Lent 2023

The holy season of Lent begins February 22, 2023 with Ash Wednesday.

The first of the forty days of Lent, Ash Wednesday is named for the custom of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers at Ash Wednesday services. The ashes are a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality, and may be imposed with the sign of the cross. Ash Wednesday is observed as a fast in the church year of the Episcopal Church. The Ash Wednesday service is one of the Proper Liturgies for Special Days in the BCP (p. 264).

The final week of Lent is known as Holy Week. We observe Palm Sunday (April 2, 2023), Maundy Thursday (April 6), Good Friday (April 7), and Holy Saturday (April 8) with services that provide a liturgical experience of the last days of Jesus' earthly life, as well as the time and events leading up to his resurrection. The BCP provides special liturgies for each of these days. Holy Week ends at sundown on the Saturday before Easter (April 8), or with the celebration of the Easter Vigil.

We are gathering special resources and events here to help you observe a Holy Lent. If you have information you would like to share on this list, please send it to communications director Janis Greenbaum.

Resources:

• Episcopal Church 2023 Lenten Resources
• Episcopal Relief & Development Meditations
• Building Faith: Resources for children’s, youth, adult, or parish-wide programs for Lent and Holy Week

Events:

• Preview Night for Online Lenten Bible Study
  from the National Suicide Prevention Network
  Feb. 13 / 6:30 p.m.
• Virtual Lenten Bible Study: Healing and Understanding the Suicidal Crisis
  from the National Suicide Prevention Network
  Begins Feb. 27 / 6:30 p.m.