When Does Lent Start And What Is Ash Wednesday?

Lent is a Christian season that lasts for 40 days and nights leading up to Easter – the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.

During this period, devotees focus on simple living in the form of prayer and fasting, in a modern-day model of Christ’s 40 day fast in the desert.

The word Lent is a shortened version of the Old English word “Lenten”, meaning “spring.”