Sunday of Forgiveness (Cheesefare Sunday)
Categories: orthodox-life, hymns, feast-days
Date: 13 February 2010 20:11:08
Kontakion:
Master, Teacher of wisdom,
Bestower of virtue,
you teach the thoughtless and protect the poor:
Strengthen and enlighten my heart.
Word of the Father,
let me not restrain my mouth from crying to you:
Have mercy on me, a transgressor,
O merciful Lord!
Today is the Sunday of Forgiveness in the Orthodox Church, also known as Cheesefare Sunday as it is the last day that dairy products may be eaten before the Great Lent fast, which begins tomorrow, Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent. And it has one more name: the Expulsion of Adam from the Paradise of Bliss. I cannot do better than quote from the previous link to explain this Sunday:The Sunday of Forgiveness, the last of the preparatory Sundays before Great Lent, has two themes: it commemorates Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, and it accentuates our need for forgiveness. There are obvious reasons why these two things should be brought to our attention as we stand on the threshold of Great Lent. One of the primary images in the Triodion is that of the return to Paradise. Lent is a time when we weep with Adam and Eve before the closed gate of Eden, repenting with them for the sins that have deprived us of our free communion with God. But Lent is also a time when we are preparing to celebrate the saving event of Christ’s death and rising, which has reopened Paradise to us once more (Luke 23:43). So sorrow for our exile in sin is tempered by hope of our re-entry into Paradise. The second theme, that of forgiveness, is emphasized in the Gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 6:14-21) and in the special ceremony of mutual forgiveness at the end of the Vespers on Sunday evening. Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family. Our asceticism and fasting should not separate us from others, but should link us to them with ever-stronger bonds.The text above refers to the humbling ceremony of mutual forgiveness which is set for Vespers on Sunday evening, but which for practical reasons is done at our church after the Divine Liturgy; it is described here:
After the dismissal at Vespers, the priest stands beside the analogion, or before the ambon, and the faithful come up one by one and venerate the ikon, after which each makes a prostration before the priest, saying “Forgive me, a sinner.” The priest also makes a prostration before each “God forgives. Forgive me.” The person responds, “God forgives” and receives a blessing from the priest. Meanwhile the choir sings quietly the Irmoi of the Paschal Canon, or else the Paschal Stichera. After receiving the priest's blessing, the faithful also ask forgiveness of each other.An interesting aspect of the above is the singing of Paschal [Easter] hymns; as Fr Alexander Schmemann writes in his book Great Lent, "We will have to wander forty days through the desert of Lent. Yet at the end shines already the light of Easter, the light of the kingdom." [p. 30, 2001]. It is also the first time that we hear the most moving Lenten prayer of St. Ephrem:
O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Your servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother or sister, for blessed are You, to the ages of ages. Amen.
In that same spirit, I humbly ask of each of you forgiveness for any thing I have done, or indeed failed to do, in my words or my deeds, that has caused offence and hurt to you.
Let us begin the time of fasting in light! Preparing ourselves for the spiritual efforts. Let us purify our soul; let us purify our body. As from food, let us abstain from all passion And enjoy the virtues of the spirit, So that perfected in time by love We may all be made worthy to see The Passion of Christ and the Holy Pascha In spiritual joy! from the Forgiveness Sunday Vespers