Ash Wednesday is the first day of the season of Lent that leads up to Good Friday and Easter. What to know about the day.

Lent came early last year, but it is back to a bit more normal schedule for 2025. Here's a look when Fat Tuesday, Ash ...

Today, the first day of Orthodox Lent, we start preparing for our journey through Dante’s Purgatorio, which commences on Ash Wednesday, the start of Western Lent. As I’ve been saying ...

TASS/. Orthodox Christians in Russia and other countries around the world begin observing Great Lent on Monday, February 27, in preparation for Easter, the most sacred and holy day of the Orthodox ...

The countdown to the Orthodox Easter is set to begin on March 3, when Greece celebrates “Kathara Deftera,” Greek for “Clean ...

Easter's date is determined by the spring equinox and lunar cycle, causing it to shift yearly. In 2025, it falls on one of ...

The first week of Great Lent is a time of special prayer and strict abstinence. During the first four days—from Monday to Thursday—the Great Canon of Repentance of St. Andrew of Crete is read in ...

"Orthodox Christianity is the most widespread ... Only 15% of Russians were able to remember the date when observance of Great Lent begins: March 18. Another 27% said that they knew the date ...

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the 40-day period in which Christians worldwide observe a period of reflection, prayer ...

In general, fast days for Orthodox Christians are all Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year (except for fast-free periods), the four canonical fast periods of Great Lent, Nativity Fast, Apostles' ...

Setting fire to an effigy is a traditional part of Maslenitsa, or "Butter Week" - a six-day festival marking the last week before Orthodox Lent, although it also has pagan roots. Nikola-Lenivets ...

Unlike many festivals and celebrations which have a set date (Christmas and Halloween, for example), the date of Easter can ...