What happens when Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day overlap?

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Wednesday, February 7, 2018
What happens when Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day overlap?
Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, coincides with Valentine's Day this year.

Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, coincides with Valentine's Day this year.

Practicing Catholics should plan to skip any romantic steak dinners that day, according to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston put out an announcement on Facebook after being asked about the rare coincidence of the holidays.

Catholics are supposed to abstain from eating meat every year on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all Fridays during Lent.

Ash Wednesday occurs the same week as the Lunar New Year holiday and Valentine's Day, but archdiocese says due to the importance of Ash Wednesday, they will not grant dispensations from fasting or abstaining from meat on Feb. 14.

The date of Easter, and therefore the date of Ash Wednesday, is determined by the date of the spring equinox. This year, spring starts on March 21. Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon after the equinox.