Lenten Calendar: 40 Days of Lent in 40 Great Paintings
A Lenten calendar gives each of the forty days of Lent something to hold on to. This one gives each of them a great painting. From Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday, every day has a masterpiece, a short verse of Scripture and one small thing to do: a prayer, a fast, a gift. In 2027, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10, and Easter falls on March 28.
The calendar follows the Gospel read at Mass each day, so you walk through Lent with the whole Church: the call of Matthew, the Lord’s Prayer, the Prodigal Son, the woman at the well, Lazarus, the Last Supper, the Cross. Below are all forty-six days, the Sundays included, and a free printable version of the same calendar.
✦ The Lenten Calendar as a Free Printable
All forty-six days below are also a calendar you can print at home: nine illuminated pages, one page for each week of Lent, with the painting, the verse and the thing to do for each day, and a small circle to fill in each evening. It has no dates, so you can print it again every year. It is free, and there is nothing to fill in.
Download for US LetterDownload for A4
PDF, nine pages, ready to print.
How to Use This Lenten Calendar
Every morning, look at the painting of the day for a minute without hurrying, read the verse beneath it, and take the last line with you as the one thing to do that day. In the evening, fill in the small circle on the printed page if it is done. If you miss a day, simply pick up at the right page: the calendar is a companion, not an exam.
The three traditional practices of Lent run through the forty days. Prayer: a quiet time each day, the Our Father said slowly, the Scriptures read with a pencil. Fasting: one thing given up, and the time it frees given back to God. Almsgiving: a coat, a meal, a call, a kindness to the least.
Each day follows the Gospel read at Mass that day. The weekday readings of Lent are the same every year, so the printable calendar carries no dates and can be used again next year. On four days the Gospel has no great painting, and the picture comes from the first reading instead: Joseph sold by his brothers, the bronze serpent, the fiery furnace and the prophet Jeremiah. With families, read the verse aloud and let the children say what they see in the picture before you explain anything.
Lent 2027: The Key Dates
| Day | Date in 2027 | In this calendar |
|---|---|---|
| Ash Wednesday | Wednesday, February 10 | Day 1, Pray in Secret |
| First Sunday of Lent | February 14 | Into the Wilderness |
| Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday) | March 7 | The Man Born Blind |
| Saint Joseph | Friday, March 19 | Day 33 |
| Palm Sunday | March 21 | Hosanna |
| Holy Thursday | March 25 | Day 38, The Washing of the Feet |
| Good Friday | March 26 | Day 39, It Is Finished |
| Holy Saturday | March 27 | Day 40, The Tomb |
| Easter Sunday | March 28 | The end of the calendar |
In 2027, March 25 falls on Holy Thursday, so the feast of the Annunciation is moved to Monday, April 5. To prepare for the feast of Saint Joseph, pray our St. Joseph novena from March 10 to 18. On Good Friday begins the Divine Mercy Novena, which ends on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday, April 4.
Ash Wednesday and the Days After
Day 1 · Ash Wednesday: Pray in Secret
When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.
Matthew 6:6
The painting: El Greco, Saint Dominic in Prayer (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).
Today: Choose one quiet place and one fixed time for prayer, and keep them for the forty days.
Day 2 · Thursday: Take Up Your Cross
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23
The painting: El Greco, Christ Carrying the Cross (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Name the cross you already carry, and carry it today without complaint.
Day 3 · Friday: Then Shall They Fast
The days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.
Matthew 9:15
The painting: El Greco, The Penitent Magdalene (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest).
Today: Fast from one thing you reach for without thinking, and give that time to God.
Day 4 · Saturday: The Call of Levi
And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
Luke 5:28
The painting: Caravaggio, The Calling of Saint Matthew (San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Christ called a man counting his money. Ask what he is calling you to leave on the table.
The First Week of Lent
First Sunday of Lent: Into the Wilderness
And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days.
Mark 1:12-13
The painting: Ivan Kramskoy, Christ in the Wilderness (State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).
Today: Sundays are not counted in the forty. Rest, and sit a while with Christ in his silence.
Day 5 · Monday: Unto the Least of These
Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Matthew 25:40
The painting: Michelangelo, The Last Judgment (Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums).
Today: Do one hidden kindness for someone who cannot repay you.
Day 6 · Tuesday: The Lord’s Prayer
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9
The painting: Fra Angelico, The Sermon on the Mount (Museum of San Marco, Florence). Read more: more Sermon on the Mount paintings.
Today: Pray the Our Father slowly, one line at a time, as if for the first time.
Day 7 · Wednesday: The Sign of Jonah
For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
Luke 11:30
The painting: Pieter Lastman, Jonah and the Whale (Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf).
Today: Nineveh turned back at one word. Name one habit you will turn from this week.
Day 8 · Thursday: Knock, and It Shall Be Opened
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Matthew 7:7
The painting: William Holman Hunt, The Light of the World (Keble College Chapel, Oxford). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Ask God today, plainly, for the one thing you need most.
Day 9 · Friday: First Be Reconciled
First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Matthew 5:24
The painting: After Rubens, The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Today: Take the first step toward someone you are estranged from: a call, a letter, a prayer.
Day 10 · Saturday: Love Your Enemies
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
Matthew 5:44
The painting: Vincent van Gogh, The Good Samaritan (Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo).
Today: Pray by name for someone who has hurt you.
The Second Week of Lent
Second Sunday of Lent: The Transfiguration
And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow.
Mark 9:3
The painting: Raphael, The Transfiguration (Vatican Pinacoteca). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Remember one moment when God’s light broke through in your life, and give thanks for it.
Day 11 · Monday: Give, and It Shall Be Given
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over.
Luke 6:38
The painting: El Greco, Saint Martin and the Beggar (National Gallery of Art, Washington).
Today: Give something warm today: a coat, a meal, an hour of your time.
Day 12 · Tuesday: He That Humbleth Himself
Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:12
The painting: Sandro Botticelli, The Madonna of the Magnificat (Uffizi Gallery, Florence).
Today: Let someone else have the last word, and the better seat.
Day 13 · Wednesday: The Cup
Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of?
Matthew 20:22
The painting: Carl Bloch, Christ in Gethsemane (Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød).
Today: Offer God the hardest hour of your day, as Christ offered his cup.
Day 14 · Thursday: The Rich Man and Lazarus
There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores.
Luke 16:20
The painting: Bonifazio de’ Pitati, Dives and Lazarus (Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice).
Today: Notice who is at your gate: the person you usually walk past.
Day 15 · Friday: Joseph Sold by His Brothers
And sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver.
Genesis 37:28
The painting: Friedrich Overbeck, The Selling of Joseph (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin).
Today: Joseph forgave the brothers who sold him. Forgive one old wrong today.
Day 16 · Saturday: The Prodigal Son
But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran.
Luke 15:20
The painting: Rembrandt, The Return of the Prodigal Son (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Go to confession this Lent, and let the Father run to meet you.
The Third Week of Lent
Third Sunday of Lent: The Woman at the Well
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
John 4:14
The painting: Annibale Carracci, Christ and the Samaritan Woman (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest).
Today: Tell Christ the truth about your life, as she did, and listen for his answer.
Day 17 · Monday: No Prophet in His Own Country
Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
Luke 4:24
The painting: John Everett Millais, Christ in the House of His Parents (Tate Britain, London).
Today: Look again, with fresh eyes, at someone you think you know too well.
Day 18 · Tuesday: Seventy Times Seven
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Matthew 18:21
The painting: Pietro Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys (Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums).
Today: Peter asked how often to forgive. Forgive once more than you think you can.
Day 19 · Wednesday: Not to Destroy, but to Fulfil
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Matthew 5:17
The painting: Rembrandt, Moses with the Ten Commandments (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Read more: Moses in ten paintings.
Today: Read the Ten Commandments slowly tonight, and examine your conscience.
Day 20 · Thursday: The Finger of God
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Luke 11:20
The painting: James Tissot, The Possessed Man in the Synagogue (Brooklyn Museum, New York).
Today: Ask Christ to drive out the one fear that keeps you from him.
Day 21 · Friday: The First Commandment
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.
Mark 12:30
The painting: Heinrich Hofmann, Christ and the Rich Young Ruler (The Riverside Church, New York).
Today: Give God the first minutes of your morning, and your neighbour your next kind word.
Day 22 · Saturday: The Pharisee and the Publican
God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luke 18:13
The painting: James Tissot, The Pharisee and the Publican (Brooklyn Museum, New York).
Today: Make the publican’s prayer your own, again and again through the day.
The Fourth Week of Lent
Fourth Sunday of Lent: The Man Born Blind
One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.
John 9:25
The painting: El Greco, Christ Healing the Blind (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York).
Today: Laetare Sunday: the halfway mark. Rejoice, and ask Christ to open your eyes.
Day 23 · Monday: Thy Son Liveth
Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word.
John 4:50
The painting: James Tissot, The Healing of the Officer’s Son (Brooklyn Museum, New York).
Today: Pray for a sick child or a worried parent, and trust the word as he did.
Day 24 · Tuesday: The Pool of Bethesda
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
John 5:8
The painting: Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Christ Healing the Paralytic (National Gallery, London).
Today: Visit or call someone who is ill or alone.
Day 25 · Wednesday: The Dead Shall Hear His Voice
The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice.
John 5:28
The painting: Fra Angelico, The Last Judgment (Museum of San Marco, Florence).
Today: Pray for your dead by name, and for the souls no one remembers.
Day 26 · Thursday: Search the Scriptures
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
John 5:39
The painting: Rembrandt, Old Woman Reading (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Today: Read one chapter of a Gospel today, slowly, with a pencil in hand.
Day 27 · Friday: Teaching in the Temple
How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
John 7:15
The painting: Albrecht Durer, Christ among the Doctors (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid).
Today: Learn one thing about your faith that you could not yet explain to a child.
Day 28 · Saturday: Nicodemus
Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
John 7:51
The painting: Henry Ossawa Tanner, Nicodemus Visiting Jesus (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia).
Today: Nicodemus came by night and spoke up by day. Speak up for someone who is not there.
The Fifth Week of Lent
Fifth Sunday of Lent: Lazarus, Come Forth
I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
John 11:25
The painting: Duccio, The Raising of Lazarus (Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth). Read more: Rembrandt’s Raising of Lazarus.
Today: Bring to Christ what seems dead in you, and wait for his voice.
Day 29 · Monday: Go, and Sin No More
He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:7
The painting: Guercino, Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London).
Today: Put down the stone: say nothing unkind about anyone today.
Day 30 · Tuesday: The Brazen Serpent
When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he.
John 8:28
The painting: Peter Paul Rubens, The Brazen Serpent (National Gallery, London).
Today: Look at a crucifix for one long minute, as Israel looked at the serpent and lived.
Day 31 · Wednesday: The Fiery Furnace
Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt.
Daniel 3:25
The painting: Catacomb of Priscilla, The Three Hebrews in the Furnace (Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome).
Today: Ask for the courage to stay faithful where it costs you something.
Day 32 · Thursday: Abraham Saw My Day
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
John 8:56
The painting: Rembrandt, The Sacrifice of Isaac (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg).
Today: Give back to God something you hold too tightly.
Day 33 · Friday: Jeremiah
But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one.
Jeremiah 20:11
The painting: Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam).
Today: Bring God your discouragement honestly, as Jeremiah did.
Day 34 · Saturday: One Man Should Die
It is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people.
John 11:50
The painting: Giotto, Christ before Caiaphas (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua).
Today: Tomorrow Holy Week begins. Decide now which hours you will give to it.
Holy Week
Palm Sunday: Hosanna
Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Mark 11:9
The painting: Peter Paul Rubens, Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon).
Today: Keep your palm from Mass where you will see it all week.
Day 35 · Monday of Holy Week: The Anointing at Bethany
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus.
John 12:3
The painting: Johannes Vermeer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh).
Today: Give Christ something costly this week: your time, your money, or your pride.
Day 36 · Tuesday of Holy Week: One of You Shall Betray Me
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
John 13:21
The painting: Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper (Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Ask with the apostles, Lord, is it I? and answer honestly.
Day 37 · Wednesday of Holy Week: Thirty Pieces of Silver
And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
Matthew 26:15
The painting: Giotto, The Kiss of Judas (Scrovegni Chapel, Padua).
Today: Judas sold him for silver. Name what you would be tempted to trade him for.
Day 38 · Holy Thursday: The Washing of the Feet
If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
John 13:14
The painting: Jacopo Tintoretto, Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet (Museo del Prado, Madrid).
Today: Do one humble service for someone at home, without being asked.
Day 39 · Good Friday: It Is Finished
He said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
John 19:30
The painting: Diego Velazquez, Christ Crucified (Museo del Prado, Madrid). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Keep silence from noon to three, and venerate the Cross. You can also pray the Stations of the Cross, with Tiepolo’s fourteen paintings.
Day 40 · Holy Saturday: The Tomb
And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre.
Mark 15:46
The painting: Caravaggio, The Entombment (Vatican Pinacoteca). Read more: the painting and its story.
Today: Wait in the silence with Mary. Tonight the Easter candle is lit.
✦ Free Easter Coloring Pages
Carry Lent through to Easter at home. Twenty great paintings of Holy Week, from Giotto’s Palm Sunday to Caravaggio’s Supper at Emmaus, are now free coloring pages, each with the real painting and a short story for children, and all twenty are gathered in a free printable booklet.
About the Paintings and the Sundays
The forty-six paintings run from the catacombs of Rome to Vincent van Gogh, by way of Giotto, Fra Angelico, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Caravaggio, El Greco, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Velazquez. Twenty-one of them are available as canvas reproductions in our shop, each shown beside its day above.
The Sunday Gospels change from year to year. The first and second Sundays always bring the Temptation in the wilderness and the Transfiguration, and Palm Sunday the entry into Jerusalem. For the third, fourth and fifth Sundays, this calendar uses the Gospels of Year A, the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and the raising of Lazarus, which the Church allows to be read in any year and which are read wherever adults are preparing for baptism at Easter. In 2027, the Year B Gospels heard at most Masses on those Sundays are Christ driving the money changers from the Temple, his words to Nicodemus, and the grain of wheat that falls into the ground.
If you are looking for more prayers for these weeks, the Our Lady of Lourdes novena runs from February 2 and, in 2027, ends on Ash Wednesday itself. For a single painting to pray with all Lent, our guide to the life of Christ in twenty paintings is a good place to start.
✦ Free Christian & Catholic Printables
Love this one? Find it, and our complete collection of illuminated prayer cards, novenas and Scripture printables, ready to print, free, in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Lent start in 2027?
Lent 2027 begins on Ash Wednesday, February 10. Easter Sunday falls on March 28, so Holy Week runs from Palm Sunday, March 21, to Holy Saturday, March 27.
Why are there forty days in Lent?
The forty days recall the forty days Christ fasted in the wilderness before his public ministry, which themselves echo the forty days of Moses on Sinai, the forty days of Elijah’s journey to Horeb and the forty years of Israel in the desert.
Are Sundays counted in the forty days of Lent?
No. From Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday there are forty-six days, but the six Sundays are not counted, because every Sunday is a little Easter. That leaves forty days of fasting. The Sundays still belong to the season of Lent, and this calendar gives each of them its own painting.
What is a Lenten calendar?
A Lenten calendar gives each day of Lent a small focus, so that the forty days are lived one at a time: a verse, a prayer, a good deed or a sacrifice. This one gives each day a great painting, the verse of the Gospel read at Mass that day, and one small thing to do.
Is there a free printable Lenten calendar?
Yes. jesuschrist.pictures offers a free Lenten calendar of nine illuminated pages, in US Letter and A4, with a painting, a verse and one thing to do for each of the forty-six days from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday. It carries no dates, so it can be printed again every year. The download links are at the top of this page.
Can you buy the paintings of this Lenten calendar?
Twenty-one of the paintings in this calendar are available at jesuschrist.pictures as canvas reproductions, among them Kramskoy’s Christ in the Wilderness, Raphael’s Transfiguration, Leonardo’s Last Supper, Velazquez’s Christ Crucified and Caravaggio’s Entombment. Each one is shown beside its day above.
