Lent is a
forty-day period before Easter. Lent is a season of soul-searching and
repentance. It is a season for reflection and taking stock. Lent
originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory
time for Easter, when the faithful rededicated themselves and when
converts were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By
observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates
Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. Lent has been
observed in the church since apostolic times.
The last day before Lent (called Mardi Gras, Shrove
Tuesday, Carnival, or Fasching) has become a last fling before the
solemnity of Lent. For centuries, it was customary to fast by
abstaining from meat during Lent, which is why some people call the
festival Carnival, which is Latin for farewell to meat.
The Great Lent always begins on Clean Monday, the seventh Monday
before Easter, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday— using of
course the eastern date for Easter.
According to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, this period of time is
known as the Great Lent, and Sundays are not skipped when counting.
So, Lent begins on what is known as "Clean Monday," the seventh Monday
before Easter, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. The Lenten
fast is relaxed on the weekends in honour of the Sabbath (Saturday)
and the Resurrection (Sunday). The Great Lent is followed by Lazarus
Saturday and Palm Sunday, which are feast days, then the Lenten fast
resumes on Monday of Holy Week.
In the 18th
century, on the first day of Lent, all the village dogs were caught,
and soundly beaten, to prevent them going mad during the year: this
was a very unpleasant day for strangers, as the cries of the men and
the howls of the poor brutes are almost deafening, and in a large
village the ceremony lasted until nearly evening.
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
