lent Archives - Page 7 of 11

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part V)

03/17/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware If we are to understand correctly the text of the Triodion and the spirituality that underlies it, there are five misconceptions about the Lenten fast against which we should guard. In the first place, the Lenten fast is not intended only for monks and nuns, but is enjoined on the whole Christian people. Nowhere do the Canons of the Ecumenical or Local Councils suggest that fasting is only for monks

Journey to Pascha

03/16/2015

Desiring to commune with the Divine Pascha . . . let us pursue victory over the devil through fasting. (First hymn of the aposticha for Vespers, Thursday of the first week of Lent) Having thus been encouraged and inspired by the memory and veneration of the Cross on which Christ suffered for our sakes, we are persuaded to continue our own Lenten effort, to carry on bearing our cross for His sake, and to walk

THE SUNDAY OF THE CROSS

03/13/2015

Having passed beyond the middle point in this holy season of the Fast, with joy Let us go forward to the part that still remains, anointing our souls with the oil of almsgiving. So may we be counted worthy to venerate the divine Passion of Christ our God, and to attain His dread and holy Resurrection. (Third troparion of Vespers, fourth Sunday of Lent) 12 THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT is dedicated to the Cross.

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part IV)

03/12/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware Prayer and fasting should in their turn be accompanied by almsgiving – by love for others expressed in practical form, by works of compassion and forgiveness. Eight days before the opening of the Lenten fast, on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, the appointed Gospel is the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25′: 31-46), reminding us that the criterion in the coming judgment will not

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part III)

03/11/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware If it is important not to overlook the physical requirements of fasting, it is even more important not to overlook its inward significance. Fasting is not a mere matter of diet. It is moral as well as physical. True fasting is to be converted in heart and will; it is to return to God, to come home like the Prodigal to our Father’s house. In the words of

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part II)

03/10/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware One reason for this decline in fasting is surely a heretical attitude towards human nature, a false ‘spiritualism’ which rejects or ignores the body, viewing man solely in terms of his reasoning brain. As a result, many contemporary Christians have lost a true vision of man as an integral unity of the visible and the invisible; they neglect the positive role played by the body in the spiritual

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part I)

03/09/2015

By Mother Mary and Bishop Kallistos Ware ‘We waited, and at last our expectations were fulfilled’, writes the Serbian Bishop Nikolai of Ochrid, describing the Easter service at Jerusalem. ‘When the Patriarch sang “Christ is risen”, a heavy burden fell from our souls. We felt as if we also had been raised from the dead. All at once, from all around, the same cry resounded like the noise of many waters. “Christ is risen” sang

PASSIONS AND VIRTUES: The Prayer of St. Ephrem (Part III)

03/04/2015

There are four different Greek words for love: agape (brotherly love), eros (sexual love), philia (friendship), and storge (compassion). The word usually used for Christian love—love for God and our fellow human beings—is agape. However, the other three words can also be applied to Christian love. Philia There is an interesting passage in the Gospel (John 21:15-17) when Christ asks Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” and Peter replies, “You know I love You.”

PASSIONS AND VIRTUES: The Prayer of St. Ephrem (Part I)

03/02/2015

Let us set out with joy upon the season of the Fast, and prepare ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our soul and cleanse our flesh; and as we fast from food, let us abstain also from every passion. Rejoicing in the virtue of the Spirit, may we persevere with love, and so be counted worthy to see the solemn Passion of Christ our God, and with great spiritual gladness to behold His holy

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

02/26/2015

The Akathist Hymn is a service full of poetry and theology in praise of the Mother of God, the Theotokos. Thus today’s Gospel reading takes us back to Christmas, to the good news that was given to the Theotokos that she would bare God in her womb and become His mother. This is another feast we celebrate every Lent, on the 25th March, the Annunciation. But why do we sing this Akathist Hymn, this song to

Archive

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part V)

Journey to Pascha

THE SUNDAY OF THE CROSS

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part IV)

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part III)

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part II)

THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST (Part I)

PASSIONS AND VIRTUES: The Prayer of St. Ephrem (Part III)

PASSIONS AND VIRTUES: The Prayer of St. Ephrem (Part I)

WHY DO WE SING THE AKATHIST HYMN EVERY LENT?

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