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

A. 1. To many Christians, Quadragesima Sunday is known as the First Sunday of Lent. Lent is the Christian period of fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

Quadragesima Sunday or Invocavit Sunday is the Sunday occurring after Ash Wednesday. In Roman Catholic tradition, it is the first Sunday during the holy season of Lent. Like on other Sundays of Lent, it is customary to dispense from the fast on Quadragesima, as Sundays are not counted among the forty days of Lent.

The term Quadragesima is derived from the Latin word for "fortieth", as there are exactly forty days from Quadragesima Sunday until Good Friday. However, like Quinquagesima, Sexagesima and Septuagesima, the numeral is more likely an approximation of how many days there are until Easter Sunday, in this case. While Quadragesima includes both Sundays and weekdays, the beginning of Lent was later changed to the preceding Wednesday, "Ash Wednesday", to get in forty weekdays.

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