When Does Lent Start and End in 2025?
Between Ash Wednesday and Easter, many Christians observe a 40-day period known as Lent. Even if you attended church growing up, many Christians are still curious about the holiday and traditions regarding observing the Lenten season. Lent is meant as a time of repentance. Both Catholics and Protestants participate in forms of fasting and praying during the 40-day period of Lent to honor and remember the suffering of Jesus in the weeks before His death and resurrection.
Use our 40-Day Lent Devotional Guide to lead you in prayer and scripture reading through the Lenten Season! Download your FREE copy HERE.
When Does Lent Start and End?
Lent in 2025 will begin with Ash Wednesday on March 5th, and if you follow the 40-day Lenten tradition, Lent will end on Maundy Thursday, April 17th.
However, in the Catholic tradition, the "General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar," was updated in 1969 to say: "Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive." The Mass of the Lord's Supper for Catholics is on Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, April 17th. For those adhering to that tradition, Lent will end on Thursday, April 17th.
The beginning of Lent is marked by many with ashes hence the name Ash Wednesday, which is Wednesday, March 5th, 2025. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter Sunday, which is Sunday, April 20 this year.
The start date of Lent changes each year because it is based on the timing of Easter, which follows the lunar calendar. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, so the date shifts annually. Since Lent lasts 40 days (excluding Sundays) leading up to Easter, its start date also changes. This method of setting the date was established by the Church in AD 325 to align Easter with the Jewish Passover and the biblical timeline of Jesus' resurrection.
How Long is Lent?
Lent is 40 days long - ending on the Saturday before Easter. You may wonder how Lent can be 40 days if Ash Wednesday is 46 days before Easter. That is because the Lenten fast does not include Sundays, which are considered feast days (a celebration of the resurrection)—so the six Sundays before Easter are omitted from the 40-day observance of fasting. Some denominations observe 46 days of lent, which puts the last day of Lent on Holy Saturday.
The last week of Lent is called Holy Week. It includes Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday (technically not a fasting day), Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday, Good Friday or Holy Friday, and Holy Saturday or Black Saturday. Unlike Advent, which is a time of celebration and excitement looking forward to an arrival, Lent is observed more solemnly, preparing for and reflecting on Jesus’ sacrificial death. But at the end of Lent is Easter Sunday, the most joyous celebration of Jesus Christ's Resurrection. Because of His death and resurrection, we are offered new life to live as covenant children in the Kingdom of God forever. (see: Is Lent Really 40 Days Long?)
Important Dates of Lent in 2025
- Ash Wednesday: March 5, 2025
- Palm Sunday: April 13, 2025
- Holy Week: April 13 - April 19, 2025
- Maundy Thursday: April 17, 2025
- Good Friday: April 18, 2025
- Holy Saturday: April 19, 2025
- Easter Sunday: April 20, 2025
When Does Lent End?
Lent ends 46 days after it begins - on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Forty-six days before April 20th would give us the first day of Lent - Ash Wednesday - on March 5th!
What Does the Word ‘Lent’ Mean?
Lent is a shortened version of the Old English word ‘lencten,’ which means spring or springtime the season. It is believed to have Germanic roots and seems likely to have been used to describe the season when the days began to lengthen, signifying new life and renewal. Over time, the word Lent became more specifically defined as the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter.
Who Celebrates Lent?
Both Catholics and many Protestants celebrate Lent. Lent is more popular among Catholic believers, but the tradition is growing among evangelicals.
What Do People Give Up During Lent?
Most people give up a favorite food product or beverage, and many Catholics still abstain from meat on Lenten Fridays. Others may give up something they enjoy or something that distracts them from reflection like video games, television, or even social media.
Why Do People Give Something Up for Lent?
Most people give something up for Lent to symbolize Jesus’ sacrifice and his withdrawal into the desert to be tempted for 40 days. However, Christians should be careful not to think that their sacrifice of giving something up is in any way akin to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Giving something up for Lent does not lend you any merit toward your own salvation, justification, or sanctification. However, if you are giving something up to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice (not your own) and what Jesus has done for you and is continuing to do for you, then that fasting would be well placed.
Do You Have to Give Something Up for Lent?
Do you have questions about giving up something for Lent? There is nothing in Scripture that requires a 40-day fast before you can celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Bible is clear that the resurrection and the promise of salvation are to be celebrated every day not just on Easter Sunday. Celebrating Lent is a preference not a biblical principle; therefore, use your best judgment based on Scripture for how you want to prepare your heart for the celebration of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If giving something up for Lent causes you to focus too much on your own sacrifice vs. Christ's, then don’t observe Lent in the traditional way. Instead, start a special devotional in your prayer time if that’s more helpful or read through the gospels each week and so on. It’s more important to have solid daily habits involving time with the Lord and prayers of thanks than to complete a 40-day fast successfully.
Should You Observe Lent?
Lent can be helpful for individuals but also for families. In the same way that Advent helps parents guide their children toward Christmas, Lent can provide a path of preparation for families to partake in together. Rather than focus on the excitement of the baskets and egg hunts, Lent can help keep your family focused on the real meaning of Easter and what Jesus’ sacrifice means for our salvation. So that on that joyous Easter Sunday, the celebration is all the more sweet and meaningful.
Bible Verses for Lent
- Philippians 3:10-11- "I want to know Christ, yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participate in his sufferings, becoming like him in death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
- Joel 2:12-14- "Even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate.
- Matthew 6:16-18- "when you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites...but when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Read more Scriptures for Lent at BibleStudyTools.com
A Prayer for Lent
Jesus, the journey you took to the cross was full of betrayal, grief, torture, and darkness, yet your love for us, your people, propelled you onward. Help us to comprehend just how powerful that love is, that you would suffer such a cruel death to make a way for us to be with you in glory forever. What a gift, Jesus. What a gift. May our praise never cease in this season. May our worship be unending. May our love for you find new depths. May this season bring new hope and new healing. May we journey toward the cross prayerfully and purposefully, even through the pain, our doubt, our questions, and our searching. May we find resurrection life springing up from this old dusty ground, and may we be surprised by joy in all of it. May Easter be a day of complete celebration as we rejoice in our risen Savior and praise our gracious Father. In you, we find the truest joy, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We praise you in all of it. Hallelujah and amen.
-Excerpted from Rachel Dawson's Prayer for Lent.
5 Lent Prayers for the Lenten Season
Photo credit: ©Thinkstock/Azerberber
This article is part of our larger Holy Week and Easter resource library centered around the events leading up to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We hope these articles help you understand the meaning and story behind important Christian holidays and dates and encourage you as you take time to reflect on all that God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ!
What is Lent? It's Meaning and Why We Celebrate
When is Lent? When Does Lent Start and End?
What is the Meaning Ash Wednesday?
What is Holy Week?
What Is the Meaning of Palm Sunday?
What is the Meaning of Holy Monday?
What is Maundy Thursday?
What Is Good Friday and Why is it Good?
Good Friday Prayer
What Does Holy Saturday Mean?
What Is the Easter?
Easter Prayers
Powerful Facts About the Cross of Jesus
Originally published January 12, 2022.
