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GREAT LENT Its Meaning For Orthodox Christians
by THE RT. REV. ALEXANDER SCHMEMANN (1970)
GREAT LENT The Time of Repentance
"Brethren, while fasting bodily, let us,.also fast spiritually; let us loosen every bond of injustice; let us destroy the strong fetters of violence; let us tear up every unjust writing; let us give bread to the hungry and let us welcome the homeless poor to our houses, that from Christ our God we may receive the great mercy." (Stichira, Wednesday of the First Week)
In this brief explanation of Lent we shall deal with:
the preparation for Great Lent,
the Lenten worship of the Orthodox Church,
the Orthodox teaching on fasting, prayer and other spiritual efforts prescribed during Lent.
SUNDAYS OF PREPARATION
Three weeks before Lent proper begins we enter into a period of pre-Lenten preparation. It is a constant feature of the Orthodox tradition of worship that every major liturgical event -(Christmas, Easter, Lent)-is announced and prepared in advance. Knowing our lack of concentration, the "worldliness" of our life, the Church calls our attention to the seriousness of the approaching event, invites us to meditate on its significance. Thus, before we can practice Lent, we are given its meaning.
This preparation includes four consecutive Sundays preceding Lent, each one of them dedicated to some fundamental aspect of repentance.
1. Humility (Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee)
On the eve of this day (i.e. on Saturday at Vespers) the liturgical book of the Lenten season-the Triodion makes its first appearance and texts from it are added to the usual liturgical material of the weekly Resurrection service. They develop the first major theme of repentance: humility.
The Gospel lesson (Luke 18:10-14) teaches us that humility is the condition of repentance. The parable of the Publican and Pharisee pictures a man who is always pleased with himself and who thinks that he complies with all the requirements of religion. He is proud of himself and self-assured. In reality, however, he has falsified the meaning of religion. He has reduced it to external observations and he measures his piety by the amount of money he gives to the temple. Religion is for him a source of self-admiration. The Publican humbles himself and humility justifies him before God.
"Let us avoid the high-flown speech of the Pharisee"-says the Kontakion of the day- "and learn the majesty of the Publican's humble words."
2. Return to the Father (Sunday of the Prodigal Son)
The Gospel reading of this day (Luke 15:11-32) gives us the second theme of Lent and repentance: that of the return to God. It is not enough to acknowledge sins and to confess them. Repentance remains fruitless without the desire and decision to change life, to go back to God, to begin the movement of ascension and purification. We must realize that we have lost our spiritual beauty and purity and we must want to recover them: "... I shall return to the compassionate Father crying with tears: Receive me as one of Thy servants." At Matins we sing Psalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion ... If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." The Christian remembers and knows that he has lost communion with God, the peace and the joy of His Kingdom, the purity of the new life. For he was baptized, introduced into the Body of Christ, but his sins have driven him away from God. Repentance, therefore, is this desire to return to God, a movement of love and trust:
"I have wickedly strayed away from Thy Fatherly glory, and wasted the riches Thou gavest me among sinners. Then do I raise the prodigal's cry unto Thee, O Bountiful Father, I have sinned against Thee: take me back as a penitent, and make me as one of thy hired servants ..."
(Kontakion of the day)
3. The Last Judgment (Meat Fare Sunday)
On Meat Fare Saturday (preceding this Sunday) the Church prescribes the universal commemoration of all her departed members. The Church is unity and love in Christ. We all depend on each other, belong to ea