What is Lent?
Lent is an annual 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and reflection. It is observed by Catholics, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican, United Protestant, and Orthodox Christian denominations in preparation for Easter each year.
For Catholics Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter. For Orthodox Christians so-called “Great Lent” begins on Clean Monday instead.
In terms of practice, strict recommendations are to spend these 40 days focused on prayer, fasting, abstinence, and almsgiving. That’s the number of days Jesus, as well as Moses and Elijah, went without food in their respective fasts. In some parishes there are annual charitable events held at the beginning or during Lent.
When is Lent in 2026?
For Catholics, Lent begins on February 18-th, 2026. For Orthodox Christians it beings on February 23-rd, 2026.
How many days is Lent?
Lent is exactly 40 days long. Each year the starting date shifts, but the duration in days is fixed.
The exact calendar date on which Lent occurs vary from year to year since Easter is always the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon – the first full moon on or after March 21, the Catholic Church’s fixed date for the spring equinox.
You can use our days between dates calculator to check how many days are till Lent, or how many days remain till the end of Lent.
Why is Lent 40 days long?
Lent lasts for 40 days, mirroring the number of days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and rejecting different temptations offered by Satan, according to the Bible Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In all Christian denominations that observe Lent it is described as lasting for a total duration of 40 days, but exactly which days it includes varies between denominations.
How long is fasting for Lent?
In Catholic tradition fasting is traditionally maintained for all 40 days of Lent and ends on Easter. During the Lent fast, Catholics don’t eat meat on Friday.
In Orthodox tradition it is the most important fast and is referred to as “Great Lent”. It is broken only after the Paschal Divine Liturgy (Easter Liturgy).
An applied statistician, data analyst, and optimizer by calling, Georgi has expertise in web analytics, statistics, design of experiments, and business risk management. He covers a variety of topics where mathematical models and statistics are useful. Georgi is also the author of “Statistical Methods in Online A/B Testing”.