When Is Lent in 2023? Here s Everything You Need to Know When It Starts and Ends
Each year, as we approach Easter Sunday, Christians first recognize the season of Lent. But even if you’ve spent years attending church services and studying the teachings of the Bible, you may not know some basics about Lent. After all, the dates change every year, so logical questions to ask are “When does Lent begin?” and “When does Lent end?” In 2023, the holy time leading up to Easter will occur from Wednesday, February 22, to Saturday, April 8, 2023.
What is Lent?
Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ’s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.
Many know of the tradition of abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent, but we are also called to practice self-discipline and fast in other ways throughout the season. Contemplate the meaning and origins of the Lenten fasting tradition in this reflection. In addition, the giving of alms is one way to share God’s gifts—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents. As St. John Chrysostom reminds us: “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life. The goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2446).
In Lent, the baptized are called to renew their baptismal commitment as others prepare to be baptized through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.
When Is Lent in 2023? Here’s Everything You Need to Know When It Starts and Ends
There are quite a few important dates within the 40-day celebration leading up to Easter.
Each year, as we approach Easter Sunday, Christians first recognize the season of Lent. But even if you’ve spent years attending church services and studying the teachings of the Bible, you may not know some basics about Lent. After all, the dates change every year, so logical questions to ask are “When does Lent begin?” and “When does Lent end?” In 2023, the holy time leading up to Easter will occur from Wednesday, February 22, to Saturday, April 8, 2023.
The celebration of Lent is a six-week-long event in the Christian calendar when Christians are meant to be “encouraged to find [their] own method of confronting [their] sinfulness, remembering [their] mortality, and giving thanks for the gift of salvation [they] receive through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,” according to the United Methodist Church’s website. The word “Lent” is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term “lencten” (relating to the lengthening of days), which translates to “spring.”
How long is Lent?
The holiday is 40 days long, not including Sundays. (So, technically, it’s 46 days long.) Why is it 40 days, you might wonder? The United Methodist Church states, “It is a time of preparation and focus, reminiscent of Jesus’ time in the wilderness before he started his public ministry.”
When does Lent start?
This year, Lent begins on Wednesday, February 22. But before Lent even begins, there’s Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, which is a time to “clean the soul,” according to the BBC. The first day of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. On Ash Wednesday, priests gather ashes from the previous Palm Sunday (more on that later) and rub them on congregants’ foreheads.
They do this while citing Genesis 3:19: “. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In addition to heading to church, many honor the beginning of Lent by choosing to give up something for the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, such as alcohol, sweets, or even swearing. Another option is to give themselves to a cause, which could include volunteering.
When does Lent end?
The official end of Lent is on Saturday, April 8, 2023, the day before Easter Sunday. There’s an entire list of events leading up to the finale that’s called Holy Week. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday. This marks Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem, where he received palm branches at his feet, according to 40Acts.org. During Palm Sunday services, churchgoers are given palm crosses that are supposed to be kept until the next year.
After Palm Sunday comes Holy Wednesday, which acknowledges Judas Iscariot’s plan to deceive Jesus. That’s followed by Maundy Thursday and commemorates Jesus’s last supper. Next is Good Friday, when Christians recall the crucification of their savior. The final day of Holy Week is Easter, when believers acknowledge that Jesus rose from his tomb.