Great Lent, or the Great Fast, begins tonight with Forgiveness Vespers. What is Forgiveness Vespers? It is the praying of the psalms and other Scripture passages assigned for the evening before Lent at the conclusion everybody asks to be forgiven by God and the community and often with the anointing with holy oil at the conclusion.

As Eastern Christians, we do not initiate this important penitential season preparing for Holy Pascha with the blessing and imposition of ashes on the forehead as done in the Latin Catholic Church. Many Eastern Catholic parishes will chant the 3rd part of the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete with prostrations for the first week of Lent and then on Wednesdays a prayer service offered to the Mother of God.

On Fridays during Great Lent at 7:00 p.m. we will pray the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts which is a vespers service with the reception of Holy Communion that was consecrated at a previous Divine Liturgy.

Our pre-Lent period included Meat-fare and Cheese-fare Sundays when the Church like a good mother and teacher eases her children into preparing for Lent by saying good-by first meat and the cheese in the diet. Thus, we begin fasting, which is what we call abstaining, from meat and dairy, having begun abstaining for meat a week prior.