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Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which falls 40 days before Easter (excluding Sundays). Some churches observe Ash Wednesday with a special service where the foreheads of the worshippers are marked with a mixture of oil and ashes, and the words, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return” are spoken by the presiding pastor or priest to remind the congregation of their mortality. Lent is a season of preparation, meditation and prayer, much like Advent. However, unlike Advent, the events anticipated are of a much more solemn nature – the suffering and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, and the themes of this season are repentance and confession, fasting and self-denial, salvation and spiritual discipline. The season focuses on the life and ministry of the Lord, and His last days in Jerusalem.

The liturgical colour is purple, again a symbol of penitence and preparation, but also of the Passion (ie suffering) of the Messiah. The last week of Lent is called Holy Week in many churches, and is marked by Maundy Thursday services commemorating the Last Supper, and sometimes, ritual foot-washing, and the stripping of the altar symbolizing the stripping away of Jesus’ physical vestments and dignity. Good Friday services commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and His “seven last words” are usually meditated on. The liturgical colour of Good Friday is black for darkness, forsakenness and death.