Meatfare Sunday

The popular name of "Meatfare Sunday" comes from the fact that this is the last day on which the laity are permitted to eat meat until Pascha (Orthodox monks and nuns never eat meat).

The Eastern Orthodox Church traditionally reads this story on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, which in their liturgical year is the Sunday before Meatfare Sunday and about two weeks before the beginning of Great Lent.