Q. 1. What is the meaning of Quinquagesima Sunday?

A. 1. Quinquagesima is one of the names used in the Western Church for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It is also called Quinquagesima Sunday, Quinquagesimae, Estomihi, Shrove Sunday, or the Sunday next before Lent.

The name Quinquagesima originates from Latin quinquagesimus (fiftieth). This is in reference to the fifty days before Easter Day using inclusive counting which counts both Sundays (normal counting would count only one of these). Since the forty days of the Lent do not include Sundays, the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, succeeds Quinquagesima Sunday by only three days.

In the Pre-Vatican era, Quinquagesima Sunday was known as the Sunday when many Christians were beginning their Fast, fifty days before Easter.