What is Quinquagesima Sunday?

According to the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia, it marks the start of the 50 days before Easter, starting the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Quinquagesima means “fiftieth” in Latin. The holy day was part of a pre-Lenten “countdown” to Easter that also included Septuagesima (“Seventieth”) Sunday and Sexagesima (“Sixtieth”) Sunday. When the liturgical calendar was revised after Vatican II, this pre-Lenten season was eliminated in order to focus more on the Lenten season itself.