Editing Great Lent (section)

==Purpose==
[[Image:Crucifixion by Theophanes the Cretan.jpg|thumb|250px|''The Crucifixion''. [[Icon]] by [[Theophanes the Cretan]] (16th century, [[Stavronikita monastery]], [[Mount Athos]]).]]

The purpose of Great Lent is to prepare the faithful to not only commemorate, but to enter into the [[Passion (Christianity)|Passion]] and [[Resurrection of Jesus]]. The totality of the Byzantine Rite life centers around the Resurrection.<ref name="LT_Meaning">
{{Citation
 | last =Kallistos (Ware)
 | first =Bishop
 | author-link =Timothy Ware
 | last2=Mary
 | first2=Mother
 | contribution =The Meaning of the Great Fast
 | year =1977
 | publication-date=2002
 | title =The Lenten Triodion
 | pages =13 ff
 | place =South Canaan, PA
 | publisher =St. Tikhon's Seminary Press
 | isbn =1-878997-51-3
}}</ref> Great Lent is intended to be a "workshop" where the character of the believer is spiritually uplifted and strengthened; where their life is rededicated to the principles and ideals of the Gospel; where [[fasting]] and prayer culminate in deep conviction of life; where apathy and disinterest turn into vigorous activities of faith and good works.

Lent is not for the sake of Lent itself, as fasting is not for the sake of fasting. Rather, these are means by which and for which the individual believer prepares himself to reach for, accept and attain the calling of their Savior. Therefore, the significance of Great Lent is highly appraised, not only by the [[monk]]s who gradually increased the length of time of the Lent, but also by the [[laity|lay people]] themselves. The Eastern Orthodox lenten rules are the monastic rules. These rules exist not as a Pharisaic law, "burdens grievous to be borne" {{bibleverse|Luke|11:46|KJV}}, but as an ideal to be striven for; not as an end in themselves, but as a means to the purification of heart, the enlightening of mind, the liberation of soul and body from sin, and the spiritual perfection crowned in the virtue of love towards God and man.

In the Byzantine Rite, [[asceticism]] is not exclusively for the "professional" religious, but for each layperson as well, according to their strength. As such, Great Lent is a sacred Institute of the Church to serve the individual believer in participating as a member of the [[Body of Christ|Mystical Body of Christ]]. It provides each person an annual opportunity for self-examination and improving the standards of faith and morals in their Christian life. The deep intent of the believer during Great Lent is encapsulated in the words of [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]]: "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" ({{bibleverse||Philippians|3:13-14|KJV}}).

Through spending more time than usual in prayer and meditation on the Holy Scripture and the [[Holy Tradition]]s of the Church, the believer in Christ becomes through the grace of God more godlike. The emphasis towards this period differs somewhat from Western Christianity- the Eastern focus is less on repentance and more of an attempt to recapture humanity's original state.