Great Fast Overview & Readings

The church would like to congratulate you on beginning the journey of the Holy Great Fast. 

This 55 day period is broken into 3 sections:

1) Preparation Week (7 days: starting on Monday and ending the first Sunday)

2) 40 Days of Lent when Jesus fasted in the desert after being baptized and before beginning His ministry (starting on the 2nd Monday of Great Fast and ending Friday 40 Days later)

3) Holy Week (8 days: starting from Lazarus Saturday and ending Bright Saturday)

During this fasting period, the church utilizes different readings (from the Katameros) than the annual passages that are read throughout the year. In order to better benefit from this period of time, it is important to follow the message that the early church fathers have organized for each day. As you can see in the chart below, there is one major goal (to win the spiritual struggle that draws us near to God). However, this period can be broken up into two sections. In the first 4 weeks, the church is reminding the believer of the features of the struggle; whereas in the final 4 weeks, the church focuses on the fruits of the struggle. In addition to these sections, each week has its own specific theme, and each day its own message that correlates to this theme. By the grace of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we ask the Lord to give us each day “our daily bread” through the Logos (the Word of God) present and actively working inside us. 

For more details regarding the Great Fast Readings, please visit the Hidden Treasures article, "Readings of Great Fast" and check out the YouTube Video.