Lent begins early in 2015 - Ash Wednesday, February 18

Lent is an annual opportunity to renew and deepen our relationship with Christ the weeks before the celebration of His resurrection on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015.

Ash Wednesday is so named because of the Church's tradition of marking the foreheads of each member of the faith community with consecrated ashes on this day.

Catholics receive the ashes as a tangible reminder that Lent is a time for prayer, fasting and charitable works (almsgiving) in preparation for Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.