concept
Great Lent
Lent
also: великий пост, Great Fast
The forty-day fasting period of the Russian Orthodox Church immediately following Maslenitsa; invoked as the sober counterweight to the carnival week's license.
Reading notes
- On the Eve of the Fast §22 the Great Fast
Великий пост, the forty-day Orthodox fast beginning the day after Maslenitsa (Shrovetide/Butter Week) and lasting until Easter; rich foods -- meat, butter, eggs, dairy -- are forbidden for its duration, which is why the family is bent on one last full meal before midnight.