Is the _sixth_ Sunday before Easter, and the first Sunday in Lent,
which commences on Ash Wednesday.
“The earliest term of Septuagesima Sunday is the 18th of January, when
Easter day falls on the 22d of March; the latest is the 22d of February,
when Easter happens on the 25th of April.”
_Butler._
Shepherd in his “Elucidation of the Book of Common Prayer”
satisfactorily explains the origin of these days:
“When the words _Septuagesima_, _Sexagesima_, and _Quinquagesima_ were
first applied to denote these three Sundays, the season of _Lent_ had
generally been extended to a fast of six weeks, that is, thirty-six
days, not reckoning the Sundays, which were always celebrated as
festivals. At this time, likewise, the Sunday which we call the first
Sunday in Lent, was styled simply _Quadragesima_, or the fortieth,
meaning the fortieth day before Easter. _Quadragesima_ was also the name
given to Lent, and denoted the _Quadragesimal_, or forty days’ fast.
When the three weeks before Quadragesima ceased to be considered as
weeks after the Epiphany, and were appointed to be observed as a time of
preparation for Lent, it was perfectly conformable to the ordinary mode
of computation to reckon backwards, and for the sake of even and round
numbers to count by decades. The authors of this novel institution, and
the compilers of the new proper offices, would naturally call the first
Sunday before Quadragesima, Quinquagesima; the second, Sexagesima; and
the third, Septuagesima. This reason corresponds with the account that
seems to be at present most generally adopted.”
There is much difference of opinion as to whether the fast of _Lent_
lasted anciently during forty days or forty hours.
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