Great Lent

Great Lent is the forty-day fast preceding Holy Week and Pascha. It is not merely an exercise in self-denial but a season of intense spiritual renewal — increased prayer, fasting from rich foods, more frequent attendance at services, and the examination of conscience. The Lenten services are among the most beautiful and profound in the entire Orthodox tradition, particularly the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, which calls the soul to deep repentance. Lent concludes with Holy Week — the most solemn and sacred week of the year — during which the Church re-lives the final days, death, and burial of Christ in preparation for the joy of Pascha.