After centuries of somber, sugar-free and now vape-free penance, it seems Lent has taken a hard turn for the hardcore, with Catholics, Catholic adjacents and apparently the producers of Today flaunting their new and respective metal af takes on the long-standing religious observance.


It all began earlier this week, when the actor formerly known as Marky Mark, Mark Wahlberg, dropped by the long-running NBC morning program to promote his Catholic prayer app, Hallow.



As he discussed all the hot-button issues his fans were dying to know — his views on fasting during Lent and his role as Catholic priest Father Stu on the Alex Jones-owned platform (not *that* Alex Jones, we learned after about 10 seconds of pure panic) — the show’s producers made the executive decision to rebrand Lent as something much more hardcore.


“Mark Wahlberg’s 40-Day Challenge,” read the lower third amid the forgiven porn star player’s segment with Today host Savannah Guthrie. Shortly after the interview, screengrabs of Wahlberg (and his suspiciously crisp ash cross) began making the rounds on Twitter while fans of Catholicism began arguing to make the TV overlords’ rebrand a new Lent tenet.



But it’s not just Boston’s second-most beloved resident. Beyond Wahlberg, TikToker @RandomGothCouple took to the platform to show his absolutely hardcore take on the holiday, heading into church not for the Ash Wednesday festivities, but for the free makeup application.


“Today is the only day I can get a priest to finish my makeup,” said the clip’s voiceover, which has since garnered more than 248,000 views in its first days on the platform. Despite feeling “nervous” upon entering the line, it seems the creator was pretty damn happy with the result, expressing as much joy as someone in chains and black lipstick possibly can.


“Looks sick bro,” the voiceover concluded, depicting the final look.


So, here’s to 2023 — the year of hardcore Lent … and wafer nachos. Amen.


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