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Today's Verse
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being" 1 Corinthians 10: 23-24

Great Lent consists of six weeks (40 days), which correspond to the 40 days that Christ fasted on the mountain. It precedes Palm Sunday, and the Holy Week, which precede Easter. The seven days of the Holy Week is also a period of rigorous fasting.
There are an additional seven days of fasting before the beginning of the Great Lent, which serve as a preparatory period. Often called "Pre-Lenten Fast" or "Preparatory Week".

The word Lent initially simply meant spring (as in German language Lenz and Dutch lente) and derives from the Germanic root for long because in the spring the days visibly lengthen

The texts read during the Great Lent are different from those which we read during the rest of the year. During Lent, the Church has no Vespers except on Sundays.

The days of Lent, together with the three holy days of Jonah and the HolyWeek, proclaim prophecies from the Old Testament. On the weekdays of the seven weeks of Lent, we read the prophecies before the prime Gospel. As for Saturdays and Sundays, which are considered as holidays, in which happiness and delight should prevail, we do not read prophecies.

http://en.wikipedia.org

A Journey through Great Lent by H.G. Bishop Suriel
From copticheritage.org