Which liturgical period includes the last two weeks of Lent and is especially solemn?

• A. Holy Week
• B. Passiontide
• C. Advent
• D. Easter

Answer: (B)

Passiontide marks the solemn stretch at the end of Lent, when the Church focuses especially on Jesus’s suffering and death. It covers the last two weeks of Lent, a time of intensified penance, subdued worship, and liturgical readings that emphasize the Passion narratives. This period leads into Holy Week, which then culminates in Easter, but Passiontide is the specific two-week span characterized by heightened solemnity before Easter. Advent is a season of preparation before Christmas, and Easter is the celebration of the Resurrection, while Holy Week is the final days of Lent and the beginning of Easter. The two-week, particularly solemn interval described here is Passiontide.