For many people Great Lent is just a cycle in their yearly calendar where they “must” abstain from certain foods, temporarily cut out some bad habits, attend a few extra Sunday Liturgies and then Commune on Holy Thursday before going back to the same old “normal life” after Pascha. However if we wish to take Great Lent seriously, we should consider it a spiritual journey rather than a religious obligation. If someone therefore undertaking a long journey makes careful arrangements, plans a specific route, gathers provisions, sets out a schedule and follows it, the same care and effort (if [...]

Of all the periods given to us by our Mother Church, this is the one that affords us the best opportunity for life changing ACTION. The Church takes lent so seriously that the Fathers have designated three Sundays of pre-preparation (the start of the Triodion) before the actual 40 days of Lent, to prepare us for the life-saving Passion of Our Lord and His glorious Resurrection. Why is this period life-changing for me? Because it is a refocusing of my life, a journey of discovery into my innermost being to discover who I am and the true life I was [...]