Editing Great Lent (section)

===The Great Forty Days===
The forty days of Great Lent last from Clean Monday until the Friday of the Sixth Week. Each of the Sundays of Great Lent has its own special commemoration, though these are not necessarily repeated during the preceding week.  An exception is the Week of the Cross (the Fourth Week), during which the theme of the preceding Sunday—the [[Veneration of the Cross]]—is repeated throughout the week. The themes introduced in the Pre-Lenten period continue to be developed throughout the forty days.

====Clean Week====

The first week of Great Lent starting on [[Clean Monday]], the first day of Great Lent. The name "Clean Week" refers to the spiritual cleansing each of the faithful is encouraged to undergo through fasting, prayer, repentance, reception of the Holy Mysteries and begging forgiveness of his neighbor. It is also traditionally a time for [[spring cleaning]] so that one's outward surroundings matches his inward disposition.

Throughout this week fasting is most strict. Those who have the strength are encouraged to fast completely, eating only on Wednesday and Friday evenings, after the Presanctified Liturgy. Those who are unable to keep such a strict fast are encouraged to eat only a little, and then only [[xerophagy]] (see [[Great Lent#Prodigal Son|Prodigal Son]]) once a day. On Monday, no food should be eaten at all and only uncooked food on Tuesday and Thursday. Meals are served on Saturday and Sunday, but these are fasting meals at which meat, dairy products and fish are forbidden.

At [[Great Compline]] during the first four days of the Fast (Monday through Thursday) the [[Great Canon]] of St. [[Andrew of Crete]] is divided into four parts and one part is chanted each night.

The First Saturday is called "St. Theodore Saturday" in honor of St. [[Theodore the Recruit]], a 4th-century [[martyr]]. At the end of the Presanctified Liturgy on Friday (since, liturgically, the day begins at sunset) a special canon to St. Theodore, composed by St. [[John of Damascus]], is chanted. Then the priest blesses [[kolyva]] (boiled wheat with honey and raisins) which is distributed to the faithful in commemoration of the following miracle worked by St. Theodore on the First Saturday of Great Lent.

Fifty years after the death of St Theodore, the emperor [[Julian the Apostate]] (361-363), as a part of his general policy of [[persecution of Christians]], commanded the governor of [[Constantinople]] during the first week of Great Lent to sprinkle all the food provisions in the marketplaces with the blood offered to pagan idols, knowing that the people would be hungry after the strict fasting of the first week. St Theodore appeared in a dream to Archbishop [[Eudoxius of Antioch|Eudoxius]], ordering him to inform all the Christians that no one should buy anything at the marketplaces, but rather to eat cooked wheat with honey (kolyva).

The First Sunday of Great Lent is the [[Feast of Orthodoxy]], which commemorates the restoration of the [[veneration]] of [[icon]]s after the [[iconoclasm|Iconoclast]] controversy, which is considered to be the triumph of the Church over the last of the great [[heresy|heresies]] which troubled her (all later heresies being simply a rehashing of earlier ones).  Before the [[Divine Liturgy]] on this day, a special service, known as the "[[Triumph of Orthodoxy]]" is held in [[cathedral]]s and major monasteries, at which the ''[[synodicon]]'' (containing [[anathema]]s against various heresies, and [[encomia]] of those who have held fast to the Christian faith) is proclaimed.

The theme of the day is the victory of the True Faith over heresy. "This is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" ({{bibleverse|1|John|5:4|KJV}}). Also, the icons of the saints bear witness that man, "created in the image and likeness of God" ({{bibleverse||Genesis|1:26|KJV}}), may become holy and [[Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology)|godlike]] through the purification of himself as God's living image.

The First Sunday of Great Lent originally commemorated the [[Prophet]]s such as [[Moses]], [[Aaron]], and [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]]. The Liturgy's [[Prokeimenon]] and [[alleluia]] verses as well as the [[Epistle]] (Hebrews 11:24-26,32-40) and [[Gospel]] ({{bibleverse||John|1:43-51|KJV}}) readings appointed for the day continue to reflect this older usage.

====Second Week====
The Second Sunday of Great Lent commemorates [[Gregory Palamas|St. Gregory Palamas]], the great defender of the Church's [[doctrine]] of [[Hesychasm]] against its attack by [[Barlaam of Calabria]]. The Epistle is Hebrews 1:10-14; 2:1-3 and the Gospel is {{bibleverse||Mark|2:1-12|KJV}}

Throughout this week, and until the Sixth Friday in Lent, one meal may be taken a day with [[xerophagy]]. Until the [[Lazarus Saturday|Sixth Saturday in Lent]], Saturday and Sunday fasting remains the same as in the First Week.

====Third Week====
The [[Veneration of the Cross]] is celebrated on the third Sunday. The veneration comes on this day because it is the midpoint of the forty days. The services for this day are similar to those on the [[Great Feast]] of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]] (September 14). During the [[All-Night Vigil]] the priest brings the cross out into the center of the church, where it is venerated by the clergy and faithful. It remains in the center of the church through Friday of the week following (the Fourth Week of Great Lent).<ref>[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=14 Sunday of the Cross] Orthodox [[synaxarion]]</ref>

The Epistle is {{bibleverse||Hebrews|4:14-5:6|KJV}} and the Gospel is {{bibleverse||Mark|8:34-9:1|KJV}}.

====Fourth Week====
This week is celebrated as a sort of [[afterfeast]] of the Veneration of the Cross, during which some of the hymns from the previous Sunday are repeated each day. On Monday and Wednesday of the Fourth Week, a Veneration of the Cross takes place at the [[Prime (liturgy)|First Hour]] (repeating a portion of the service from the All-Night Vigil of the previous Sunday). On Friday of that week, the veneration takes place after the [[Ninth Hour]], after which the cross is solemnly returned to the sanctuary by the priest and deacon.

The Sunday which ends the fourth week is dedicated to [[St. John Climacus]], whose work, ''The Ladder of Divine Ascent'' has been read throughout the Great Lenten Fast.

====Fifth Week====
{{Main|Great Canon}}
[[Image:Andrew of Crete.jpg|thumb|[[Russian icon|Russian Icon]] depicting [[Andrew of Crete|St. Andrew of Crete]] (left) and [[St. Mary of Egypt]]]]

On Thursday of the Fifth Week, the [[Great Canon]] of [[Andrew of Crete|St. Andrew of Crete]] is chanted in its entirety during [[Orthros]]. This is the longest Canon of the church year, and during the course of its nine [[Ode]]s, most every person mentioned in the Bible is called to mind and tied to the theme of repentance. In anticipation of the Canon, Vespers on Wednesday afternoon is longer than normal, with special [[stichera]] added in honor of the Great Canon. While the Great Canon itself is recited during [[Matins]] for Thursday, this service is usually celebrated by anticipation on the prior Wednesday evening, so that more people can attend.

As a part of the Matins of the Great Canon, the ''Life of St. Mary of Egypt'' by St. [[Sophronius of Jerusalem|Sophronius]], [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|Patriarch of Jerusalem]] (634 - 638) is read, for her example of repentance and overcoming temptation.  On this day also is chanted the famous [[kontakion]],  "My soul, my soul, why sleepest thou..." by St. [[Romanos the Melodist]]. The next day (Thursday morning) a special Presanctified Liturgy is celebrated, and the fast is relaxed slightly (wine and oil are allowed) as consolation after the long service the night before.

Saturday of the Fifth Week is dedicated to the [[Theotokos]] (Mother of God), and is known as the "Saturday of the Akathist" because the [[Akathist]] to the Theotokos is prescribed to be chanted during Matins on that day, though as with the Great Canon, usually done in anticipation on Friday evening to allow more people to attend. 

The Fifth Sunday is dedicated to [[Mary of Egypt|St. Mary of Egypt]], whose ''Life'' was read earlier in the week during the Great Canon.  At the end of the Divine Liturgy many churches celebrate a "Blessing of [[dried fruit|Dried Fruit]]", in commemoration of St. Mary's profound asceticism.

====Sixth Week====
[[Image:Воскрешение Лазаря2.jpg|thumb|Icon of the [[Lazarus Saturday|Raising of Lazarus]] (15th century, [[Novgorod school]]). In most [[icons]] of [[death]], [[resurrection]] and [[baptism]], the gates of [[Christian views on Hades|hades]] are visible in the background, as they are here.]]
During the Sixth Week the Lenten services are served as they were during the second and third weeks.

Great Lent ends at Vespers on the evening of the Sixth Friday, and the Lenten cycle of Old Testament readings is brought to an end. (Genesis ends with the account of the burial of Joseph, who is a [[Typology (theology)|type]] of Christ.) At that same service, the celebration of [[Lazarus Saturday]] begins. The [[resurrection]] of [[Lazarus of Bethany|Lazarus]] is understood as a foreshadowing of the [[Resurrection of Jesus]], and many of the Resurrection hymns normally chanted on Sunday (and which will be replaced the next day with hymns for Palm Sunday) are chanted at Matins on the morning of Lazarus Saturday.

[[Palm Sunday]] differs from the previous Sundays in that it is one of the [[Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church]]. None of the normal Lenten material is chanted on Palm Sunday, and fish, wine and oil are permitted in the [[Refectory|trapeza]]. The blessing of palms (or pussywillow) takes place at Matins on Sunday morning, and everyone stands holding palms and lit candles during the important moments of the service.

This is especially significant at the [[Great Entrance]] during the [[Divine Liturgy]] on Palm Sunday morning, since liturgically that entrance recreates the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The themes of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are tied together, and some of the same hymns (including one of the [[apolytikion|apolytikia]]) are chanted on both days. The Holy Week services begin on the night of Palm Sunday, and the [[liturgical colours]] are changed from the festive hues of Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday back to somber Lenten colours.