THE MEANING OF THE GREAT FAST: The True Nature of Fasting
About Great Lent
What Should I Do During Great Lent?
The path of Christ is the path of every Christian. And I also went to tell you that the path that Christ the Savior followed is the path of every one of us Christians.
When the Lord called us into the bosom of the Church, when we received Holy Baptism, and then at a given moment were found worthy of grace, when the Divine light touched our hearts, then we felt an extraordinary joy and, as it were, found ourselves in the Upper Room with Christ. Then everything was luminous and joyful, because the Lord strengthened our spiritual and bodily powers, so that we tasted and knew how good the Lord is.
But out path did not end there. We followed Christ further. We followed the path of teaching, when we had to justify that Divine joy, that Divine grace, which had visited our hearts in the beginning of our ascetic struggle.
Here we, like the Apostles in their time, and like Christ, encountered all kinds of hardships, all kinds of difficult circumstances, and even began to waver. Or, like Christ’s followers of little faith, we even fell asleep at the moment of spiritual trials.
But in order to triumph over sin, in order decisively to establish good in our hearts, we are required to follow Christ even beyond the Garden of Gethsemane. We are required to continue on the path to the house of the high priests Annas and Caiaphas and to go to the Pretoria, to Pontius Pilate, and to hear the terrible words: “Crucify, Crucify Him!”
Then the path will lead us to Golgotha, so that we would be crucified with Christ with our passions and lusts. On this path, we are buried along with the Lord. And only after this will the resurrection of our soul take place. Only then will come the triumph of good in our hearts. And our spiritual rest will be even more established when we, having gone the way of the cross, will receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
This is what we should feel and experience on our salutary path. This path is difficult, but it is essential to follow it. To follow it, in spite of hardships and distress – both from our neighbors, and from our own sinful habits… Sometimes we will not even know what to do. But if we will zealously keep to the path of Christ and, calling upon Divine help, will go fearlessly to Golgotha even to be buried along with Christ, then the Lord will send down upon us His Divine grace, strengthen our weak forces, and help us to overcome all our sinful passions, implanting in their place good habits that will help us to attain to everlasting life with our Lord Jesus Christ.
http://www.pravmir.com/great-lent-the-path-of-following-christ/
The first week of Great Lent is distinguished by its special strictness and its lengthy services. On the first four days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) the canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read at Great Compline with the refrain between each verse, "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me."
On Friday of the first week, at the Liturgy after the Prayer before the Ambo, the blessing of "koliva" (a mixture of boiled wheat with honey) takes place in memory of the holy Great Martyr St. Theodore Tyro, who granted supernatural help to Christians to help them keep the fast. In 362 A.D., the Byzantine Emperor, Julian the Apostate, ordered that the blood of sacrifices offered to idols be secretly sprinkled on the provisions for the city of Constantinople. The Great Martyr St. Theodore, who was burned alive in 306 for his confession of the Christian faith, appeared in a dream to the bishop of Constantinople, Eudox-ius, and exposed the secret plot of Julian. He ordered him not to buy food for the entire week at the city market, and to instruct his flock to live on koliva.
On the first Sunday of Great Lent the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" is celebrated, which was established by the Empress Theodora in 842 A.D. in memory of the restoration of the veneration of the holy icons. At the conclusion of the Liturgy a Service of Intercession ("Moleben") is held in the center of the church before icons of the Saviour and the Theotokos, asking that the Lord confirm Orthodox Christians in the faith and bring back to the path of truth all those who have apostatized from the Church. The deacon reads the Creed solemnly and pronounces the anathemas, proclaiming that all those who have presumed to distort the true Orthodox Christian Faith are separated from the Church. He then intones "Eternal Memory" for all the reposed defenders of the Orthodox Faith, and finally, "Many Years," for all those who are living. This service is customarily done in the presence of a bishop.
On the second Sunday of Great Lent the memory of St. Gregory Palamas is celebrated. A bishop of Thessalonica who lived in the fourteenth century, he continued the battle against Western, Latin distortions of the Christian faith by teaching the importance of the deifying power of the uncreated Grace of God and preserving the true balance between immanence and transcendence with the doctrine of the relationship between the "essence" and "energies" of God. In accordance with the Orthodox Faith he taught that the ascetic endeavor of fasting and prayer, particularly the practice of the Jesus Prayer according to the teachings of the hesychastic Fathers, prepares one to receive the grace-filled light of the Lord, which is like that which shone on Mt. Tabor at the Lord’s Transfiguration. In other words, if God wills, according to one’s striving, one can partake of divine blessedness while still on this sinful earth. Thus the second Sunday of Great Lent has been set aside to commemorate this great Church Father, who made explicit the teaching which reveals the power of prayer and fasting.
On the third Sunday of Great Lent, during the All-night Vigil after the Great Doxology, the Holy Cross is brought forth from the Altar and placed in the center of the church for the veneration of the faithful. During the prostrations made before the Cross (which often contains a portion of the True Cross) the church chants, "Before Thy Cross, we bow down, O Master, and Thy holy Resurrection we glorify." This hymn is also chanted at the Liturgy instead of the Trisagion. The Church has placed this event in the middle of Great Lent in order that the recollection of the suffering and death of the Lord might inspire and strengthen those fasting for the remainder of the ascetic struggle of the fast. The Holy Cross remains out for veneration throughout the week until Friday, when, after the hours and before the beginning of the Presanctfied Liturgy, it is returned to the Altar. Thus the third Sunday and fourth week of Great Lent are termed those of the "Adoration of the Holy Cross."
On the fourth Sunday of Great Lent St. John of the Ladder is commemorated, the author of the classic ascetic text, The Ladder, in which he indicates a ladder, or succession of virtues which lead us up to the Throne of God. On Thursday of the fifth week at Matins, the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read, along with the reading of the life of St. Mary of Egypt. The commemoration of the life of St. Mary of Egypt, who formerly had been a great sinner, is intended to serve as an example of true repentance for all and convince us of the ineffable compassion of God. On Saturday of the fifth week (Matins on Friday evening) we celebrate the "Laudation of the Theotokos," which consists of the reading of the Akathist to the Theotokos. This service was initiated in Greece in gratitude to the Theotokos for her numerous deliverances of Constantinople from its enemies. The Akathist is read here for the confirmation of the faithful in their reliance upon the heavenly Mediatress, who, delivering us from visible enemies, is even more an aid to us in our battle with invisible enemies.
On the fifth Sunday of Great Lent we commemorate our holy Mother Mary of Egypt. As mentioned above, the Church finds in her an image of true repentance and a source of encouragement for those engaged in spiritual endeavors, by virtue of the example of the ineffable mercy of God shown towards her a repentant sinner.
The sixth week, which directly precedes Palm Sunday, is dedicated to the preparation of those fasting for a worthy meeting with the Lord and for the commemoration of the Passion of the Lord.
On Saturday of the sixth week the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ is commemorated. This day is termed "Lazarus Saturday." During Matins the "Troparia on the Blameless" are chanted: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes..." and at the Liturgy instead of "Holy God" we chant "As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia," for those catechumens who are baptized according to custom on this day.
The sixth Sunday of Great Lent is one of the twelve great feasts, in which we celebrate the solemn Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem for His voluntary Passion. This feast is also termed Palm Sunday. After the reading of the Gospel at the All-night Vigil, we do not chant "Having seen the Resurrection of Chris i," but the 50th Psalm is read immediately, and after being sanctified with prayer and holy water, bundles of palms, flowers, and (in the Russian Church) pussy willows, are distributed to the faithful, who then remain standing until the end of the service holding these bundles with lit candles as a sign of the victory of life over death.
At Vespers on Palm Sunday the dismissal begins with the words, "May Christ our true God Who for our salvation went to His voluntary Passion,...
The value of fasting consists not in abstinence only from food, but in a relinquishment of sinful practices, since he who limits his fasting only to an abstinence from meat is he who especially disparages it.
The change in our way of life during these blessed days will help us to gain holiness.
Therefore, we should let our soul rejoice during the fast.
St. John Chrysostom
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let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light”
The so called ‘slogan’ which we hear throughout Great Lent is the recommendation by Paul the Apostle, who calls upon us to cast off all our dark deeds and dress into the armor of light. “Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” (Rom. 13, 12)
The first thing the Apostle points out is that we ought to accept that we often fall under the spell of darkness, namely of sin, and therefore our deeds are sinful. Indeed there is no man, particularly no Christian, who does not readily confess in a general and vague manner, that he is a sinner.
“Is there anyone who is not a sinner?’ we are often asked when we engage in this kind of talk. Nevertheless, such a general and vague acknowledgement is not what the Apostle seems to have had in mind. Because the vague recognition of our sinful condition most probably serves as an alibi of sin itself in the sense that we are all in the same boat so… In other words, we profess the sinfulness of human nature in order to justify it as something normal!
The Apostle however gives a dramatic tone to his call that we need ‘to cast off the works of darkness’ and of sin: Namely that whatever we do, whatever we talk about or even think about, if it is cut off from Jesus, who is the source of light, constitutes a sin and therefore is darkness. At the end of the day, he who does not act and live Jesus’ life, he lives a nonexistent life, even if his deeds seem great and important.
Our times are probably described by spiritual nonexistence since, not only those outside the Church but also we, the devout Christians, live in a manner which has nothing to do with Jesus; it is as if we are still living in the pre-Christ era. This been described as the ‘secular’ condition long ago; i.e. our lives are disengaged from Jesus’ presence. Therefore, practical atheism is distinctive of our era.
However, this tragic condition has already been pointed out by the Lord Himself. We are living dead. He, whose life is not distinguished by the Lord’s preconditions, is dead. Jesus’ words sound loudly and morbidly: “let the dead bury their dead” ( Matt.8,22). He, who does not receive Him and does not wish to become His disciple, is dead.
Therefore, ‘casting off the works of darkness’ means: we ought to cast off everything which causes our spiritual death and deprives us of the vitality of life. How is this possible? How can we get away from the snares of death? The Apostle says so clearly and precisely: by turning towards the light- “…putting on the armor of light”. We are only able to overcome what is negative by adopting what is positive. We cannot overcome darkness by shooting at it! It just naturally disappears when light approaches. The darkness of the night always gives way as soon as dawn and sunlight approach. Similarly, the darkness of sin disappears as soon as man turns towards the spiritual light- the Sun of Righteousness, the Lord, Jesus Christ. As the Apostle says: turning towards the light means: to ‘put on Jesus Christ’. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 13, 14).
However, there is a problem here. How am I being asked to put on Jesus Christ, since I have already done that through my baptism? The Word of the Lord has already stipulated that “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3, 27). How am I to put on the same cloth that I am already dressed into? St Paul’s call means that all Christians who are already clothed into Jesus Christ ought to restore their garments. For we unfortunately continue to commit trespasses even after we have been baptized. Our negligence causes the dilapidation of that which ought to have been preserved as new.
Therefore ‘putting on Jesus’ means: that I, being baptized, ought to live in repentance. I am being asked to live a life of repentance in order to cleanse the cloth I have put on during my baptism. This is the reason why the Holy Fathers have described ‘repentance’ as a ‘second baptism’. Therefore, I stop being in the darkness if I chose the path of repentance, which assists me to restore my true self; to regain the light which flooded me on the day of my regeneration and my initial integration into the Church.
He, who manages to restore his cloth through repentance, lives a powerful and authoritative life. He says: ‘put on the armor of light”. Jesus’ light gives us the necessary armor and signifies the authority we have been given as children of God. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1, 12).
What kind of armor are we talking about? We are talking about the armor of the Lord’s grace, the armor of the Cross. The hymnographer of our Church, guided by a similar description by St Paul, says: “The stadium where virtue is being accomplished has been opened. Those who wish to take up the fight against the enemy may enter… By taking on the whole armor of the Cross, let us fight the enemy. Let us use faith like an unreachable wall, prayer like a breastplate and alms giving like a helmet. Let us use fasting in the place of the knife, since it rips out any vice from the heart”.
Faith, prayer, love and alms giving and fasting: These are the weapons which belong to our spiritual armor. We ought to take them up not only during the blessed period of the Great Lent but also throughout our entire lives.
The only thing we have to do is to recognize the authority which was given to us and use it. Our final destination peers from afar full of glory and grace. This is where we will fully participate in the Resurrection; we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven which is our true abode!
Have a Great Lent and Happy Easter!
