Lent and Easter Liturgy
From ashes to the empty tomb
Lent is forty days of repentance and return, beginning with ashes and ending at the foot of the cross. Easter is fifty days of resurrection joy, from the empty tomb to the eve of Pentecost. Together they form the heart of the Christian year.
Below you will find complete liturgies for Ash Wednesday, every Sunday in Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, and every Sunday of Easter, in each year of the Revised Common Lectionary.
Use the complete liturgies below, or go straight to what you need:
Lent and Easter move every year with the date of Easter, the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring.
Lent and Easter Liturgies
Each liturgy includes a call to worship, prayers of confession and illumination, an assurance of pardon, and a benediction. Each cell shows that day's Gospel reading.
Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Palm Sunday
Ash Wednesday uses the same readings every year. Year A follows the great Lenten stories from John, Year B the road to the cross in Mark and John, and Year C the call to repentance in Luke.
Easter Sunday and the Sundays of Easter
The Great Fifty Days, from the empty tomb to the eve of Pentecost. Most Easter season Gospels come from John in all three years.
Prayers and Sermons for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter
Prayers for worship and home, and sermons for the season.
Common Questions About Lent and Easter
What is Lent?
Lent is the forty days of preparation before Easter, a season of repentance, prayer, fasting, and generosity. It echoes Jesus' forty days in the wilderness. The forty days do not count Sundays, which are always little Easters, so Lent runs from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter.
Why does the date of Easter change every year?
Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21, a rule the church set in the fourth century to keep Easter close to Passover. That places Easter between March 22 and April 25, and Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Pentecost all move with it. The note at the top of this page shows this year's dates.
What is Holy Week?
Holy Week is the last week of Lent. It begins on Palm Sunday with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, continues with Maundy Thursday and the Last Supper, and Good Friday and the crucifixion, and ends with Holy Saturday, the day of waiting before Easter.
How long is the Easter season?
Easter is a season, not a single day. The Great Fifty Days run from Easter Sunday through the Seventh Sunday of Easter and end on the Day of Pentecost. Ascension Day falls on the fortieth day, a Thursday.
What colors are used in Lent and Easter?
Purple marks Lent, the color of repentance and royalty. Many churches use scarlet or red during Holy Week, and some strip the sanctuary bare or use black on Good Friday. White and gold return on Easter and remain through the fifty days.