The period of time we call "Lent" is actually a portion of a greater period of time on the Church Calendar. In brief, the calendar year could be distinguished by three main divisions, all centered around the resurrection of Christ. The period preceding the resurrection and lasting for approximately 68 days is the period called the Triodion. The book by the same name that is used by the chanters contains all the hymns for the three preparatory weeks to Holy Lent, Holy Lent, and Holy Week. This text ends with the services preceding the resurrection of Christ.
The Pentecostarion (also with a book by the same name) covers the services of the resurrection of Christ and the next 50 days - thus the name, from "Pentecosti", the Greek word for "Fifty".
The book for the remainder of the year is called the Parakletiki. It has hymns for each day of the week for each of the eight Byzantine musical tones used by the Church in her hymnography. Thus, Tone 1 has hymns from Saturday Vespers (evening) through the following Saturday Matins (morning), followed by similar hymns in each of the Eight tones (actually four sets of "cousins").
Where were we? Oh yes... The period of time covered by the Triodion is the official time of preparation for the Orthodox Christian preceding the resurrection of Christ. The three weeks preceding Lent are distinguished by different themes including the return from exile (the Prodigal Son), the last judgement (the story of the sheep and the goats), and the Sunday of Forgiveness (If you forgive men, God will forgive you...). We also begin to place a physical discipline on our eating called "fasting". During the first week of the Triodion, no fasting is observed the entire week. During the second week we obstain from eating meat on Wednesday and Friday. That Sunday is called the Sunday of Meat-fare as this is the last day to eat meat before the resurrection of Christ. During the third preparatory week we consume all the dairy products of the household ending with the Sunday of Cheese-fare (Forgiveness Sunday).
"Clean Monday" begins the 40 days of Lent. It is clean in a practical sense because we have cleaned all the meat and diary products out of the house. During the 40 days of Lent, we discipline what goes into the mouth as we work on cleaning up what also comes out of the mouth. This cleansing affects us physically by clearing away the toxins from all the foods we have eaten. At the same time, the extra prayers, church services, and focusing on sharing the love of Christ through our almsgiving, cleanses our souls. In a true sense, we can call the period of Holy Lent "Spring Cleaning" both spiritually and physically.
So, where does the "Crisis of Identity" come into play?
Thank you for asking. The Church takes this time to help us remember that we are not in control of our lives. When Adam and Eve were placed in charge of things, they were only given one restriction -- "Do not eat" of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Was the tree bad? No. But they were not ready for the knowledge they would receive. Instead of waiting for God's perfect timing, they allowed themselves to be deceived by "the serpent" and then chose to accept their own thoughts as superior to God's. As a result, mankind fell from grace.
As a result of the fall of Adam and Eve, the world now has a warped image of God and Man. The covenant between God and humanity through Christ is a covenant of restoration, or "Theosis" -- helping humanity to be restored to fellowship with God by becoming godlike in his attitude and actions -- by becoming transparent and allowing the light of Christ to shine through us fully and completely.
Without this time of focus and restoration, humanity suffers a "crisis of identity" -- we see ourselves as the apex of evolution rather than the degenerated creature living in a distorted and decaying world.
For approximately 68 days (the 40 days of Lent with three preceding weeks and one following week), the Church gives us this time to cleanse the crisis from our hearts, minds, and bodies so that we might be clean vessels for the Spirit of God to dwell within.
Pascha to Pentecost
Then, as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, we can fully rejoice with our risen Lord, spending the "day" of creation (Bright Week) and the next six weeks singing and proclaiming "Christ is Risen from the dead, by death trampling down death and to those in the tombs bestowing life!" We end this celebration with the feast of Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian Church, commemorating the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell and lead the Church, providing salvation to all who enter and remain therein.
These seven weeks from Pascha to Pentecost serve as a reminder to all of the saving message of Christ; the meaning of the signs and symbols He left us so that we would remember what He taught us.
The Sundays of the Pentecostarion following Bright Week could be categorized as follows:
Servants & Witnesses of the Resurrection
The Sunday of St. Thomas
The Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women
The Significance of Water and of Baptism
The Sunday of the Paralytic Man
The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
The Sunday of the Man Born Blind
The Importance of Doctrine and of the Holy Trinity
The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council
The Inauguration of the Christian Church and the Coming of the Holy Spirit
The Sunday of Pentecost
The final Sunday of the Pentecostarion is the Sunday of All Saints. It always follows Pentecost on the Eastern Orthodox cycle of services. The Epistle reading is from Hebrews (11:33 -- 12:2) and reminds us of the importance of the "saints" throughout the history of the scriptures. In fact, each day on the Orthodox church calendar has a commemoration for particular saints (those that died on that date and are recorded by the Church) or feast days, or both. It is on the Sunday of All Saints that we remember en mass all those who either don't have a particular feast day during the year or who are part of the unknown thousands of saints martyred for their faith through the persecution of Christianity over the centuries.
The Cure for the Identity Crisis
If you add up all the days from the beginning of the Triodion to the end of the Pentecostarion, you have approximately 124 days of the Orthodox Christian calendar year focused specifically on the mission, message, and ministry of Christ our Savior!!! No other Christian church spends this much time, effort and energy to give Humanity such a message. This is over one-third of the entire year focused on the meaning of the sacrifice of Christ, the joy of the resurrection, the inauguration of the Christian church, and the means of our salvation as active participants within the Body of Christ.
The Church considers this message important enough to repeat it each and every year through the seasons of the church calendar.
For more information on Lent or other teachings of the Orthodox Church, check out the "Our Faith" section of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America web site.