Customs of the Greek Orthodox Christian Easter:
Lady Lent/ η Κυρά-Σαρακοστή
I am almost too late for this, but whatever. Before every Easter there is a forty day period of fasting. Slowly letting go of dairy products, meat and eggs, and eventually even olive oil, sweetmeats, fish and seafood, can be in particularly harsh, counting that not too long ago more fasting periods were observed with the same fervor as lent. Lent is now the most prominent fasting period, which most religious Greek orthodox christians will follow- apart from those who are sick or traveling.
Lady Lent, which was drawn on paper, or made in the form of “bread“, was a calendar to make counting days to Easter easier. Lady Lent traditionally is depicted without a mouth-because she is fasting-, has a cross on her head-to remind everyone why we are doing this-, and has several feet, one for each week of fasting. When a week of fasting goes by, one of the feet is cut off. Although, some depictions also present her with forty individual feel.
The last foot of Lady Lent would be hidden in a special bread that was eaten at the day of the Resurrection. The person getting the foot in their slice of bread would be lucky for the rest of the year.
Photography from recipe sites stopiatomas and akispetretzikis
also tagging hiphopocliedes, delivered as promised.
