Footnote

c Regarding the history of the 40-day fast of Lent, the New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “In the first three centuries, the period of fasting in preparation for the paschal [Easter] feast did not exceed a week at the most; one or two days was the usual limit. . . . The first mention of a period of 40 days occurs in the fifth canon of the Council of Nicaea (325), although some scholars dispute whether Lent is meant there.”​—Second Edition, Volume 8, page 468.