Typically when we get over halfway through February we are already in the midst of Lent.
Ash Wednesday in particular always seems to be celebrated during February. In fact, often Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day, changing the mood of an otherwise celebratory day.
Yet this year (2025), Ash Wednesday is not celebrated during February at all. It is celebrated on March 5, which is one of the latest dates it can fall on.
How is Ash Wednesday calculated?
Originally Lent wasn’t always 40 days, as it first started out as only a few days of fasting and in some cases, a mere 40 hours of preparation before Easter. Later the Church adopted a tradition of 36 days of fasting, representing a “tenth” of the calendar year.
According to the norms established by the Council of Nicaea (325) and later adopted for Western Christianity at the Synod of Whitby, Easter Sunday falls each year on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox.
This calculation is different than many Orthodox Christians' dating of Easter. Fr. Jon Magoulias at the Greek Reporter explains that the Orthodox calculation of Easter differs from the rest of Christianity is because the “Orthodox Church continues to follow the Julian calendar when calculating the date of Pascha (Easter). The rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar. There is a 13-day difference between the two calendars, the Julian calendar being thirteen (13) days behind the Gregorian.”
Furthermore, for Western Christianity Lent is composed of 46 total days.
But why 46? I thought Lent commemorated Jesus’ “40 days” in the desert.
The six Sundays in Lent are not considered part of the official Lenten fast (every Sunday is a special remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ), and so if you subtract six from 46, you get the full 40 days of Lent.
What is the latest date Lent can start?
The latest date Lent can start is March 10, with Easter being celebrated on April 25.
This year Ash Wednesday is on March 5, with Easter falling on April 20. It may not be the latest dates, but it is only five days away from being the latest it can be.
February without Lent may seem a bit odd, but in a certain sense it can provide a greater space between the season of Christmas and Lent, giving us a bit more time to prepare.
