FAQs About Lent
Feb 03, 2025 by Rachel Shrader
Lent is coming and we know you've got questions! From Ash Wednesday to fasting rules, from no-meat Fridays to the real meaning of "almsgiving," we've got you covered right here. And if you can't find the answer to your Lenten question below, drop us a comment and we'll do our best to answer it!
Q. What are the obligatory fasting/abstinence days for Lent?
A. Obligatory fasting and abstinence: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Obligatory abstinence: All Fridays of Lent.
Q. What are the rules for fasting and abstinence?
A. Fasting: One full meal per day, plus two smaller meals that together do not equal a full meal. No meat allowed.
Abstinence: No meat allowed.
Q. Is Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation?
A. No. But we highly encourage you to attend Ash Wednesday Mass and receive the traditional ashes, as this is the most fitting way to start out the journey of Lent.
Q. Is Good Friday a Holy Day of Obligation?
A. No. But we highly encourage you to attend the Good Friday services at your parish, as this is the most fitting way to commemorate the Lord's Sacrifice of His life on this day.
Q. What are the Church's three traditional Lenten practices?
A. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
Q. I understand prayer and fasting, but what is "almsgiving" and how do I practice it properly?
A. Almsgiving means giving material assistance to the needy. This can take a number of forms, such as a special donation to an organization that helps the less fortunate (many parishes have groups like the St. Vincent de Paul Society for this purpose); volunteering at a homeless shelter or a pro-life pregnancy center; or visiting a friend or neighbor who lives alone or is in need. Lenten almsgiving should go above and beyond our normal tithing and charitable practices.
Q. Why do we fast?
A. We fast in order to bring our sense appetites under the control of our reason, which helps us to practice virtue, especially when it is difficult. Fasting helps us lift our minds beyond our bodily needs and focus on spiritual things. It detaches us from earth so that we can draw closer to God in our thoughts and prayers; in the Bible, we often read about the prophets fasting before important conversations with God in order to remove any obstacles to right communication with Him. The Church Fathers particularly recommend fasting as a remedy for lust, one of the strongest vices of our disordered passions.
Christ Himself fasted for 40 days in the desert before embarking on His public ministry. These are the 40 days we are spiritually entering into during the 40 days of Lent. When we fast, we are imitating Christ and uniting our actions to His.
Q. Why do we abstain from meat? I mean, why meat?
A. Meat has traditionally been a symbol of celebration, so giving it up is a way of keeping Friday as a day of penance in honor of Our Lord's death, which occurred on Good Friday. By giving up flesh meat—the meat of warm-blooded animals and birds—we are again imitating and honoring Christ, Who gave up His flesh for us on a Friday. While abstinence is only strictly required on the Fridays of Lent and Ash Wednesday, the Church has traditionally abstained from meat on all Fridays of the year. Though this is no longer obligatory on Fridays outside Lent, she still instructs us to do it or to perform another act of penance or piety in its place.
Q. Why is Lent 40 days long?
A. Lent is 40 days long because Jesus fasted in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights before embarking on His public ministry. But He did not select the length of His fast at random. He was following biblical precedents—in several places in Scripture, we read about 40-day periods of penance or preparation. Read more here!
Q. Wait a minute...Lent isn't 40 days! It's 46 days!
A. Yes, there are 46 days if you count from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, inclusive. But we don't actually count Good Friday and Holy Saturday as part of Lent (they are part of a different period of time called the Sacred Triduum, which runs from the evening of Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday). So we're down to 44 days. The Sundays of Lent generally do not count as Lenten days either since Sundays are not traditionally days of penance. So take out all six Lenten Sundays and you're left with 38 days, or about 40.
Q. What are some of the Church's traditional prayers and devotions for Lent?
A. In addition to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which continually reflects on the theme of Lent and the coming commemoration of the Lord's Passion, the Church has several favorite devotions for this season. They include:
- The Way of the Cross, often held at Catholic parishes on the Fridays of Lent
- The Holy Rosary, particularly the Sorrowful Mysteries
- The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows
- The Divine Mercy Chaplet
- Reading the Gospel accounts of the Passion as well as the Old Testament prophecies about the suffering Messiah, including Isaiah 52-53 and the Passion Psalms, such as 22 and 69.
Some lesser-known devotions include the Holy Face Chaplet and St. Bridget's 15 Prayers Chaplet.
What questions do you have about the observance of Lent? Let us know in the comments!