How is the date determined for Ash Wednesday?

Answer 1

It is 46 days before Easter. The Forty-day period of Lent does not include Sunday.

Although Easter is supposed to be the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, they had a hard time figuring out exactly when those WERE in the Western world in the Middle Ages. So they came up with a 19-year moon cycle, which enabled them to fix the date of Easter through a mathematical algorithm, although it isn't a perfectly accurate reflection of the phases of the moon.

The find the date of Easter on the Western Calendar, add 1 to the year, divide it by 19, and look the remainder up on this table:

Remainder - Date

March

14 - 22 3 - 23 11 - 25 19 - 27 8 - 28 16 - 30 5 - 31

April 13 - 2 2 - 3 10 - 5 18 - 7 7 - 8 15 - 10 4 - 11 12 - 13 1 - 14 9 - 16 17 -17 6 -18

So this year is 2008. Add 1 (making it 2009) and divide by 19.

2009/19= 105 with a remainder of 14. Look up 14 on the table. It corresponds to March 22. Therefore, Easter this year is the Sunday following March 22 - which is March 23. Ash Wednesday is 46 days before that - February 6th

There is also a fully mathematical algorithm without any lookup table that's much more complex to figure out. That's here: http://www.liturgies.net/Easter/TheDateOfEaster.htm

Answer 2

The date for Ash Wednesday is dependent on what date Easter falls on for that year. Since this date changes year to year, and is not fixed such as Christmas is, it is titled as a 'moveable feast.'

Ash Wednesday occurs 46 days before Easter. Because of this, Ash Wednesday can occur as early as February 4, or as late as March 10.

Bear in mind that this is 46 calendar days. The period of Lent is traditionally considered to be 40 days. The 6-day difference between Lent and the traditional calendar is that Sundays are not counted during Lent.