The prayer then turns us to four key virtues Christians should struggle to attain. During Lent, we are to intensify our efforts to acquire them: humility, chastity, patience, and love.
HUMILITY
IF PRIDE IS, as all Christian teachers have believed, the ultimate spiritual sin that blinds us to our own sins and shortcomings, then humility is the virtue that sees things as they really are. Therefore, it is only when we humble ourselves that we can make a beginning of repentance, for only in humility can we recognize our own sins. Thus humility 1eads to self-knowledge. But it leads also to the knowledge of God. Only the humble can see and recognize God, because God is Himself humble: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29).
CHASTITY
CHASTITY HAS COME TO BE SEEN exclusively in sexual terms. But the true and full meaning of the Greek word for chastity, sophrosini, is “wholeness” or “wholemindedness.” Chastity is therefore a state of being in which the soul and body work together as one. It is the harmonious relationship between the spirit and the flesh, wherein the body is under the control and will of the mind and spirit.
PATIENCE
THE THIRD VIRTUE MENTIONED in the prayer of St. Ephrem is patience. Patience should not be understood, as it often is, solely in terms of waiting for something to happen—waiting for the bus or in a queue, for our exam results or whatever else. The Greek word for patience is hypomoni, which means “endurance.”
The first form of patience—the ability to wait something out—is also an admirable form of patience, because it sees value in the waiting and not just the reward of what is expected. It is the patient man who will turn waiting for the bus into an opportunity for prayer, while the impatient man will get frustrated and bored.
But patience also means endurance. The greatest form of patience, and its greatest test, is patience in the face of suffering—the ability to endure wrongs and afflictions patiently. It is rooted in humility, for the humble man does not consider himself worthy of more than he receives. Patience understands that the here and now is not the be-all and end-all. That is why the humble man is patient with people. He knows that the person before him is not the whole being, not the finished article—just as a good teacher is patient with his pupil because he sees their potential and knows that their knowledge or abilities will grow in time and with patience and effort. Patience is a truly divine virtue. God Himself is patient, because He sees all ends and knows the outcome of all things. The more we trust in God, the more patient we become.
LOVE
THE GREATEST of the virtues is love. We are told that God is love, and if we say we love God and do not love our fellow human beings, we are liars (1 John 4:20). But what do Christians mean, or what should they mean, when they speak of love?
~Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for Great Lent: Reflections on the Triodion
