…right after Christmas, when people start wondering, if the search terms that lead people here are any indication: Wait…when’s Ash Wednesday? Soon?
Answer – not this year. Not “soon” – as it is during those wonderful years when Ash Wednesday falls in early February. (I say “wonderful” because my philosophy is: “The sooner it starts, the sooner it’s over.” “It” being Lent, of course.)
Ash Wednesday is February 26. Easter is April 12.
Which you would know if your parish did the Epiphany Proclamation, guys.
But I also know this because right after Christmas, those are the search phrases that bring people to my blog with more frequency. Most specifically, in recent years, “Septuagesima.”
So…
I pulled together most of my substantive Lent-related posts onto a page here. Just keep it in mind, and if you’re interested in any of the resources I mention – now’s the time to start thinking about ordering. (For example, my Stations of the Cross for Teens from Creative Communications.)
But it’s not just a resource page – it’s features the posts I’ve done on fasting, on Septuagesima and, of course, The Gallery of Regrettable Lenten Food – a post which also sees a spike in hits the minute the calendar turned to 2020. I guess once Christmas is over, people start thinking, Diet! No… I mean… when does Lent start and what am I supposed to do during it?
So…if you want to observe Pre-Lent (and if you are Orthodox/Traditional Catholic/Anglican – you will anyway) – here are the dates:
February 9 – Septuagesima Sunday
February 16 – Sexagesima Sunday
February 23 – Quinquagesima Sunday
February 26 – Ash Wednesday
March 4,5,6 – Lent Ember Days
April 5 – Palm Sunday
April 9-11 Triduum
April 12 Easter Sunday
May 21 Ascension THURSDAY
May 31 Pentecost
So…a little less than a month, we’ll get that pre-Lent game on!
A bit more:
Here is an excellent, thorough article in Dappled Things:
In the chapter titled “The History of Septuagesima,” Dom Guéranger added, “The Church, therefore, has instituted a preparation for the holy time of Lent. She gives us the three weeks of Septuagesima, during which she withdraws us, as much as may be, from the noisy distractions of the world, in order that our hearts may be the more readily impressed by the solemn warning she is to give us, at the commencement of Lent, by marking our foreheads with ashes.”
Septuagesima Sunday is the ninth Sunday before Lent, and it is the day on which the Septuagesima season of preparation for Lent has begun for more than 1,000 years in the traditional calendar. The Septuagesima season is made up of three Sundays: Septuagesima (which means seventieth), Sexagesima (which means sixtieth), and Quinquagesima (which means fiftieth), and it extends until Ash Wednesday.
Quadragesima is the name given in most languages to the season of Lent that starts on Ash Wednesday. For a few examples, in Spanish the name is cuaresma, in Portuguese quaresma, in French carême, and in Italian quaresima. In English, in contrast, the word for spring, lent, was used, which derives from the German word for long, because at this time of year the days get longer.
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How the Church Keeps Septuagesima
Beginning with Compline (Night Prayer) on the Saturday before Septuagesima Sunday the Alleluia, Gloria, and Te Deum are not said any more until Easter. Two extra Alleluias are said at Vespers on that Saturday. In some places charming ceremonies have been practiced in which an Alleluia is put in a little coffin and buried, to be resurrected again only on Easter Sunday. Throughout Septuagesima, violet vestments are worn, except on feasts observed during weekday.
Charlotte was Both 