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In the Roman Catholic Church, Ash Wednesday
is the first day of Lent, the season of
preparation for the resurrection of Jesus
Christ on Easter Sunday. (In Eastern
Rite Catholic churches, Lent begins two
days earlier, on Clean
Monday.) Ash Wednesday always falls 46
days before Easter. (See How Is the
Date of Ash Wednesday Calculated? for
more details.) Since Easter falls on a
different date each year (see How Is
the Date of Easter Calculated?), Ash
Wednesday does, too. To find the date of
Ash Wednesday in this and future years,
see When Is Ash Wednesday?.While Ash
Wednesday is not a Holy Day of
Obligation, all Roman Catholics are
encouraged to attend Mass on this day in
order to mark the beginning of the Lenten
season.
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