The end is at hand, my soul, is at hand! But you neither care nor prepare. The time is growing short. Arise! The Judge is at the door! Like a dream, like a flower, the time of this life passes. Why do we bustle about in vain? (Fourth ode of the Canon of St. Andrew) AS WE SAW IN CHAPTER TWO, the central theme of Lent is repentance. This theme is at the heart of
Open to me, O Giver of Life, the gates of repentance: for early in the morning my spirit seeks Your holy temple, bearing a temple of the body all defiled. But in Your compassion cleanse it by Your loving-kindness and Your mercy. (Troparion of Matins, Sunday of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee) IF THERE IS ONE CENTRAL THEME TO LENT, it is without doubt repentance. The season of the Triodion begins with the above
Our hymns are “the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’” (Is. 40:3). Just as St. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ by calling the people of Israel to repentance (Matt. 3:1-2) so too does the Church prepare us for the Nativity by exhorting us to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8). Repentance begins with humility, contrition, tears, and confession, but it does not end there.
On Great Wednesday the Church invites the faithful to focus their attention on two figures: the sinful woman who anointed the head of Jesus shortly before the passion (Mt 26.6-13), and Judas, the disciple who betrayed the Lord. The former acknowledged Jesus as Lord, while the latter severed himself from the Master. The one was set free, while the other became a slave. The one inherited the kingdom, while the other fell into perdition. These
The first part of Great Week presents us with an array of themes based chiefly on the last days of Jesus’ earthly life. The story of the Passion, as told and recorded by the Evangelists, is preceded by a series of incidents located in Jerusalem and a collection of parables, sayings and discourses centered on Jesus’ divine sonship, the kingdom of God, the Parousia, and Jesus’ castigation of the hypocrisy and dark motives of the
Saint Ephraim the Syrian, a teacher of repentance, was born at the beginning of the fourth century in the city of Nisibis (Mesopotamia) into the family of impoverished toilers of the soil. His parents raised their son in piety, but from his childhood he was known for his quick temper and impetuous character. He often had fights, acted thoughtlessly, and even doubted God’s Providence. He finally recovered his senses by the grace of God, and
Orthodox and Paradox. The two words have much in common. The “dox” that ends both terms has its root in the Greek word doxa, which means “belief” or “opinion.” It will be suggested in what follows that these words share much more than just a linguistic root, but glancing at the root word is a good place to begin. In its later Christian usage, doxa comes to mean “glory,” but only as an extension of
Like the liturgical celebration of the Lord’s Nativity, the festival of His Epiphany in the Jordan at the time of His baptism is inaugurated with a prefeast celebration of five days. And also like the services of the Nativity, many hymns of the Epiphany prefeast are patterned after those of the springtime Pascha of the Lord’s death and resurrection. Once again just a few words in many of the songs are changed from those sung
They are many today, who desire a better understanding of the liturgical tradition of the Church and a more conscious participation in her life. Repentance, we are told, is the beginning and the condition of a truly Christian life. Christ’s first word when He began to preach was: “Repent!” (Matt. 4:17). But what is repentance? In the rush of our daily life, we have no time to think about it, and we simply assume that
Peter exhorts sinners not to despair and challenges their belief that the Creator of all is incapable of saving them. Because God is, as the liturgy says, “the lover of mankind,” because Paul tells us that it is God’s desire “that all shall be saved” (1 Timothy 2:3-4), so we should not lose hope. Even if you are not what you should be, you should not despair. It is bad enough that you have sinned-
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