This is the most challenging and exciting time in the Christian year. This year we journey through it under the theme Crossing the Divide. The season invites us to name the fractures in our world and in our lives, and to seek healing, understanding, and peace — sometimes through unity, and sometimes through the grace of learning how to disagree respectfully.
Lent, Holy Week and Easter 2026
DATE & TIME
18th February - 5th April 2026Location
Winchester CathedralPrice
Worship and prayer at Winchester Cathedral is always free of charge
All principal services will be streamed online so that you can join us from anywhere in the world.
You are warmly invited to travel through Holy Week and Easter with Winchester Cathedral following in the steps of Christ, who crossed the divide between death and new life, reconciling a divided humanity. Please join us to reflect on what Christ’s resurrection means for a world in sore need of hope and unity.The Reverend Canon Dr Roland Riem, Interim Dean of Winchester Cathedral
Key dates
Wednesday 18th February - Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent in the lead up to Easter, with services of music and readings.
On Ash Wednesday we remember that we are simply human, we all make mistakes and we can ask for forgiveness. We can let go of resentment and fear and grow into new life and new love.
This will be a Ministry Day in the cathedral for the Cathedral clergy who will be engaged in prayer, worship, ‘Ashes to Go’ and cleaning, all day.
12.00pm – Holy Eucharist with imposition of ashes followed by organ meditation
5.30pm – Solemn Eucharist with imposition of ashes
Thursday 19th February
7.00pm – Is Reconciliation Possible in a Post Christian society? A talk by Professor James Walters. This event will take place in the Wessex Learning Centre. You can book your free ticket here.
Wednesday 25th February
8.00pm – Compline sung by members of the Hampshire County Youth Choir.
What is Compline?
Compline takes its name from the Latin completorium, meaning “completion.” Often referred to as Night Prayer, it is a quiet, reflective service traditionally offered at the close of the day.
An ancient tradition
The practice of saying or singing Compline dates back at least to the 6th century, and may be even older. In the early Church, prayer structured the day and was observed seven times daily. The Rule of Saint Benedict later established Compline as a final prayer period before rest, bringing the total number of daily monastic prayer hours to eight.
Wednesday 4th March
8.00pm – Compline
What is Compline?
Compline takes its name from the Latin completorium, meaning “completion.” Often referred to as Night Prayer, it is a quiet, reflective service traditionally offered at the close of the day.
An ancient tradition
The practice of saying or singing Compline dates back at least to the 6th century, and may be even older. In the early Church, prayer structured the day and was observed seven times daily. The Rule of Saint Benedict later established Compline as a final prayer period before rest, bringing the total number of daily monastic prayer hours to eight.
Wednesday 11th March
8.00pm – Compline
What is Compline?
Compline takes its name from the Latin completorium, meaning “completion.” Often referred to as Night Prayer, it is a quiet, reflective service traditionally offered at the close of the day.
An ancient tradition
The practice of saying or singing Compline dates back at least to the 6th century, and may be even older. In the early Church, prayer structured the day and was observed seven times daily. The Rule of Saint Benedict later established Compline as a final prayer period before rest, bringing the total number of daily monastic prayer hours to eight.
Wednesday 18th March
8.00pm – Compline
What is Compline?
Compline takes its name from the Latin completorium, meaning “completion.” Often referred to as Night Prayer, it is a quiet, reflective service traditionally offered at the close of the day.
An ancient tradition
The practice of saying or singing Compline dates back at least to the 6th century, and may be even older. In the early Church, prayer structured the day and was observed seven times daily. The Rule of Saint Benedict later established Compline as a final prayer period before rest, bringing the total number of daily monastic prayer hours to eight.
Wednesday 25th March
8.00pm – Compline sung by Index Cantorum
What is Compline?
Compline takes its name from the Latin completorium, meaning “completion.” Often referred to as Night Prayer, it is a quiet, reflective service traditionally offered at the close of the day.
An ancient tradition
The practice of saying or singing Compline dates back at least to the 6th century, and may be even older. In the early Church, prayer structured the day and was observed seven times daily. The Rule of Saint Benedict later established Compline as a final prayer period before rest, bringing the total number of daily monastic prayer hours to eight.
Saturday 28th March - Palm Saturday
5.30pm – Passiontide Concert sung by the Winchester Cathedral Chamber Choir
Sunday 29th March - Palm Sunday
To mark the beginning of Holy Week, a Palm Sunday Procession and Eucharist will take place, departing from Winchester Castle, outside the Great Hall to Winchester Cathedral, accompanied by Dermot the donkey, palms and hymns.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, who was welcomed by the people waving palm branches.
8.00am – Said Holy Communion
10.10am – Procession from The Great Hall
10.30am – Sung Eucharist
3.30pm – Choral Evensong
Monday of Holy Week (30th March)
Holy Monday in the Church of England is the second day of Holy Week, following Palm Sunday and preceding Easter. It marks the beginning of the most solemn part of the Christian year, with services often focusing on reflection, prayer, and recounting the events leading to Jesus’ crucifixion, such as the cleansing of the Temple.
7.30pm – The Seven Last Words of Christ with talk by The Bishop of Winchester, Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen – God’s Work of Reconciliation – Ephesians 1: 3-10; 2: 1-10.
Tuesday of Holy Week (31st March)
7.30pm – Tenebrae with talk by The Bishop of Southampton, Rt Revd Rhiannon King – Christ breaks down barriers – Ephesians 2: 11-22.
Wednesday of Holy Week (1st April)
7.30pm – Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’ with talk by The Bishop of Basingstoke, Rt Revd Kelly Betteridge – Reconciliation and the Church’s Calling – Ephesians 3: 1-13.
What is Pergolesi’s ‘Stabat Mater’?
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (1736) is a Baroque musical setting of a 13th-century Latin hymn, widely utilized within Anglican (Church of England) traditions—particularly during Holy Week.
Maundy Thursday (2nd April)
Maundy Thursday takes us into the heart of the city of Jerusalem to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. We are also led to the heart of love, by the Saviour who serves and washes the feet of his friends as they shared their final meal. After supper they go out to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus asks his disciples to stay awake while he prays. Judas, the betrayer, comes with soldiers and Jesus is arrested.
11.00am – Diocesan Chrism Eucharist
7.30pm – Eucharist of the Last Supper – Preacher, Revd Dr Nathan Eddy, Co-Director of the Council of Christians and Jews
More information about Revd Dr Nathan Eddy
Nathan has worked as a university chaplain and as a minister in the United Reformed Church. He recently earned a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Luther King House, accredited by the University of Manchester, and is passionate about Jewish and Christian approaches to the Bible and to how Christians and Jews can work together in Britain today. He lives with his wife Clare, an Anglican vicar, on the Lisson Green estate in West London.
Discover more about the leadership of the Council of Christians and Jews here.

Good Friday (3rd April)
Good Friday is a day in which profound emotion is expressed within quiet and solemn worship. During the Three Hours service we journey with Jesus through the pain and anguish of false trial and condemnation, to carrying his cross through the streets to crucifixion and death.
12.00pm – The Three Hours including the Litany in Procession – Preacher, Revd Dr Nathan Eddy, Co-Director of the Council of Christians and Jews
More information about Revd Dr Nathan Eddy
Nathan has worked as a university chaplain and as a minister in the United Reformed Church. He recently earned a PhD in Hebrew Bible from Luther King House, accredited by the University of Manchester, and is passionate about Jewish and Christian approaches to the Bible and to how Christians and Jews can work together in Britain today. He lives with his wife Clare, an Anglican vicar, on the Lisson Green estate in West London.
Discover more about the leadership of the Council of Christians and Jews here.

Holy Saturday (4th April)
Holy Saturday ends the Lenten season, falling on the day before Easter Sunday. This date is sometimes referred to as ‘Easter Eve’. It is a day for quiet reflection and preparation for the celebration of the resurrection.
7.30pm – Easter Vigil, Service of Light and First Eucharist of Easter
Easter Day (5th April)
On Easter Sunday we celebrate with joy the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the turning point in history. We now live in the light and truth of the resurrection.
8.00am – Said Holy Communion
9.45am – Festal Mattins, sung by
11.00am – Festal Eucharist Boy and Lay Clerks
3.30pm – Festal Evensong
Throughout the events of Holy Week, across time and eternity, Christ reaches to us, with healing, forgiveness and love.
Is Reconciliation Possible in a Post Christian society? A talk by Professor James Walters
Book your free ticket to this upcoming talk where Professor James Walters will examine how ideas of reconciliation, forgiveness, and community might still matter in an increasingly polarised society.
James Walters is the founding director of the Faith Centre at the London School of Economics and a professor in practice in the LSE Department of International Relations. He is the author of several books including Loving Your Neighbour in an Age of Religious Conflict (2019). He is also chaplain to the LSE and an honorary canon of Chichester cathedral.
Prayer requests
Crossing the Divide
This year’s Lent, Holy Week and Easter campaign entitled Crossing the Divide has been brought to you by Winchester Cathedral in collaboration with the Diocese of Winchester.
The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Winchester and is the mother church for the ancient Diocese of Winchester.