LENT – (Great Lent) The seven weeks of fasting in preparation for the glorious Resurrection of Christ. The faithful attend special prayer services, go to confession and Holy Communion. Each Sunday is designated for special commemoration
- the first Sunday is the Triumph of Orthodoxy,
- the second – St. Gregory of Palama,
- third – Veneration of the Cross,
- fourth – St. Climacus,
- fifth – St. Mary of Egyp,
- sixth – Palm Sunday.
On Sunday’s the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated (except the sixth). On Wednesdays and Fridays the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served.
There are technically four “lents,” or fasting seasons, during the liturgical year of the Orthodox Church: the Great Lent consisting of “forty days” preceding Holy Week and Easter, the Apostles’ Fast preceding the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul (June 29th), Dormition fast, the two weeks preceding the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15th), and Nativity fast the forty days in preparation for the Nativity of Christ (December 25th)