The Diocese of Venice is urging Catholics to take the requirements of Lent to heart so they can renew their hope this Easter.

“Lent is a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving as we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery of our Faith,” Venice Bishop Frank Dewane said in a tweet. “These three practices, approached seriously and in a spirit of penance, will ready us for the renewal of baptism at Easter.”

Lent is a time of preparation to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. During this time, Catholics participate in the practice of self-sacrifice by giving up something they enjoy such as a favorite food, sugar, coffee, television, social media, gaming, alcohol or other luxuries, USA Today explained. Lent is intended to be a period of spiritual reflection and devotion.

Ash Wednesday, which was Feb. 22 this year, ushers in the Lenten season. The date of Ash Wednesday changes every year, falling 46 days before Easter Sunday.

The observance of Ash Wednesday has its roots in the traditional Jewish custom of fasting and repentance, Catholic Online said. Catholics are the group most often associated with Ash Wednesday, though other Christians mark the day, too. In the Catholic Church, an Ash Wednesday Mass includes a ritual where the sign of the cross is applied to a person’s forehead. The marking comes from ash, made from blessed palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday, and represents humanity's origin from dust.

While administering the ash, the priest usually recites "Remember that you are dust, and to dust, you shall return" or "Repent and believe in the Gospel,” Catholic Online added.

This year, Lent continues through April 6, or Holy Thursday. Lent is observed for 46 days, a period that includes 40 days of fasting and six Sundays where fasting is not a requirement. Meat is not supposed to be consumed on Fridays during Lent, though exceptions to the fasting rules are usually made for children and elderly individuals, USA Today said.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said Pope Francis urged the faithful to "rediscover the joy, not of accumulating material goods, but of caring for those who are poor and afflicted"; to put God at the center of one's life and pray and dialogue with him from the heart; and to become free "from the dictatorship of full schedules, crowded agendas and superficial needs, and choose the things that truly matter." during Lent this year.