The First and Last Day of the Great Lent

The rite (service order) of the first and last day of the Great Lent is the Annual Rite (similar to the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent). This symbolizes that we welcome and bid farewell to the fast with joy and thanksgiving. However, the hymns are chanted according to the Lenten rite, and the tambourine (daf) is used as on the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent.

The Great Lent

The Great Lent carries the meaning of redemption and participation in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its hymns are characterized by reverence, depth, and solemnity.

The fast lasts 55 days, distributed as follows:

• The Preparation Week – the first week.

• Forty days – the period during which the Savior fasted (Matthew 4:2).

• Holy Week (Passion Week) – the final week.

The Rite of the First and Last Day of the Great Lent. These are:

• The first Monday of the first week.

• The Friday concluding the fast.

• The rite of these two days combines both the weekday and Sunday Lenten rites. The tambourine (daf) is used as on the Saturdays and Sundays of Lent, symbolizing that we receive and conclude the fast with joy and thanksgiving, while the hymns remain in the Lenten tune.

• The Midnight Praise (Tasbeha) follows the same order as the Sundays of the Holy Lent, including the reading of the Lenten Psalis and Tarh (hymnic commentaries).

• The Doxologies are said in the tune of “Blessed are the merciful to the poor,” and the Gospel response “Ji Pen Iot.”

• The Lenten verses of the Naqous (bell verses) are said, the litany is prayed, and metanias (prostrations) are done during Matins.

• The Psalms are prayed up to the Prayer of Compline (called the curtain in monasteries). Then the Lamb is offered, and the hymn “Alleluia Ji Efmevi” is chanted, followed by “Sotis Amen,” then “Nevsenti,” the metanias, Ti Shori, and the Hitenies (intercessions).

• The hymn “Megalo” is chanted after the Synaxarium.

• The Adam or Watos Aspasmos for Lent is said, as well as the Lenten Fraction prayer. The Communion distribution and its conclusion are chanted, along with praises in the tune of “Blessed are the merciful,” and the hymn “Ji Ef Esmaro’ot.” Afterwards, the quarters (Arba‘) or the hymn “Nishti” are said.

Notes

• On the Friday concluding the fast, the General Unction of the Sick (the Lamp prayer) is prayed with its seven prayers in the second choir after the Matins incense prayer. At the end, the priest anoints those present with the oil of the Anointing of the Sick.

• Feasts of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the angels, apostles, martyrs, and saints do not change the readings of these two days.

Katameros (Lectionary):

A Greek word meaning “the Gospel of the day.” It is an ecclesiastical term from the Greek language meaning the appointed portion of readings for each day throughout the Church’s liturgical year. These readings are based on Christian doctrine and its foundation in the Lord Jesus Christ—through the proclamation of the Holy Gospel, the Acts of the Apostles and their writings, and through the fore shadowing of the Old Testament such as the Psalms and prophecies—while also considering the lives of the saints and the righteous as testimony and application of this teaching.

Rite:

A Greek word meaning order or arrangement. Here it refers to the order of the Church’s prayers - Liturgies, Feasts, Fasts, hymns, the Agpeya (Book of the Hours), and the readings. Rites are generally external practices, but they have internal effectiveness because they help a person worship God with spirit, mind, and body. If the rite is the outward form, the doctrine is the essence.

اليوم طقسه سنوى (مثل سبوت وآحاد الصوم) رمز أننا نستقبل ونودع الصوم بفرح وشكر. على أن تكون الألحان بطقس الصوم ويستخدم الدف كما فى سبوت وآحاد الصوم.