Commemoration of the beginning of Holy and Great Lent at the Church of Saint George, Brisbane

On Cheesefare Sunday, 2 March 2025, the members of the Greek Orthodox Community of Saint George, Brisbane, gathered at Church for the Divine Liturgy and also to commemorate the beginning of Holy and Great Lent.

After the Divine Liturgy, the Cultural Committee of Saint George offered a morning tea for parents and organised activities for children, with workshops where they could learn about the traditions associated with the Lenten period and the customs of Clean Monday.

The children were given black and white outlines of Lady Lent, which they could colour in, as a teacher explained to them the story associated with the Lenten tradition: “Lady Lent has no mouth. She neither speaks nor eats. She has no ears. She does not listen to gossip or meaningless words. On her chest, her crossed hands rest, as she prays to Christ all day long. And she has seven feet– no more, no less – to count the weeks. Every Saturday we cut off one of her seven feet. We hide the last foot somewhere among fruits or nuts or sweets. Whoever finds it gains abundant luck.”

The next activity involved choosing an icon, which each child glued to a piece of cardboard and decorated, and could process on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

Perhaps the activity that most captured the children’s imagination was the making of kites, which are traditionally flown on Clean Monday. Mums and dads, as well as grandparents, lent a helping hand to the children. Colourful streamers were added to the kites, which were decorated with stickers and feathers. Some of the children went outside to fly their kites in the Brisbane sky, while others enjoyed playing with them inside the hall. In all their forms, the day’s activities were enjoyable for both parents and children.