Lent
Lent is a liturgical season which lasts for 40 days and nights before the celebration of Easter. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, it is a time of penance and preparation when we focus on the three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.
It is a sombre season when we strip back our normal practices to allow us to focus solely on Jesus’ sacrifice and salvation for us all. For example, we do not use flowers on our altars and prayer focus tables and we do not pray the Gloria in Mass (apart from on special feast days, as noted in the diocesan Ordo). We do not use the word ‘Alleluia’ (meaning ‘praise the Lord’) in Lent at all.
Keep checking back for more resources below!
Prayer
The Cycle of Prayer during Lent focuses on the following prayer intentions, you can find more information on these here:
- Candidates for the Sacraments (especially on the Sundays of Lent)
- The Needy and Hungry of the World (especially on CAFOD family fast day)
- Women
- Penitents and Wanderers
Reconciliation
Lent is a time of Reconciliation and Forgiveness when we work to retore our relationship with God before we celebrate the Resurrection. This helpful video guides us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and what to expect if we have not been to confession in a while.
Music in Lent
Music in Lent is used to help us to maintain a prayerful atmosphere that centres on Christ and His journey to the cross for our salvation. During Mass, music is used only to sustain singing and the Gloria is omitted (unless it is a special feast day, as directed in the diocesan ordo). The Gospel Acclamation is not proclaimed as ‘Alleluia’ but alternatives are used, such as the Lenten Gospel Acclamation below. We also have a selection of Lenten liturgical music, including backing tracks and tutorials on our Seasonal Music Resources page.
Sign up for CAFOD’s Big Lent Walk here.
Sign up for CAFOD’s email reflections during Lent here.
Mission Together (the children’s branch of Missio, the Catholic Church’s official charity for oversees mission), has videos, activities, a children’s stations of the cross PowerPoint and many other resources on their website which can be found here.
Lent 2026 PowerPoint Calendar – scriptures and actions for every day of Lent and Holy Week
Check out our Seasonal guide for your prayer focus to see what to include on your Lenten prayer focus.
Check this page again soon to see more links and resources for your Lenten Journey!
