The Very Rev.John Panteleimon Manoussakis speaks about the Sundays of Great Lent
The Very Rev. John Panteleimon Manoussakis speaks about the Sundays of Great Lent. The Five Sundays of Lent: Meaning and Reflections.
Approaching Christ During Holy and Great Lent
The main elements of Great Lent are prayer and fasting. Prayer presupposes faith. Without prayer one is helpless, insecure, blind and alone. Tied to the earth, to matter, one is not aware that they can fly high, to shine in the heavens, to have needed heavenly assistance. They are magnetized, tied, attached to the perishable and earthly. They are not easily detached. They try to acquire treasure on earth. They constantly look for pleasure to cheer them up, instead they get pain out of it. It is sad and pathetic to look for happiness in the mud.
Patriarchal Encyclical for the Holy and Great Lent
Our Orthodox Church recommends that, during this period of Great Lent, we focus our attention toward sincere repentance, “the melting pot of sin,” according to St. John Chrysostom. Repentance is the first topic of our Lord Jesus Christ’s preaching and the very essence of the Christian teaching. It is the Church’s daily invitation to us all. Despite this, many of us have not truly experienced repentance. We sometimes feel that it does not concern us personally because we do have not “come to ourselves” in order to comprehend and contemplate how we may have committed any sin.
The Life of our Holy Mother Mary of Egypt by Saint Sophronios of Jerusalem
There was a certain elder in one of the monasteries of Palestine, a priest of the holy life and speech, who from childhood had been brought up in monastic ways and customs. This elder’s name was Zosimas. He had been through the whole course of the ascetic life and in everything he adhered to the rule once given to him by his tutors as regard spiritual labors.
Saturday of the Akathist Hymn
This Saturday (Saturday of the fifth week of the Great Lent) we chant the Akathist Hymn during Matins. In our days however this does not happen except in the holy monasteries, since in the parishes it is chanted the evening before, on Friday during the Small Compline.
“The Bethlehemite is Killing Me”: A Reflection on the Great Canon
In the Bishopric of the Holy Metropolis of Kastoria there is an icon of the Master Christ which dates to the 15th century and is known as “The Bethlehemite”.
Great Lent is a Period of Repentance
Great Lent is a period of repentance, during which our stony hearts must become, through God’s grace, softened in the flesh, and move from being callous to being sensitive, from cold and hard to warm and open to others, particularly God Himself.
Friday of the Akathistos Hymn
On the Friday of the fifth week of Great Lent we chant the Akathistos Hymn to the Most Holy Theotokos.
The Canon of Saint Andrew, Archbishop of Crete
The central theme of Lent is repentance. This theme is at the heart of one of the best-loved texts of Great Lent, the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete.
Catechesis for 5th Week in Great Lent by Saint Theodore the Studite
Brethren and fathers, because winter has passed and spring has arrived, we see creation flourishing again; the plants are flowering, the earth is growing green, the birds are singing and everything else is being renewed; and we take pleasure in all this and we glorify God the master craftsman who transforms and changes creation year by year, and it is reasonable to do so. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made [Rom. 1:20].