Great Lent: My Favorite Liturgical Season
Today is the the last day of the fourth full week of Lent. In the Orthodox church Great Lent is 40 days. It begins on a Monday and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. This is slightly different from the Western Calendar observance of Lent. I love Great Lent. This is a [supposedly] quiet time of reflection: an opportunity for reconnecting to our faith and growing spiritually. It’s the time of preparation. We remember creation and the fall. We remember our great need for a Savior. During Lent we fast from certain foods but even more importantly we fast from sin and strive to discipline our flesh. We spend more time in prayer, more time at church, and hopefully, more time loving God and loving others. In practical terms, my family strives for less outside activities, more family prayer, and less screen time. We choose not to watch certain favorite videos and instead pick more educational, documentary style shows. We don’t always keep to the standards. Some days I feel like