The Calendar
What the atlas records for this date, across the traditions it covers.
Observed On This Date
Penitential season
From Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday, the week before Easter
Day 1 of 7
Procession
The Sunday before Easter, opening Holy Week
Already Underway
Fast / abstinence
The forty days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, Sundays not counted
Day 40 of 46
Forty days, counted excluding Sundays, which is why the span is forty-six.
This Week In Space and Astronomy History
Dates for the Hebrew and Islamic calendars are the tabular reckoning, which is what a printed calendar prints. Communities that begin a month on a sighted crescent may differ by a day, and differ from one another by place.