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Lent

Also in The Church Year

Wednesday, February 18 to Saturday, April 4, 2026

Lent is a 40-day period starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday, excluding Sundays. We follow the biblical accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry, including temptations and struggles with powers and principalities both earthly and spiritual. It is a time for personal attentiveness to spiritual formation and growth in disciplined ways, as preparation for the great celebrations of Easter.

Observances throughout Lent

Includes liturgical dates from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and Sundays, Holy Days and Lenten Ember Days from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), as well as select secular and ecumenical observances (in italics).

  • Feb. 18: Ash Wednesday (BAS, BCP)
  • Feb. 22: First Sunday in Lent (BAS, BCP); Freedom Sunday
  • Feb. 23: Polycarp (BAS)
  • Feb. 24: Philip Lindel Tsen and/or Paul Shinji Sasaki (BAS); St. Matthias the Apostle (BCP)
  • Feb. 25: Lenten Ember Day (BAS, BCP)
  • Feb. 26: Florence Li Tim-Oi (BAS)
  • Feb 27: George Herbert (BAS); Lenten Ember Day (BAS, BCP)
  • Feb. 28: Lenten Ember Day (BAS, BCP)
Additional background on specific Principal Feasts, Holy Days, Memorials and Commemorations from the the Book of Alternative Services calendar is available in For All the Saints.

Includes liturgical dates from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and Sundays and Holy Days from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), as well as select secular and ecumenical observances (in italics).

  • Mar. 1: Second Sunday in Lent (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 2: Chad (BAS)
  • Mar. 3: John and Charles Wesley (BAS)
  • Mar. 6: World Day of Prayer
  • Mar 7: Perpetua and Companions (BAS)
  • Mar. 8: Third Sunday in Lent (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 9: Gregory of Nyssa (BAS)
  • Mar. 10: Robert Machray (BAS)
  • Mar. 15: Fourth Sunday in Lent (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 17: Patrick (BAS)
  • Mar. 18: Cyril of Jerusalem (BAS)
  • Mar. 19: St. Joseph of Nazareth (BAS)
  • Mar. 20: Cuthbert (BAS)
  • Mar. 21: Thomas Cranmer (BAS)
  • Mar. 22: Fifth Sunday in Lent (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 23: Gregory the Illuminator (BAS)
  • Mar. 25: The Annunciation of the Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 27: Charles Henry Brant (BAS)
  • Mar. 29: The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 30: Monday in Holy Week (BAS, BCP)
  • Mar. 31: Tuesday in Holy Week (BAS, BCP)
Additional background on specific Principal Feasts, Holy Days, Memorials and Commemorations from the the Book of Alternative Services calendar is available in For All the Saints.

Includes liturgical dates from the Book of Alternative Services (BAS) and Sundays and Holy Days from the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), as well as select secular and ecumenical observances (in italics).

  • Apr. 1: Wednesday in Holy Week (BAS, BCP)
  • Apr. 2: Maundy Thursday (BAS, BCP)
  • Apr. 3: Good Friday (BAS, BCP)
  • Apr. 4: Holy Saturday (BAS, BCP)
Additional background on specific Principal Feasts, Holy Days, Memorials and Commemorations from the the Book of Alternative Services calendar is available in For All the Saints.

Suggested resources

Acknowledging the land and God’s creation

This acknowledgement is crafted in light of the Principles of Reconciliation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, as we seek to live faithfully in Christ and in right relationship with all. 

We give thanks to the Creator for this land, its waters, forests and all living beings, and for the abiding presence of Christ among us. From coast to coast to coast, these have been cared for and nurtured by First Nations, Inuit and Métis through countless generations. 

We honour the enduring relationship Indigenous Peoples have cultivated with these lands and waters, and the treaties and agreements that reflect these sacred bonds. We acknowledge the harms caused by colonial expansion, through frameworks like the Doctrine of Discovery and structures like the residential school system. We recognize our past failures as a Church, including disruption of connections to the land and suppression of Indigenous spiritualities. 

Guided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, we confess our need for healing. We commit ourselves to seeking truth, pursuing reconciliation and nurturing harmony with all creation. We place our trust in Christ, through whom all things are reconciled to God. 

May God strengthen us to live faithfully as stewards of the Earth. Let us walk in love, justice and reconciliation, joining in God’s work to restore all creation.