Lent 2026
Lent 2026
Lent is a 40-day period of preparation for Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday (February 18) and culminating in the Easter Vigil (April 4). This time period is marked by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to reflect on Jesus’s 40 days in the wilderness, during which He faced His own temptations and made sacrifices, ultimately drawing Him closer to God.
See below for our Lenten schedule and resources to help you on your Lenten journey.
Our Schedule
Mardi Gras Sunday – February 15
Happy Mardi Gras! Join us in the Hall after both Sunday Masses for special Mardi Gras decorations, Packzis, and coffee!
Ash Wednesday – February 18
Mass with distribution of ashes:
12:00 p.m.
6:30 p.m.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving leading to Easter. This is a day observed by Christians as a solemn day of repentance and reflection on mortality, symbolized by receiving ashes in the shape of a cross on the forehead. The ashes, made from last year’s Palm Sunday palms, represent “dust to dust”, reminding people of their sinful nature and need for spiritual renewal. Typically Catholics fast and abstain from meat on this day.
Friday Night Lenten Fish Fry and Bake
Fridays, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
The Knights of Columbus Council 7115 will host a Lenten Fish Fry and Bake on all Lenten Fridays from 4:30–6:30 p.m. You can dine-in, take-out, or drive-up to order. Cash and credit/debit cards are accepted. You may pay with cash, check, credit and debit cards. Each week’s tips and donations will benefit a different group in our community, and the Knights will match donations up to $250 each week! See the full list of beneficiaries below:
February 20: Compassionate Heart
February 27: Youth Conference Trip
March 6: Haiti Mission Meals
March 13: West Michigan Seminarians
March 20: Our Lady of the Lake Pipe Organ Fund
March 27: St. Vincent de Paul Center
Stations of the Cross
Fridays at 7:00 p.m.
Follow our Lord in prayer through His Passion and Death each Lenten Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the Chapel. A different group will lead the Stations each week. See the list of hosts below:
February 20: Women of the Word
February 27: Corpus Christi Catholic School
March 6: OCIA Candidates, Catechumens, and Sponsors
March 13: TBA
March 20: Liturgy Choir
March 27: Crafty Ladies
Sacrament of Reconciliation
During Lent, we typically offer extra Reconciliation times in addition to our regular weekly schedule. See below for upcoming additional times.
Thursday, February 26
5:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 5
5:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 12
5:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 19
The Light is ON for You
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 24
12:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 26
5:00 p.m.
Friday, March 27
9:30 a.m.
Tuesday, March 31
12:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 2
5:00 p.m.
Friday, April 3
9:30 a.m.
Holy Week Liturgy Schedule
Sunday, March 29
Palm Sunday
Regular weekend Mass schedule
Thursday, April 2
Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper
7:00 p.m.
Friday, April 3
Good Friday – Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion
3:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 4
Easter Vigil Mass
9:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 5
Easter Sunday Masses
9:00 a.m.
11:00 a.m.
Fasting
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting. Catholics aged 18 – 59 are required to participate.
Additionally, these days and all Lenten Fridays are obligatory days of abstaining from meat. Catholics aged 14 + are required to participate. Those who are physically or mentally ill, pregnant, nursing, or elderly are generally excused from fasting and abstinence.
On all days of Lent, Catholics are encouraged to participate in an additional form of self-denial or penance such as giving up distractions, bad habits, or earthly comforts and replacing them with prayer, service, or a deeper focus on God.
Prayer
Catholics are always called to pray, but especially as we journey throughout the Lenten season, we must rely on God to help us. Fasting and almsgiving allow us to offer a sacrifice to God and increase our dependence on Him, filling our time, mind, and soul by growing, strengthening, and renewing our relationship with God.
Just starting out on your prayer journey? Not sure how to pray or what to pray? Here are some prayer recommendations from the USCCB.
Almsgiving
Almsgiving is seen not just as charity, but as an essential expression of love for God through serving one’s neighbor. See below for ways your family can give alms this Lent.
- Donations: Contributing to CRS Rice Bowl, local food pantries, or church collections.
- Acts of Service: Volunteering time, helping a neighbor, or visiting the sick or elderly.
- Kindness: Offering patience, listening to others, or forgiving someone.
LANE Free Lenten Resources
The Lakeshore Academy for the New Evangelization (LANE) is a ministry of Our Lady of the Lake, and offers many free Lenten resources for you and your family.
The Pascal Mystery
Dying, Jesus destroyed our death; rising, he restored our life. This is the Paschal Mystery—Christ’s Passover from death to life. We enter into this central mystery of the Christian faith through Baptism and continue to experience it in the other Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation.
Our sacramental participation in the Paschal Mystery is renewed each year during the Church’s holiest seasons: Lent, the Triduum, and Easter Time. During Lent our catechumens and candidates prepare to receive the Sacraments. Alongside them, all the faithful pray, fast, and give alms as we prepare to recall our Baptism. Then, during the Triduum and Easter Time, we participate in Jesus’ Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, and his sending of the Holy Spirit. With our Lord, we pass from death to life.
A Daily Heart-to-Heart with Jesus
This Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, have a daily heart-to-heart with Jesus and come to know his love and mercy. Experience these seasons particularly with a special devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Return To The Lord
“Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.” — Joel 2:12-13
Baptism united us with the LORD, but we all wander away from him throughout our lives. This Lent, the Church is calling us to return to the LORD by recalling three important truths about ourselves and God:
- Remember You Are Dust: Recall your sinfulness, mortality, and need for God’s mercy by repenting and recommitting to prayer, fasting, and the works of mercy.
- Remember Your Baptism: Recall how Jesus saved you from sin, death, and the power of the devil by contemplating the grace of baptism at work in your life.
- Remember Christ’s Sacrifice: Recall how Jesus suffered and died out of love for you as you prepare for Holy Week and the Easter season.
Together, let us return to the LORD with our whole hearts, confident in his mercy and kindness.