Lent, Holy Week and Easter 2025

York Minster will raise the Lent Cross on Shrove Tuesday marking the start of the Lent and Holy Week through to Easter in our Cathedrals

BBC 3’s Choral Evensong for Ash Wednesday will come from Truro Cathedral, there will be ashes to go outside Winchester Cathedral, a centering prayer day in Liverpool and this year Lent in Leicester Cathedral will focus on an installations of Stations of the Cross  by artist Mark Cazalet, painted on breadboards and everyday kitchen surfaces and accompanied by poems and questions for reflection from Richard Leaf considering how themes such as injustice, reconciliation and the cross may relate to faith and discipleship in today’s world.

Elsewhere there will be lectures, study days, exhibitions, J S Bach’s St John Passion, donkeys leading the way on Palm Sunday – all our cathedrals have rich programmes for Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

Do check with your local cathedral to find out how you can be part of Jesus’ journey to the cross and beyond.

Journeying in Jesus’ footsteps: Lent, Holy Week and Easter in our Cathedrals

The Lent Cross, the central symbol of the Christian Faith, will be suspended from York Minster’s Central Tower on Shrove Tuesday and will remain in place until The Day of Pentecost. The six metres tall installation is constructed from wooden scaffolding boards in the Minster’s workshop.

The Very Reverend Dominic Barrington, Dean of York, said:

“The journey through Lent and Holy Week to Easter is tumultuous. We follow Jesus through periods of fear, betrayal, persecution and death, but also through friendship, hope, trust and glorious resurrection. At York Minster, we follow this journey from beneath the great cross that hangs in the cathedral’s nave. At a time when we live with so much uncertainty in our lives, the cross reminds us of the certain promise of God’s enduring and undying love for the world.”

Key events and services in the Minster can be found here.

Winchester Cathedral will be offering ashes to go in the cathedral precincts and inviting people to experience Lent, Holy Week and Easter with them through the three themes of healing, humanity and holiness.

All principal services will be streamed online.

Durham Cathedral has announced an impressive line-up of speakers for a series of Lent Talks to help people go deeper in prayer.  Entitled Learning and Living the Prayers of the Church, the talks will be taking place every Sunday afternoon during Lent, starting on 9 March at 4.30pm.

The Dean of Durham, Philip Plyming, who will be giving the last talk in the series, said:

“Lent is traditionally a time when Christians prepare to celebrate Easter by giving special attention to our own growth in faith.  Prayer is a crucial way in which we are invited to go deeper in our relationship with God, and it is also a great way-in for those who are exploring faith for the first time.”

Each talk will be a different personal reflection and speakers from a range of traditions will introduce a special prayer which has helped them pray over the years. The talks will be accessible to those exploring faith as well as those who are more experienced in prayer, and will include a short time of prayer using the text of the prayer itself

Speakers include the Bishop of Jarrow, Sarah Clark and HM Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, Sue Snowdon.

For more information click here.

Guildford Cathedral is offering people the opportunity to walk with Jesus on the Via Dolorosa by praying the Stations of The Cross every Sunday after Evensong.

The Dean of Guildford, the Very Revd Bob Cooper, said:

“This simple service which has been a part of the Church’s liturgy for over 900 years, is loaded with meaning and is a beautiful way to focus our devotions during Lent.

“We encourage people to come to our beautiful service of Evensong before the Stations of the Cross though everyone is welcome to come just to the Stations at 7.00pm.”

The preacher for Holy Week in Guildford is Fr George Guiver of the Community of the Resurrection who will take as his theme the Seven Last Sayings of Jesus.

Salisbury Cathedral will see the return of the Easter Garden by Hampshire-based and award-winning horticultural designer Andy McIndoe. The Mediterranean plants evoke the landscape and story of Jesus, with the sealed tomb reminding us of his death, before the stone is rolled aside and the tomb opened on Easter Day revealing Jesus’ defeat of death.

Salisbury’s Lent Talks course returns this year, with the theme The Beauty of Holiness: Praying the Psalms with each talk ending with an opportunity for discussion and Compline, sung by a range of different choirs.

There will be many opportunities for prayers and reflection during Holy Week. Special services include the processional service of the Eucharist on Palm Sunday, the dramatic and evocative Sarum Tenebrae: Service of Shadows on Monday 14 April, (a form of worship developed at Old Sarum) and sees the service lit with candles that are gradually extinguished, finishing in total darkness with a ‘thunderclap’ sound symbolizing the earthquake that followed Jesus’ death.

Other highlights include the Young People’s Station of the Cross on Wednesday 16 April, which will have readings, interpretations and reflection on Jesus’ crucifixion and burial by young people.

The Revd Anna Macham, Canon Precentor, said:

“The events of Holy Week and Easter are a turning point in our faith and a turning point in human history. In this most important week of the Christian year, the Church invites us to take part in them ourselves, and to be changed by the experience. With special events, services and activities for children and adults both in Holy Week and in the weeks leading up to it, there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to get involved. We warmly welcome you to join us.”

Salisbury Photos credit – Finnbarr Webster

Bradford Cathedral has organised a Lent Retreat and services to mark the World Day of Prayer and you can find details here.

Liverpool Cathedral is hosting a special Shrove Tuesday gathering, organised by The Friends. It features pancakes and drinks, followed by an inspiring talk, ‘Wrapped in Prayers’, led by the Prayer Shawl Team that will explore and reflect on the meaning and significance of prayer shawls in faith and community.

There’s a centering day of prayer for people to explore the practice of praying in silence within the Christian tradition and the Lent Course is entitled ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ and draws from Pope Francis who has called 2025 a ‘Year of Jubilee’ – and is an opportunity to re-engage with what the Bible has to say about ‘Jubilee’, with its strong themes of justice and liberty.

The Lent Course takes place on Wednesday evenings, on Zoom and will begin on Ash Wednesday.

Choral Evensong will be recorded by BBC Radio 3 with Truro Cathedral’s celebrated choir on Shrove Tuesday to be broadcast on Ash Wednesday. The choir will also be performing Allegri’s iconic ‘Miserere.’ This special program showcases four centuries of emotionally rich and intense music, including works by Brahms, Byrd, Gibbons and will take place on March 15. And on March 23, A Concert For Lent will feature haunting devotional music including ‘Stabat Mater’ (Rosano), ‘A cantata for Peace’ (Moore), Lords Prayer (Pärt) & Filiae Maestae Jerusalem (Vivaldi) sung by Counter-Tenor, Colin Wilson accompanied by Strings led by Phil Montgomery-Smith.

Truro Cathedral Choir has appeared on BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, and ITV, as well as taking part in regular live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. In May 2023, Truro’s were among the first girl choristers in history to sing at a British coronation, performing alongside other world-class musicians for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Westminster Abbey.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral is exploring the limits of forgiveness with its Lent Course this year.

Inspired by the book by Reverend Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean of Kings College Cambridge, it will be introduced at the Eucharist and Ashing service on Ash Wednesday.

This series of talks, events and addresses are available online with different speakers each week including The Rev’d Richard Sewell, Dean of St George’s Cathedral Jerusalem, who asks if the Holy Land can ever heal after the catastrophic events in Israel, Gaza, and Lebanon. Author and priest the Rev’d Jarel Robinson-Brown, from Llandaff, explores the extent to which we are enslaved by our past and asks can Black people ever forgive those who enslaved their ancestors, can reparations ever be effective?

St Edmundsbury Lent exhibition, The F Word: Stories of Forgiveness, is a thought-provoking collection of arresting images and personal narratives exploring restorative justice and forgiveness in the face of atrocity. It runs from Friday 28 March to Sunday 13 April.

The Lent Course in Chichester Cathedral explores key themes from the Nicene Creed as the Cathedral marks the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

The Chapel of St Clement in the cathedral will once more contain special displays of Easter Lilies in memory of those who have died and people are invited to sit, pray and remember those who they love. The names of those who are being commemorated will be displayed in the Chapel. Find out how you can include your loved one in this special display and more.