Ash Wednesday & Valentines Day Fall On Same Day

Feb. 14 is a holiday heavyweight this year due to a calendar collision. It’s Valentine’s Day, the fixed annual celebration of love and friendship, marked by cute couples, eager elementary school students — and critics who deride its commercialization. But it also happens to be Ash Wednesday, the solemn day of fasting and reflection that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season. Ash Wednesday is not a fixed date. Its timing is tied to Easter Sunday, and for most Christians, Easter will fall on March 31 this year. Easter also moves annually, swinging between March 22 and April 25 based on a calendar calculation involving the moon.