My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our OnlyTrue Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
HOLY AND GREAT LENT: LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED
One of the distinctive features of Holy and Great Lent weekdays is the LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED, celebrated according to present practice on each Wednesday and Friday, but at one time on every weekday of Lent. Strictly speaking, the term ‘Liturgy’ is a misnomer, for THERE IS NO EUCHARISTIC CONSECRATION at this divine service; it is simply THE OFFICE OF VESPERS, followed by the distribution of Holy Communion FROM ELEMENTS CONSECRATED ON THE PREVIOUS SUNDAY. The full celebration of the Holy Eucharist, being always a festive and triumphant event, is felt to be inconsistent with the austerity of the weekday Lenten Fast; and so already in the 4th century it was laid down that there should be no complete celebration of the Divine Liturgy during Lent except on Saturday and Sunday. But so as to enable the faithful to receive Holy Communion frequently, and in some places even daily — the order to communicate frequently, and in some places even daily — the order of the Presanctified Liturgy was devised.
Many moments in the Presanctified Liturgy recall the period when Lent WAS A TIME OF FINAL TRAINING BEFORE THE RECEPTION OF BAPTISM, THE MYSTERY (SACRAMENT) OF LIGHT OR ‘ILLUMINATION.’ Thus between the two Old Testament lessons, the priest, holding the censer and a lighted candle, blesses the congregation, saying: ‘THE LIGHT OF CHRIST SHINES UPON ALL’; and, following the Litany for the Catechumens and their dismissal, there is during the second half of Lent an additional Litany ‘FOR THOSE WHO ARE READY FOR ILLUMINATION.’ Each time we take part in the Liturgy of the Presanctified, we should ask ourselves: IN A WORLD THAT IS INCREASINGLY ALIENATED FROM CHRIST, WHAT HAVE I DONE SINCE LAST LENT TO SPREAD THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL? AND WHERE ARE THE CATECHUMENS IN OUR ORTHODOX CHURCHES TODAY?
On Wednesdays and Fridays in Holy and Great Lent, as indeed throughout the year, the normal hymns to the Mother of God (Theotokos) known as ‘THEOTOKIA’ are replaced by ‘STAVROTHEOTOKIA,’ that is, hymns referring both to the Cross and to the Theotokia, and describing the Mother’s grief as she stands beside the Cross of her Son. Through these hymns, we are made conscious of the Blessed Virgin’s participation in our observance of Holy and Great Lent.
THE FIRST WEEK OF HOLY AND GREAT LENT: Monday and Friday. At Compline service on the FIRST FOUR DAYS OF LENT, the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete is read, divided into FOUR SECTIONS; on Thursday in the FIFTH WEEKs it will be read again, this time in continuous form. With its constant refrain, ‘HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O GOD, HAVE MERCY UPON ME,’ the Great Canon forms A PROLONGED CONFESSION OF SIN, AN UNREMITTING CALL TO REPENTANCE. At the same time, it IS A MEDITATION ON THE WHOLE BODY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE, EMBRACING ALL THE SINNERS AND ALL THE RIGHTEOUS FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO THE COMING OF CHRIST. Here, more than anywhere else in the Triodion, we experience Holy Lent AS A REAFFIRMATION OF OUR ‘BIBLICAL ROOTS.’ Throughout the Great Canon the two levels, the historical and the personal, are skillfully interwoven. ‘THE EVENTS OF THE SACRED HISTORY ARE REVEALED AS EVENTS OF MY LIFE; GOD’S ACTS IN THE PAST AS ACTS AIMED AT ME AND MY SALVATION, THE TRAGEDY OF SIN AND BETRAYAL AS MY PERSONAL TRAGEDY.’ The appeal of the Great Canon is very wide: [Resources: The Lenten Triodion]
________________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 