The Great Lent - Lenten Recipes
The Great Lent according to the Eastern Church
The Eastern Church does not skip over Sundays when calculating the length of the Great Lent. The Great Lent always begins on Clean Monday, the seventh Monday before Easter, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday, using of course the eastern date for Easter. The Lenten fast is relaxed on the weekends in honor of the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Resurrection (Sunday). The Great Lent is followed by Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, which are feast days, then the Lenten fast resumes on Monday of Holy Week.
The Great Lent according to the Western Church
The Western Church skips over Sundays when calculating the length of Lent. Therefore, in the Western Church, Lent always begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter.
Lent is forty days long because forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion, and preparation in the Bible. During the period of Lent one does not marry, start a business, laugh too much nor eat meat during this time. This is not a time for indulgence.