Lent Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Eastern Orthodoxy and Byzantine Rite=== {{main|Great Lent}} In the [[Byzantine Rite]], i.e., the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Great Lent]] (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days" and "Great Fast" respectively) is the most important fasting season in the church year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiochian.org/fasting-great-lent|title=Fasting and Great Lent – Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese|website=Antiochian.org|access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> The 40 days of Great Lent include Sundays, and begin on [[Clean Monday]]. The 40 days are immediately followed by what are considered distinct periods of fasting, [[Lazarus Saturday]] and [[Palm Sunday]], which in turn are followed straightway by [[Holy Week]]. Great Lent is broken only after the Paschal (Easter) Divine Liturgy. The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains the traditional Church's teaching on fasting. The rules for lenten fasting are the monastic rules. Fasting in the Orthodox Church is more than simply abstaining from certain foods. During the Great Lent Orthodox Faithful intensify their prayers and spiritual exercises, go to church services more often, study the Scriptures and the works of the [[Church Fathers]] in depth, limit their entertainment and spendings and focus on charity and good works. Some other churches that follow the [[Byzantine Rite]], including certain [[Eastern Catholic]] and [[Eastern Lutheran]] denominations have similar practices as those of Eastern Orthodoxy. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page