Categories: orthodox-life, feast-days, spiritual-journey
Date: 28 February 2007 08:59:32
Although I did not attend this year's pre-Great Lent services of the Orthodox Church, I have, through my recollections of past years and my reading of Fr Alexander Schmemann's Great Lent, been pondering the call the Church gives us before we enter Great Lent, to remind us of its approach and of its significance. As Fr Schmemann writes, it is difficult for us "to go abruptly from one spiritual or mental state into another", and long before "we can practice Lent we are given its meaning" (p. 17) This Lenten preparation begins five Sundays before the start of Great Lent (which in Eastern Orthodoxy begins on a Monday, rather than a Wednesday as it does in the Western Church).
The first Sunday focuses on desire through the Gospel story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10): we are invited to consider Zacchaeus' example and to ponder where our desire lies. The second Sunday is concerned with humility, and with the reading of the Gospel story of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14). The third Sunday we hear the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and are invited to consider repentance more deeply, and our desire to return from alienation to God into a true and living relationship with Him. The fourth Sunday is when the Orthodox Church prescribes fasting from meat (a limited fasting, to prepare us for the Great Lent fast ahead) and we hear the Parable of the Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) and the harsh lesson on our being judged as to how we showed practical love to those in need around us. The fifth Sunday is also known as Forgiveness Sunday (because of the ceremony Unordered mentioned where we ask forgiveness of all people in our parish individually), where we hear Mathew 6:14-21 read and where we consider the need for fasting and the need for forgiveness of our neighbour, and the removal of division or separation between us so that we may have true unity and true love with one another.
In the coming days I'll quote some more from Fr Schmemann with regard to some of the Sundays above. His Great Lent is truly a wonderful book, and Great Lent is indeed a wonderful time in the Church Year.