Mar. 5: Ash Wednesday: First Day of Lent

Elizabeth Weldon • March 1, 2025

We Begin Lent on Ash Wednesday, March 5th....

Saturday, March 1, 2025: Lent Begins with Ash Wednesday, March 5

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 Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, a period of learning and discernment for individuals who have declared their desire to become Catholics.

Lenten Resources

2025 Daily Lent Calendar (ENGLISH / SPANISH)

Examination-of-Conscience

10 Things to Remember During Lent

Why is Lent 40 Days?

Why Ashes?

God’s Gift of Forgiveness

El Regalo de Dios del Perdón

Daily Reading

Take a Moment to Pray with Today's Readings: READ NOW

How to Live Lent This Year

Here are three tips to deepen your relationship with God during the 40 days of #Lent.

1) Participate in the sacraments.

2) Help those in need around you.

3) Sacrifice something that's hard for you.

Prayer, Fasting, & Almsgiving

Prayer

"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy." -St. Therese of Lisieux (CCC 2558)

During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting. Dive into God's word in Scripture this Lent or pray the rosary with your family.

Prayers and Devotions

Fasting

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

Resources on Fasting

For members of the Latin Catholic Church within the United States, please see the USCCB's Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence and the complementary norm to canon 1253 and the Code of Canon Law (cc. 1249-1253)

CRS Rice Bowl is also one way Catholics can enhance their Lenten fasting practice by giving up meals and donating the cost of those meals to Catholic Relief Services in order to help those who do not have enough to eat.

Almsgiving

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on "almsgiving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

Opportunities for Almsgiving during Lent

There are several special opportunities for almsgiving through donations to Church ministries for which collections are conducted during the Lenten season including:

Many dioceses hold special appeals for local needs during Lent and there are countless other ways to offer your time, talent and treasure to needy individuals and organizations during Lent and throughout the year. For ideas, contact your diocesan Social Concerns office or your local Catholic Charities affiliate.

The USCCB Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development has a variety of Resources and Tools on the Church's social mission and the option for the poor, including an updated Poverty Tour.

Lent FAQs

What are the upcoming dates for Lent?

Why do we say that there are forty days of Lent? When you count all the days from Ash

Wednesday through Holy Saturday, there are 46.

So does that mean that when we give something up for Lent, such as candy, we can have it on Sundays?

I understand that all the Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat, but I'm not sure what is classified as meat. Does meat include chicken and dairy products?

I've noticed that restaurants and grocery stores advertise specials on expensive types of fish and seafood on Fridays during Lent. Some of my Catholic friends take advantage of these deals, but somehow I don't feel right treating myself to this

I understand that Catholics ages 18 to 59 should fast on Ash Wednesday and on Good Friday, but what exactly are the rules for these fasts?

Are there exemptions other than for age from the requirement to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?

Expand All

Dive into God's Word

Sources: https://www.usccb.org/prayer-worship/liturgical-year/lent

About USCCB

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB’s) mission is to encounter the mercy of Christ and to accompany His people with joy.

Contact Us:

St. Ann Roman Catholic Church

Rev. JohnBosco Duraisamy, Pastor

Rev. Sylvère Baloza-Baloza, Parochial Vicar

Robert L. Cox, III, Deacon