Welcome to our special series of weekly women’s devotionals for the solemn season of Lent, 2021. 

While we in the ICOC fellowship of churches intentionally have not adopted a traditional liturgical calendar to organize our worship, and so we have no “official” Lenten practice, there are many beautiful customs observed at this time of year by various Christian denominations. These have developed over the centuries in different cultures, and can help to enhance our experience and appreciation of the astounding miracle of the empty tomb on Easter morning; even though as disciples, ideally, we celebrate the risen Lord every day. 

A Lenten fast, observed in many Christian denominations, is intended to prepare the hearts of worshippers for Easter, by imitating Jesus’ 40 days of fasting, prayer, and preparation in the desert before taking on his ministry and facing his cross. In the Bible, “many women” came and followed him after that period of preparation (Matthew 27:55). We offer you here an in-depth look at their lives as they made their way to the foot of the cross. May we also find the strength and courage in the Holy Spirit to daily imitate their faith and gain the joy of the same sweet victory alongside them, as we take up our own crosses every morning, following the same Lord, and find our way to the same joy and power of his resurrection!

For the nations of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Eurasia, and any peoples who have Eastern Orthodoxy in their Christian tradition, Easter Sunday 2021 falls on May 2^nd.  The difference in the dates for religious holidays between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendars is due to the fact that Eastern Orthodoxy still follows the Julian calendar system created by Julius Caesar in the first century BCE. Even up to the present day, humankind has not devised a calendar that accurately reflects God’s creation (!) and remains perfectly in sync with the two annual equinoxes (the moment when the center of the visible sun is directly over the equator). The Julian calendar proved to be about one day off per century. A more accurate calendar was proposed by Pope Gregory XIII in the 1500’s. It took about 300 years for the Gregorian calendar to be adopted worldwide.

Since many of our readers live in nations which have not yet celebrated Easter 2021, we will leave our Lenten series of devotionals in place until May 2^nd.

 “Jesus is Risen!” and the traditional response, “He is risen indeed!” is an Easter greeting in Orthodox churches which has spread to some other Christian denominations.