If you think Lent is really early this year you are correct. Easter this year is nearly as early as it can be, as you probably know Easter is celebrated on the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, or the Paschal moon. Lent begins forty days before Easter. I was reading these interestesting facts about the date of Easter at Wikipedia:
In the Western Church, Easter has not fallen on the earliest of the 35 possible dates, March 22, since 1818, and will not do so again until 2285. It will, however, fall on March 23 in 2008, but will not do so again until 2160. Easter last fell on the latest possible date, April 25, in 1943 and will next fall on that date in 2038. However, it will fall on April 24, just one day before this latest possible date, in 2011.
The cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years, with April 19 being the most common date, happening 220,400 times, or 3.9% compared to a mean for all dates of 162,857 times, or 2.9%.
So, yes this is really early for Lent to start.
Simply Catholic 
