Lent 2026

The Lenten season is now upon us. It is of course one of the most sacred and spiritual seasons in our liturgical year. We often speak of Lent as a forty-day journey, yet the full season from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday (or Holy Saturday) spans about 46 days. Sundays, as days of resurrection joy, are not counted among the penitential days—leaving us with exactly forty days of fasting, prayer, and preparation.

The number forty carries profound symbolic meaning in Scripture. We remember that Our Beloved Lord fasted for forty days and nights before beginning His ministry, and throughout the Bible, forty so often signifies times of trial, yet also transformation, and preparation. Consider these powerful examples: the great Flood in Genesis rained forty days and forty nights. The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai before receiving the Ten Commandments after his forty days there.

This same biblical pattern shapes our own spiritual journey during Lent: it becomes our privileged time for religious renewal, as we prepare our hearts and souls for the joy of Easter Sunday.

The first step in approaching the Lenten season is to be honest with yourself and admit where you are in your faith journey. Is there a need for change in your life? Is there something you need to give up, or something you need to open yourself to? Is there a sinful habit that needs to be released, or a spiritual practice that needs nourishment to set you on a renewed path of fulfillment in your faith walk?

We all know that confession is a valuable part of our Lenten practice. There are opportunities to partake of this cleansing and upliftment in grace, as parishes offer penance service throughout this blessed season. Instead of waiting until there is a penance service, you can start by going to confession at the very start of Lent.

Chapter 49 of St. Benedict’s Holy Rule spells out the expectations for a monk during Lent. St. Benedict teaches that “the life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent.” He reminds the monk that the Lenten season is a time to refuse to indulge in evil habits and instead devote oneself to prayer with tears, to spiritual reading, and to compunction of heart and self-denial. These practices point directly to what we call the three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

One of the great clergymen of the Twentieth Century was Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. His meditations on Jesus on the cross were always spiritually rich and worth considering during this Lenten season. The Vatican has recently approved his beatification, a profound step in the Church’s process of recognizing heroic virtue and holiness. Beatification declares him “Blessed,” affirms that he now intercedes for us, and officially proposes him as a model of faith for the faithful worldwide, bringing him one step closer to sainthood. I share this one meditation with you for your Lenten reflection:

“I slipped His fingers, I escaped His feet,
I ran and hid, for Him I feared to meet.
One day I passed Him, fettered on a Tree,
He turned His Head and looked and beckoned me.

“Neither by speed, nor strength could He prevail.
Each hand and foot pinioned by a nail.
He could not run or clasp me if He tried,
But with His eye, He bade me reach His side.

“For pity’s sake, thought I, I will set you free.
‘Nay—-hold this cross,’ He said, ‘and follow me.
This yoke is easy, this burden light,
Not hard or grievous if you wear it tight.’

“So did I follow Him Who could not move,
An uncaught captive in the hands of Love.”

Have a blessed Lent!

Abbot Sharbel Ewen, O.S.B.
Prince of Peace Abbey