When is Easter this year? When is Ash Wednesday and Lent? Dates to know

Spring is approaching, which brings the Christian season of Lent back into our lives.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day period in which Christians around the world observe a time of reflection, prayer, and penance. Lent ends with Holy Week and Easter Sunday, an important day in the Christian calendar that commemorates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion on the cross, according to BBC.

Not like other Christian holidays, which fall on the same date every year, such as Christmas. Easter, however, and the entire Lenten season, are based on the lunar cycles of the Hebrew calendar, so the dates vary from year to year.

Below is the list of dates for Ash Wednesday, Easter and Passover this year.

When is Ash Wednesday 2025?

This year, Ash Wednesday will take place on Wednesday, March 5.

What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday – also known as the Day of Ashes – is a day of repentance and fasting, when Christians, especially Catholics, confess their sins and profess their devotion to God. For Roman Catholics specifically, Ash Wednesday is the start of the 46-day season of Lent, which is the period leading up to Easter.

What is Lent?

Lent is the 46-day liturgical season that precedes the holiday of Easter, which commemorates the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus.

The season, including Ash Wednesday, is a time for penance, charity and fasting for many Christians, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. USA Today adds that during Lent, Catholics and Christians will give up something they enjoy or something they feel like they should stop. Many Catholics also abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent.

When does Lent begin?

Lent began with Ash Wednesday, which is March 5.

When does Lent end?

Lent ends on Holy Thursday, April 17, with a Mass representing Jesus’ last supper.

When is Good Friday 2025?

Good Friday, a holy day for Christians that commemorates Jesus’ crucifixion, lands on April 18.

When is Easter Sunday 2025?

Easter Sunday will be observed on April 20.

The date is different every year and falls on the first Sunday of the first full moon after the vernal equinox, also called the Paschal Full Moon.

When is Passover 2025?

This year, Passover begins on the evening of Saturday, April 12, and ends on the evening of Sunday, April 20. The Seder feast is held the first two nights of Passover and will be April 12-13 this year.