Monday, Cheesefair Week

O Theotokos, hope of those that dwell on earth, cease not to entreat the loving Lord on our behalf, for He alone knows our weaknesses. May He deliver the people that honours thee from plague and famine, from earthquake and from all distress.

Cheesefair Week

Maslenitsa (Russian: Мaсленица, Ukrainian: Масниця, Belarusian: Масьленіца; also known as Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefair Week) week has begun.

“In our Church the week before the Great Lent (Feb. 24 - Mar. 1) is called Cheese-Fare Week in translation from Greek. When Christianity came to Russia, Russian people did not know about cheese or butter. The name Maslenitsa was created to explain what can be eaten during these days because the word Maslenitsa is derived from the Russian word for butter. During the week before the Great Lent people may eat dairy products but are not allowed to eat meat.” 

Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa (Russian: Мaсленица, Ukrainian: Масниця, Belarusian: Масьленіца; also known as Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefair Week) week has begun.
“In our Church the week before the Great Lent is called Cheese-Fare Week in translation from Greek. When Christianity came to Russia, Russian people did not know about cheese or butter. The name Maslenitsa was created to explain what can be eaten during these days because the word Maslenitsa is derived from the Russian word for butter. During the week before the Great Lent people may eat dairy products but are not allowed to eat meat.”

Lenten Triodion Book

 

The Lenten Triodion is the service book of the Orthodox Church that provides the texts for the divine services for the pre-Lenten weeks of preparation, Great Lent, and Holy Week. It is especially good to have for those who can not attend all the services of Great lent and Holy Week.

The weeks of preparation, and especially the Sunday gospel readings, serve to exercise the mind, whereas the fasting of Great Lent focuses on the body, and Holy Week's services exercise the spirit.

The online version can be found here:

https://www.ponomar.net/english.html

Image: An Icon of Psalm 137 showing the people lamenting by the river.

Lenten days are approaching...

Lenten days are approaching. Let us pray that we all, each of us, will come to our senses. So that all our people, all who have gone to a distant country, return to the house of the Heavenly Father, Who has prepared for us a feast in His Kingdom, in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is greater joy over one sinner and repentant than over the righteous, who have no such need for repentance .

Maslenitsa

Maslenitsa (Russian: Мaсленица, Ukrainian: Масниця, Belarusian: Масьленіца; also known as Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefair Week) week has begun.

“In our Church the week before the Great Lent is called Cheese-Fare Week in translation from Greek. When Christianity came to Russia, Russian people did not know about cheese or butter. The name Maslenitsa was created to explain what can be eaten during these days because the word Maslenitsa is derived from the Russian word for butter. During the week before the Great Lent people may eat dairy products but are not allowed to eat meat.”

Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Feb. 12)

 

This parable of God’s forgiveness calls us to “come to ourselves” as did the prodigal son, to see ourselves as being “in a far country” far from the Father’s house, and to make the journey of return to God. We are given every assurance by the Master that our heavenly Father will receive us with joy and gladness. We must only “arise and go,” confessing our self-inflicted and sinful separation from that “home” where we truly belong (Luke 15:11-24).

Sunday before Lent (March 6)

 

The last of the preparatory Sundays has two themes: it commemorates Adam's expulsion from Paradise, and it is also the Sunday of Forgiveness. There are obvious reasons why these two things should be brought to our attention as we stand on the threshold of the Great Fast. One of the primary images in the Triodion is that of the return to Paradise. Lent is a time when we weep with Adam and Eve before the closed gate of Eden, repenting with them for the sins that have deprived us of our free communion with God. But Lent is also a time when we are preparing to celebrate the saving event of Christ's death and rising, which has reopened Paradise to us once more (Luke 23:43). So sorrow for our exile in sin is tempered by hope of our re-entry into Paradise:

O precious Paradise, unsurpassed in beauty,

Tabernacle built by God, unending gladness and delight,

Glory of the righteous, joy of the prophets, and dwelling of the saints,

With the sound of thy leaves pray to the Maker of all:

May He open unto me the gates which I closed by my transgression,

And may He count me worthy to partake of the Tree of Life

And of the joy which was mine when I dwelt in thee before.

Note how the Triodion speaks here not of 'Adam' but of 'me': 'May He open unto me the gates which I closed'. Here, as throughout the Triodion, the events of sacred history are not treated as happenings in the distant past or future, but as experiences undergone by me here and now within the dimension of sacred time.

The second theme, that of forgiveness, is emphasized in the Gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 6:14-21) and in the special ceremony of mutual forgiveness at the end of Vespers on Sunday evening. Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. As the commemoration of the ascetic saints on the previous Saturday has just made clear to us, we do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family. Our asceticism and fasting should not separate us from our fellow men but link us to them with ever stronger bonds. The Lenten ascetic is called to be a man for others.

(Triodion)

The Sunday of the Last Judgement (Meatfare Sunday) Feb. 27

 

On this Sunday, we are powerfully reminded of a complementary truth: no one is patient and so merciful as God, but even He does not forgive those who do not repent. The God of love is also a God of righteousness, and when Christ comes again in glory, He will come as our judge. 'Behold the goodness and severity of God' (Rom. 11:22). Such is the message of Lent to each of us: turn back while there is still time, repent before the End comes. In the words of the Great Canon:

The end draws near, my soul, the end draws near;

Yet thou dost not care or make ready.

The time grows short, rise up: the Judge is at the door.

The days of our life pass swiftly, as a dream, as a flower.

This Sunday sets before us the 'eschatological' dimension of Lent: the Great Fast is a preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior, for the eternal Passover in the Age to Come. (This is the theme that will be taken up in the first three days of Holy Week.) Nor is the judgement merely in the future. Here and now, each day and each hour, in hardening our hearts towards others and in failing to respond to the opportunities we are given of helping them, we are already passing judgement on ourselves.

(Triodion)

The Sunday of the Dead

The Saturday of the Dead (Memorial Saturday of Meatfare, Soul Saturday) On the day before the Sunday of the Last Judgement, there is a universal commemoration of the dead "from all the ages". Before we call to mind the Second Coming of Christ in the services on Sunday, we commend to God all those departed before us, who are now awaiting the Last Judgement.
O Christ, because of Thy Resurrection from the dead,
death has no more power over those who sleep in faith.
May we rest in the heavenly mansions, in the bosom of Abraham,
together with all Thy faithful servants:
all who have worshipped Thee in purity of heart
from the days of Adam to this present time,
our fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters,
all our relatives and our friends,
every one who has passed through this life in faith.
Make us all worthy of Thy heavenly Kingdom!
(Triodion)

Sunday of the Prodigal Son (Feb. 20)

 

This parable of God’s forgiveness calls us to “come to ourselves” as did the prodigal son, to see ourselves as being “in a far country” far from the Father’s house, and to make the journey of return to God. We are given every assurance by the Master that our heavenly Father will receive us with joy and gladness. We must only “arise and go,” confessing our self-inflicted and sinful separation from that “home” where we truly belong (Luke 15:11-24).

*********************************

On this and the next two Sundays, after the Polyeleos of Matins we hear the lenten hymn "By the rivers of Babylon" (Psalm 136 LXX)

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept when we remembered Zion.

Upon the willows in the midst thereof did we hang our instruments.

For there, they that had taken us captive asked us for words of song. And they that had led us away asked us for a hymn, saying: Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.

Let my tongue cleave to my throat, if I remember thee not, If I set not Jerusalem above all other, as at the head of my joy.

Remember, O Lord, the sons of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, Who said: Lay waste, lay waste to her, even to the foundations thereof.

O daughter of Babylon, thou wretched one, blessed shall he be who shall reward thee wherewith thou hast rewarded us.

Blessed shall he be who shall seize and dash thine infants against the rock.

Artist: By the rivers of Babylon, painting by Gebhard Fugel, circa 1920

Triodion

The arena of God-given abstinence lies open before us: let us gladly enter there, for we are in need of mercy. In His compassion God thirsts for our salvation and He longs to grant forgiveness to those who seek Him with sincerity and serve Him with love.

(Thursday of Cheesefare, Triodion)

Forgiveness Sunday vespers (March 14)

At Forgiveness Sunday vespers (March 14) you will hear Paschal hymns. The reason for singing Paschal hymns is because many of the monks of Palestine, where the tradition developed, would go out into the desert - as we see in the Life of St. Mary of Egypt - for the 40 Days of Lent and some would not return, so the Paschal hymns were sung for those monks who would die in the wilderness.

It is the Day of Resurrection! Let us be radiant, O people! Pascha! The Lord's Pascha! For Christ our God has brought us from death to life, and from earth unto heaven, as we sing triumphant hymns! Refrain: Christ is risen from the dead.

Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian

TUESDAY EVENING, WE READ THE GREAT PRAYER OF St. .Ephraim the Syrian. This prayer is also read on Thursday evening, and in the morning on Wednesday and Friday.

O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power, and idle talk (prostration).
But give to me Thy servant a spirit of soberness, humility, patience, and love (prostration).
O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother: for blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen. (prostration).

Triodion Monday in Cheese Week

Today is the joyful forefeast of the time of abstinence, the bright threshold of the Fast. Therefore, brethren, together let us run the race with confident hope and with great eagerness.

Triodion Monday in Cheese Week

Cheese Week is approaching

 

- the eve and beginning of Lent.

The charter gently prepares us for Lent, so March 7 is the last day meat is allowed. A whole week has been given to us to forgive everyone and ask for forgiveness. For what? So that our fasting has meaning, so that we can hope for the mercy of the Lord.

It is customary among the people to go visit. But there is spiritual wisdom in this - to restore peace, to forget grievances and disagreements.

RECIPE FOR PANCAKES FROM MOTHER ALINA BABKINA

Beat well 2 eggs at room temperature with salt.

Carefully, continuing to whisk, add 1 glass of boiling water followed by 1 glass of cold milk.

Add sugar (I put 2 tablespoons), optional vanilla.

Add 1 cup flour.

The dough will be thin, but great for thin and delicate pancakes.

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Open Thy fatherly embrace now and accept me also as the Prodigal son, o most merciful Lord, that I may glorify Thee with thanksgiving.

(Sunday of the Prodigal Son)

Didactic Icons

Didactic Icons:
The icon of the Publican and the Pharisee is what is called a didactic, or “teaching”, icon. The main difference between these icons and other Holy Icons is that didactic icons do not show actual people, but generic “types”. We can learn from the consequences of the Pharisee’s prayer and the Tax Collector’s prayer, both of which are shown in the icon. The Tax Collector is shown with a “halo” on the right, but this is not to show him as a canonized Saint who can be prayed to, but merely to show that he returned “to his house justified”. As the icon does not show actual people, it is not venerated as an icon depicting Christ or the Saints would be. (Iconreader)

Lenten Triodion: Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee is the Beginning of the Lenten Triodion (Feb. 21)

On this and the following two Sundays, the theme is repentance. Repentance is the door through which we enter Lent, the starting-point of our journey to Pascha. And to repent signifies far more than self-pity or futile regret over things done in the past. the Greek term metanoia means 'change of mind': to repent is to be renewed, to be transformed in our inward viewpoint, to attain a fresh way of looking at our relationship to God and to others. The fault of the Pharisee is that he has no desire to change his outlook; he is complacent, self-satisfied, and so he allows no place for God to act within him. The Publican, on the other hand, truly longs for a 'change of mind': he is self-dissatisfied, 'poor in spirit', and where there is this saving self-dissatisfaction there is room for God to act. Unless we learn the secret of the Publican'ts inward poverty, we shall not share in the Lenten springtime. The theme of the day can be summed up in a saying of the Desert Fathers: 'Better a man who has sinned, if he knows that he has sinned and repents, than a man who has not sinned and thinks of himself as righteous.

The Lenten Triodion

The Lenten Triodion is the service book of the Orthodox Church that provides the texts for the divine services for the pre-Lenten weeks of preparation, Great Lent, and Holy Week. It is especially good to have for those who can not attend all the services of Great lent and Holy Week.

The weeks of preparation, and especially the Sunday gospel readings, serve to exercise the mind, whereas the fasting of Great Lent focuses on the body, and Holy Week's services exercise the spirit.

The online version can be found here:

https://www.ponomar.net/english.html