Lent is the period of forty days before Easter, traditionally observed with fasting, prayer and self-denial in imitation of Christ’s forty days in the wilderness. In modern Britain it is observed by a great many people who are not remotely religious, mostly as a chance to give something up.
The forty days that are forty-six
Lent runs from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, which is 46 calendar days. The discrepancy is because Sundays do not count: each one is a feast day celebrating the Resurrection, and the fast is suspended.
Strictly observed, this means a weekly day off. Most people who give up chocolate for Lent do not know this and are annoyed when told.
Ash Wednesday
The first day, marked in Anglican and Catholic churches by the imposition of ashes — a cross marked on the forehead in ash made from burning the previous year’s Palm Sunday palm crosses, with the words “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return”. Many people wear the mark through the day.
Shrove Tuesday
The day before is Pancake Day, and the connection is entirely practical: eggs, milk, butter and sugar were forbidden during the fast, so the household used them up in pancakes. The whole tradition exists because of what was about to be given up.
What people give up now
The observance has shed most of its religious content and survived as a widely shared national habit. The standard sacrifices are chocolate, alcohol, sugar, crisps, takeaways, smoking and — increasingly — social media.
Charities have leaned into it successfully. Cancer Research’s Dryathlon and various sponsored abstinences raise substantial sums, and giving up alcohol for Lent has become a second, smaller Dry January.
There is also a growing counter-tradition of taking something up rather than giving it up — a daily act of kindness, a charitable donation, a phone call to someone lonely. Several Anglican dioceses actively promote this version.
Mothering Sunday
The fourth Sunday of Lent is Mothering Sunday, and the fast is relaxed for it. It was originally the day when people returned to their “mother church” — the parish of their baptism — and domestic servants were given the day off to do so, visiting their families on the way. Simnel cake was baked and carried home.
This is why the British Mother’s Day is in March and moves each year, while the American one is fixed to May. They are entirely separate holidays with separate origins, and the British one is far older.
Holy Week
The final week of Lent, beginning with Palm Sunday, when small crosses folded from palm leaves are handed out in churches. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday follow, and Lent ends when Easter begins.