Lent is the 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepares the faithful for Easter. It recalls the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert fasting and being tempted by Satan. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday.
On Ash Wednesday, Catholics receive ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross, with the words: "Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Ash Wednesday is a day of compulsory fasting and abstinence from meat.
1. Prayer: Lent calls us to deepen our prayer life — daily Mass, the Rosary, Scripture reading, the Stations of the Cross (prayed every Friday during Lent), and making time for silence before God.
2. Fasting: Catholics aged 18-59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (one full meal, two smaller meals). All Catholics 14 and older must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent. Many choose additional forms of fasting — giving up social media, sweets, television, or other attachments.
3. Almsgiving: Lent is a time of charity — donating to the poor, supporting missions, performing works of mercy. The money saved by fasting can be given to those in need.
The Church asks every Catholic to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once during Lent and to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week. Then come Holy Thursday (the Last Supper and institution of the priesthood), Good Friday (the Passion of the Lord — a day of strict fasting), Holy Saturday (a day of silence and waiting), and finally the Easter Vigil — the most glorious liturgy of the year.
Join our Lenten prayer program with daily Scripture readings, reflections, and the Stations of the Cross.
Lenten Schedule