Lent also known as Quadragesima (Latin: Forty) is the Christian observance of the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

The traditional purpose of Lent is to prepare ourselves through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial. Holy Week marks the death and resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday which then culminates in Easter Sunday, marking the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to the gospels Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry. Lent is described as being forty days long and begins on Ash Wednesday. The six Sundays in this period are not counted because each one represents a "mini-Easter," a celebration of Jesus' victory over sin and death.

Lent is marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. Three traditional practices taken up with renewed enthusiasm are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Today, some people give up a luxury, add something that will bring them closer to God and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organisations.

There are several holy days within the season of Lent:

• Clean Monday, or Ash Monday, is the first day in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
• Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, is the last day before Lent 
• Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent
• Mothering Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent, marks the halfway point between Ash Wednesday and Easter
  
• Palm Sunday, the sixth Sunday of Lent, marks the beginning of Holy Week
• Spy Wednesday, the Wednesday of Holy Week commemorates the days on which Judas spied on Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before betraying him
• Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday, is a day Christians commemorate the Last Supper shared by Christ with his disciples
• Good Friday is the day on which Christians remember Jesus' crucifixion and burial
• Easter Sunday is a day of great celebration as Christians remember Jesus rising from the dead.