Great Lent Archives - Page 18 of 28

The Eleventh Day of Great Lent. Being Separate in a Connected World…a Digital Lenten Message

03/21/2019

By Fr. Christopher Makiej Beloved in Christ, we have to see ourselves as being different than the world around us! As Christians we are called to be “in the world, but not of the world.” (John 15:19). The Scripture says “come out and be separate….” (2 Cor. 6:17) Yet this can be very difficult in a world that pressures us to conform to its ways and to be connected to it at all times. We

The Tenth Day of Great Lent. Lent in Our Life (Part II)

03/20/2019

In regard to Lent, instead of asking fundamental questions—”What is fasting?” or “What is Lent?”—we satisfy ourselves with Lenten symbolism. In church magazines and bulletins appear recipes for “delicious Lenten dishes,” and a parish might even raise some additional money by means of a well-advertised “tasty Lenten dinner.” So much in our churches is explained symbolically as interesting, colorful, and amusing customs and traditions, as something which connects us not so much with God and

The Ninth Day of Great Lent. Lent in Our Life (Part I)

03/19/2019

We have [spoken] of the Church’s teaching about Lent as conveyed to us primarily by Lenten worship. Now these questions must be asked: How can we apply this teaching to our lives? What could be not only a nominal but a real impact of Lent on our existence? This existence (do we need to recall it) is very different from the one people led when all these services, hymns, canons, and prescriptions were composed and

The Eighth Day of Great Lent. The Cross. The Cross as Cure

03/18/2019

The second sacred image that the cross echoes is the “Lifted-Up One,” and it comes from the bronze snake in the desert. YHWH tells Moses to raise up a serpent on a pole, and “anyone who has been bitten by a serpent and looks upon it will be healed” (Numbers 21:8). It is like a homeopathic symbol. The very thing that is killing the Children of Israel is the thing that will heal them! It

The Fifth Day of Great Lent. The Icon of Music

03/15/2019

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, February 28, 2015 This Sunday, the First Sunday of Great Lent, marks the return of the holy icons to the Churches in 843 A.D. It is celebrated as the “Sunday of Orthodoxy.” This article offers a reflection on a different form of the icon – of equal importance – and equally worth protection and care. Orthodox theology is a “seamless garment”: no part of Orthodox doctrine, worship, prayer or life stands

The Fourth Day of Great Lent. Bright Sadness.

03/14/2019

For many, if not for the majority of Orthodox Christians, Lent consists of a limited number of formal, predominantly negative, rules and prescriptions: abstention from certain food, dancing, perhaps movies. Such is the degree of our alienation from the real spirit of the Church that it is almost impossible for us to understand that there is “something else” in Lent—something without which all these prescriptions lose much of their meaning. This “something else” can best

The Third Day of Great Lent. The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts.

03/13/2019

The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts has a distinct character and order. It is comprised of three major parts or components: a) the service of Great Vespers peculiar to this Liturgy; b) the solemn transfer of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts to-the holy Table; and c) the preparation for and the distribution of holy Communion. The Liturgy does not contain the Anaphora, the Gifts of the bread and wine having been consecrated at the Divine Liturgy on

The Second Day of Great Lent. “When You Fast…”

03/12/2019

What appears to happen in the Passion of Christ and what actually happens are not at all the same. What appears to happen is not that extraordinary. The Romans crucified a Jewish man in order to keep public order. During their long rule over Judea, the Romans had killed many Jews, making the death of Jesus one among these many. But, only in appearance. The reality was very different. The Paschal homily attributed to St.

The First Day (Pure Monday) of Great Lent: The Journey to Pascha

03/11/2019

By Alexander Schmemann When a man leaves on a journey, he must know where he is going. Thus with Lent. Above all, Lent is a spiritual journey and its destination is Pascha, “the Feast of Feasts.” It is the preparation for the “fulfillment of Pascha, the true Revelation.” We must begin, therefore, by trying to understand this connection between Lent and Pascha, for it reveals something very essential, very crucial about our Christian faith and

Forgiveness – Do We Know What We’re Doing?

03/08/2019

By Fr Stephen Freeman, March 13, 2016 The first service of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church is “Forgiveness Vespers,” served on the eve of Monday of the First Week. There is nothing unusual about the service itself – other than the “rite of forgiveness” appended to it. In this, the priest and the faithful ask forgiveness of one another. Often this is done with mutual prostrations. Each asks the forgiveness of the other. The

Tags

The Eleventh Day of Great Lent. Being Separate in a Connected World…a Digital Lenten Message

The Tenth Day of Great Lent. Lent in Our Life (Part II)

The Ninth Day of Great Lent. Lent in Our Life (Part I)

The Eighth Day of Great Lent. The Cross. The Cross as Cure

The Fifth Day of Great Lent. The Icon of Music

The Fourth Day of Great Lent. Bright Sadness.

The Third Day of Great Lent. The Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts.

The Second Day of Great Lent. “When You Fast…”

The First Day (Pure Monday) of Great Lent: The Journey to Pascha

Forgiveness – Do We Know What We’re Doing?

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