Ash Wednesday, this year on February 26, marks the beginning of when Catholics traditionally give up something they're fond of for 40 days as penance. What would you give up?
Wednesday and marks the beginning of the Catholic observance before Easter, known as Lent. During this 40-day period, it’s traditional to give something, you’re fond of, up as penance. A common one is to give up sweet things or often people use Lent as a second chance to come good on their New Year’s resolutions.
In the era of new technology, an online Lent Tracker has been established that gathers information from Twitter. It seems that chocolate, alcohol, social networks, and sweets are the clear winners but some really weird choices made the list such as “you”, “Tony Abbott”, “being a muggle” and more.
Read more: The Irish and Ash Wednesday - Lent, meatless Fridays, hot-crossed buns
For the whole list check out the Lent Tracker here. Here's a list of the top things people tweeted that they were giving up last year during Lent:
- social networking
- alcohol
- chocolate
- lent
- meat
- swearing
- coffee
- soda
- sex
Read more: How did your Irish ancestors traditionally uphold Lent
* Originally published in 2015, updated February 2020.
These all seem like smart options and totally possible for 40 days. What would you give up if you were to undertake Lent? Let us know in the comments section below.
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