Overview of the Pre-Lenten Period
This week, we have officially entered into the Lenten Triodion. The Lenten Triodion is a liturgical book that contains the services from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee (3 weeks before the start of Great Lent, and 10 weeks before Pascha) up through Great and Holy Saturday.
The portion of the Church year covered by the Lenten Triodion can fall into three periods: (1) The Pre-Lenten Period, (2) The Forty Days of the Great Fast, and (3) Holy and Great Week.
As a cradle Orthodox, I was well aware of the fasts of Lent and Holy Week, but it was not until adulthood when I discovered the period of Pre-Lent. It includes three preparatory Sundays: the Publican and the Pharisee, the Prodigal Son, and the Last Judgment (Meatfare). Rather than run the Lenten race cold, we get a few warm up laps before Clean Monday.
The development of this Pre-Lenten period has a complex history, outlined briefly in the Lenten Triodion (pg. 28-34, if you’re interested). Briefly, this fasting period was the latest to develop, compared to the fasts of Lent and Holy Week. It seems that the Orthodox church was observing a week of preliminary fasting by the sixth or seventh century, and all three preparatory Sunday themes were in place by the tenth or eleventh century.
Over time, the Pre-Lenten Sundays have garnered various layers of meaning, as we prepare both our hearts, and our kitchens, for the start of Lent.
The Publican and the Pharisee — fast free week
Gospel Reading: Luke 18:10-14
Fasting Details: In this first week of the Triodion, there is a general dispensation from fasting – meat and dairy products may be consumed, even on Wednesday and Friday. (Is it just me, or do burgers taste better on Fridays?)
We begin with the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee to remind us that the coming season is not about “following the rules” so that we can congratulate ourselves, but about standing before God and ask for his mercy. As the Kontakion of the commemoration states, “Let us flee from the pride of the Pharisee! And learn humility from the Publican’s tears!” According to the reading in Luke, the Pharisee fasted twice per week, and gave tithes of all he possessed. Of course these are worthy examples to follow, as these practices are given to us by the Church as weapons against sin, but the difference called out by the passage and our hymnography is the disposition of his heart. The verses from Vespers says the Pharisee is “overcome with vainglory”, “boasting”, and exalting himself for his works. But he who exalts himself will be humbled, so let us humble ourselves before God, crying with tears of repentance like the Publican instead. So, we fast from fasting this week so as not to be like the Pharisee. We get a break from any temptation to feel proud in our fasting efforts.
The Prodigal Son — fast on Wednesday and Friday
Gospel Reading: Luke 15:11-32
Fasting Details: From here on, we begin to fast a little more each week until we reach the beginning of Great Lent. This week, our second warm-up lap, resembles a typical week throughout the Church year, fasting from animal products on Wednesday and Friday.
Kitchen Tip: It will be the last full week to eat meat, so finish up your meat products or freeze or give away what you will not consume.
The theme of repentance continues with the story of the Prodigal Son. Here we condition our hearts to treat Lent as a time to “return to ourselves,” and turn back to God through repentance. Without God, we are in exile, a slave to our own hunger and desires. But God is waiting for us to return, with open arms. With God, we receive our inheritance, our freedom.
Last Judgment — Meatfare
Gospel Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Fasting Details: This Sunday is the last day to eat meat before Pascha. It is followed by Cheesefare week, a week of partial fasting. During this time, meat is forbidden but eggs, cheese, and other dairy products may be eaten on all days, even Wednesday and Friday.
Kitchen Tip: Time to finish up your milk and cheese!
On the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we hear in Matthew 25 that the measure with which we will be judged will be the way in which we treat our neighbors. Did we visit the sick? Feed the hungry? Clothe the naked? Importantly, these acts of love and compassion are what Jesus uses to separate the sheep from the goats. Nowhere in this parable does Jesus mention fasting or tithing. For these deeds are not the fruit itself, but leaves, necessary but not sufficient, a tool to help stretch our hearts to make room for such almsgiving described in this passage.
Forgiveness Sunday — Cheesefare
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6:14-21
Fasting Details: Today is the eve of the Great Fast. This is the last day to eat dairy, and/or any other foods you will be abstaining from for Lent. For an overview of the fasting guidelines for Lent, see this blog post.
On the threshold of the Great Fast, we recognize two themes: Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, and Forgiveness. The first theme illustrates the paradoxical joyful sorrow of Lent. We weep, together with Adam and Eve, for our sins that keep us from the freely offered communion with God. And we prepare to celebrate Christ’s triumph over death by death, which reopens Paradise to us once more (Luke 23:43). The second theme of forgiveness reminds us that we run the Lenten race together, not alone. The Lord said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15). Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, of blessed memory, echoes this Gospel truth in his introduction to the Lenten Triodion, writing, “There can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God if we are not reconciled with one another. The Lenten ascetic is called to be a man for others.”
So during this Pre-Lenten period, let us learn humility from the publican’s tears, return to ourselves and come back to God like the prodigal son, then turn our gaze towards our neighbor, sharing the love and forgiveness we freely receive from our Father.
