The word “Lent” literally means springtime.
Here we provide two different descriptions of this season. The first is from The Episcopal Church and the second is from Trinity Episcopal Church in Hamilton, OH
#1
Early Christians observed “a season of penitence and fasting” in preparation for the Paschal feast, or Pascha (BCP, pp. 264-265). The season now known as Lent (from an Old English word meaning “spring,” the time of lengthening days) has a long history.
Originally, in places where Pascha was celebrated on a Sunday, the Paschal feast followed a fast of up to two days. In the third century this fast was lengthened to six days. Eventually this fast became attached to, or overlapped, another fast of forty days, in imitation of Christ’s fasting in the wilderness.
The forty-day fast was especially important for converts to the faith who were preparing for baptism, and for those guilty of notorious sins who were being restored to the Christian assembly. In the western church the forty days of Lent extend from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday, omitting Sundays.
The last three days of Lent are the sacred Triduum of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. Today Lent has reacquired its significance as the final preparation of adult candidates for baptism. Joining with them, all Christians are invited “to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word” (BCP, p. 265).
#2
Things did not go well for Jesus as He began to teach. People began to feel threatened. He challenged their way of thinking and doing and they killed Him on a cross. This is a reality in our world. We, too, suffer and die. The marvel of the Faith is that God makes that journey with us as well. Our seasonal observance is Lent.
It begins with the ashes of Ash Wednesday at the dark end of winter. (The word Lent means, literally, springtime). It is a time of recognizing our need for God to understand what we face in this life and accompany us along the way. Its highest message is that God is so willing, and that in the depths of our pain, we can be related to our God, who also knows pain and death.
Lent is 40 days long (not counting Sundays, which are always feast days) reflecting the 40 days of rain for Noah, the 40 years of schooling of the people, Israel, in the Exodus, and the 40 days of testing of Jesus in the wilderness after His baptism in the Jordan River.
Liturgies during Lent are subdued, introspective, and penitential in nature often beginning in silence and with the general confession of the people. The color used is deep purple, signifying penitence and the mood of Lent.
Source: www.trinityhamilton.org