Traditionally, Great Lent begins with strict fasting, combined with very special prayers.
Church-goers gather in holy places during the first week of Lent to participate in Great Compline service with the reading of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete.
Metropolitan Vladimir prayed together with the Cathedral clergy and numerous church-goers, reading the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on the first four days of Great Lent. This fervent prayer represents lamentation of a Christian soul, calling us to penetrate with the true spirit of fast and repentance.
On Wednesday and Friday, His Eminence officiated the Liturgy of Pre-sanctified Gifts (Liturgy of St. Gregory).
These solemn services call the faithful to invoke thoughts of repentance and prayer, combined with fast and acts of charity. The ultimate goal of fasting is spiritual purification and achievement of peace with God and the people around us.
On Friday, after the Liturgy of Pre-sanctified Gifts, Metropolitan Vladimir officiated the blessing of Coliva – special lenten food that symbolizes the body of saints who live God-pleasing life.
Synodal Sector of Institutional Communication and Mass-Media Relations