My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE FORTY DAY GREAT FAST (LENT) OR IN GREEK, TESSARAKOSTE
The two preceding Sundays, of the Last Judgment and of Forgiveness, together constitute — albeit in reverse order — a recapitulation of the whole range of Sacred History, from the beginning-point, Adam in Paradise, to its end-point, the Second Coming of Christ, when all time and history are taken up into eternity. During THE FORTY DAYS that follow, although this wider perspective is never forgotten, there is an increasing concentration upon the central moment in Sacred History, upon the Saving Event of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, which makes possible man’s return to Paradise and inaugurates the End. Lent is, from this point of view, A JOURNEY WITH A PRECISE DIRECTION; IT IS THE JOURNEY TO PASCHA. THE GOAL OF OUR JOURNEY IS CONCISELY EXPRESSED IN THE CLOSING PRAYER AT THE LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED: "..MAY WE COME UNCONDEMNED TO WORSHIP AT THE HOLY RESURRECTION." Throughout the FORTY DAYS we are reminded THAT WE ARE THE MOVE, TRAVELLING ON A PATH THAT LEADS STRAIGHT TO GOLGOTHA AND THE EMPTY TOMB. So we say at the start of the first week:
Let us set out with joy…
Having sailed across the great sea of the Fast,
May we reach the Third-Day Resurrection of our Lord.
Let us hasten to the Holy Resurrection on the third day…
While our journey proceeds, as travellers we regularly call to mind
how far we have progressed:
As we begin the second day…
Let us now set out with joy upon the second week of the Fast…
As we start upon the Third Week of the Fast, O ye faithful,
Let us glorify the Holy Trinity,
And joyfully pass through the time that still remains…
Weaving garlands for the queen of days
— the day, that is, of the Lord’s Resurrection. So we continue..
The forty days’ journey of Lent RECALLS IN PARTICULAR THE FORTY YEARS IN WHICH THE Chosen People journeyed through the wilderness. For us, as for the children of Israel, Lent IS A TIME OF PILGRIMAGE. IT IS A TIME OF LIBERATION FROM THE BONDAGE OF EGYPT, FROM DOMINATION BY SINFUL PASSIONS; A TIME FOR PROGRESS BY FAITH THROUGH A BARREN AND WATERLESS DESERT; A TIME FOR UNEXPECTED REASSURANCE, WHEN IN OUR HUNGER WE ARE FED WITH MANNA FROM HEAVEN; A TIME WHEN GOD SPEAKS TO US OUT OF THE DARKNESS OF SINAI; A TIME IN WHICH WE DRAW NEAR TO THE PROMISED LAND, TO OUR TRUE HOME IN PARADISE WHOSE DOOR THE CRUCIFIED AND RISEN CHRIST HAS RE OPENED FOR US.
BACKGROUND HISTORY OF LENT
During the first three centuries the period of fasting before Pascha was of two or three days’ duration, according to a statement by Saint Irenaeus recorded by Historian Efsevios (Eusebios). But Canon 5 of the First Ecumenical Synod in 325 A.D. mentions A FORTY-DAY PERIOD OF FASTING BEFORE PASCHA. FASTING was all along a prescribed procedure for all candidates to Baptism AS AN INDISPENSABLE PREPARATION OF BODY AND SOUL. In the case of fasting before Pascha, the number 40 was in all probability adopted on the example of the FORTY-DAY FAST OF OUR LORD HIMSELF. Fasting in the early centuries was severe in nature and strictly observed. Only one meal a day–in the evening– was allowed, meat, fish, and dairy products being absolutely forbidden. But as the centuries passed and perhaps in answer to constantly changing cultural, industrial, and national situations, the nature of Lent became less severe.
Present day regulations governing fasting in general are those that govern the Monastic Directory of fasting. And though modern conditions of life and the development of society in general have severed present day individuals from the conditions of life centuries ago, as far as fasting in concerned the Church still requires observance of fasting that only monks and nuns in the solitude and undemanding conditions of life in the monastery may successfully pursue. As a result of this incongruity between rules to which people may be able to fully conform and rules demanded of them, the average Orthodox Christian does fa2 st today but on few occasions, primarily as a preparation for receiving Holy Communion and then again not for the entire prescribed period of time.
The Christian Church adopted fasting from Judaism where it was enforced vigorously. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself OBSERVED FASTING AND RECOMMENDED IT BY TEACHING (Matthew 6:16; Mark 2:20; and 9:29). The Apostles also observed fasting (Acts 13:2; 14:23; 2 Corinthians 2:27). In the early Church, regular fast days were soon established, two of them–WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS–being mentioned in the very ancient document Didache.
In the Orthodox Church there are three other periods of fasting: The Christmas fasting beginning on November 15, the fast preceeding the Feast-Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul–of variable duration depending on the movable feast of the Holy Trinity–and fifteen days before the Holy Feast of Koimisis (Dormition) of the Theotokos, on August 15th. [The Lenten Triodion and A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 