Poon (Great) Barekendan

The word Barekendan means happiness, joy. Since the Church is preparing for the fasting period, this Sunday has been marked by our Church Fathers as a day of joy, happiness and getting-together, a day of celebration. The next day, Monday, Feb. 27, we will be entering the fasting period of Lent.

Why does our Lent begin on a Monday instead of on Ash Wednesday?

In the Western churches, Lent originally began six weeks before Easter, but since Sundays weren’t considered fasting days, they added four more days and Lent was set to begin on Ash Wednesday, which is six-and-a-half weeks before Easter.

In the Eastern churches (which includes the Armenian Church), the 40 days of Lent are calculated differently. Holy Week, which immediately precedes Easter and is a period of fasting, isn’t counted as part of Lent. Lent, in our tradition, begins six weeks prior to Palm Sunday and lasts 42 days. If you add to that the week of fasting between Palm Sunday and Easter, fasting for Armenian believers is actually 49 days long.

The first Sunday of Lent is the Poon Barekendan (“good living day”). All the curtains in church must be closed on the Saturday evening preceding Poon Barekendan, and the fasting begins on the Monday following Poon Barekendan Sunday.

Throughout the Lenten period, we are to abstain from meats, milk products and fish until after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday evening. The meal on Holy Saturday evening may include milk products but no meat and no fish.

Lent is a time to reflect upon our existence, the purpose of our creation and our journey in this world. Lent is a “retreat” to readjust our priorities and make them Christ-centred. It is a time set aside by the Church for self-examination, spiritual discipline and rededication of our lives to Christ and His gospel. If the Cross of Christ was an act of absolute unselfishness, the Church guides us to the same experience through the evening vespers and ascetic practices of the Lenten period.