Make secret cell beneath church supporting essence of Lent (7)
I believe the answer is:
encrypt
'make secret' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'cell beneath church supporting essence of lent' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'cell' could be 'crypt' (I have seen 'Underground cell ' mean 'crypt' so perhaps 'cell' could also mean 'crypt') and 'crypt' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'en' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for encrypt that I've seen before include "Convert words into code" , "Obscure words of" , "Change into coded version" , "Put (a message) into code" , "Cipher" .)