On Septuagesima

1 Corinthians 9.24-27; Matthew 20.1-16

Happy Gesimatide! Yesterday, we began the ‘Pre-Lenten’ season of three Sundays, Septuagesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, so named because they are roughly seventy, sixty, and fifty days before Easter. This mini-season did not survive modern changes to the liturgical year; it neither appears in most modern Anglican lectionaries nor in those of other Western Christian liturgical churches (the Roman Catholic Church, most Lutheran bodies, etc.). It’s easy to write a fondness off for it as mere anachronism or a delight in obscure Latin terms. And I must admit that they are rather fun to say! But more importantly, I think these three Sundays offer us a fruitful way to prepare for the season of Lenten fasting and penitence — that their particular Scripture readings help us observe Lent as a time of serious penitence that is understood as a response to God’s graciousness rather than the means for securing divine favor.