leads directly to Easter. While Easter has significant meaning by itself, the combination of Easter and Lent truly shows what Easter represents. It isn’t just the death and rebirth of Jesus, it’s the emotions that those ideas carry. Lent shows the longing sorrow of death, while Easter shows the celebration of rebirth. This duality of Lent and Easter is what defines the Easter season.