Question: When Does Lent Start?
Lent is the period of preparation for the celebration of the greatest Christian mystery, the death of Christ on Good Friday and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. It is a 40-day period marked by prayer, fasting and abstinence, and almsgiving.
Answer: Since Easter Sunday is a moveable feast (see How is the Date of Easter Calculated?), Lent, too, begins on a different date each year. Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in the Western calendar, falls 46 days before Easter Sunday. (See How Are the 40 Days of Lent Calculated?) For Eastern Catholics, Lent begins on Clean Monday, two days before Ash Wednesday.
You can find the date of Ash Wednesday for each year at the following links:
