(NEXSTAR) – Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of the 40-day Lenten period, is already here. This year, it’s a bit different – and a bit rare.
A quick look at your calendar and you’ll see why: Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day fall on the same day this year.
If you observe Ash Wednesday, it could pose quite a predicament, too.
What are Ash Wednesday and Lent?
Like we’ve mentioned, Ash Wednesday is the first of a 40-day period known as Lent. To mark the day, Christians fast or abstain from certain foods and attend mass. The day’s masses are often the most well-attended, Kim Mandelkow, director of the Office for Worship with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, and Father Martin Schlag, a professor and chair of Catholic Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, previously told Nexstar.
Ashes from the palms burned on the previous day, Shrove Tuesday, are then used to mark mass attendees. Usually, the ashes are used to mark a cross on each person’s forehead. Schlag says the ashes are intended to remind Christians at the start of Lent that “we are mortal.”
The 40-day period of Lent serves as a time for Christians to “engage in acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving” in preparation for the celebration of Easter, Mandelkow explains. The time period commemorates the same amount of time Jesus spent fasting in the desert before starting his public ministry, according to Schlag.
The word “lent” is an old Germanic word, “lenz,” Schlag explains, which means spring. Because Lent falls during the transition from winter to spring, it also signifies new life, a common theme associated with Easter.
Why is Ash Wednesday never on the same day?
Like Easter, Ash Wednesday is never on the same day two years in a row.
The date of Easter fluctuates based on the moon, according to Mandelkow, who added that it “always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.”
“The moon is not regular,” Schlag explained. “It doesn’t follow the solar calendar, but it has its own lunar calendar that varies every year.”
This means Easter can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25. This year, it’ll be on March 31, which is one of the most frequent dates for the holiday, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Another common date for Easter is April 16.
Ash Wednesday doesn’t exactly happen 40 days before Easter. It falls on the seventh Wednesday before Easter, which is February 14 this year. Next year, when Easter lands on April 20, Ash Wednesday will be on March 5.
How often do Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day land on the same date?
As rare as it may sound, it’s not uncommon for Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day to fall on a Wednesday together. In fact, it hasn’t been long since our last shared Ash Wednesday-Valentine’s Day.
The last time we saw this was in 2018. That year was extra special: Easter landed on April Fools’ Day. Before 2018, we hadn’t seen Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day line up since 1945, according to USA Today. Before that, the dates aligned in 1923 and 1934.
We won’t have to wait very long for it to happen again. In 2029, the dates will fall on the same Wednesday (Easter will fall on April Fools’ Day, too).
That will be the last time the holidays will share a date for the rest of the century.
A warning about celebrating Valentine’s Day on Ash Wednesday
If you’re heading out to a restaurant (like one of these considered the most romantic in the U.S.) or cooking a meal at home to celebrate Valentine’s Day, church officials say you’ll still need to adhere to the rules of Ash Wednesday.
Bishop Joseph Bambera of the Diocese of Scranton recently issued a reminder that those who observe Ash Wednesday and are over the age of 18 should be fasting through the day. Nexstar’s WBRE also reports that Bishop Bambera has instructed that those who are 14 years old or older who aren’t fasting should abstain from eating meat.
“Valentine’s Day can appropriately be celebrated on another day, such as the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which happens to be Mardi Gras, a time of celebration prior to the Lenten journey,” Bishop Bambera added. “That will allow Ash Wednesday to retain its appropriate significance.”
Next year, Easter will land on April 20, putting Ash Wednesday on March 5.
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