From Catholic bishops in Italy to students attending traditional Christian universities in the United States, adherents of professing Christianity are encouraging followers of Lent to abstain from using high-tech devices—MP3 players, accessing the Internet, text messaging, and even social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.

The annual 40-day Lenten season—which this year began on “Ash Wednesday,” Feb. 25, the day after Mardi Gras’ “Fat Tuesday,” and ends Easter, April 12—traditionally involves no-meat Fridays (eating fish instead of red meats). Traditional forms of abstinence during Lent vary from church to church.

The Associated Press states, “The Turin diocese is suggesting the faithful not watch television during Lent. In the northeastern city of Trento [Italy], the church has created a ‘new lifestyles’ calendar with proposals for each week of Lent.”

To learn more about this long-held religious practice and its origin, read our article “The True Meaning of Lent.”