(The Custom of Kite Flying and Spring Cleaning during the Lenten Spring)

           For Orthodox Christians throughout the world, Clean Monday is the first day of the Great Fast leading to the Feast of Feasts, the Great Feast of Pascha, in which we rejoice in the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the beginning of Great Lent and the equivalent to Ash Wednesday in the Christian west. From this day on, there will be 48 more days until Pascha (the Passover of the Lord).

           Albeit this year will be an aberration due to the pandemic, customarily, Greek Orthodox Christians commemorate the day by going on picnics and excursions, thereby enjoying the blessings and natural beauty of God's creation. Descriptively and instructively, the Fast falls during the Spring when the earth begins to open up and life emerges. The cold gives way to warmth. Darkness and barrenness give way to light and life.

The beauty and grandeur of God’s creation teach inspiringly and memorably. We need only open our eyes and ears, receive, and rejoice. However, we must be “open” to gratefully receive, as the earth opens to give us life. Indeed, quite fittingly and didactically, the Greek word for spring Η ¨Ανοιξη means open. We need only observe and ponder in wonder.

The gray skies of winter lighten, the bare trees and flowers begin to bud, the fragrance of life permeates the air, the colors of the earth explode in all their glory, the birds sing their praises to their Creator, and all of creation seems to rejoice as it reaches high in a symphonic doxology to the Sun of Righteous, the Eternal Spring Who has dawned. This is the Lenten Spring that our Orthodox hymns proclaim in poetry with such phrases as the "Springtime of the Fast" and the "Flowers of repentance have budded." 

           It is a custom, therefore, to take advantage of this seasonal change and go outdoors to rejoice in this beauty. The people bring their picnic baskets filled with fasting foods and, especially, shellfish. They take advantage of the fresh, fragrant air and the cleansing breezes, and they fly kites, watching them soar and ascend like feathers on the Breath of God to the delight of the children who run freely and purely with carefree thoughts and joyful hearts.

           Clean Monday speaks to us both figuratively and literally. It is a time for us to have cleansed our conscious through repentance and forgiveness. It is a time for spiritual renewal, refreshment, restoration, and reconciliation. We take stock of our short-comings, recognize them, acknowledge them, and then make a committed and sustained effort to change (repent) and become a better person in Christ--to become a new creation in Him.

The Lenten Journey begins first with repentance. We began the Triodion period, in preparation for Great Lent, by chanting a hymn at Orthros (Matins) that pleas: "Open unto me, the Gates of Repentance, O Giver of Life..,"

            Like the Prodigal Son before his long journey home to His Father, we likewise, must come to ourselves and repent--that is, change in mind, body, and soul--before we can even begin our journey to become a new man or woman and receive that transformation from on High that we declare on the First Sunday of Great Lent during the Triumph of Orthodoxy. We must wake up and come to the realization that all our destructive passions are misplaced yearnings for fellowship with God that was broken at The Fall at the breaking of the First Fast.

           Thus, through fasting, we seek that reconciliation with God; for ever since we lost Paradise through the First Adam, we have been wallowing in the sorrow and horror of alienation from God--an alienation that strikes to the very essence of our being.

This break between God and man resulted in an unbridgeable, infinite, yawning chasm that only an Infinite God could bridge. The Son of God became that Bridge as the Son of Man and bridged the gap, and through Him, Who kept the Fast as the Second Adam, it is now possible to be reconciled to God once again.

           The Fast, that starts on Clean Monday, reminds us of that alienation and the reality that we are in dire need of a restored relationship with God that His Church provides. But first we must have that burning desire for God that manifests itself in repentance and the cleansing of forgiveness that is emphasized by the Church on the Sunday before Clean Monday.

Through the forgiveness of Christ on the Tree (the Cross), the Gates of Paradise have been opened once again to us. We must therefore repent and forgive one another as we ask for forgiveness in turn. This is the figurative, spiritual, and transcendent meaning of Clean Monday. The importance of spiritual cleansing is strongly emphasized at the beginning of the Book of Isaiah, the Great Prophet whom Christ quoted the most and whose readings are greatly emphasized throughout Great Lent:

           On the one hand, we have spoken of the spiritual, metaphorical side, but on the other hand, there is also the physical and practical side. You have doubtless heard of the expression "spring cleaning." Usually, in the spring, once the weather has changed, we can open up our windows and doors and get cross ventilation and air out our homes. We take our beddings, rugs, towels, blankets, etc. outside to hang and air them out. We dust, scrub, and clean our homes. We take stock and eliminate the unnecessary, give to the poor, simplify, organize, clean, and de-clutter our lives, as we de-clutter our minds of unnecessary, wasteful, and burdening thoughts. This makes us feel good, liberated, and productive.

           This practical exercise, which becomes a yearly ritual, is most necessary for care of home, for cleanliness, and for our good health and safety. It is also good for our psychological and emotional well-being, for it reduces stress, worry, and disorder. It eliminates needless distractions and that nagging sense of procrastination.

When we de-clutter and clean our homes, we find that at the same time, through this discipline, we de-clutter and cleanse our minds and emotions. We become liberated and focus on what truly is important. In a sense, the bright light and fresh air of spring give us clarity and renewal, as they cleanse, and after all, light and fresh air, being natural and God-given, are the best disinfectants that we all need and we all can afford. Again, God providentially provides to all through His creation.

           The value of this practical ritual on Clean Monday cannot be over-emphasized. It is simple, and, at the same time, profound. It is practical for the moment, and transformative for the future. We clean out our closets and refrigerators and begin to realize that we can do more with less. We empower ourselves, save on our budgets, have more to give to the poor, and become good custodians of our possessions and good stewards of all our blessings—including the blessings of time and opportunity.

This perennial ritual is a good, effective exercise. We clean ourselves spiritually, but we can also clean our homes and bring much-needed order to our lives, liberating and empowering us to focus on the profoundly important and lasting matters like our spiritual life and our relationships with one another and Christ's Church.

Thus, Clean Monday is a great day for us with many lessons. It is a call to cleanse ourselves spiritually, de-clutter our lives, organize and take stock of our blessings, focus on what is truly necessary, simplify our lives, and become healthier physically and mentally, as well as spiritually, in order to inaugurate a new beginning and become a new creation in Christ Who restores and reconciles all things for our eternal salvation with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the Divine Fellowship once lost, but now possible to be find in the Eternal Spring—the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

           Asking your forgiveness, I humbly remain prayerfully and reflectively, yours in Christ,

                                                                                                                      †Father Jim