Origin of Preparation Week

Unknown

Hey everybody,

I was recently given a lesson on the Holy Great Fast by abouna, and he said something that I never knew, and he said that not too many people know about this.

He said that very few people know about the origin of the preparation week. He said that our early fathers used to fast the Holy Forty by fasting 8 weeks of 5 days because they would abstain from fasting on Saturdays and Sundays. However, at some point in history, the church decided that the fast should not be interrupted, so they made it 40 days straight, and then they added a week to make up for the saturdays and sundays, and that week is now known as the preparation week.

Did anyone else hear this before, or am I the only person who has never heard this before? Or did anyone hear something different about the origin of the preparation week?

Thanks and God bless.

Jesus85

no, i personally never heard that before. all i know is that they early church used to fast the Holy Lent every 3 years, then decided those days were to holy to have once every 3 years, so they made it every year. r u sure you heard abouna right, i'd like to get a source on that info if anyone knows more