Septuagesima

Septuagesima
Illustration of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard for Septuagesima
Liturgical color	Violet
Significance	Preparation for Lent
Date	Third Sunday before Ash Wednesday (63 calendar days before Easter Sunday)
2023 date	February 5
2024 date	January 28
2025 date	February 16
2026 date	February 1
Related to	Pre-Lent

Septuagesima (/ˌsɛptjuəˈdʒɛsɪmə/) is the name for the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. The term is sometimes applied to the seventy days starting on Septuagesima Sunday and ending on the Saturday after Easter. Alternatively, the term is sometimes applied also to the period sometimes called pre-Lent that begins on this day and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

The other two Sundays in this period of the liturgical year are called Sexagesima and Quinquagesima, the latter sometimes also called Shrove Sunday. The earliest date on which Septuagesima Sunday can occur is January 18 (Easter falling on March 22 in a common year) and the latest is February 22 (Easter falling on April 25 in a leap year).