Clean Monday is the very first Monday which begins Great Lent. If your parish has never held a day to invite all the children, big and small, to experience the Sacrament of Confession....keep reading! This year, we're planning ahead and beginning our preparations. The tradition in Greece is to fly kites, which may to some appear secular, but when looked at more closely, can have a beautiful relation to the soul! You see, on the Sunday evening before we begin Great Lent, there is always held the Vespers of Forgiveness where each parishioner asks the priest and one another for forgiveness. It marks the beginning of a great journey in which we embark to clean our souls of the darkness built up from our sins. Consider gathering your youth (ages 2-18) and even their parents to a day set aside for Confession and Kite Flying!
We've chosen the Saturday beforehand. The younger children can experience Confession as a group with the priest, who can speak with them openly about the topic of sin and all can kneel under the "epitrahelion" for the final absolution to conclude, whereas the older kids can prepare their confession ahead of time and meet with the priest one on one. As each group finishes, we plan to meet outside to hand out free kites and experience the "joy" of a soul released to soar, free and lightened from the burden of sin!Here is my simplified Top 10 Preparation List http://orthodoxeducation.blogspot.de/2008/06/weight-of-our-sins.html
Additional Resources :
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/pr_confession.aspx
Pamphlet with Questions for Preparation:
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/guide-to-confession.aspx
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