First Sunday of Lent

The First Sunday of Lent
Station at St. John Lateran

St. Gregory the Great
(540 - 12 March 604)

In the ancient Liturgy
at the time of St. Gregory the Great,
Lent opened today.

The Roman Lent of the time consisted in only thirty-six fasting days,
thus the Secret, still in use today from that time,
proclaims the beginning of Lent:

Sacrificium quadragesimalis initii solemniter immolamus te,
Domine, deprecantes : ...
We solemnly offer up the sacrifice of the beginning of Lent,
beseeching Thee, O Lord,
that while we are restrained from carnal feasting,
we may likewise abstain from baneful pleasures.
Through our Lord.

St. Gregory, in a famous homily delivered today
in the Stational church of St. John Lateran,
asks why Christ consented to be tempted by Satan,
and replies that He did so
in order to defeat and humble the tempter on our behalf
and to obtain for us the grace of overcoming our temptations
by the merits of His victory.
Our Lord also wished to teach us
that there is no sin in being tempted,
but only in giving way to the tempter.