Kite-flying, children in fancy dress, picnics where possible, and family gatherings
Kite-flying, children in fancy dress, picnics where possible, and family gatherings around tables laden with Lenten fare –seafood, legumes and unleavened lagana bread – are the ubiquitous highlights of Clean Monday in Greece.
Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent in the Orthodox Christian calendar, falls on March 3 this year. It is the start of the fast which culminates in Holy Week and ends with Easter – Pascha in Greek. This year, Easter Sunday will be celebrated by both Western and Eastern churches on the same day: April 20.
Clean Monday, which is also known as Shrove or Pure Monday in the West and Kathara Deftera in Greek, is in many ways the equivalent of Catholic Ash Wednesday. It is a moveable feast which always falls on the sixth Monday before Palm Sunday, which marks the start of Orthodox Holy Week, or 48 days before Easter Sunday.
So there is more to Clean Monday than the merriment, folkloric traditions and rites. An important feast day, it also has a powerful spiritual aspect,
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