Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center Holy and Glorious Pascha Preparation First Day - Great Lent - Clean Monday (40th Day before the Transition Period)

Sundays of Great Lent or Pascha Cycle
Sunday	Name	Day of Great Lent	Day before Transition Period	Apostolos	Gospel	Action
Vespers of Clean Monday	Service of Forgiveness	Vespers of 1st day of Great Lent	Eve of 40th day before Transition Period			Forgive
Clean Monday	1st day of Great Lent	1st day of Great Lent	40th day before Transition Period	1 Cor. 3:18-23	Lk. 21:8-36
Friday after Fifth Sunday	Last day of Great Lent	40th day of Great Lent	1st day before Transition Period	Eph. 2:4-10	Mt. 4:1-11

Great Lent begins on Clean Monday

Clean Monday is the first day of Great Lent.

The first day of Great Lent is called Clean Monday because we need to begin this holy season with clean hearts and good intentions, and because Great Lent is in a way a time of cleaning up or cleaning out in our spiritual lives. Clean Monday is a day of strict fasting--no food from midnight to noon, and no meat. Additionally, we should devote extra time especially on this day to prayer and reading of the Holy Bible--in fact, the whole time of Great Lent should be a time of increased prayer and reading the Bible. The Church especially recommends reading the Book of Genesis, the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, and the Book of Proverbs during Great Lent. The Psalms are always good spiritual reading, of course. In addition to fasting and prayer, we also should concentrate on doing good works of charity during Great Lent. As the Lord reminded us in the Gospel last Sunday, whenever we help someone who is needy or sick or suffering, we are helping Christ-God Himself.

Day of Strict Fasting

Clean Monday is a day of making a new or clean beginning in our spiritual lives. Because of this, even under the relaxed discipline of Great Lent, it is a day of strict fasting.

In strictest adherence, "fasting" includes two items "fasting" and "abstinence".

"Fasting" means not eating from midnight to noon, Monday to Friday.
The reverse is: we eat from noon to midnight, Monday to Friday. One meal is permitted each day, Monday to Friday. No food is eaten in between meals, Monday to Friday. Fasting is not done on Saturday and Sunday (EXCEPT GREAT AND HOLY SATURDAY) All the time, we drink water.
"Abstinence" means not eating certain foods from midnight to midnight.
The foods and beverages are:
- Meat from a vertebrate, which is an animal with a spine / backbone (mammals, birds, fish, etc.), and shellfish - Then, we are "vegaterian".
  Eating fish on Saturday and Sunday (EXCEPT GREAT AND HOLY SATURDAY), Great Feast of the Annunciation (25 March), and Palm Sunday- Shaneeneh (One Sunday before Feast of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha) is permitted.
- Products from a vertebrate, which is an animal with a spine / backbone (mammals, birds, fish, etc.), such as milk, eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. (these items are often called dairy products in the United States) - Then, we are "vegan".
- Olive oil.
  Eating olive oil on Saturday and Sunday (EXCEPT GREAT AND HOLY SATURDAY), Great Feast of the Annunciation, and Palm Sunday - Shaneeneh is permitted
- Wine.
  Drinking wine on Saturday and Sunday (EXCEPT GREAT AND HOLY SATURDAY), Great Feast of the Annunciation, and Palm Sunday - Shaneeneh is permitted
- Alcoholic beverages.
The reverse is: from noon to midnight, we eat plants (fruits, grains, legumes (beans), vegetables, nuts, and fruits, etc.) and invertebrates, which creatures without a spine /backbone (sponges, hydroids, anemones, jellyfish, gorgonains, sea pen, sea fan, worms, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, sea lily, etc.) We drink water and juices.

The reverse is: from noon to midnight, we eat plants (fruits, grains, legumes (beans) vegetables, nuts, and fruits) and invertebrates, which creatures without a spine /backbone , such as sponges, hydroids, anemones, jellyfish, gorgonains, sea pen, sea fan, worms, squid, cuttlefish, octopus, sea lily, etc. We drink water and juices.

Apostolos

First Cor. 3:18-23

Gospel

Lk. 21:8-36

Fast

Clean Monday is a strict fast day.

Pascha Cycle

Clean Monday is within the Pascha Cycle. Clean Monday is between the Fourth Sunday of the Triodion: Sunday of Cheese fare - Forgiveness and First Sunday of Lent: The Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Great Monday is the day after the Fourth Sunday of the Triodion: Sunday of Cheese fare - Forgiveness. Clean Monday is the first Day of Great Lent. Great Lent begins at the beginning of the Vespers of Clean Monday on the evening of the Sunday of Cheese fare / Forgiveness.

How to determine when Clean Monday occurs

Great Lent is Forty Days.
A count back from the date of Pascha is made.
Clean Monday can be as early as February 2 and as late as March 8.

Feasts of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha Cycle in Latin Catholic Dominated Countries

Some important dates in Feasts of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha Cycle in Latin Catholic Dominated Countries for the years 2000-2010.

Sundays of Great Lent or Pascha Cycle
Sunday	Name	Day of Great Lent	Day before Transition Period	Apostolos	Gospel	Action	Saint
Vespers of Clean Monday	Service of Forgiveness	Vespers of 1st day of Great Lent	Eve of 40th day before Transition Period			Forgive
Clean Monday	1st day of Great Lent	1st day of Great Lent	40th day before Transition Period	1 Cor. 3:18-23	Lk. 21:8-36
1	Sunday of Triumph of Orthodoxy	7th day of Great Lent	34th day before Transition Period	Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40, 12:1-2A	John 1:43-51	Procession with holy ikons and presentation for veneration
2	Sunday of Veneration of Holy Relics Gregory Palamas	14th day of Great Lent	27th day before Transition Period	2nd Cor. 4:6-15	Mk. 2:1-12	Procession with holy relics and presentation for veneration	All Saints have Relics St. Gregory Palamas
3	Sunday of Veneration of Holy Cross	21st day of Great Lent	20th day before Transition Period	Heb. 4:14-5:6	Mk. 8:34-9:1	Procession with Holy Cross and presentation for veneration
4	Commem- oration of Our Holy Father John Climacus	28th day of Great Lent	13th day before Transition Period	Heb. 6:13-20	Mk. 9:17-31		Our Holy Father John Climacus
5	Commem- oration of Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt	35th day of Great Lent	6th day before Transition Period	Heb. 9:11-14	Mk. 10:32b-45		Our Venerable Mother Mary of Egypt
Friday after Fifth Sunday	Last day of Great Lent	40th day of Great Lent	1st day before Transition Period	Eph. 2:4-10	Mt. 4:1-11

Traditions

Traditions of Great Lent and Holy Week Melkite Greek Catholic Church Eparchy of Newton

More Information

Saint Ignatios of Antioch Melkite Greek Catholic Church Then click on Resources. The first category is Lenten Information.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Lent But Were Afraid to Ask St. George Melkite-Greek Catholic Church, Sacramento, CA

Monday: Beginning of Lent Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Click on Triodion

Ikon

Monday: Beginning of Lent Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Click on Triodion

Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center
Martha Liles
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Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center is dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in the Lord on Dec. 12, 2000, Shirley fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 8, 2001, and Donna fell asleep in the Lord on March 9, 2020.
O God of all spirits and of all flesh, who have destroyed death, overcome the devil, and given life to the world: grant, O Lord, to the souls of your servants Bucky and Shirley, who has departed from this life, that it may rest in a place of light, in a place of happiness, in a place of peace, where there is no pain, no grief, no sighing. And since You are a gracious God and the Lover of Mankind, forgive him/her every sin he/she has committed by thought, or word, or deed, for there is not a man who lives and does not sin : You alone are without sin, your righteousness is everlasting, and your word is true. You are the Resurrection and the Life, and the repose of your departed servants Bucky and Shirley. O Christ our God, and we send up glory to You, together with your eternal Father and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and for ages upon ages. Amen.

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