THE REMEDIES...(2)

CHAPTER XI.

That bodily lusts are not extinguished except by the entire rooting out of vice.

FOR it is an impossibility that the fiery motions of the body can be extinguished, before the incentives of the other chief vices are utterly rooted out: concerning which we will speak in their proper place, if God permits, separately, in different books. But now we have to deal with Gluttony, that is the desire of the palate, against which our first battle is. He then will never be able to check the motions of a burning lust, who cannot restrain the desires of the appetite. The chastity of the inner man is shown by the perfection of this virtue. For you will never feel sure that he can strive against the opposition of a stronger enemy, whom you have seen overcome by weaker ones in a higher conflict. For of all virtues the nature is but one and the same, although they appear to be divided into many different kinds and names: just as there is but one substance of gold, although it may seem to be distributed through many different kinds of jewelry according to the skill of the goldsmith. And so he is proved to possess no virtue perfectly, who is known to have broken down in some part of them. For how can we believe that that man has extinguished the burning heats of concupiscence (which are kindled not only by bodily incitement but by vice of the mind), who could not assuage the sharp stings of anger which break out from intemperance of heart alone? Or how can we think that he has repressed the wanton desires of the flesh and spirit, who has not been able to conquer the simple fault of pride? Or how can we believe that one has trampled under foot a wantonness which is ingrained in the flesh, who has not been able to disown the love of money, which is something external and outside our own substance? In what way will he triumph in the war of flesh and spirit, who has not been man enough to cure the disease of dejection? However great a city may be protected by the height of its walls and the strength of its closed gates, yet it is laid waste by the giving up of one postern however small. For what difference does it make whether a dangerous foe makes his way into the heart of the city over high walls, and through the wide spaces of the gate, or through secret and narrow passages?

CHAPTER XII.

That in our spiritual contest we ought to draw an example from the carnal contests.

"ONE who strives in the games is not crowned unless he has contended lawfully." One who wants to extinguish the natural desires of the flesh, should first hasten to overcome those vices whose seat is outside our nature. For if we desire to make trial of the force of the Apostle's saying, we ought first to learn what are the laws and what the discipline of the world's contest, so that finally by a comparison with these, we may be able to know what the blessed Apostle meant to teach to us who are striving in a spiritual contest by this illustration. For in these conflicts, which, as the same Apostle says, hold out "a corruptible crown" to the victors, this rule is kept, that he who aims at preparing himself for the crown of glory, which is embellished with the privilege of exemption, and who is anxious to enter the highest struggle in the contest, should first in the Olympic and Pythian games give evidence of his abilities as a youth, and his strength in its first beginnings; since in these the younger men who want to practise this training are tested as to whether they deserve or ought to be admitted to it, by the judgment both of the president of the games and of the whole multitude. And when any one has been carefully tested, and has first been proved to be stained by no infamy of life, and then has been adjudged not ignoble through the yoke of slavery, and for this reason unworthy to be admitted to this training and to the company of those who practise it, and when thirdly he produces sufficient evidence of his ability and prowess and by striving with the younger men and his own compeers has shown both his skill and valour as a youth, and going forward from the contests of boys has been by the scrutiny of the president permitted to mix with full-grown men and those of approved experience, and has not only shown himself their equal in valour by constant striving with them, but has also many a time carried off the prize of victory among them, then at last he is allowed to approach the most illustrious conflict of the games, permission to contend in which is granted to none but victors and those who are decked with many crowns and prizes. If we understand this illustration from a carnal contest, we ought by a comparison with it to know what is the system and method of our spiritual conflict as well.

CHAPTER XIII.


That we cannot enter the battle of the inner man unless we have been set free from the vice of gluttony.

WE also ought first to give evidence of our freedom from subjection to the flesh. For "of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he the slave." And "every one that doeth sin, is a slave of sin." And when the scrutiny is of the president of the contest and finds that we are stained by no infamy of disgraceful lust, and when we are judged by him not to be slaves of the flesh, and ignoble and unworthy of the Olympic struggle against our vices, then we shall be able to enter the lists against our equals, that is the lusts of the flesh and the motions and disturbances of the soul. For it is impossible for a full belly to make trial of the combat of the inner man: nor is he worthy to be tried in harder battles, who can be overcome in a slight skirmish.

CHAPTER XIV.


How gluttonous desires can be overcome.

FIRST then we must trample under foot gluttonous desires, and to this end the mind must be reduced not only by fasting, but also by vigils, by reading, and by frequent compunction of heart for those things in which perhaps it recollects that it has been deceived or overcome, sighing at one time with horror at sin, at another time inflamed with the desire of perfection and saintliness: until it is fully occupied and possessed by such cares and meditations, and recognizes the participation of food to be not so much a concession to pleasure, as a burden laid upon it; and considers it to be rather a necessity for the body than anything desirable for the soul. And, preserved by this zeal of mind and continual compunction, we shall beat down the wantonness of the flesh (which becomes more proud and haughty by being fomented with food) and its dangerous incitement, and so by the copiousness of our tears and the weeping of our heart we shall succeed in extinguishing the fiery furnace of our body, which is kindled by the Babylonish king who continually furnishes us with opportunities for sin, and vices with which we burn more fiercely, instead of naphtha and pitch--until, through the grace of God, instilled like dew by His Spirit in our hearts, the heats of fleshly lusts can be altogether deadened. This then is our first contest, this is as it were our first trial in the Olympic games, to extinguish the desires of the palate and the belly by the longing for perfection. On which account we must not only trample down all unnecessary desire for food by the contemplation of the virtues, but also must take what is necessary for the support of nature, not without anxiety of heart, as if it were opposed to chastity. And so at length we may enter on the course of our life, so that there may be no time in which we feel that we are recalled from our spiritual studies, further than when we are obliged by the weakness of the body to descend for the needful care of it. And when we are subjected to this necessity--of attending to the wants of life rather than the desires, of the soul--we should hasten to withdraw as quickly as possible from it, as if it kept us back from really health-giving studies. For we cannot possibly scorn the gratification of food presented to us, unless the mind is fixed on the contemplation of divine things, and is the rather entranced with the love of virtue and the delight of things celestial. And so a man will despise all things present as transitory, when he has securely fixed his mental gaze on, those things which are immovable and eternal, and already contemplates in heart--though still in the flesh--the blessedness of his future life.

CHAPTER XV.


How a monk must always be eager to preserve his purity of heart.

IT is like the case when one endeavours to strike some mighty prize of virtue on high. pointed out by some very small mark; with the keenest eyesight he points the aim of his dart, knowing that large rewards of glory and prizes depend on his hitting it; and he turns away his gaze from every other consideration, and must direct it thither, where he sees that the reward and prize is placed, because he would be sure to lose the prize of his skill and the reward of his prowess if the keenness of his gaze should be diverted ever so little.

THE TWELVE BOOKS OF JOHN CASSIAN ON THE INSTITUTES OF THE COENOBIA AND THE REMEDIES FOR THE EIGHT PRINCIPAL FAULTS, BOOK V, XI-XV

When No Priest is Available

Reading the Service Books While Traveling or at Home

When Orthodox people have no opportunity to attend Orthodox divine services, especially in non-Orthodox countries, then the Church allows and encourages individuals and groups of Orthodox to read the service books privately, for the preservation of their faith. Such readings have long been customary in monastic establishments, hospitals, schools, on shipboard and, in recent times, by Orthodox in the USSR and in the diaspora. Reading prayer books or service books may, at least to some extent, replace church services.

Besides preserving our Orthodox faith, reading services is beneficial because:

1. It teaches us, even in non-Orthodox lands, to remember and honor Orthodox feasts and saints' days.

2. It acquaints us with the order of church services and with the profound content of our service books.

3. It safeguards us from the danger of sectarian and heterodox influence

4. It helps parents and teachers raise their children and young adults in the spirit of Orthodoxy.

5. It unites dispersed Orthodox people in our faith and love for the Orthodox Church.
Orthodox Divine Services

The daily ecclesiastical office consists of a cycle of services that covers the entire 24-hour period. Since the church day begins with the evening, the order of daily services is: 1) Vespers, 2) Small Compline, 3) Midnight Office, 4) Matins, 5) First Hour, 6) Third and Sixth Hours, 7) the Liturgy and 8) Ninth Hour. Orthodox laymen may read or chant some portion of all of these, except the Divine Liturgy, which is replaced by the Typica.

In addition, it is permissible to read canons and akathists, either separately or as part of another service.

A canon is a collection of hymns in nine odes that honors the Savior, the Mother of God, a saint, a holy day. or a spiritual theme.

An akathist is a song of praise in twelve parts that glorifies the Savior, the Mother of God, a saint.... An akathist may be read or sung, or read with the refrains sung.

How Laymen Read Service Books

The reading of service books should be conducted according to the following rules:

1. All [reader's] services are to begin with the exclamation: "Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

2. All the priest's prayers and exclamations are omitted.

3. In place of the Great and Augmented Ectenias and the Ectenia of Supplication, "Lord, have mercy" is said twelve times; in place of the Small Ectenia, three times.

4. The Gospel is not intoned, but read in an ordinary voice.

Note: Every Orthodox Christian is obliged to read the Gospel privately, according to the ecclesiastical lectionary found in church calendars.

5. All other hymns, psalms and prayers are read or sung as when a priest serves.

6. The Typica (in place of the liturgy) may be read as indicated in Appendix 1.
The Order of Services on Feast Days

Since laymen are often involved with work and may not have time to read services in the ordinary week days, we shall give directions only for the festal services.

On weekdays, the daily morning and evening prayers could be combined with Small Compline and Midnight Office, as desired.

On feast days, it is important to devote more time to God and to observe the feast with the appropriate reading and hymns. On the eve of the feast one may read Vespers, Matins and the First Hour, in the place of the All-Night Vigil. In the morning, one may read the Midnight Office, the Third and Sixth Hours, if desired, and the Typica. The evening of the feast, one should read the Small Compline with the proper canon or akathist of the feast.

The order and content of the services depend on the free time available and on the service books at hand. Here are more detailed instructions for three kinds of feasts:

1) Sundays
2) The Twelve Great Feasts and other holidays of the Lord and of the Mother of God
3) Saints' days, our name-saints or ones we especially venerate.

Sayings of the Holy Fathers:

Consider well my soul: Dost thou fast? Then despise not thy neighbor. Dost thou abstain from food? Condemn not thy brother.  

Sunday of Orthodoxy, Matins. - "The Lenten Triodion"

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Fasting is absolutely indispensable for man. From the external aspect, it is a struggle of filial obedience to God, Who has given us the rules of fasting through His Holy Spirit. From the inner aspect, fasting is a struggle of restraint and self-limitation. In this lies the great value and sense of fasting, since a strict observance of fasts tempers one's will and perfects the character of one who is firm in his religious convictions and actions. Let us not forget that Christ Himself fasted, and foretold that His apostles would also fast.
 
Saint Philaret  - On God's Law - Missionary Leaflet # E37b - Holy Protection Russian Orthodox Church

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Fasting is wonderful, because it tramples our sins like a dirty weed, while it cultivates and raises truth like a flower.  

 St. John Chrysostomos

Daily Reading:

Friday

SIXTH HOUR

Isaih 3:1-14

     For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water. The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house of his father, saying, Thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand: In that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of the people. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the LORD, to provoke the eyes of his glory. The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. The LORD standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people. The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

VESPERS

Genesis 2:20-3:20

     And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Proverbs 3:19-34

     The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.

LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS

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ST TIMOTHY OF SYMBOLA

ST EUSTATHIUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH

Troparion of St Timothy    Tone 5
O wise Timothy, from thy childhood thou didst honour God by a virtuous life,/ and wast honoured by Him most worthily./ For thou wast a sacred vessel of godly gifts,/ granting many blessings unto all for the salvation of our souls.


Troparion of St Eustathius    Tone 3
Thou didst shine like a brilliant sun in the First Council, O righteous Eustathius,/ for thou didst proclaim the Son to be of one Essence with the Father and with the Spirit./ Pray, O Hierarch of God,/ that unwavering steadfastness in the Faith be granted to all who honour thee.

Kontakion of St Timothy    Tone 4
Thou didst rise in the east like a bright star/ and shed the light of thy miracles into the hearts of the faithful,/ holy wonderworker Timothy.

Kontakion of St Eustathius    Tone 8
Thou didst purify thyself with godly works/ and become a pillar of the priesthood in divine vision and a blameless life./ Thou didst withstand the onslaughts of temptations as a foundation and bulwark of the Church./ And so we cry: Rejoice, O Father Eustathius.

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TRIODION

FIRST WEEK OF LENT

FRIDAY MATINS

(After the 2nd reading of the Psalter):

SESSIONAL HYMN (by Joseph)

TONE 2

BY YOUR DIVINE CROSS YOU HAVE PUT TO DEATH THE PASSIONS OF MY FLESH;
BY YOUR PASSION YOU HAVE GIVEN ALL MEN FREEDOM FROM PASSIONS!
COUNT ME WORTHY ALSO, LORD, TO SEE YOUR HOLY RESURRECTION,//
THAT I MAY RECEIVE YOUR GREAT AND ABUNDANT MERCY!

GLORY...

BY YOUR DIVINE CROSS YOU HAVE PUT TO DEATH...

NOW AND EVER...

GUARDED BY THE PRECIOUS CROSS OF YOUR SON,
PURE LADY AND THEOTOKOS,
WE EASILY TURN AWAY ALL THE ASSAULTS OF THE ENEMY!
THEREFORE WE RIGHTLY CALL YOU BLESSED,//
FOR YOU ARE THE MOTHER OF LIGHT AND THE ONLY HOPE OF OUR SOULS!

(After the 3rd reading of the Psalter):

SESSIONAL HYMN (by Theodore)

TONE 2

YOU ARE THE SOURCE AND FOUNTAIN OF PURITY,
MERCIFUL LORD;
PRESERVE US IN THE FAST.
BEHOLD US AS WE FALL BEFORE YOU:
LOOK UPON THE LIFTING UP OF OUR HANDS,
FOR YOU STRETCHED OUT YOUR HANDS UPON THE TREE
AND WERE CRUCIFIED FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THE EARTH-BORN//
ONLY LORD OF THE ANGELIC POWERS!

GLORY...

YOU ARE THE SOURCE AND FOUNTAIN...

NOW AND EVER...

BEHOLDING YOU, CHRIST, STRETCHED DEAD UPON THE TREE,
YOUR VIRGIN MOTHER CRIED OUT WITH BITTER TEARS:
MY SON, WHAT IS THIS FEARFUL MYSTERY?
HOW DO YOU SUFFER WILLINGLY A SHAMEFUL DEATH UPON THE CROSS//
WHEN YOU GIVE ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL?

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THE CANON

CANTICLE FIVE:

FIRST CANON

TONE 2

IRMOS: CHRIST MY SAVIOR, THE ENLIGHTENMENT...

Seeing the sinfulness that is in me,
the deceitful enemy urges me on to sin and works with me:
for he truly rejoices over my perdition.
But I entreat You, Savior,
grant me amendment of life that I may destroy him!

By Your Cross You have triumphed over the powers of darkness.
Deliver me from their wickedness,
for I am fallen into a depth of sin and a pit of iniquity;
but by Your mercy, I hope to be saved.

You hung dead upon the Cross:
restore life to my soul, deadened through sin, O Christ,
count me worthy to attain Your holy Resurrection tn peace,
obediently fulfilling Your commandments.

Pure Maiden, you are a light to me in my infirmity
and the salvation of my darkened soul;
save me, O save me, for I perish!
Clothe me, corrupted by my grievous sins,
in a garment of incorruption!

(Click for the rest of the canon)

http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/prayers/triodion/lent1fri

A homily: Come and See!

The First Sunday Of Great Lent

The Sunday Of Orthodoxy

In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today, brothers and sisters, is the first Sunday of the Great Lent, the Sunday of Orthodoxy. The Church wants to tell us some things. Indeed we should come to Church always with the expectation that God will teach us something, whether it be something we learn with our mind and consciously understand, or something that penetrates the soul, and helps us in an unseen way.

A most important statement for a Christian to understand, even after He has lived the Christian life for some quite some time in this particular gospel reading is, "Come and see". This is what the Church is telling us.

Is not Great Lent always a period of time when, with all the fasting and the longer services and the time of the year being more intense, there more temptations? Don't we sometimes have doubts? Don’t we have difficulty? I don't know a person who does not have them, and as a priest I can say this with sincerity, because I know so many of you so well … we all have doubts, we all have difficulties, we all have temptations.

The Lord says "Come and See". The Church says “Come and see”. What is She telling us to come and see?

The question which preceded this instruction (and more than this - also a promise, a pledge, a rallying cry) by Nathaniel to Philip was, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"

Now this can be understood in a historical sense in that Nazareth was city of no account and unimportant; a backwater. Could anything good come out of Nazareth?

But the spiritual meaning of the text, is that Nathaniel asks, "Can anything good come out of my Nazareth? Out of my Heart? Can I be changed? Can I be made whole?" This is the question that He asks for us, because we ask it of ourselves.

Now I am talking only to Christians here, to those who have at least begun to believe, begun to lead the Christian life, or desire to follow the Christian life. Those who do not desire to follow it, to whom the Christian morality, the Christian Commandments, the Incarnation of Christ are unimportant things -- I am not speaking to those people. Such a person must be converted first, have something of a small spark of repentance in their heart. I am speaking to the Christian, the one who desires to know Christ, and has difficulties in life and doubts because of those difficulties.

Now a perfect time to speak of it because it is after the first week of Lent, which is often, in my experience as a pastor, very difficult for people, and a time when many temptations occur. The devil knows that if we do not make a good beginning, we will not make a good end. This is true in anything we do. We must struggle to make a strong start so that when we lag at the end so that as St. John Chrysostom says, "you will have momentum built up to carry you through those difficult times."

The Church is saying come and see. Come and see. Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can I be changed? Can I really stop doing these things that I despise about myself? Can I really believe fully, in every way with every ounce of my being? Can I really become purified?


Yes indeed, you can. And why can we, and how can we? The Church tells us this, too.

By faith we can have good come out of Nazareth.

Now this faith is explained to us. Examples have been given to us, very strident examples. Examples that make us feel enflamed with enthusiasm. We heard of the Saints of old (and this was even before the Promise, which we Christians enjoy!) stopping the mouth of lions, being sawn asunder, and wandering about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute and afflicted. These were great heroes the Apostle Paul talks about, who conquered by faith.

The world did not think that they conquered. It thought they were defeated. But we understand what victory is. Victory is in the heart. Victory is when a man overcomes his own self with the help of God and becomes purified and becomes fire.

But also, besides those examples of ways of living and thinking, when St Paul speaks to us when He writes to the Hebrews, the Lord also is showing us something about faith in His Gospel that we must not forget.


There is nothing accidental in this story of Nathaniel meeting Christ. First He was under the fig tree; Phillip comes to him and says to him that we have found the Messiah. Nathaniel says, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" How can this be?

Remember the spiritual meaning … can anything good come out of me? Can I really be changed? Can I really appropriate Christ? I have so many weaknesses, every day I fall. I cannot seem to defeat this enemy. I seem to have circumstances that consistently cause me to fall. I continue to have difficulties, to have doubts, to be frightened. All these things are my Nazareth.

So Nathaniel comes with Phillip because Phillip says, "Come and see". Then He meets the Lord. And the Lord says: "Whence thou knowest me?" Nathaniel says to the Lord. "Verily when thou wast under the fig tree I saw thee."

There is deep meaning here in these words, brothers and sisters. The Lord knows us. He understands us. He knows our deepest inner desires, He knows our motivations, and He knows our weaknesses. He knows how to help us. He knows our desires before we know them.

This is quite important for a Christian to remember. Moment by moment, truly we feel so often that we are alone. I only discovered after I was an adult that every teenager had the same doubts about themselves as I had. That I wasn’t good looking enough, my hair looked weird, being nervous with girls, all those things that every teenager goes through. The reason I mention this is because as priest I know that all of us go through doubts, go through uneasiness in our faith, even if our uncertainty is only about ourselves. The hours and the evening prayer of St. John speak about it … deliver me from faintheartedness.

We have great faintheartedness. All of us suffer from this malady, this affliction of not being able to believe fully in the Resurrection. And we somehow believe that we are alone in our struggle. I previously thought this until I became a priest and saw that I am not alone. We tend to believe that our weaknesses are not applicable to the promise in some way. We say: yes if we had enough faith, yes if we did better in this or that, we believe that God can change us ... But we don’t believe that we will be changed, because we feel alone.

I am convinced of this and that is why I speak on this kind of subject so often. I am convinced that our lack of faith is what holds us back from truly appropriating the love that God wants to shower upon us, wants us to feel - and actually He has already greatly blessed us - He wants us to feel it. He wants us to feel the warmth, to feel the embrace, but we are not capable until we are able to believe fully.

Now of course, if we are to believe, we must act. The Christian life is acting according to the Commandments as well as believing them and we must take them all seriously and lament if we do not follow them in their exactitude. We must also believe not such that we have to think it but so that it is part of our being.

We must believe that Jesus Christ knows all of our circumstances, all of our

struggles, all of our deepest desires, even those we can not express or are afraid to say out loud. He knows them all because He saw Nathaniel under the fig tree and He sees all of us. He sees our Nazareth. He knows how to defeat it. He knows that good will come out of it because He has placed his image in us and He desires to burnish that image, to polish it, to remove all the dross and mud from it so that it gleams and shines. And He will do this if only we allow Him to, if only we believe that He can do it.

Not for someone else, such as, for instance, the Saints or even those Christians we know and admire, but for ourselves we must believe this. Certainly we believe in the Resurrection, we believe in miracles, we believe that all these things that the Saints have done are true and holy and righteous, but we can’t see ourselves doing them.

If it’s for humility sake that we say that we are not worthy of such things, that is good. None are worthy, but all can be made capable. I am convinced that it is not humility that makes us believe that we cannot do righteous things; that we cannot change. It is weakness of faith.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord says to us today, "Come and see."


This is why you should struggle through the Great Lent, even if you are wondering, "Why am I fasting?” The purpose of fasting is to open the heart to God so that God will enlighten us and help us with things. Perhaps your thoughts also say “I am in a worse mood now than I was before! I am snapping more at my children, or at my wife, or at my coworkers. I am having more difficulty with thoughts than I had before. Or I still have trouble with this sin or that sin. What use is it to deprive myself of eating? What use is it to struggle till the end? I’ll just be tired on Pascha and I won’t feel the Lord. Not as much as I want to."


These are our doubts. Some of you express openly doubts about yourself. Others of you have not been able to express it openly, but I am convinced that we all have these kinds of doubts to a greater or lesser degree. That is why the Church is telling us today, as we have embarked now upon the first week of the Great Fast, "Come and see."


Come and see that good things can come out of Nazareth. We can be completely changed. Everything that applies to the Saints applies to us, absolutely and positively. Jesus Christ came for us, for every man, He wants everyone to have fullness, completeness, regardless of how weak we are, regardless of what happens to us, He wants us to be completely changed. And we can be.

Indeed, as Christians, we must believe this, if we are to truly call ourselves Christians, we must truly believe that we can be changed.

Now the only way to be changed is through great effort. It takes great effort, make no mistake about it. The way to perdition is very wide, and very easy, and it is downhill. And the way to paradise is truly a narrow road and a difficult road. But it is not difficult because of our Lord; His burden is easy and His yoke is light. It’s difficult because of our own faithlessness and our weakness and because of our own predilection toward sin that beguiles us. And we play mind games with ourselves and find ourselves in snare after snare after snare.

Truly you must struggle if you are to be a Christian. Great Lent is a struggle; other fasting periods are a struggle. They are only an example of the Christian life. They are not in totality the struggle of the Christian life. If fasting is your greatest struggle, then indeed you have not struggled enough. Fasting should be an aide to you in the real struggle that God wants you to have. Perhaps for some that is a frightening thought, because fasting is so difficult. Even attending church services may be difficult. But indeed God wants to bring you beyond this struggle of fasting and services and prayer, and fill you with himself completely.

He wants to make you all fire.

And it will indeed happen, regardless of what kind of man or woman you are, if you have faith that you can be changed. And if you must struggle with that faith, and not give up even though you fall, and continue to struggle to live righteously, even if, for the moment, you are not righteous.

In our age what has happened is that sins have been re-codified, they have been renamed, reassigned. Things we understand to be sin, the world calls virtue, and these are. Many things, not just sexual sins that are obviously happening in the world today and being called virtuous, but all manner of other things. Why does the world, and even us, since the Psalmist has us beseeching the Lord each Vespers that we not "make excuse with excuses in sins", speak about sin so?

Because people struggle against these sins and they can’t make it, they can’t hack it. Instead of accepting this reality that they are weak and they need a Savior and they can be changed if only they believe the words "Come and see", and acknowledging (and more than this: embracing!) the struggle that comes with it, the sweat and the tears and the blood that comes with it, they redefine what a sin is.

We see these examples in secular life, but also we have these examples in our own life when we excuse ourselves from our sins. For the Christian excuses himself mostly because he cannot bear that he calls himself a Christian, but does not act as one. I say, Christian, admit boldly to the Lord, that I am a Christian but I don’t act as one. Or I desire to act as one. Be willing to say it, be willing to say it out loud. Be willing to admit that you fall short continually but have great hope that He can, and not just can but will, change you if you live by faith.

Look at the examples of many of the saints. They had many falls in their lives. And yet, they are righteous. How can this be? Because they were willing to come and see. They were willing to take the trip.


Now Nathaniel only walked a few paces to see Jesus. But this trip is indicative of our life.

The Lord says I will show you greater things than these. Not just that I know you are under a fig tree; not just that I know all your thoughts. I knew you yet while you were in the womb. Not just those things; Greater things than these will I show you. I will show you that you can be completely changed, completely made whole. Have no fear, have no sadness, have no doubts, have no sins, have no shame. Have no pain. I will show you greater things than just that I know you. I will show you that I will change you, this is what the Lord says to Nathaniel. And this is what the Lord is saying to us.

We appropriate this change by believing the words of the Lord. By understanding their meaning. He knows us and He will change us. Good will come out of Nazareth, come out of the heart because of our faith. Brothers and sisters -- beg the Lord for faith, beg Him for faith, because this is the key. Faith is just not belief. Faith envelops the whole man and makes him fire, and makes him able to change. This is what faith is. Faith permeates our life. We must appropriate the Lord’s promise with all the struggles and difficulties that the Christian life entails. Because of the promise the Church asks us:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, {2} Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)

He has begun our journey with our baptism. He was with us then, He’s with us now, and He will finish the course for us. You must have faith that He who began a good work in you will complete it in Christ Jesus. Certainly a good thing will come out of Nazareth.

May God grant you faith. Amen.

---

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Daily Reading:

Wednesday

SIXTH HOUR

Isaiah 2:3-11

     And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots: Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.

VESPERS

Genesis 1:24-2:3

     And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Proverbs 2:1-22

     My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things; Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked; Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths: To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words; Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS

+ + + 

HOLY APOSTLE ARCHIPPOS OF THE SEVENTY
ST PHILOTHEA THE RIGHTEOUS MARTYR OF ATHENS
ST ODRAN

Troparion of St Archippos    Tone 3
With thy whole heart thou didst follow the way of holiness/ and become a companion of the Apostles, O Archippos./ By thy word thou didst preach the Faith,/ and by thy life thou didst uproot shoots of evil./ Having proved steadfast in contest thou wast granted the crown of righteousness.

Troparion of St Philothea    Tone 5
Let us honour the boast of the city of the Athenians,/ Philothea the righteous martyr./ Let us embrace and kiss her holy relics./ She lived in holiness and exchanged this fleeting life for the eternal/ by her contest and martyrdom./ She is praying the Savior to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion of St Odran    Tone 5
No task was too humble or too dangerous for thee,/ O Martyr Odran,/ for in thy station as a servant/ thou didst render the ultimate service/ giving thy life for thy master and Ireland's Enlightener./ Pray that we may have the courage to hold nothing back,/ that at the last Christ our God will not withhold His mercy from us.

Kontakion of St Archippos    Tone 4
The Church has thee as a great star, O Archippos,/ and enlightened by the rays of thy miracles she cries out to thee:/ Save those who faithfully honour thy memory.

Kontakion of St Philothea    Tone 3
Today we joyfully honour Philothea/ and reverently venerate her relics./ She spent her days in blessed works/ and her life was crowned with martyrdom./ She prays that all may be granted eternal life.

Kontakion of St Odran    Tone 3
We salute thee, O Martyr Odran,/ ever seeking to follow thee in service to Christ's holy Church/ and praying for grace to shun the imperfect way of Ananias and Sophia,/ that we may give all we have in selfless devotion/ to Him Who holds all creation in His hands.

+ + +

TRIODION

FIRST WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY MATINS

(After the 2nd reading of the Psalter):

TONE 2
Through thy Passion, loving Lord, Though has given to all men freedom from the passions, putting to death the passions of my flesh by Thy Cross count me worthy, then, to see Thy divine Passion: that having been well-pleasing to Thy glory through the Fast, I may receive Thy great and abundant mercy.

Glory be to the Father....


Repeat.


Both now ... 

Stavrotheotokion

Beholding Thee, O Christ, stretched dead upon the Tree, Thy Virgin Mother cried aloud with bitter tears: 'O my Son, what is this fearful mystery? How dost Thou who givest life eternal unto all, suffer willingly a
a shameful death upon the Cross?'

After the third reading from the Psalter, the following sessional hymns:

TONE TWO 

O Lord, Thou hast consecrated and granted unto us this lightgiving season of abstinence. Enable all of us to pass through it in compunction and sincerity, living in peace by the power of Thy Cross, O Thou who alone lovest mankind.


Glory be to the Father....



Repeat.



Both now ...

Stavrotheotokion

Guarded by the precious Cross of Thy Son, O pure Lady and Theotokos, easily we turn aside all the assaults of the adversary.  Therefore, as is right, we call thee blessed, for thou art the Mother of the Light and the only hope of our souls.

+ + + 

 

TRIODION

FIRST WEEK OF LENT WEDNESDAY MATINS

THE CANON

TONE 2

CANTICLE THREE:

IRMOS: AT YOUR COMING, LORD,
THE DESERT, THE BARREN CHURCH OF THE GENTILES
FLOWERED AS THE LILY,
AND MY HEART AS WELL,IS ESTABLISHED IN THAT COMING!

Let us crucify our members through abstinence;
and as it is written, let us be vigilant in prayer,
living after the example of Him who suffered;
by His Passion, putting to death the passions.

Rejecting the bitter food of sin,
let us seek to please Christ,
Who of His own will tasted gall
and by the Cross cast down the author of evil.

Sin has become a habit for me,
and it drags me down to complete perdition.
But by Your Cross deliver me from my sinfulness,
compassionate Lord of many mercies!

(Theotokion)

Lady who bore the Master,
Queen of all creation,
set me free from bondage to the deceitful enemy!


(Another Canon in the same tone):

IRMOS: LORD, WHO BY THE WOOD OF THE CROSS...

From the tree of the Cross
the flower of abstinence grows for all the world.
Then let us accept the fast with love,
and take pleasure in the fruit of Christ's divine commandments.

Abstaining from the passions,
let us crucify our flesh for the sake of the Lord:
by our life in Christ,
let us all show that the pride of the flesh is dead.

GLORY...

I glorify three Persons in one Nature,
Father, Son and Spirit,
the one Power of the Godhead,
one Kingdom over all and one Brightness!


NOW AND EVER... (Theotokion)

Your child bearing, pure Lady, fills our hearts with fear,
for it is God who has become man,
beyond time, begotten from the Father,
and in the last days brought forth by you through a virgin birth.

GLORY TO YOU, OUR GOD, GLORY TO YOU!

I praise Your Crucifixion, O Christ,
and the piercing of Your divine side,
from which each day I draw an immortal drink
and am sanctified.

KATAVASIA:  

LORD, BY THE WOOD OF THE CROSS, YOU PUT SIN TO DEATH:
BE OUR STRENGTH AND SUPPORT!
GRAFT YOUR FEAR IN OUR HEARTS AS WE SING IN PRAISE OF YOU!

CANTICLE EIGHT:

IRMOS: THE FIERY FURNACE IN ANCIENT BABYLON
WORKED IN OPPOSING WAYS BY THE COMMAND OF GOD:
BURNING THE CHALDEANS,
WHILE REFRESHING THE FAITHFUL AS THEY SANG:
ALL WORKS OF THE LORD, BLESS THE LORD!

The furnace of the passions consumes my soul;
but quench its flames with the dew of Your mercy.
For in Your loving self-abasement, Benefactor,
at Your Crucifixion,
You made a fountain of dispassion to flow from Your pure side.

Lifted upon Your Cross, O Christ,
You have raised up us who were fallen into evil.
I have slipped into the pit of sin:
bring me out and set me firmly on the rock of salvation,
that I may glorify Your power!

Through the lance that pierced Your side, O Christ,
You have cleansed my heart from the corruption of the passions.
I have been wounded by the poisonous bite of the serpent.
Heal me in every part,
and make me walk unwavering upon the paths of God.

(Theotokion)

We all honor you, undefiled Virgin,
as the shining lamp and candlestick
in which the fire of the Godhead came to dwell,
bringing light to those held fast in the dark night of corruption,
and we bless your childbearing, blessed among women!

(Click for the rest of the canon)

Sayings of the Holy Fathers:

Fasting is an exceptional virtue; it represses bodily impulses and gives strength to the soul to fight against the poisoning of the heart through the senses, and provides it with a remedy against any past poisoning. Fasting causes the mind to be cleansed constantly. It whithers up every evil thought and brings healthy, godly thoughts -- -holy thoughts that enlighten the mind and kindle it with more zeal and spiritual fervor.

Elder Ephraim of Philotheou Mount Athos, 
"Counsels from the Holy Mountain" 

+ + + 

A life of fasting, properly understood as general self-limitation and abstinence, to the annual practice of which the Church always calls us with the Great Lent, is really that bearing of the cross and self-crucifixion which is required of us by our calling as Christians. And anyone who stubbornly resists this, wanting to live a carefree, happy, and free life, is concerned for sensual pleasures and avoids sorrow and suffering that person is not a Christian. Bearing one's cross is the natural way of every true Christian, without which there is no Christianity.  

Archbishop Averky of Syracuse (of Blessed Memory)

+ + + 

A worker takes the trouble to get hold of the instruments that he requires. He does so not simply to have them and not use them. Nor is there any profit for him in merely possessing the instruments. What he wants is, with their help, to produce the crafted objective for which these are the efficient means.

In the same way, fasting, vigils, scriptural meditation, nakedness and total deprivation do not constitute perfection but are the means to perfection. They are not in themselves the end point of a discipline, but an end is attained to through them.  

St. John Cassian, Conference One

Daily Reading:

Tuesday

SIXTH HOUR

Isaih 1:19-2:3

     If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

VESPERS

Genesis 1:14-23

     And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Proverbs 1:20-33

     Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.


NO LITURGY

+ + +

ST LEO, POPE OF ROME
ST COLMAN

Troparion of St Leo    Tone 3
Thou wast the Church's instrument/ in strengthening the Church's teaching of true doctrine;/ thou didst shine forth from the West like a sun/ and didst dispel the heretics' error./ O righteous Leo, entreat Christ our God to grant us His great mercy.

Troparion of St Colman    Tone 4
As an upholder of Orthodox discipline,/ thou didst show forth in thy life the pre-eminence of holy Tradition,/ O all-praised Hierarch Colman./ With great personal sacrifice, thou wast true to thy teachers,/ wherefore we pray that we may unhesitatingly follow our fathers in the Faith/ with loyalty and devotion/ and thereby be guided into the way of salvation.

Kontakion of St Leo    Tone 3
From the throne of thy priesthood, O glorious one,/ thou didst stop the mouths of the spiritual lions;/ thou didst illumine thy flock with the light of the knowledge of God/ and with the inspired doctrines of the Holy Trinity./ Thou art glorified as a divine initiate of the grace of God.

Kontakion of St Colman    Tone 2
By the mercy of our God,/ thy very life was a sermon, O Father Colman,/ light of the true Faith and example of constancy and piety,/ teaching all by thy selfless devotion./ Praising thee we pray that, withstanding novelty and innovation,/ we may always give glory to Christ our God.

+ + +

TRIODION
FIRST WEEK OF LENT 

TUESDAY MATINS

(After the 2nd reading of the Psalter):

SESSIONAL HYMN TONE 2

THE GRACE OF THE HOLY FAST IS MOST BLESSED:
FOR THROUGH FASTING MOSES WAS GLORIFIED,
RECEIVING THE LAW WRITTEN UPON TABLETS.
THROUGH FASTING THE THREE CHILDREN WERE MADE STRONGER THAN THE FIRE!
LET US, THEN, QUENCH THE BURNING PASSIONS OF THE FLESH.
LET US CRY OUT TO CHRIST THE SAVIOR://
GRANT US ALL CONVERSION AND DELIVER US FROM GEHENNA!

               GLORY...

THE SEASON OF REPENTANCE IS AT HAND:
SHOW THE FRUITS OF ABSTINENCE, O MY SOUL!
CONSIDER THOSE WHO REPENTED IN THE PAST
AND CRY ALOUD TO CHRIST:
I HAVE SINNED, O LOVING MASTER; SAVE ME,
AS YOU SAVED THE PUBLICAN WHO SIGHED WITH SORROW FROM HIS HEART,//
FOR YOU ALONE ARE RICH IN MERCY!

               NOW AND EVER... (Theotokion)

THEOTOKOS, THE FERVENT ADVOCATE OF CHRISTIANS,
EVER ENTREAT YOUR SON,
THAT HE MAY DELIVER US FROM ALL THE MALICE AND CUNNING OF THE ENEMY,
AND IN HIS TENDER MERCY, GRANT US THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS,//
AT YOUR INTERCESSIONS, MOTHER AND VIRGIN!

(After the 3rd reading of the Psalter):

SESSIONAL HYMN TONE 5

AS WE BEGIN THE SECOND DAY OF SAVING ABSTINENCE,
WE CRY TO YOU, O LORD:
PIERCE OUR HEARTS WITH COMPUNCTION
FOR WE ARE YOUR SERVANTS
AND ACCEPT THE PRAYERS WE OFFER YOU IN FEAR.
ALLOW US TO COMPLETE THE COURSE OF THE FAST WITHOUT STUMBLING,//
GRANTING US CLEANSING AND GREAT MERCY!

               GLORY...

AS WE BEGIN THE SECOND DAY...

               NOW AND EVER... (Theotokion)

FIRST TUESDAY OF LENT, MATINS SESSIONAL HYMNS   page two


               NOW AND EVER... (Theotokion)

ROOT THAT HAS PUT FORTH THE DIVINE FLOWER,
TABERNACLE AND CANDLESTICK,
GOLDEN VESSEL OF MANNA,
HOLY TABLE BEARING THE BREAD OF LIFE:
WITH JOHN THE FORERUNNER, INTERCEDE BEFORE HIM
SINCE HE IS YOUR SON AND GOD,
THAT HE MAY GRANT MERCY AND SALVATION TO US ALL//
WHO ACKNOWLEDGE YOU TO BE THE THEOTOKOS!

+ + + 

THE CANON

CANTICLE TWO:

                             FIRST CANON

                TONE 2 (By Joseph the Hymnographer)

IRMOS: BEHOLD; BEHOLD! I AM HE
WHO SAVED THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL IN THE SEA
AND NOURISHED THEM IN THE WILDERNESS.
I DREW WATER FROM A ROCK FOR MORTAL MEN
SO THAT I MIGHT RAISE UP THE ONE WHO HAD FALLEN INTO CORRUPTION,
AND DRAW HIM TO ME BY MY MERCY.

Soul, be temperant;
be vigilant, sigh and weep.
Reject all the burden of sin by fasting.
Flee from the fire of passions by true and fervent repentance,
and rending the garments of mourning with tears, be clothed anew.

Woe is me!  Who will I become?
And what shall I do?
I have committed sins without conscience,
and have not feared the Master.
Therefore, even before the Judgment, I stand condemned.
Save me and bring me back, O righteous and gracious Judge,
though I have angered You more than all other men.

                (Theotokion)

Unsown earth, which brought forth the Nourisher of all:
He who opened His hands, and of His own good will
satisfies every living thing by His power:
strengthen with the Living Bread
the hearts weakened by satisfaction with wicked transgression.

(Click for the rest of the canon)

Daily Reading:

Monday

SIXTH HOUR

Isaiah 1:1-20

     The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

VESPERS

Genesis 1:1-13

     In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

Proverbs 1:1-20

     The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:


NO LITURGY

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GREAT MARTYR THEODORE THE TYRO (OR RECRUIT)

HOLY NEW MARTYR THEODORE THE BYZANTINE

ST FINAN

Troparion of St Theodore the Tyro    Tone 2
Great are the achievements of faith!/ In the fountain of flame as in refreshing water,/ the holy Martyr Theodore rejoiced./ He was made a whole burnt offering in the fire/ and was offered as bread to the Trinity./ By his prayers, O Christ our God, save our souls.

Troparion of St Theodore the Byzantine    Tone 1
Thou wast offered to God as a precious gift through thy labours in conflict,/ and didst become a blameless and acceptable offering./ O blessed Theodore, we lovingly gather to praise thy struggles;/ we give glory to God who has strengthened thee,/ O much-afflicted one, against all thine enemies,/ visible and invisible.

Troparion of St Finan    Tone 2
As Aidan's successor thou didst rule the See of Lindisfarne fearlessly/ preaching the Orthodox Faith, O holy Hierarch Finan./ Boldly obeying the Gospel command,/ thou didst soften the stony heart of Mercia's pagan Prince Peada/ and win his soul for Christ./ Pray for us, O Saint, that Christ alone will rule in our hearts,/ that He may save our souls.

Kontakion of St Theodore the Tyro    Tone 8
Thou didst receive the Faith of Christ in thy heart as a breastplate/ and trample upon the enemy hosts, O great Champion./ Thou hast been crowned with a heavenly, eternal crown, for thou art invincible.

Kontakion of St Theodore the Byzantine    Tone 4
Thy contest has arisen like a bright morning star/ and has inspired us to glorify Christ./ He has shown thee forth as one steadfast in struggle, O Martyr Theodore.

Kontakion of St Finan    Tone 6
Great Hierarch of the Christian North/ and radiant luminary of the Orthodox Faith, O Hierarch Finan,/ by thy preaching to all nations/ the warlike Mercians were illumined by the light of Christ's holy Gospel./ As we keep festival in thy honour/ we pray for grace to emulate thy righteous example.

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THE CANON

TONE 2 (By Joseph)

CANTICLE ONE:

FIRST CANON

IRMOS:  COME, NATIONS; LET US SING A SONG TO CHRIST OUR GOD!
HE DIVIDED THE WATERS AND GUIDED THE PEOPLE FROM BONDAGE IN EGYPT,//
FOR HE IS GREATLY GLORIFIED!

How shall I begin to weep for my failures?
Where can I make a start for salvation?
I have lived as a Prodigal.
Save me by the ways that are Your, Bountiful One.

This is the time of repentance.
This is the day of salvation.
This is the beginning of the fast.
Be vigilant, my soul!
Close the door of your passions, and seek the Lord.

The tempest of my sins has drawn me to the depths of despair.
But I flee to the sea of Your mercy:
O Lord, save me!

I have become a slave to sin.
I alone have opened the doors to passion, O Word,
but convert me by Your compassion, Savior!

Daily Reading:

Cheese-fare Sunday

MATINS (IV)

Luke 24:1-12

     Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

LITURGY

Romans 13:11-14:4

     And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

Matthew 6:14-21

     For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.