Great Lent Archives - Page 28 of 30

The First Friday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 50-55)

03/18/2016

By Father Thomas Hopko, March 13, 2008 50. Be merciful with yourself and with others. Of course, we’re to be merciful to others, but we must be merciful to ourselves too. We cannot judge ourselves more harshly than God does, and the worst sin is despair. So we should be living by the mercy of God all the time—taking responsibility for our life, but not berating ourselves or beating ourselves up. God does not want

The First Thursday of Great: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 34-49)

03/17/2016

By Father Thomas Hopko, March 13, 2008 34. Be awake, and be attentive. Be fully present where you are—wakefulness, watchfulness, attentiveness. 35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary. We should speak only when it’s necessary to speak. In fact the Scripture says: “We should speak only when spoken to.” The Fathers say: “We often repent of idle talk but very seldom have to repent of maintaining silence. Sometimes we do, because we

The First Wednesday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 11-33)

03/16/2016

By Father Thomas Hopko, March 13, 2008 11. Go to liturgical services regularly. Go to Church. Stand there. Listen. Pray. Don’t pay attention to the people—oh yes, be attentive to their presence. But be there for the sake of the service itself. 12. Go to Confession and Holy Communion regularly. Participate in the Church’s sacramental life. 13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. When feelings come upon you, when thoughts come upon you, don’t

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 1-9)

03/15/2016

By Father Thomas Hopko, March 13, 2008 In Orthodox Church tradition, the season of Great Lent is called, in the liturgical books, the “tithe of the year.” We know that in the Bible the believers were obliged to give ten percent of their possessions, their time, their crop, their money to the Lord, to the temple. And the rule of the tithe wasn’t at all because ninety percent of our possessions are our own and

The First Monday (Pure) of Great Lent: Slavery to Technology

03/14/2016

Being Separate in a Connected World 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

Second Day of Christmas Advent, Preparing for Birth: The Fast of the Nativity

11/16/2015

By Father Andrew Barakos The fast of the Nativity (November, 15th through December 24th) is first mentioned historically in the 7th Century. The only universal fasting rules (canons) of the Church that exist refer to Great Lent (40 days before Pascha or Easter); which is the most severe fast of the year. The fast of the Nativity on the other hand, varied in duration and degree of severity throughout the Church. The Nativity fast is

The Annunciation: Announcing the Incarnation

03/25/2015

By Father Steven Kostoff On March 25, we celebrate the Great Feast of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos. This great feast always falls during Great Lent, and when it falls on a weekday, it is the only instance during that season for which the full Eucharistic Liturgy is served for its commemoration—clearly a sign of the feast’s significance. Thus, the Annunciation is something of a festal interlude that punctuates the Eucharistic austerity of

WHEN YOU FAST: A REFLECTION ON GREAT LENT (Part II)

03/24/2015

By George Parsenios PhD A very helpful step in focusing on the inner drama of holiness is to avoid comparing ourselves with others, and the Church reminds us of this fact in various ways. On the 5th Sunday of Lent, for instance, we commemorate St. Mary of Egypt. She lived alone in the desert until she met St. Zosimas, who tells her story. We wouldn`t know anything about St. Mary, however, if St. Zosimas had

CLEAN MONDAY, FASTING AND GREAT LENT

02/23/2015

THE TRIODION Great Lent is the 40-day season of spiritual preparation that comes before the most important Feast of the Christian year, Holy Pascha (which means “Passover” and is commonly called “Easter”,). It is the central part of a larger time of preparation called the Triodion season. The Triodion begins ten weeks before Easter and is divided into three main parts: three Pre-Lenten weeks of preparing our hearts, the six weeks of Lent, and Holy Week. The main theme of

Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Nativity Fast

11/17/2014

ADVENT-DERIVED FROM the Latin adventus, meaning “coming”—is a word that is not often used by Orthodox Christians living in the Eastern parts of the world. It is used more frequently by Orthodox Christians living in the West, for the simple reason that when they say “Advent”, other Christians immediately understand they are referring to a period of preparation before the Great Feast of Christmas, the Nativity of Our Lord. However, there are three key differences

Archive

The First Friday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 50-55)

The First Thursday of Great: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 34-49)

The First Wednesday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 11-33)

The First Tuesday of Great Lent: Lent—the Tithe of the Year (Maxims 1-9)

The First Monday (Pure) of Great Lent: Slavery to Technology

Second Day of Christmas Advent, Preparing for Birth: The Fast of the Nativity

The Annunciation: Announcing the Incarnation

WHEN YOU FAST: A REFLECTION ON GREAT LENT (Part II)

CLEAN MONDAY, FASTING AND GREAT LENT

Third Day of Christmas Advent: The Nativity Fast

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