The Great Lent according to the Eastern Church
The Eastern Church does not skip over Sundays when calculating the length of
the Great Lent. The Great Lent always begins on Clean Monday, the
seventh Monday before Easter, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday, using of
course the eastern date for Easter. The Lenten fast is relaxed on the weekends
in honor of the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Resurrection (Sunday). The Great Lent
is followed by Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, which are feast days, then the
Lenten fast resumes on Monday of Holy Week.
The Great Lent according to the Western Church
The Western Chirch skips over Sundays when
calculating the length of Lent. Therefore, in the Western Church, Lent always
begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter.
Lent is forty days long because forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion,
and preparation in the Bible. During the period of Lent one does not marry, start a business, laugh too much nor eat
meat during this time. This is not a time for indulgence.
Lenten Recipes
The following recipes contain no meat. More lenten recipes can be found here.
Lenten Cake
Octopus with paprika
Cooked on Clean Monday
Lenten Bean Salad
CuttleFish with spinach
