From today - seven weeks before Easter, after Sirni Zagovezni, the Great Lent or Easter Lent begins. Great Lent is the most important of the four fasting periods of the year. This year the Resurrection of Christ, or Easter, is on April 12th.
Great Lent recalls the forty-day fast of Jesus Christ in the desert, introduces Holy Week and the most glorious Christian holiday, the Resurrection of Christ - Easter. Fasting is not just a diet - abstaining from certain foods (especially those of animal origin) is not an end in itself. The idea of fasting is to humble the soul through the deprivation of the body. It is believed that when one fasts and prays, one draws closer to God.
Great Lent is a time for prayer and repentance, and preparation for it begins three weeks earlier.
According to Orthodox tradition, fasting is strictest during the first and last week, especially during Holy Week and on Good Friday. The first day on which fish is allowed is the Annunciation - on March 25th. Strict fasting is not recommended for the sick, young children, the elderly, pregnant women and nursing mothers.
During the Easter Lent, each week is dedicated to some event or person whose deeds call for humility and repentance. During the first week of Lent, the restrictions are stricter, and the services are longer. Then the boiled wheat is consecrated, which is prepared in memory of the great martyr Theodore Tiron and Todorovden is celebrated.
During the second week of Great Lent, St. Gregory Palamas is celebrated, who developed the doctrine of fasting and prayer. The third week is dedicated to the Holy Cross, to remind believers of the sufferings and death of the Savior. Sunday of the fourth week is dedicated to St. John Climacus, who wrote a treatise on good deeds that lead to the throne of God. On the Saturday of the fifth week, the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated, and on Sunday - the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who is a shining example of repentance. The Saturday of the sixth week, Lazarus Saturday, of Great Lent, is dedicated to the resurrection of Lazarus. Jesus Christ brought him out of the grave and brought him back to life. The sixth Sunday, Palm Sunday or Vrabnitsa, is dedicated to the solemn entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem on the eve of the Jewish Passover. The Christian church calls the beginning of the Easter Lent 'the forecourt of divine repentance' or Great Lent, during which people, by fasting, renounce their sins, 'cleanse themselves' and draw closer to Jesus Christ.