Early Christians practiced disparate forms of preparation leading up to Easter, a holiday that commemorates Jesus's death and resurrection and which has been observed since at least the second century. This period of preparation served to demarcate the Easter season as a sacred time and remind Christians of Jesus's sacrifice for humankind.
“Many faiths observe a time of preparation before a major event or season,” Christopher Bellitto, a history professor at Kean University and Christian scholar, told The Huffington Post. That preparation can entail things like fasting, making pilgrimage or engaging in rigorous prayer.
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