Photograph: Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty ImagesIt is Lent, Ramadan, the Chinese Year of the Horse. Very unusually, Lent and Ramadan both have their first full day today. Ramadan, officially, began at sundown last evening, as confirmed by moon spotters in Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca. This official start of Ramadan is determined by sightings of the waning crescent moon, which shifts annually. These symbolic animals represent restraint and painstaking calculations ... such as go with finding out when Lent, Ramadan and even the Chinese new year begin.

Source: The Irish Times February 18, 2026 17:30 UTC