Lent 2006: General Information

Lent is the penitential season of the Church's year. It begins on Ash Wednesday (March 1, 2006) and ends with the Mass of the the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday (April 13, 2006). Lent has six Sundays. The sixth is called Passion or Palm Sunday (April 9, 2006) and marks the beginning of Holy Week (April 9-15, 2006).

The Easter Triduum begins with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. It commemorates the Lord's passion and death on Good Friday (April 14, 2006), reaches its high point at the Easter Vigil and ends with evening Prayer on Easter Sunday (April 16, 2006). Then the joyful Easter Season of 50 days begins.

Traditionally the Lenten season is a time of penance throughout the Catholic Church. Lent is a season in which prayer, the reception of the sacraments, charity and almsgiving are emphasized. Fast and abstinence are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. All the Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence from meat.