son.

Lent, Sundays in.--As stated in the preceding article the Lenten
fast does not include all the days between Ash Wednesday and Easter,
for the _Sundays_ are so many days above the number forty. They are
excluded because the Lord's Day is always kept as a Festival and
never as a Fast. These six Sundays, therefore, are called "Sundays
IN Lent, not _of_ Lent; they are in the midst of it, but do not form
part of it; on these Sundays we continue without interruption to
celebrate our Saviour's Resurrection." The Sundays in Lent are
named in the Prayer Book First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth; the
last Sunday being set forth as "The Sunday next before Easter."
Popular usage, however, has assigned other names to the closing
Sundays in Lent, for example, the Fourth Sunday is usually called
_Mid Lent Sunday_, for the reason that the Lenten Fast is half over.
It is also called _Refreshment Sunday_, from the Gospel for the Day
which gives the account of our Lord {169} miraculously feeding the
five thousand in the wilderness; another name is _Mothering Sunday_
(which see). The Fifth Sunday is called _Passion Sunday_, from the
fact that on that day the Church begins the solemn recital of our
Lord's sufferings. The Sixth Sunday is known as _Palm Sunday_ as it
was on this day our Lord made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem,
when the people hailed Him as King and strewed palm branches in His
way, crying "Hosanna to the Son of David."

Lesser Litany, The.--That portion of the Litany beginning, "O
Christ, hear us," and ending with the prayer, "We humbly beseech
Thee, O Father," is so called. It is often used as a penitential
ending to week-day services during Lent.

Lessons, The.--The word "Lesson" is derived from the Latin _lectio_,
meaning a reading, and signifies a portion of Scripture appointed
to be read during Divine service; applied especially to those
Scriptures read in the Daily Services. Two Lessons are to be read
at each service in accordance with the custom of the early
Christians, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. The
principle upon which the Lessons are thus selected is set forth by
Justin Martyr, who lived A.D. 103-164, as follows: "The Apostles
have taught, as they learned themselves, first the Law and then the
Gospel; for what is the Law but the Gospel foreshadowed; or what is
the Gospel but the Law fulfilled." (See CALENDAR, LECTIONARY, and
also SCRIPTURES IN PRAYER BOOK.)

Letter Dimissory.--(