Christians have understood Lent practices in different ways throughout centuries. For example, the early Church practiced Lent through prayer, fasting, and charity. The first two practices have remained, but have shifted their purpose. The old believers joined the new believers, and those who needed repentance in praying, fasting, and doing charity works together to prepare them for their baptism or Easter. These public expressions of faith had a strong communal dimension. Rather than focusing on the mature Christian themselves, those expressions were practiced for the benefit of those who recently became Christians or who had repented from sin. Don’t get …

Thanksgiving is a traditional celebration that has its roots in the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th. In 1789, George Washington declared it a national holiday. Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today, however, dates back to 1863 when Abraham Lincoln officially made it recurrent on the last Thursday of November. Traditionally, Thanksgiving has been understood as a twofold holiday with a cultural-historical and religious dimension. People not only celebrated the earlier tradition of the first harvest but also offered a prayer of gratitude to God. This prayer had different purposes over time such as thanking …