Askesis / Great Lent 2027
Orthodox Great Lent 2027 begins on Monday, 15 March 2027 and Pascha is on Sunday, 2 May 2027.
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Meatfare Sunday | Sunday, 7 March 2027 |
| Cheesefare Sunday (Forgiveness Sunday) | Sunday, 14 March 2027 |
| Clean Monday, Great Lent begins | Monday, 15 March 2027 |
| The forty days end (the fast continues through Holy Week) | Friday, 23 April 2027 |
| Lazarus Saturday | Saturday, 24 April 2027 |
| Palm Sunday | Sunday, 25 April 2027 |
| Pascha | Sunday, 2 May 2027 |
These dates are the same on the new and the old calendar, because almost every Orthodox church keeps Pascha on the same day. Great Lent is forty days, from Clean Monday to the Friday before Lazarus Saturday. The fast continues through Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week, the week of Christ’s Passion, to Pascha.
Great Lent is the Church’s season of repentance on the way to Pascha, the feast of Christ’s Resurrection. The fast from food is kept together with prayer, almsgiving, the services of the season and turning away from sin; on its own it is not the whole fast. Saint John Chrysostom taught this to the people of Antioch in Lent (Homilies on the Statues, 3).
Meat, dairy products and eggs are set aside for all of Great Lent, and fish is set aside except on a few feasts. On most weekdays the fast is at its strictest; wine and oil are allowed on most Saturdays and Sundays and on some feast days, and Holy Week has its own order for each day. Many keep the first days of Lent with particular care; your priest will tell you how much to take on. Churches and parishes differ on some days, especially when a feast falls in the fast, so the exact level for a given day depends on your church.
Your priest’s guidance for you personally always comes first. This page states the general discipline of the Church.
Askesis shows the fast for every day of Great Lent in food words, for your own church and its calendar, with every fasting Wednesday and Friday marked and a walk through the fast one day at a time, free on iPhone and iPad. Askesis Pro adds a scanner for food labels.
On Clean Monday, Monday, 15 March 2027, the day after Forgiveness Sunday.
Sunday, 2 May 2027.
Forty days, from Clean Monday to the Friday before Lazarus Saturday. The fast continues through Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday and Holy Week to Pascha.
Why do Orthodox Christians fast? and How is Askesis checked?