| Clean Monday | |
|---|---|
 Kite-flyers on Clean Monday onPhilopappos Hill, Athens, Greece | |
| Observed by | Oriental andEastern Orthodox Christians;Eastern Catholics |
| Type | Eastern Christian |
| Date | 48 days beforePascha Sunday |
| 2025 date |
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| 2026 date |
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| 2027 date |
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| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | First day ofGreat Lent |
Clean Monday (Greek:Καθαρά Δευτέρα,Kathara Deftera), also known asPure Monday,Green Monday or simplyMonday of Lent is the first day ofGreat Lent throughoutEastern Christianity[1] and is amoveable feast, falling on the sixth Monday beforePalm Sunday which beginsHoly Week, preceding Pascha Sunday (Easter).[2]
The common term for this day, "Clean Monday", refers to the purification of the body in preparation to the Great Lent: first day of abstinence of non-fasting foods and, for those who are blessed and able to do so, also fasting from all kinds of food. Traditionally, as it happens in many Orthodox countries and traditions, people do a very strict fast, purifying themselves of all food until the Divine Liturgy on Wednesday, in a way that the Holy Body of Christ is the first nutrition that Christians will have during the Lent. Outside the Orthodox Church, it could be sometimes called "Ash Monday", by analogy withAsh Wednesday (the first day of Lent inWestern Christianity).[2] The term is often a misnomer, as only a small subset ofEastern Catholic Churches practice the imposition of ashes. TheMaronite,Chaldean and theSyro-Malabar Catholic Churches are notable amongst the Eastern rites employing the use of ashes on this day.[3]
Clean Monday is part of thepaschal cycle, and as such it depends on thepaschal computus which may differ between denominations and churches.[a] Additionally, the date may also depend on the calendar used by the particular church, such as the (revised)Julian calendar used by Eastern Orthodox churches, theGregorian calendar used by Eastern Catholics, and theEthiopian orCoptic calendars traditionally used by some Oriental Orthodox churches. When Easter coincides in different calendars, Clean Monday is two days before Ash Wednesday (the day known in the West asShrove Monday); otherwise it is in a different week.
Liturgically, Clean Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night,[4] at a special service called ForgivenessVespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as "Clean Week", and it is customary to go toConfession during this week, and toclean the house thoroughly.[5]
The theme of Clean Monday is set by theOld Testament reading appointed to be read at theSixth Hour on this day (Isaiah 1:1–20), which says, in part:
Wash yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool (vv. 16–18).
Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning ofthe spring season, a notion which was used symbolically inIvan Bunin's critically acclaimed story,Pure Monday.[citation needed] The happy, springtime atmosphere of Clean Monday may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and self-control, but this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Orthodox approach tofasting, in accordance with theGospel lesson (Matthew 6:14–21) read on the morning before, which admonishes:
When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret... (v. 16–18).
In this manner, the Orthodox celebrate the fact that "the springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open".[6]
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Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Orthodox Christians throughout Lent, which begins with Clean Monday. Fish is eaten only on majorfeast days, but shellfish is permitted in European denominations. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe etc.).
Clean Monday is a public holiday inGreece andCyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption ofshellfish and otherfasting food,[b] a special kind ofazyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek:λαγάνα) and the widespread custom offlying kites,[2] as it symbolises "trying to reach the Divine".[7]
