Overall, Clean Monday marks the beginning of a period of spiritual renewal and self-reflection for Orthodox Christians. It is a time to cleanse the body, mind, and soul in preparation for the celebration of Pascha, or Easter. By observing the traditions and practices of Clean Week, believers can deepen their relationship with God and experience a sense of joy and fulfillment throughout Great Lent and Holy Week.
May this season of fasting and prayer be a time of growth and transformation for all who observe it, leading to a closer union with Christ and a greater appreciation for the gift of salvation. Amen.
Engaged men would send their fiancés a cake of halva decorated with pomegranates and nuts.
Early on Clean Wednesday, they would go to Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, receive Holy Communion after an especially strict fast, then proceed to their normal work. On the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25), they would have a little relief from their fast but continue through until Pascha.
Kyra Sarakosti (Η “Kυρά Σαρακοστή”)
An old Greek tradition that helped devout Orthodox Christians keep the strict three-day fast involved a woman named Kyra Sarakosti (Lady Lent). Women, especially back then, would keep the three-day fast like nuns, eating and drinking absolutely nothing during that time. After the three days, they would only eat dry foods for the rest of Clean Week.
Kyra Sarakosti served as their calendar for Great Lent. On Clean Monday, they would draw a woman on a piece of paper. The woman would have no mouth because she was fasting, and her hands would be crossed in prayer. She would also have seven legs to represent the seven Sundays of Great Lent and Holy Week.
Every Saturday, a leg would be cut off until she had no more legs after Holy Saturday. In Chios, they would put these legs in a dried-up fig or walnut tree, and whoever found it would be considered blessed.
In other places, Kyra Sarakosti was made out of fabric and filled with feathers.
In Pontus, they would boil a potato or onion, stick seven feathers from a chicken on it, and tie it to the ceiling in the house. It would remain there for the entire time of Great Lent, and every week a feather would be plucked. This was known as the “rooster” (κουκουράς).
This tradition is increasingly being revived today.
Modern Day Greece and Cyprus
Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish, octopus, taramosalata (for the more lenient), and other fasting foods, including a special kind of azyme bread baked only on that day called “lagana” (Greek: λαγάνα). This feast is accompanied by the widespread custom of flying kites.
Eating meat, eggs, and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Christians throughout Great Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted.
This has led to the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, mollusks, fish roe, etc). It is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin’s critically acclaimed story, Pure Monday.
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 to fasting, in accordance with the Gospel 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…” (Aposticha, Vespers on Wednesday of Cheesefare Week).
Source: johnsanidopoulos.com