Today, the Church commences the Lenten season, which is a forty-day penitential time from Ash Wednesday till Easter Sunday. The Catholic Church today celebrates a special rite, known as the blessing of ashes, which are sprinkled upon the heads of the faithful as a reminder of penance. During these days Fasting or abstaining from certain foods or bodily comforts for 40 days commemorates Jesus Christ’s 40-day fast in the wilderness.

In Valletta the meditation of the cross will commence as last year every Friday evening, whereas at the Rabat Franciscan Church a meditation of the last seven words of Jesus will began before the evening Mass every Friday, to prepare the people for Good Friday.