Great Lent in Orthodox Church begins Monday

In just a couple of weeks Easter is here. Right?

Well, no – not if you are an Orthodox Christian.

Easter, or Pascha, as the Orthodox Christians call it, is over a month and a half away. This year Pascha is May 1.

In fact, our Great Lent begins Monday.

This may seem strange – why are there two Easter dates?

To make a long story short, Orthodox Christians have three stipulations in calculating the Pascha date, whereas the Western Church follows only two.

These stipulations are that Pascha must be on the Sunday after the full moon, and, after the spring equinox, the beginning of spring.

The third stipulation, that the Orthodox also follows, is that Pascha also has to follow Passover, because Christ entered the Passover feast before He was crucified. This year Passover is April 22-30.

Some years, the Western Easter and the Orthodox Pascha share the same date; some years, Pascha is a week later, and some years, such as this year, there is a five-week difference.

Pascha is the most important church celebration of the year because by observing this feast, we relive those memorable events of our Lord, His Passion, crucifixion, and, most importantly, His glorious Resurrection.

It is through His Resurrection that we are offered salvation.

The Resurrection of our Lord is not a one-time event that occurred 2,000 years ago, but is still relevant and is continuously relived today. That is why on Pascha and for 40 days after the Resurrection, we greet each other with “Christ is Risen!” and not Christ has risen.

Understanding that Pascha is the focal point of our church and Christian lives. The church, with Christ as her head, gives us guidelines to enrich our lives with His Godly love.

For example, before Pascha, there is a period set aside known as Great Lent. Unfortunately, many misinterpret the true meaning of this period, also known as the Great Fast.

For some, Lent has a negative connotation as a set of man-made rules imposed on people which has no relevance in today’s world.

However, if we consider its true meaning, we would see the true intent.

The Rev. Alexander Schmemann, an Orthodox theologian, calls Great Lent a spiritual journey with the destination being Pascha.

The Lenten cycle of the Church has developed over the many years with the intent to bring us closer to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ.

Mankind’s true desire is to know our creator.

Unfortunately, we cannot achieve this if we do not make conscious efforts to try to emulate Him.

This Lenten journey gives us guidelines in order to help prepare us for the “Feasts of Feasts.”

We are called to change our lifestyle to help us contemplate on what our Lord did for us.

Our first step is to understand that God is always the same. He has not changed because our society has changed.

We must realize Lent and the church guidelines are not a set of negative rules.

We must not reduce the spiritual into something formal, but rather we should search for the spiritual behind the formal.

During Lent, there are more church services and we are called to fast in order to strengthen ourselves.

We are not just to “give up something for Lent,” rather the intent of this fast is for us to search deeply within ourselves and try to purge out the sins that we have committed which prevents us from becoming closer to our Lord.

We are called to pray more and attend extra Church services.

Fasting helps us to discipline ourselves.

By denying ourselves from eating certain foods and then spending more time in prayer, we are creating a discipline in our lives.

Fasting is not merely giving something up. It is symbolic of us making a change in our lives for the glory of God.

We are not putting ourselves first, we are putting our attention on Christ our God.

Fasting is a discipline that mankind has always observed, from the Old Testament times, to the New Testament times, and even to today’s times. Even our Lord Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days before He began His ministry.

So as we approach Pascha, let us not try to please only ourselves, rather let us put God first in our lives and do what is pleasing unto Him.

May we all have a blessed Lent and a glorious Pascha.

The Rev. Thomas M. Constantine is pastor of St. John the Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church in Boardman.