INNER UNITY OF THE TRIODION

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

INNER UNITY OF THE TRIODION

The Second Sunday. Since 1368 this Sunday has been dedicated to the memory of Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki (1296-1359). This commemoration forms a continuation of the feast celebrated on the previous Sunday: Saint Gregory’s victory over Barlaam, Akindynos and the other heretics of his time is seen as a renewed Triumph of Orthodoxy. In the earlier period there was on this day a commemoration of the Great Martyr Polycarpos of Smyrna. (+ A.D. 155), whose feast was transferred from the fixed calendar (23 February). This commemoration, like that of Saint Theodore, underlined the connection between Lenten asceticism and the martyr’s vocation. The Second Sunday also takes up the theme of the Prodigal Son AS A MODEL OF REPENTANCE, with the first of the two Canons at Orthors (Matins) being devoted to his Parable.

The Third Sunday (the Sunda of the 14th Cross). On this day the service of Orthros (Matins) concludes with the solemn veneration of the PRECIOUS AND LIFE-GIVING CROSS; the ceremonies are closely parallel to those at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14th September) and the Procession of the Holy Cross (1st August). The veneration of the Holy Cross on this Third Sunday in Holy and Great Lent PREPARES US FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF THE CRUCIFIXION which is soon to follow in HOLY AND GREAT WEEK, and at the same time IT REMINDS US THAT THE WHOLE OF LENT IS A PERIOD WHEN WE ARE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST: as the Synaxarion at Orthros (Matins) says, ‘THROUGH THE FORTY-DAY FAST, WE TOO ARE IN A WAY CRUCIFIED, DYING TO THE PASSIONS.’ The dominant note on this Sunday, as on the two Sundays preceding, IS ONE OF JOY AND TRIUMPH. In the Canon at Orthros (Matins), the irmoi are the same as at Pascha (Easter) midnight, ‘This is the day of Resurrection…’. and the troparia (hymns) are in part a paraphrase of the Paschal Canon by Saint John of Damascus. No separation is made between Christ’s death and His Resurrection, but the Cross IS REGARDED AS AN EMBLEM OF VICTORY AND CALVARY IS SEEN IN THE LIGHT OF THE EMPTY TOMB.

The Fourth Sunday> On this day is commemorated Saint John Climacus, Egoumenos (Abbot) of Sinai (6th to 7th century), who is assigned a special Sunday in Holy and Great Lent because, by virtue of his writings and his own life, he forms a pattern OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN ASCETIC. Saint John is the author of THE LADDER OF PARADISE, one of the spiritual texts appointed to be read in church during Lent. His memorial, like that of Saint Theodore, has been transferred to the movable from the fixed calendar, where he is remembered on 39th of March. The first Canon at Orthros (Matins) on this Sunday is based on the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35): THE REPENTED CHRISTIAN IS LIKENED TO THE MAN WHO FELL AMONG THIEVES. (Resources: The Lenten Triodion)

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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