QUADRAGESIMA (*Quadragesima*). — A sacred period of 40 days in preparation for Easter, to be sanctified by more frequent prayer, works of charity, penance, and mortification, especially by fasting.
According to current practice, it begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter, with the imposition of ashes, and ends at noon on Holy Saturday. It is divided into three periods: the first four weeks, Passion Week, and Holy Week.
In the early centuries of Christianity, as attested by St. Irenaeus and Tertullian, fasting was practiced for only one or two days in remembrance of the time when Christ died and lay in the tomb, namely Good Friday or Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Together with the day of the Resurrection, these days were considered the Paschal Triduum, called simple and everlasting. In preparation for this "Paschal mystery," other days of fasting were added beforehand, ending on Holy Thursday inclusive; for example, in Alexandria for the entire Holy Week; among the Montanists for two weeks (Tertullian); and finally, during the 4th century, based on "the forty days of Christ’s fast in the desert," a 40-day period of preparation was introduced, beginning on the Sunday before Easter (Quinquagesima), because fasting was the principal, though not the exclusive, feature of the good works of these days. According to A. Chavasse, the Roman usage of Paschal preparation consisted of: a) the sacred Paschal Triduum from Good Friday until Easter Sunday; b) Holy Week or Passion Week, because the Passion of St. Matthew was read on Sunday (now Palm Sunday), that of St. Luke on Wednesday, and that of St. John on Friday (v. SETTIMANA SANTA); c) a three-week fast, mentioned by Socrates (c. 440); according to Duchesne, these were three uninterrupted weeks, while Callot believed they were three weeks of strict fasting interspersed with three weeks of mitigated fasting. Recently, Chavasse sees these three weeks as uninterrupted, as Duchesne does (the "median Sunday," our Fifth Sunday), already in use by 354, the year of the famous "Chronograph," a private document without official character; d) St. Jerome in 384 is the first witness to the new Roman usage of the six weeks of fasting from the sixth Sunday until Holy Thursday, making 40 days in total. The purpose of Quadragesima, according to St. Leo I (Serm. 45: PL 54, 288 C.), was to lead the Christian people to salvation, penitents to reconciliation, and catechumens to Baptism. In other churches, where fasting was observed every day, the fast was extended by two or three weeks, i.e., a *Quinquagesima* (v.), beginning on the seventh Sunday before Easter, especially in northern Italy and Gaul (Maximus of Turin and Faustus of Riez); or a *Sessagesima* (v.), beginning on the eighth Sunday; or a *Settuagesima* (v.).
In the East as well, the Paschal preparation comprised eight weeks (a *Sessagesima*); thus in Jerusalem, Syria, and Antioch. These preparatory weeks were not, however, everywhere a time of fasting. At Rome, the *Quinquagesima* was introduced after 520, and the *Sessagesima* is found in the time of Gregory I (Chavasse), but as regards fasting, Rome adhered to the proper Quadragesima, i.e., from the sixth Sunday until Holy Thursday or Holy Saturday, with Cassian, Gregory the Great, and Isidore considering these 36 days of fasting as the tenth part of the year. The two days of Wednesday and Friday of Quinquagesima before the beginning of Lent were days of preparation; in the 8th century, together with the additional days of Thursday and Saturday, they were counted among the 40 days of strict Lenten fasting, and Wednesday became the "caput quadragesimae" (head of Quadragesima).
Roman peculiarities of Quadragesima: a) each day has its own liturgy, i.e., the celebration of Mass with its own formulary. While initially only Sundays had a liturgy, Wednesdays and Fridays were "aliturgical," with only one Mass called "of the catechumens." Already in the 4th century, these two days and additionally Mondays became "liturgical"; in the 5th century, the others also became liturgical, except for the five Thursdays, the two Saturdays before the second Sunday and Palm Sunday. Under Gregory II (715-31), Thursdays, and finally in the 9th century, the second Sunday and the two Saturdays also became liturgical. b) Each day has its station (v.). c) Secondary peculiarities: the order of the antiphons of the *Communio* from Ash Wednesday until the Friday before Palm Sunday follows the progressive numbering of Psalms 1-26, interspersed with antiphons taken from the Gospel on certain days; the tract "Dumini, non secundum" on the three days (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) of Gallican origin is in the Roman liturgy from the 11th century; the prayer "Super populum" is reserved by St. Gregory the Great only for the ferial days of Quadragesima; finally, a double order for the Gospels, which until the Wednesday or Thursday of the fourth week are taken from various Gospels (Q.), but from Friday onward are taken only from John (the ancient order of the primitive Roman fast of three weeks). d) Roman peculiarities also included the scrutinies during Quadragesima, initially on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays, later on weekdays.