Great Lent Archives - Page 13 of 28

The First Friday of Great Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy

03/19/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 7, 2009 The first Sunday of Great Lent is always observed as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy” in our Churches. It marks both the return of the icons to the Churches following the end of the Iconoclast Controversy, but also as a summation of all the Holy Teachings of the faith which Orthodoxy holds and for which many have died. Most of our parishes will have a procession around the Church

The First Wednesday of Great Lent. Balancing Great Lent

03/17/2021

George Tsongranis Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye, and the feet, and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of avarice. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run

The First Tuesday of Great Lent. The Lenten Journey. Repentance.

03/16/2021

The Lenten Journey: Transformation through the Lenten Journey By Abbot Tryphon, February 27, 2020 The Byzantine Court was filled with sycophants, busying themselves with building alliances that would help them rise in status and influence. During the thousand years of the empire, a few emperors were tricked into believing these sycophants were truly their friends, and could be trusted, when in actuality they were being played, and these flatterers were not their friends. These sycophants

The First Monday (Pure) of Great Lent: A Modern Lent

03/15/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 29, 2019 Few things are as difficult in the modern world as fasting. It is not simply the action of changing our eating habits that we find problematic – it’s the whole concept of fasting and what it truly entails. It comes from another world. We understand dieting – changing how we eat in order to improve how we look or how we feel. But changing how we eat in order to know God

Friday of Cheesefare (Forgiveness) Sunday: Forgiveness for All the Sundays to Come

03/12/2021

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 18, 2018 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; (John17:20-21) The Elder Sophrony, together with St. Silouan, wrote about the “whole Adam.” By this, they meant all the human beings who have ever existed and those yet to come. For Silouan and Sophrony, this was something known in the present tense, a “hypostatic” knowledge of the fundamental unity of

Greatmartyr Theodore the Tyro (“the Recruit”)

02/17/2021

The Holy Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit (Tyro) was a soldier in the city of Alasium of the Pontine district (northeast province of Asia Minor, stretching along the coast of the Euxine, i.e. the Black Sea), under the command of a certain Brincus. They commanded him to offer sacrifice to idols. Saint Theodore firmly confessed his faith in Christ the Savior in a loud voice. The commander gave him several days to think it over,

No One Is Saved Alone

06/19/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 16, 2015 “If anyone falls, he falls alone. But no one is saved alone.” – Alexei Khomiakov Roughly 25 years ago I quit smoking. I never think about it now – it has become a thing of the distant past. But I can remember a period of about 10 years in which I struggled to quit. I would make up my mind, throw things away, make a clean sweep, and

Have You Lost Your Soul?

06/05/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 1, 2015 When was the last time you heard someone express concern for their soul? When was the last time you listened earnestly as a friend lamented a psychological or emotional struggle? The reason for the difference is simple: we have become a “soul-less” psychologized society. The classical concern for the soul has been replaced by an overwhelming interest in psychological and emotional “health.” We are becoming a “well-adjusted” society. The soul

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. The Fast that Keeps.

04/10/2020

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 12, 2013 Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch Christian who suffered in Hitler’s Ravensbruck for her work rescuing Jews, shared stories of her life within those death camps. I recall one of her remarks, “We did not keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath kept us.” Some years back I was filming a television show with the local Rabbi and a member of his congregation (who was a Holocaust survivor). In the course

Sixth Thursday of Great Lent. ‘My Child, wake up and don’t waste your time on stupid things!’

04/09/2020

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi, September 9, 2019 I received your short letter and I share your pain. I brought to mind the image of how things are and, aware of my own wretchedness, sighed at the possibility of being saved. ‘Alas, Saviour of the world, I am overwhelmed by my iniquities and am unable to see. Hasten, as merciful, and make speed, as compassionate, to our aid, for you can do whatsoever you wish’.

Archive

The First Friday of Great Lent: The Sunday of Orthodoxy

The First Wednesday of Great Lent. Balancing Great Lent

The First Tuesday of Great Lent. The Lenten Journey. Repentance.

The First Monday (Pure) of Great Lent: A Modern Lent

Friday of Cheesefare (Forgiveness) Sunday: Forgiveness for All the Sundays to Come

Greatmartyr Theodore the Tyro (“the Recruit”)

No One Is Saved Alone

Have You Lost Your Soul?

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. The Fast that Keeps.

Sixth Thursday of Great Lent. ‘My Child, wake up and don’t waste your time on stupid things!’

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