Great Lent is the strictest and longest fast in Orthodoxy. It prepares and leads a person to the greatest Christian feast – the Bright Resurrection of Christ (Pascha). Today we begin this special Lenten journey, which will last for seven weeks, or 48 days.
The first six weeks are known as the Holy Forty Days (Holy Lent), which this year runs from 23 February to 3 April. The final week of Great Lent is called Holy Week, as we remember the Passion (sufferings) of Christ. Holy Week falls on 6–11 April. These six days before Pascha are the most strict days of the fast.
The rules of Great Lent that we observe today were established in the first centuries of Christianity and later confirmed and developed in the monasteries of the Orthodox Church between the 6th and 11th centuries. These rules are intended for all Orthodox Christians, not only for monks.
Great Lent has a unique liturgical order, with the following main features:
- The full Divine Liturgy is celebrated only on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as on major feast days.
- The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays.
- Three Saturdays of Great Lent are memorial Saturdays (the second, third, and fourth).
- During the first four days of Great Lent, the Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read at Compline. It is read again in its entirety on Wednesday evening of the fifth week of Lent.
- At the end of every Lenten service from Monday to Friday, and during the first three days of Holy Week, the Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian is read with prostrations. This prayer was composed in the 4th century.
The period of Great Lent is a time of especially intense bodily and spiritual struggle – against evil and aggression, against fear and panic, against anger and hatred. Fasting is not limited only to restrictions in food or other formal practices; it must be filled with meaning, inner content, and good works.
It is important to understand that fasting is not a formality. Fasting is needed not by God, but first and foremost by us. It helps us reflect on what is truly important and what is secondary. It helps us let go of what is unnecessary and burdens our soul. Especially in a time of war, fasting can help strengthen us, reduce excessive anxiety, increase self-sacrifice, and fortify our inner spiritual strength.
May this Great Lent become for you a time of personal spiritual struggle, growth, and strengthening, so that we may continue the fight against evil, against enemies both visible and invisible, and move forward with God toward victory.