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Published by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
March 9, 2005
Orthodox
Christians Begin Great Lent March 14 -
Eastern Orthodox Pascha (Easter)
Celebrated May 1 |
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New
York, NY - Over 250 million Orthodox Christians
worldwide, including some six million in North
America, will enter the season of Great and Holy
Lent on Monday, March 14. This solemn day will
mark the beginning of the period of prayer and
fasting that precedes the celebration of Easter (Pascha)
the most sacred and holy day of the Orthodox
Church, which will be observed this year on May 1.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, spiritual
leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America and
Chairman of the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), will
concelebrate the Archierarchal Divine Liturgy on
the First Sunday of Lent, commemorating the
Triumph of Orthodoxy, with fellow SCOBA hierarchs
at St. George Orthodox Cathedral, Worcester, MA on
March 20 beginning at 10:00 a.m. Similar Orthodox
services will be celebrated throughout the world
on that day.
In their encyclical for March 20, the SCOBA
hierarchs stated: “This triumph of our faith does
not belong to the past. It applies to our present
age, where forces that oppose the Church’s regard
for the sanctity and integrity of the human being
continue to manifest themselves in various forms.
These forms range in substance and degree,
appearing as false teachings that promote sexual
impurity, as policies that justify military
aggression, or as lethal practices such as
abortion and assisted suicide. These forms are
examples of contemporary forces within society
that seek to diminish the integrity of the
Church’s teaching regarding the sanctity of the
human being. Today, we continue to assert the
truth of our Orthodox faith in the face of these
heretical teachings regardless of their degree,
context, or form.”
Orthodox Lent
Orthodox Christian Lent always begins on the
Monday before the Sunday of Orthodoxy. It is
designated as “Clean Monday”, the “Monday of
cleansing or purification”. On that day Orthodox
faithful are required to begin a spiritual and
moral purification through fasting, prayer,
meditation, repentance, attending Lenten religious
services and partaking of the Sacraments of
Confession and Communion. Religious services
during the Lenten period are especially beloved by
Orthodox faithful. They include the Compline, the
Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the
Salutations to the Virgin Mary and the Divine
Liturgy of St. Basil compiled in the 4th Century.
Sunday of Orthodoxy
The historical significance of the Sunday of
Orthodoxy dates to 787 A.D. when the Fathers of
the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea decreed
the restoration of the icons as a means for the
spiritual growth and formation of the Christian
ethos and character in the likeness and image of
God and His Saints. In 843 A.D. when the icons
were finally restored in the churches, the first
Sunday of Lent was designated as a day for
thanksgiving and doxology. It came to be known as
the “Sunday of Orthodoxy”, calling the faithful to
a rededication to the Orthodox Christian Faith, as
received from the Apostles. Following the Divine
Liturgy, the clergy lead the faithful in the
Procession of Icons and the recitation of The
Declaration of Faith.
Lenten and Paschal Calendar for 2005
Great Lent Begins March 14
Holy Week (Palm Sunday through Holy Saturday)
April 24-April 30
Easter (Pascha) Sunday May 1
Ascension Day June 9
Pentecost June 19
For more information on the Orthodox Christian
observance of Great Lent and Pascha:
http://www.greatlent.goarch.org
For information on the Calendar of the Orthodox
Church:
http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article7070.asp
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