The Office of Faith Information - Diocese of Rockville Centre

The 2023 Lenten season begins on Ash Wednesday – February 22, 2023 | April 5-8, 2023 – Holy Triduum | April 9, 2023 – Easter Sunday

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It’s a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ’s will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also baptized into Christ’s death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.

Lent 2023 Resources

• Pope Francis’ message for Lent 2023
• Lent 2023 Calendar 
• Lenten Videos
• The Corporal Works of Mercy
• The Spiritual Works of Mercy
• Questions and Answers about Lent
• Raise Up. Sacrifice. Offer.
• God’s Gift of Forgiveness
• Examination of Conscience based on the Ten Commandments
• USCCB Resources to Help Individuals

Prayer

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”  -St. Therese of Lisieux (CCC 2558)

During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to seeking the Lord in prayer and reading Scripture, to service by giving alms, and to practice self-control through fasting. Dive into God’s word in Scripture this Lent or pray the rosary with your family.

• Prayer of Giving
• Prayer for the Poor
• Scriptural Rosary: The Sorrowful Mysteries
• Scriptural Way to the Cross
• Una de las Escrituras camino de la cruz para la Cuaresma
• The Seven Penitential Psalms and the Songs of the Suffering Servant
• USCCB Prayers and Resources

Fasting

Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.

For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.

Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.

If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the “paschal fast” to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.

• A Reflection on Lenten Fasting
• Preparing for the Lenten Fast
• To Fast – Or Not
• Lenten Fasting & Abstinence
• Usccb Lenten Resources

Almsgiving

The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels. During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on “almsgiving,” which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, almsgiving is “a witness to fraternal charity” and “a work of justice pleasing to God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2462).

There are several special opportunities for almsgiving through donations to Church ministries for which collections are conducted during the Lenten season including:

• Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe
• National Black and Indian Mission Collection
• Catholic Relief Services Collection
• Collection for the Holy Land
• CRS Rice Bowl
• Lenten Almsgiving
• Almsgiving: Love in a Troubled World
• Usccb Lenten Resources

Many dioceses hold special appeals for local needs during Lent and there are countless other ways to offer your time, talent and treasure to needy individuals and organizations during Lent and throughout the year.