Easter 2026 Date, Lent programs and home practices
The schedule for the season is taking shape: the easter 2026 date appears twice on calendars that matter this year—Catholic communities will mark Easter on April 5, while the Greek Orthodox Church will observe Pascha on April 12—and the fast and programs that lead there begin in February.
Easter 2026 Date and the Greek Orthodox calendar
The countdown to Greek Orthodox Pascha begins on February 23, 2026, with Kathara Deftera (Clean Monday), which also marks the end of Apokries (Carnival) and the dawn of Sarakosti, the Great Lent that prepares the soul and body for Holy Week. The Great Lent is commonly called “The Forty Days, ” but the fast actually spans 48 days when Holy Week is included, and it culminates on Easter Sunday, April 12, when families gather for the traditional roasting of the lamb and the cracking of red-dyed eggs.
How the fast and Holy Week are observed
Clean Monday is celebrated with the flying of kites and the consumption of lagana (unleavened bread) and seafood. During the forty-plus days, the faithful refrain from meat, dairy and fish with specific exceptions, such as Palm Sunday where the strict fast is briefly broken with a traditional fish dinner. Friday evenings in the first five weeks of Lent are set aside for the Virgin Mary through the Akathist Hymn, and April 3 will see the entire Akathist Hymn sung; the resurrection of Lazarus is observed as a “prophecy in action. ”
Holy Week: dates and services
Holy Week becomes the most intense stretch of the ecclesiastical year. Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday focus on the parables of the Ten Virgins and the need for spiritual wakefulness. Holy Wednesday features the Service of the Holy Unction, an anointing for the healing of soul and body. Holy Thursday, on April 9, includes the service of the Twelve Gospels and the placement of the “Crucified One” at the church’s center in a mood of deep mourning. On Holy Friday, April 10, bells toll slowly as the Epitaphios is adorned with flowers and carried through the streets in a funeral-like procession. Holy Saturday, April 11, begins with the “First Resurrection” service in the morning and leads into the midnight Anastasis, when the “Holy Light” is passed from person to person and the cry of “Christos Anesti” rings out across Greece.
When Catholic Lent and public programs begin
In Catholic practice, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 18. A range of Lenten programs is scheduled for 2026: Hallow’s Pray40 program is titled “Pray40: The Return, ” framed around returning to God and engaging with The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Actor Jonathan Roumie will guide listeners through that program; Mark Wahlberg and Chris Pratt are listed as providing fasting challenges; Mother Olga will offer Scripture meditations; Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, will lead imaginative prayer sessions; and Father Mike Schmitz will provide Sunday homilies.
Apps, retreats and home guides for Lent
Father Columba Jordan, CFR, will host a daily Lenten program on the Ascension app called “Crux, ” built on a four-part daily system: daily reading of Scripture, a nightly examen, one form of physical exercise and one dietary fast. Crux can be taken individually, in parishes or in small groups, and a companion journal titled "Crux: A Lenten Journey of Surrender" is available. The Word on Fire Institute will run a seven-week virtual retreat led by Sister Miriam James Heidland titled "Seeking the Inner Room, " which includes reflections on "Gate of Heaven: Reflections on the Mother of God. " Real Life Catholic is promoting a Lenten Phone Fast Challenge that asks participants to pray for the renewal of young Catholics and sends weekly messages from evangelist Chris Stefanick. A religious catalogue lists devotionals such as "Praying with Jesus and Faustina During Lent, " "Lent and Easter: Wisdom From Fulton Sheen, " and "Lenten Journey with Mother Mary. " Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to preside over an Ash Wednesday procession and Mass on February 18 on Rome’s Aventine Hill.
Lent at Home: "Dwelling in Dissonance" and family practices
Talashia Keim Yoder is the writer of the 2026 Lent at Home worship guide titled "Dwelling in Dissonance. " She lives in Goshen, Indiana, with her husband and two children and serves as a pastor at College Mennonite Church in Goshen. Yoder is also the writer for the Advent at Home and Lent at Home guides and is the content provider for buildingfaithfamily. com. Her guide draws on household practices: childhood memories of Ash Wednesday included eating sausage and pancakes before processing upstairs for the service, and families often were encouraged to give something up for Lent. A college friend once gave up a curling iron one year and forks another year to slow down and pay attention. With young children, Yoder’s family tried candle rituals and an Anabaptist Lenten calendar inspired by Traci Smith that offered scripture prompts, activities and conversation starters; the family sometimes missed days but treated the prompts as ideas rather than assignments. When her children were older, a favored fast came when they were 7 and 10: each person used one set of silverware, one plate, one bowl, one cup and one mug for the season (Sundays excepted) and each person washed their dishes to have them ready for the next meal—a practice that helped them grasp “enough. ” I could tell more stories about how Lent reveals something else each year.
The next confirmed milestones are Ash Wednesday on February 18 for those following the Catholic calendar and Clean Monday on February 23 for Greek Orthodox observances, leading forward to Catholic Easter on April 5 and Greek Orthodox Pascha on April 12.
