Great Lent – from the Monday of the 1St Week to Friday of the 6Th Week = 40 Days
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Period of the Lenten triodion Part two Great Lent – from the Monday of the 1st week to Friday of the 6th week = 40 days. A. The weeks run from Monday to Sunday. The first day is called Clean Monday. The weekdays are more intensive than the Saturdays and Sundays in, terms of having more Lenten prayers and hymns and more somber melodies. No prostrations are done on the weekends, and wine and olive oil may be used on the weekends. Traditionally on weekdays we fast from meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, wine and olive oil. However, our pastoral handbook states, that we must abstain from meat and meat products on Wednesdays on Fridays. B. The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is chanted the first week. The first Sunday is called Sunday of Orthodoxy. C. Second Sunday = Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas. D. Third Sunday = Sunday of the Cross, and the 4th week, which follows it, is sometimes called the week of the Cross, because during it, we venerate the Cross. E. Monday in the 4th week is the “middle of the time of abstinence” since we have passed more than half of the 40 days. Wednesday of the 4th week is the “midmost point of the fast.” F. Fourth Sunday = Sunday of St. John Climacus. G. Fifth Thurday at Vespers (that is, Wednesday evening) the 24 hymns of St. Andrew of Crete are sung. H. Fifth Thursday at Matins: Great Canon I. Fifth Saturday at Matins: Akathist hymn (may be chanted Friday evening, or – as in Greek practice – spread over several Friday evenings). Fifth Sunday = Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt. J. Sixth week = the Week of Palms. Sixth Friday is the last day of the Great Fast, when we sing “Having come to the end of the forty days which bring profit to the soul ...” K. Two special feasts usually fall during this season. (1) The feast of the Annunciation. This day is exceptional in that the Divine Liturgy is served. (2) The feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Since the number of the 40 martyrs is equal to the number of days of the Great Fast, this feast is noteworthy as a lenten feast. L. During Lent the Presanctified Liturgy (also called Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts) is normally served on Wednesday and Friday of each week and also on the Fifth Thursday. It is also served whenever a poly - eleos-rank (or higher) feast occurs on a weekday in Great Lent. The Divine Liturgy is not served on the weekdays of Great Lent, except on the feast of Annunciation. St. thomas the apostle holy week Schedule Lazarus Saturday Divine Liturgy 9:00 a.m. Palm Sunday Vigil-Vesper Divine Liturgy 5:00 p.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Great and Holy Monday Bridegroom Matins 7:00 p.m. Great and Holy Tuesday Bridegroom Matins 7:00 p.m. Great and Holy Wednesday Pre-Sanctified Divine Liturgy & Holy Anointing 7:00 p.m. Great and Holy Thursday Vesper Divine Liturgy 7:30 p.m. Great and Holy Friday Strasti Matins with Twelve Passion Gospels 10:00 a.m. Great Vespers with Burial Procession 7:30 p.m. Jerusalem Matins 10:00 p.m. Great and Holy Saturday Vigil Vesper Divine Liturgy with Old Testament readings 5:00 p.m. Great and Holy Pascha Resurrection Matins 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Bright Monday Divine Liturgy 7:00 p.m. .