In the Orthodox Church, the last Sunday before Great Lent – the day on which, at Vespers, Lent is liturgically announced and inaugurated – is called Forgiveness Sunday.
On the morning of that Sunday, at the Divine Liturgy, we hear the words of Christ: “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you…
“Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master, and Thy Holy Resurrection, we glorify.”
This hymn – together with the accompanying rite of venerating the Cross – replaces the usual Trisagion hymn during the Divine Liturgy on the Third Sunday of Great Lent. According to The Synaxarion of the Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion, the…
Having come to the middle point of the path of the Fast that leads to Thy precious Cross, grant that we may see Thy day that Abraham saw and rejoiced, when on the mountain he received Isaac back alive as from the tomb. Delivered from the enemy by faith, may we share Thy mystical supper, calling upon Thee in peace: Our light and our Savior, glory to…
As we draw closer to the beginning of Great Lent on Monday, March 18, we are able to set our lenten efforts against the background of the Last Judgment, thus giving us the “big picture” within which we live our lives and determine our personal destinies.
The Gospel read at the Eucharistic Liturgy this past Sunday was that of the Parable of the…
“God created the world and blessed it and gave it to man as his food and life, as the means of communion with Him.” – Fr. Alexander Schmemann
As we find ourselves towards the end of Lent, confronting food at every corner and contemplating the meaning of true fasting, I remembered this essay I wrote for a class on Orthodoxy…
Great Lent is a wonderful, if trying, time. It’s an opportunity to recharge our spiritual batteries and tell ourselves that despite falling down all year, now is the time to get back up. It’s a time to guard ourselves and give of ourselves in a multitude of ways. We often hear that it is not enough to merely abstain…
Those familiar with Lenten liturgy will recognize the title as part of the Lenten “Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian”, which reads in part, “O Lord and Master of my life…grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed unto ages of ages.” This prayer is not the only part of our tradition which forbids…
Food and drink were intended for nourishment and enjoyment. Passion transforms the natural acts of eating and drinking into gluttony and dissipation.
The theme of repentance is heard so often during Great Lent because it expresses the essential conviction of our Christian faith that the human person is called by God to change. This involves above…
Part of the experience of being involved in religious activities in the late 60′s and early 70′s was the not infrequent encounters with members of cults (they seemed to be everywhere). I’m not certain how I would define a cult (not purely by doctrine but certainly by its destruction and control of its members as whole persons). I worked in a…
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rejoicing today in the triumph of Orthodoxy on this first Sunday of Lent, we joyfully commemorate three events: one event belonging to the past; one event to the present; and one event which still belongs to the future.
Whenever we have any feast or joy in the Church, we…
When Lent arrives, parents have schedules to maneuver, menus to plan, and services to squeeze in on busy school nights. We take stock: when does Holy Week fall? Whose birthday will be trumped by Lent this year? How will we make it to the extra services when we are in the middle of Little League season?
The following collected words of wisdom from…
The first reading ends. The Royal Gates open. The celebrant appears holding aloft a candle in one hand, the censer in the other. He faces the people of God and chants: “The light of Christ illumines all.” The Word of God, the Logos Who with the Father and Holy Spirit were from the beginning of everything, the same Son of God is from the baptism…
Preaching from the last words of our Lord, God and Savior on Good Friday is quite common in western churches. In the medieval period preachers emphasized the darkness and desolation. Later they stressed the overwhelming love poured out from Christ’s glorious sacrifice. In any case the emotions of all Christians are brought to a climax by the Son…
What made Judas decide to betray the One who chose him from among all the followers of Jesus to be an apostle? Several suggestions come from the above passage. Judas was called Iscariot. That wasn’t his last name. He came from Kerioth, a place beyond Galilee. He was the only apostle from somewhere else. Sometimes we feel that we are unlike…
American culture throws up peculiar challenges to thoughtful and serious members of any traditional religious faith.
There’s the thoroughgoing confusion we have made between capitalism and democracy, which makes taboo any public questioning of the merits of our economic system, even during these times of financial crisis. (Which is more in keeping…
EDITOR’S NOTE: This reflection on Holy Week was written in 1998 by Dr. Constance Tarasar, who chaired the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Christian Education and served as Executive Secretary of the Orthodox Christian Education Commission for many years before her repose in 2014. The text also is available in PDF format for reproduction…