Millions of Christians worldwide observe Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, reflection and sacrifice leading up to Easter, widely considered the most important celebration on the Christian calendar. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, the Lenten period reflects the 40 days that, according to the Bible, Jesus Christ spent fasting in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry. The word “Lent” comes from the Old English word “lencten,” meaning spring.
Although the traditions and practices of Lent have evolved over time, the core ideas behind it have remained consistent for many centuries. Today, many Christians give up certain luxuries or habits, attend additional worship services and perform acts of charity and service during Lent. The period culminates in Holy Week, which includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and finally Easter Sunday, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
When Is Lent?
In 2026, Lent is observed from Wednesday, February 18, to Thursday, April 2. Some key dates of this Lenten season include:
Ash Wednesday: February 18, 2026
Palm Sunday: March 29, 2026
- Maundy Thursday: April 2, 2026
- Good Friday: April 3, 2026
- Holy Saturday: April 4, 2026 The above dates do not apply to Eastern Orthodox churches, whose religious calendar uses the Julian calendar. For this branch of Christians, Great Lent 2026 begins on Monday, February 23, and ends on Saturday, April 11.
What’s the Difference Between Easter and Orthodox Easter?
The holidays both celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but have some different traditions and are based on different calendars.
Origin of Lent
The practice of Lent has ancient roots in early Christianity, dating back to the first centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection. According to Eusebius, a fourth century historian of the early church, the earliest Christians seem to have practiced fasting in preparation for Easter, even if it was for just one or two days.
After the legalization of Christianity in A.D. 313, the practice of Lent gradually became more established, including a 40-day period of Easter preparation that focused on prayer and fasting. The number 40 holds biblical significance: During Noah’s flood, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights; Moses remained on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights preparing to receive the Ten Commandments; and Elijah walked for the same amount of time to reach the mountain of God. More importantly, observers of Lent fast and pray in imitation of Jesus, who was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights to face temptations from the devil before he began ministering to the public.
Leaders of the early Christian church agreed at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 that Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. They also acknowledged the existence of a 40-day preparatory period leading up to that holy Sunday, though they did not mandate the observance of Lent.
In 601, Pope Gregory I moved the start of Lent to 46 days before Easter, allowing for 40 days of fasting plus six Sundays, the traditional feast day, when the rules of fasting did not apply. The Lenten season still spans 46 days today.
Gregory (590–604) also established the tradition of Ash Wednesday, including the foundations of the now-common practice of marking parishioners’ foreheads with ashes in the shape of a cross. Like the number 40, ashes have roots in ancient Christian traditions. Several figures in the Old Testament, including Mordecai, Job and Daniel, marked themselves with ashes and wore sackcloth as a sign of their repentance before God. People in the early church carried on this usage of ashes for symbolic reasons. In his book The History of the Church, Eusebius chronicled the experience of an apostate named Natalis clothed in sackcloth and ashes begging forgiveness from Pope Zephyrinus (A.D. 199–217).
A woman prays on Ash Wednesday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, March 2025. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent.
Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Holy Week
In the Western Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and falls 46 days before Easter Sunday. The date changes each year because Easter is on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Palm Sunday, one week before Easter and the sixth Sunday of Lent, commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, when he was greeted by crowds of people waving palm branches. The final week of Lent, beginning with Palm Sunday, is known as Holy Week. It includes Maundy Thursday (commemorating the Last Supper), Good Friday (marking Christ’s crucifixion) and Holy Saturday (the day Jesus lay in the tomb).
Although Lent technically ends at sundown on Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, the Lenten season continues until Easter Sunday. At this point, the 50-day celebratory Easter season begins.
Eastern Orthodox Christians observe a different version of Lent, known as “Great Lent.” Because their churches calculate Easter using the Julian calendar, it often results in different dates for the Lenten season. Great Lent takes place over the six weeks before Palm Sunday, and fasting continues during the Holy Week of Orthodox Easte
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Who Celebrates Lent?
By the fourth century, Lent was closely associated with preparing new converts for baptism, but it eventually became customary for other Christians to observe the tradition as a way to refocus on their own faith. Today, Lent is observed across many Christian denominations, including Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists and Presbyterians.
Lent Fasting Rules
During the early centuries of Christianity, observance of fasting for Lent was very strict, with people in many regions abstaining from all meat, fish and animal products and limiting themselves to one meal per day, consumed late in the afternoon. A small meal or snack was later added to sustain energy and strength for working. Over time, the rules were relaxed further. Today, some people who observe Lent fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On the other Fridays of Lent, some will abstain from meat and might choose to eat fish or seafood; these cold-blooded, sea-dwelling creatures are generally exempted from the no-meat rule.
Even followers who do not fast are encouraged to give up something for Lent as a sacrifice, whether a habit (like watching TV or using social media) or something to eat or drink (such as coffee, alcohol or chocolate). Some observers of Lent choose to add positive practices instead, such as personal prayer, reading scripture daily or volunteering, as a way of refocusing themselves on their faith and spiritual well-being.
