Great Lent or “Velikey Post” is the seven week period that precedes Easter, the most important holiday of the church year. Unlike Ash Wednesday in the Catholic Church, Lent begins on the Monday after Forgiveness Sunday.

During the evening vesper service on Forgiveness Sunday, the clergy and the laity ask forgiveness of one another. Thus, the slate is wiped clean and lent the following Monday is started with a clear conscience and a fleeting memory of delicious food eaten during Maslenitsa.

In the days gone by of pre-revolutionary Russia, Great Lent was a solemn time spent fasting, praying and withdrawing from worldly activities such as parties, dances and celebrations. It was the Russian Orthodox Church’s prescription for the healing of body and soul, a time for reflection, prayer and attending the additional church services on Wednesdays and Fridays. Certainly, monastic life in this day and age follows these rules more so than life in the real world.

The fasting is typically not imposed on the sick and young children and is strict. People should not eat anything from a living creature and base their diets on fruits, grains and vegetables. However, should one attend a meal at a friend’s house and non-Lenten food is served, it is permissible to eat that food. The idea is to not draw attention to oneself and to keep the fasting between you and God, on the “q.t.”.

The third Sunday of Great Lent is known as the “Veneration of the Cross.” Veneration in the Russian Orthodox church is an important concept and an act of devotion. The images of saints, called icons, the relics of saints, and the cross are all venerated by first crossing oneself, bowing or kneeling, and then kissing the icon, relic, or cross. The priest’s hand is also kissed at the end of the service, after kissing the cross.

The Orthodox cross differs from the typical cross because there are three bars instead of one. The top bar is the plaque that was nailed above Jesus’ head, the second long one is the beam that his palms were nailed to, and the bottom one, on a slant with the left side higher than the right, the one that his feet were nailed to. The bottom bar may also have a skull below it and it is symbolic of everlasting life, of the victory of life over death.

During the evening service on Saturday, the cross is brought out of the altar and placed in the middle of the church. The following hymn is sung by the priest and then by the choir:
“Before thy cross, we bow down in worship, o Master and thy holy resurrection we glorify.”

The cross is surrounded by flowers and candle stands where candles made of pure beeswax burn brightly around it. It remains in the middle of the church for the entire week for the faithful to venerate and commemorates the finding of Jesus’ cross in the fourth century.

There is no doubt that death by crucifixion on the cross was a horrible form of Roman punishment, but after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it came to symbolize the tree of eternal life.