Lent one of the two most important periods in the Christian year, defined in the NSOED as ‘The period of 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Eve, devoted to fasting and penitence in commemoration of Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness.’ As such, it constitutes one of the major instances of fasting (or abstinence) in the world. Details vary between the various Christian churches, but the following list of special pre-Lenten and Lenten days which have traditionally been observed in England may be taken as typical.
