Tarek El Mahaba مجلة طريق المحبة عدد مارس ٢٠١٩ | Page 41
Great Lent in
our Coptic Church
41
“I set my face toward the Lord God to
make request by prayer and supplication,
with fasting.” (Daniel 9:3)
Fasting is an essential component of
our spiritual Life. Lent, known as “the
Great Fast,” is the main fast of our
church. It is 55 days and they are the
most Holy days of fasting of our Coptic
Church. According to our beautiful
church, great Lent starts with a pre-
Lent fast that consists of a week for
preparation, followed by a forty day
fast commemorating the Lord Christ’s
fasting on the mountain where He was
tempted, ended with the holy week of
the Coptic calendar (Pascha). The forty
days were fasted by the Lord Himself.
The word Pascha is a Hebrew word
which means Passover. Great Lent is the
six-week period before Palm Sunday.
In the past, the spiritual fathers began
fasting the Holy Lent on the following
day of the Feast of Epiphany. There are
three essential means of participating in
Great Lent: fasting, prayer, and giving
(efforts, time, tithe,…) In giving, we
share what we have with others.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the
most outstanding model of fasting. He
started His service by fasting for forty
days. Christ fasted and taught us to
fast. We fast by not eating or drinking for
a period of time (each according to the
advice of his/her father of confession),
and then we do not eat whatever is
related to animal fat. By God’s power,
we get trained not to eat certain food
for a certain period. So, in the process
of restraining from food and drink, we
also restrain ourselves from committing
sins. Fasting requires discipline and
self-control not just physically but also
spiritually.
Fasting must be accompanied by
prayer. During fasting, our prayer get
also deeper and our reflection on our
own behavior gets more serious. Our
relationship with God becomes stronger.
The fasting of the body is a chance to
nourish the spirit. Fasting is to be linked
to repentance. So, great lent must be
accompanied by practicing repentance
and confession sacrament. May the
Lord Almighty grant all of us a holy fast
that glorifies His holy name through the
intercession of saint Mary and Saint
Stephen. Amen