Lent is the 40-day season of preparation for Easter that ends on Holy Thursday, three days before Easter Sunday. During Lent, Catholics recall their baptism and do penance – fasting, prayer and almsgiving – as they commemorate the Death and Resurrection of Christ.
This year, Lent begins February 14, Ash Wednesday, and ends March 28, with the Easter Triduum beginning the evening of Holy Thursday and leading to the Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord at the Easter Vigil. Easter Sunday is March 31.
The days of both fast and abstinence are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, March 29. The other Fridays of Lent are solely days of abstinence.
On a day of fast, only one (1) full meal is permitted. On a day of abstinence, no meat may be eaten. The law of abstinence binds those who are 14 and older. The law of fasting binds all those who are 18-59, if possible in regards to health.
The Fridays of the year, outside of Lent, are designated as days of penance, but each individual may substitute for the traditional abstinence from meat some other practice of voluntary self-denial as penance.
More info from the USCCB: usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year-and-calendar/lent.
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