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The Orthodox Church has established several ways to prepare ourselves for the greatest of feasts, Pascha.\u00a0 We are not \u201cmaking up\u201d for past sins. We are not \u201cmaking sacrifices\u201d to or for God.\u00a0 Instead we use the 6 weeks of Great Lent and Holy Week which follows to develop better habits, to walk in the footsteps of Christ, in order to turn our lives around and become closer to God.\u00a0 Here are some ways which can make Great Lent meaningful to your child.<\/p>\n
Establish a quiet time in front of an icon in the morning and at night to pray.\u00a0 Every class is learning certain prayers.\u00a0 This is a perfect time to practice them
Pray at mealtime, especially as a family.<\/p>\n
We do not \u201cgive up\u2019 something for Lent, such as cookies, candy, etc.\u00a0 Instead we respect the food God has given us, thank Him for it, eat properly and only as much as our body needs to be healthy.\u00a0 Just as Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert, we fast for the 40 days of Lent and during Holy Week, as well.<\/p>\n
The Church teaches that we do not eat meat or dairy products from the beginning of Lent until Pascha.\u00a0 There is no minimum or maximum age.\u00a0 Parents need to adapt this according to the needs of their children.<\/p>\n
If your family does not yet fully fast, add at least one more meatless day to the family\u2019s menu.\u00a0 Instead of the usual 2 (Wednesdays and Fridays), add Monday. \u00a0Many families choose to go meatless the first week of Lent and Holy Week.<\/p>\n
Remember that the full meaning of fasting applies not only to food but also to our way of life.\u00a0 It is a quiet time.\u00a0 It is a time to focus on our relationship with God.\u00a0 It is not an appropriate time for parties.<\/p>\n
All Orthodox Christians who have made their first confessions are expected to go to confession and communion at least four times each year during the four Lenten periods.\u00a0 It is absolutely required during Great Lent in order to continue to receive communion.<\/p>\n
The Church School has designated Sunday, April 3 immediately following Divine Liturgy for confession for students, teachers and any family members who wish to join them.\u00a0 (Church School classes will be held and will end at 12:15 as usual.)<\/p>\n
Students and their families may choose instead to go to confession before any Divine Liturgy (come early) or after Saturday services.\u00a0 Receiving these sacraments is a requirement.<\/p>\n
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The Orthodox Church has established several ways to prepare ourselves for the greatest of feasts, Pascha.\u00a0 We are not \u201cmaking up\u201d for past sins. We are not \u201cmaking sacrifices\u201d to or for God.\u00a0 Instead we use the 6 weeks of Great Lent and Holy Week which follows to develop better habits, to walk in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":235354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[35],"class_list":["post-235352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-great-lent"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235352"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235521,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235352\/revisions\/235521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smuocnb.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}