2026

Orthodox Christian

great Lent

Great & Holy Pascha | Sunday, April 12, 2026

Download Our Lenten Guide

In Orthodox Christianity, Great Lent is a deeply spiritual and transformative period marked by intense prayer, fasting, and repentance. Unlike in Western Christianity, where Lent is typically 40 days and excludes Sundays, Orthodox Great Lent lasts for 40 days but is followed immediately by Holy Week, making the total Lenten journey longer. The fasting rules are also stricter, traditionally excluding meat, dairy, fish, wine, and oil on most days. Liturgical life becomes more solemn, with special services like the Presanctified Liturgy and the chanting of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. The focus of Great Lent in Orthodoxy is not just personal sacrifice but a communal return to God through humility, almsgiving, and deeper participation in the life of the Church.

What does it mean

An icon of Jesus Christ surrounded by a floral wreath with pink, red, purple, and green flowers, flanked by two lit candles in silver holders, set on a red velvet cloth on a wooden stand inside a church with religious paintings on the wooden-paneled walls.
A digital flyer for a Lenten Reflection event, held every Friday during Lent, presented by Fr. Nektarios, on February 27 and March 6, 13, 20, 27. The event takes place from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM at 301 South 6th Street West, Missoula, MT, 59801, following the Salutations service in the church. The flyer features dark purple background and an image of candles in a church.

Our Lenten Services

  • A man with glasses and a beard wearing a purple religious robe with gold embroidery, holding a candle and reading from a book during a ceremony in a dimly lit room.

    Compline

    Compline - bedtime or after-supper prayer - is typically a private office. There are two versions of compline - great and small compline. Great compline is a church service commemorating such occasions as the Eve of the Nativity of Christ or providing a structure to pray the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete during Lent. Small compline is the private, bedtime prayer office that can also be practiced in the home.

    Monday Evenings During Lent at 6pm

  • A religious setting with a gold chalice holding a wafer, covered by a cloth with purple and gold embroidery, and a lit candle in a red holder in the foreground.

    Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts

    The Divine Liturgy is the "Banquet of Christ", a festive, triumphant celebration, the ancient discipline of the Church came to regard it as out of harmony with the penitential climate of Great Lent. Yet to provide the faithful with the "food of immortality", the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, that is, with the Eucharistic Gifts consecrated beforehand, at the Liturgy of the previous Sunday was prescribed by the Church.

    Wednesday Evenings During Lent at 5:45pm

  • Orthodox Christian altar with icon of Mary holding Jesus, surrounded by flowers, candles, and ornate decorations.

    Salutations to the Theotokos

    On the first four Fridays of Lent, according to the current Constantinopolitan practice, we chant the Service of the Salutations to the Theotokos with Small Compline text included. In the evening, we read Small Compline through the Creed, and then chant the Canon of the Akathist. It is also here that one of the four “stases” or “stanzas” is also chanted by the Priest on each successive Friday.

    Fridays During Lent at 6:00pm