Reduce stress: Live the Liturgical Cycles

Modern life is full of stress and busyness. We have many worries and find it difficult to cope with all that comes our way. This is the modern normal. How can you break this stressful situation? The Church has a great secrete for this. It's not really a secrete but is not widely known or followed.

What I am going to tell you is something I have experienced for myself. I am well aware of the stresses of today's life having lived a life buried in the corporate world. But I chose many years ago to change my life and follow the way of Life taught by the Orthodox Church.

Aside from a solid faith in teachings of Jesus Christ and the reality of His Incarnation, worldly life as Man and God, Crucifixion and Resurrection, His Church from the early days has prescribed a way of life that provides cycles that can help us gain greater harmony. These cycles are prescribed in the Liturgical calendar of the Church. There you will find periods set aside for inner reflection and purification. There are also periods for great celebration. These all coincide with the celebration of His life.

One such cycle is the one we are currently in, Great Lent. When this period begins were are taught from Scripture about humility, mercy of God, and power of forgiveness, repentance and renewal. These lessons lead us to a rather long period of fasting. As we prepare to fast we begin with an awareness of our shortcomings in relation to the teachings of our God and develop feelings of remorse out of our love for Him that we cannot live up to the ideals He teaches us. 

In preparing for the fast the first thing we do is examine our calendar and make sure we remove all that is not necessary and eliminate any optional social activity so we can make time for being quiet, reflecting, praying and worshiping. We commit ourselves to self-sacrifice in the food we eat, restricting our diet to the most basic of foods. This is a discipline to help us gain control over our physical and psychological desires that can so easy enslave us in bad habits. This simple change in diet also helps us to think about all the virtues that require a bit of self-sacrifice. It's not easy to do this but engaging in this cycle brings us great rewards. After this five week period we are prepared for the most moving week reliving of the Passion of Christ, Holy Week.

The cycle deepens and we are prepared. This is definitely a period where we must make plans to attend ALL the services of this week. At the end is the glorious celebration of His Resurrection and the proclamation of His victory over death and our hope of eternal life, Pascha. Here the quiet period ends, even the colors in the church change to bright white and we enter into a week long period of celebration. The cycle shifts to an enjoyment of all the pleasures of food and drink and social activity with family and friends and all the goodness of this world that God has created for us to enjoy.

Such a cycle as prescribed by the church causes us to break with our normal routines and to examine the modern normal way of life that leads us to so much stress. If we engage in this cycle, we are likely to choose to make some changes for the rest of the year. Then, each year as we repeat this cycle, more improvements are made and step by step we are transformed into a new way of life that enables us to face all the realities of modern life with less stress and with Christ continually at our side. Think about how the Church in her great wisdom has given us the guidelines for including such a cycle in our life. Think about what a gift this is! It is important to examine it, and most importantly to choose to follow the guidelines. It creates a renewing experience that is for the health of our soul.

The Church also has other similar cycles during the year that also provide a break in our routine and renewal. There is the fast in preparation for the falling asleep of the Mother of God. It is shorter being only two weeks and comes at the peak of summer in August. Another which is not as strict is the preparation for the birth of Christ. The Church calls us to restrain our activities in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then to celebrate for 12 full days following. Today this cycle is missing from our lives and most of us find ourselves stressed by this over commercialized holiday period.

There are more, but what is important to think about is the wisdom the Church provides for our well being, for the health of our soul, for a life based on love and peace, for our preparation for eternal life with Christ in His kingdom.

You don't need self-help books, no TV guru to guide you, nor a yoga class to relieve stress. Simply follow what is hidden in the wisdom of the the Orthodox Church and follow it. It is that simple. It will bring you grace and you will gain strength you did not know you had access too. You will experience His presence and your life will become one that is closer to what He teaches.

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

Taking Lent Seriously - Repentance

Lent is not just about fasting, but more importantly it is a period for introspection and repentance. If we are taking Lent seriously we will have made time for quiet reflection and made plans for a full confession with a priest.  Repentance is not something we do only in Lent, but is part of an Orthodox way of life. After all Christ began His teaching saying, "Repent, for the kingdom is at hand."  But during Lent the Church gives it special emphasis.

Elder Sergei of Vanves tells us that there are two kinds of repentance:
    1. Repentance that involves the confession of a specific sin.
    2. Repentance that is based on a general sinful state.

The first typed is critical, because to not repent for a specific sin is to remain in sin and to be separated from God and His Church.  For a specific sin there are three stages of repentance.
    First, repenting as soon as the sin is committed.
    Second, recalling it at the end of the day and asking for God's forgiveness.
    Third, confessing it when one receives the sacrament of Confession.

At the third stage we receive a full pardon and are reunited with Christ through the Holy Spirit as the prayer of absolution is read by the priest. In the eyes of God the sin no longer exists.  Your heavenly record is cleared and our conscience is relieved of its burden.

At the first stage we can gain forgiveness from God from lesser sins like wicked thoughts.  Elder Sergei says, "If you have a wicked thought and repent by desiring to think and act otherwise, this sin is erased immediately."

The Elder emphasizes the need for the second stage. He advises that we should provide a specific concentrated time for repentance each day, even if it is only but a few seconds.  This involves searching our conscience and making a spiritual critique of all our activities of the day. We should identify all that was evil as well as the good we did not do and that which was done without the proper attitude or thought. After  our examination we can ask God for forgiveness. This must be done with sincerity and with a contrite heart, feeling remorse that we were not able to do everything according to His will.

Elder Sergei also tells us not to pay attention to our past sins.  We are to live each day as a new day. We must remember that sin is not part of our true nature.  If we are not careful we can be led to despair and this we must avoid as it is a greater sin.

The second type of repentance is a more general condition, one many of us may have neglected. This is our sinful state that we inherited from the sin of Adam which has separated us from God. It is also called ancestral sin which we have inherited at our birth. It is a general state of our being where we have the inborn tendency to sin. The recognition of this may be termed as contrition.  Because of this condition we must also repent for the sins we have committed unknowingly. But how can we ask for forgiveness for that which we do not know we have done? Are we not only responsible for those sins we have knowingly committed? The reality is that this may be our largest area of sinfulness. Out of our ignorance and our psychological needs, such sins are hidden in our mind but linger underneath our awareness. We frequently unknowingly do something that offends another person and do not realize, or acknowledge, the impact of our actions. Each time we cause another person to suffer, knowingly or unknowingly, we have sinned. We need to admit the limits of our conscience and our spiritual weakness that leaves us in a condition where we are unable to discern such sins. The Elder advises us to ask God: "Forgive me of my sins which I do not know, for all my unconscious sins."  In addition we should recognize all our failures and insufficiencies. This means acknowledging in front of God our sorrow for not loving Him or our neighbor sufficiently, not having enough compassion or not praying enough.

Elder Sergei says that repentance is necessary for everyone because we are all sinners.  We all live in sin from birth, a state where we have a tendency to sin. Fortunately, our merciful God knows our condition and expects us to continually repent. God does not look favorably on anyone who does not think they are a sinner and does not see the need for repentance. Even if we do not feel we have sinned we must still have the feeling that we are sinners and with humility be repentive for our weakness and general condition, ever seeking to improve ourselves in the eyes of God.

According to Elder Sergei, repentance is "the key to spiritual life." It is the way we gain forgiveness from God. It allows us to become purified so we can be united with God. It allows us to have effective prayers and a true relationship with God. Thorough the humility that comes with a life of repentance we gain the support of the Holy Spirit which helps us in all kinds of difficult situations we face as the result of life in this world. He says that repentance is a normal state for all Christians.  This is the characteristic of the lives of the saints. It is the surest path for spiritual progress.

So if we are to take Lent seriously we must repent each day and seek a deeper understanding of our sinful nature, knowing that God will help us if we do repent. It is a good time for those who have not regularly participated in the sacrament of Confession to arrange for this sacrament.

Reference: Elder Sergi of Vanves: His Life and Teachings by Jean-Claude Larchet, pp 29-34

Taking Lent Seriously

Instead of making decisions to change our normal activities during Lent, many seem satisfied to continue life as in any other period. They go to church on Sunday, they don't participate in the additional Lenten services, their social life proceeds as normal, and they even ignore the fast. 

What does it mean to take Lent seriously? It means we engage in it whole heartedly as a spiritual challenge and opportunity. This means we make special plans to make an extra effort during this period. We can think of this period as a gift of God encouraging us to seek ways to perfect ourselves, to make changes in our way of life, to be renewed and deepen our spirituality. It is a period intended for Repentance and change.

We are prepared by the themes of the Sundays precede Lent: the desire of Zacchaes to repent, the humility of the Publican, the welcomed return of the Prodigal Son , of the Final Judgment we will all face, and the need and power of forgiveness. Meditate on these Gospel lessons (Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14); Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32); Judgment (Meat-fare) Sunday (Matt 25:31-46); Forgiveness (Cheese-Fare) Sunday (Matt 6:14-21). Combined, they provide the foundation for the right motivation during Lent.

Next, we find on the church calendar many additional services. If we are serious about Lent we will make plans to participate in them, increasing our time devoted to prayer. This requires a decision and extra effort. The main services are the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesdays and the Salutations on Friday evenings.

Of course there is also fasting to go along with our additional time in prayer. Without fasting you cannot say there is Lent. To understand its importance review the story of Adam and Eve. Their transgression involved eating against God’s will. Also the first act of Christ when he began His public ministry was a 40 day fast. Food is central to life. Without it there is biological death. We tend to think of the essentials of life only in terms of nourishment, but we must lift our thoughts to consider a higher life which depends on God instead of food. In fasting we are reminding ourselves of the great truth, life is not dependent on bread alone but on God. The problem for Adam was that he ate for his own sake, to be independent of God, thinking the fruit of the tree would make him like God. Adam in disobeying Gods command to not eat of this fruit lost eternal life. Christ came to restore what had been lost. He began with a fast. It says in Scripture, "When He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He became hungry" (Matt 4:2). Hunger makes us realize that we are dependent on something more than what we have in ourselves. It raises the important question, What does my life depend on? With fasting we face the temptation Christ faced during His fast. When he rejected it He said, “It is written (Deuteronomy 8:3), ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matt 4:4). He restored the relationship between food, life and God. By fasting we enter into that experience Christ had and with the understanding that life is dependent on more than food. The life we seek is eternal and depends on God. When fasting we can experience food as a gift from God and realize how our life in this world and the next world are dependent on Him. It is through fasting that we can recover the realization of our spiritual nature. We denounce the temptations that come when we are hungry or not able to satisfy a desire for a certain kind of food. We develop inner strength against temptations. When combined with prayer we experience the victory of Christ over evil. We learn that our greater hunger is a hunger for God. This is why our fast in Lent is also coupled with additional prayer services. To be serious about Lent is to be serious about our salvation and our desire to be united with God. In preparing for our fast we must think about more that the "rules" of fasting. It is not enough to simply follow the "rules." The fast must be God centered. It must be viewed as something to help us discover our body as the Temple of His presence.  True fasting will lead us to temptation, discomfort, showing us our weakness and raising doubts. Lent is long enough to test our resolve, our endurance and perseverance which are all necessary to follow the path to union with Christ.

If we are serious about Lent, we also make modifications in our way of life during Lent. We brace ourselves to go against the grain of our modern materialistic and self-centered culture that ignores most religious traditions and efforts. If we are serious about Lent we will choose not to follow the norm. We will instead reduce our level of activity to make room for silence and inner reflection. We should reduce the use of TV, internet surfing, video watching and games, as well as other forms of entertainment and pastimes. This does not have to be a complete absence but a reduced one. We can watch the news and carefully select other programming that is beneficial for our soul. We want to make more time for spiritual reading, listening to spiritual talks, and prayer. We should try to create an atmosphere in our homes that encourages spiritual enrichment during this period. We want gain the experience of what is important for the true life that comes from faith and a life lived by this faith.

Let's become serious about Lent, let's attend the extra services, let's fast, let's reduce our social activities, let’s limit our time spent on Internet surfing, videos and games. Instead, lets make time for inner introspection that leads us to repentance, nurturing our soul, and deepening or relationship with God.

Thank God for this special time and do take Lent seriously.

Have a good and spiritual Lent.

Reference: Great Lent, Alexander Schmemann. 

Are We Aware of Our Sinfulness?

Is everyone aware of their sinfulness?  Elder Paisios says, "we all have awareness, but we just don't care." For one to come to the light of Christ, one must want to come out of the darkness of sin.  This is our common condition. We all struggle with this. We know deep down that we are sinful but we resist participation the the Sacrament of Confession. Why do we resist? Pride? Perhaps. But as the Elder says, "we just don't care." We need to find a glimmer of "light" and then we will seek out reconciliation with God.  But first we must care about our condition in relationship to what Christ has taught us.


Elder Paisios uses the analogy of being shut in a dark cellar to describe the condition of one who has a heavy conscience due to sinful activities. He says that the moment one who is locked in a dark place, like a dark cellar, they feel trapped When they see a single ray of light, they will immediately try to follow it to find a way out.  That single light beam will give them hope and they will struggle to find its source to escape from the darkness.

Elder says,

It is the same with the [sinful] person; from the moment he sees the good as a necessity and feels "good restlessness" about achieving it, makes every effort to come out of the darkness of sin. If he says, "what am I doing wrong, I am not on the right path", then he humbles himself, God's grace comes upon him  and then he moves onto the right path.

But he adds that this is very difficult.  We must first have this feeling of "good restlessness". We must care about our spiritual condition and desire to improve it.  The Elder relates this to one shut in a closet.

Someone, for example, is in a tiny closet and feels as if he is suffocating. You tell him, "Get up, oen the door and go out and get some fresh air to revive yourself." But he begins to say, "I can't go out. But why am I closed up in here unable to breath? And why shouldn't I have fresh air: And why does God keep my in here while others are out in the fresh air? Well tell me can such a person be helped?

Is this not the condition of many of us.  We are shut up in this tiny closet of our own mind, locked in by our own pride.  Even when we are given the offer to come to receive the light, to come and seek forgiveness in Confession, we say, "Why do I need to talk to the priest? Why can't I do this all by myself? Am I not a good person?" Can such a person be helped by the Church?  No, he or she remains locked in their own little world, suffocating due to their own pride.

This is the challenge and opportunity offered to us by the Church in the Lenten season.  If we follow the fast, increase our daily prayers, and open our hearts to our sinfulness, we can ask for forgiveness and find relief when we may not know this is possible.  We can become more capable to seek spiritual nurturing through the Sacraments and prayers of the Church.  But, first, we must care.  We must care about our spiritual condition. We must want to see "the good as a necessity," and want to seek what the elder calls, "good restlessness."

Let's not deceive ourselves by thinking we don't need this extra effort, that we don't need to go to Confession, that we don't need to take time each morning and evening for prayers. Let's surrender to the Wisdom of the Church and follow its teachings and partake of all the tools it offers to us for our spiritual well being.

Reference:Elder of Mount Athos Spiritual Counsels III: Spiritual Struggle, pp130

What Separates Us From God?

The story of Adam and Eve is one of the foundations of Christian life. In this story we seen how we are separated from God.  This separation does not come from any action on God's part, but is a result of our own disobedience. Adam and Eve fell because they began to rely on their own will and ignored God's will. This is what it means to be separated from God.  Because they put their own desires ahead of God's plan for them, they separated themselves from God and became subject to suffering, toil and death. Because of these consequences we have the tendency to act for our own self benefit leading us to a tendency for sin. 

Sin is not about breaking a specific law but is about not having a loving relationship with God. When you love God, you seek to do His will.  When you love yourself more than Him because of all your self doubts and fears, you only carry out your own will to maximize your own satisfaction. The question we need to ask ourselves is, "How can we regain our status before the Fall of Adam and Eve where we live a pure life in union with God always seeking to do His will?"

Elder Paisios gives an answer to this question:"The heart must be purified."   This is the same view that Christ gave us in His Sermon on the Mount where He said, "Those with a pure heart will see God."

What does this mean? Elder Paisios goes on to say,

Man must acquire spiritual chastity; that is sincerity, honesty, selflessness, humility, goodness, forbearance, sacrifice. This is how man becomes akin to God and how divine Grace comes to dwell in him. When someone has physical chastity but lacks spiritual chastity, God cannot dwell in him because he harbors cunning, pride, evil, and so forth. Then this person's life is a sham; this is where you must begin your struggle: acquiring spiritual chastity, spiritual purity.

To do this requires true repentance, a change of mind coupled with personal discipline so that your life actually changes.  We are creatures of habit and our struggle is one of overcoming bad habits.

Elder Paisios says,

One must have a lot of willpower in order to break a bad habit all at once. Just as the rope rubs against the edge of the well and over the years forms a small grove that holds the rope in place, every habit forms a grove in the heart, making it them difficult to get rid of...it takes lots of humility and great will power to overcome them.

The period of Lent is a special time in the Church for self examination and repentance.  It is the time, when coupled with fasting and prayer, we can identify our bad habits that keep us separated from God. Once we have identified them, we can seek guidance and courage to overcome them with the help of divine grace. As we repent we gain grace providing God's help in overcoming our habits.  Fasting brings humility as well as self discipline.  The extra services in the Church during this period, coupled with our own increased time in prayer and study of spiritual matters, nurture us in our efforts to come closer to God.

Make plans for the fast, allow time for the extra services, and more time for prayer. Put these activiies into your personal calendar. Schedule a time with your spiritual father for Confession.

Have a Great Lent.

Resource: Elder Paisios of Mont Athos Spiritual Counsels III, p 128

Examining Our Use of Free Will

God's greatest gift was free will.  Because of this we can offer love to God and our neighbors.  But this is not how we always use it.  I find myself like Paul, wanting to use it with love only to find myself doing something else.  Like him, I feel at times like I am at war with myself.  It's like I am under the control of some other influence and not able to freely choose that which I desire.


Archimandrite Seraphim Alexsiev wrote the following in his book The Meaning of Suffering and Strife and Reconciliation:

Today we, like Adam, constantly misuse our free will ... This is where all our troubles come from, as well as our inability to be consoled in them.

...God has given us health so that we can serve Him and our neighbors with it, but we abuse this precious gift ... God has given us riches so that we will be useful to the least of His brothers, but we misuse our riches as well.  God has given us abilities in order to praise Him, yet we often bring dishonor to God's holy Name with our abilities; it is sufficient to think of those writers who use their gift to slander God and the saints.  Do not the astounding contemporary achievements of technology represent the same kind of abuse of God's gifts by using them to destroy from the air entire cities and to kill peaceful citizens by the hundreds and thousands, instead of implying these achievements for increasing the well-being of mankind?  We often put in service to satan all the blessings and abilities which we have received from God.  Through them we seek glory and pleasures for ourselves, become proud, and harm our neighbors.

What he says rings true for me.
One of the purposes of Lent is to help us reflect on our own struggle.  Through fasting we can see our difficulty with self-discipline.  Through our participation in more prayer and worship services we test our dedication to God.  Thorough our reading of the gospel and the Holy Fathers we examine and enhance our understanding of His commandments.


Reflect on our collective condition.  Examine your own conscience.  Map out a plan to commit to change.


Pray, Fast, Worship, Read, Simplify, Watch, Put Others First.


Ref; The Meaning of Suffering and Strife and Reconciliation, pgs 31-32


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Truth of the Uncreated Light of God

On this second Sunday of Lent we celebrate Saint Gregory Palamas who was a defender of a principle mystical teaching of Orthodoxy that we can experience God's Divine Energies even though we can never know His essence. He explained that when the Apostles witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor, that they were seeing the actual uncreated light of God. This was not some created experience. He also taught that it is possible for others to be blessed to see that same uncreated light of God by repentance, spiritual discipline and the practice of the Jesus Prayer. Saint Gregory cautions those of a rational mind to be open to the incredible mystery that is available to those who are pure of heart.

"There are people in our own times...who completely disobey spiritual men in matters of the Spirit, and choose to oppose them. When they hear that the light of the Lord's transfiguration on the mountain was seen by the eyes of the apostles, they immediately reduce it to visible, created light. They drag down that immaterial, never-setting, pre-eternal light, which surpasses not only our senses but also our minds, because they themselves are at a low level, and are incapable of conceiving of anything higher than earthly things. Nevertheless, He who shone with this light proved in advance that it was uncreated by referring to it as the kingdom of God. God's kingdom is not subservient or created, but uniquely unsubduable and invincible. It is beyond the bounds of both time and aeon, and cannot be said to have had a beginning or to have been overtaken by time or age. We believe this kingdom to be the inheritance of those who are being saved. 

Given that when He was transfigured the Lord shone and displayed glory, splendor and light, and will come again as He was seen by His disciples on the mountain, does this mean He somehow took this light to Himself, and will have for ever something He did not have before? Perish the blasphemous thought! ...He possessed the splendor of the divine nature hidden under His flesh. This light, then, is the light of the Godhead, and it is uncreated. According to the theologians, when Christ was transfigured He neither received anything different, nor was changed into anything different, but was revealed to His disciples as He was, opening their eyes and giving sight to the blind. Take note that eyes with natural vision are blind to that light. It is invisible, and those who behold it do so not simply with their bodily eyes, but with eyes transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Homily 34)

This uncreated light seen by the Apostles is clearly not physical. Saint Gregory says it is available to all of us. But He cautions that we can never assume to know the essence of God. This is unknowable to us. We should pursue our own purification to experience the wonder of His uncreated light as this only comes to those who are pure of heart as were Peter John and James, the only ones He took with Him to Mount Tabor. This is why we are reminded of His teaching at this time in our fast. Our fast is to help us build the self-disciplne to enable to attack our sinfulness so we too can become pure in heart and be one with god and bask in His uncreated light.

Thus is this light measured out and distributed, while remaining entire, and is received more by some, less by others. It is known partly now, partly later, so Paul says, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part" (I Cor. 13:9). By contrast, God's essence is absolutely indivisible and incomprehensible, and no other being can receive it, either to a greater or lesser extent. Only the accursed Messalians think otherwise, supposing that God's essence can be seen by those among them who are worthy We, however, turn aside from heretics of earlier ages and our own and believe, as we were taught that the divine kingdom, glory, splendor, ineffable light, and divine grace can be seen and shared by the saints, but not God's essence. So let us make our way towards the radiance of the light of grace, that we may acknowledge and venerate the threefold Godhead, who shines with a single indescribable radiance from one nature in three persons. Let us lift up the eyes of our understanding to the Word who now sits, with His body, above the vaults of heaven. And He who sits in divine splendor on the right hand of majesty, utters these words to us as if from afar, "If anyone wants to stand in the presence of this glory, let him imitate Me as far as he can, and follow the way and the manner of life I taught on earth". 

Let us look with our inner eyes at this great spectacle, our nature, which dwells for all eternity with the immaterial fire of the divinity. And let us take off the coats of skins (cf Gen. 3:21), the earthy and carnal ways of thinking, in which we were clothed because of our transgression, and stand on holy ground (cf Exod. 3:5), each one of us hallowing our own ground by means of virtue and reaching up to God. In this way we shall have boldness when God comes in light, and as we run to Him we shall be enlightened, and, once illumined, shall live for ever to the glory of the one brightness in three Suns, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Homily 35)

Keep up the fast, double your prayers, participate in the additional services, and help those in need during this Lenten period.


Read both the Homilies by Saint Gregory: Homily 34 & Homily 35

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More on Prayer...

Significance of Great Lent

Great Lent before Easter is when the Christian participates fully in preparing himself to praise and glorify his God as Lord and Savior. Great Lent is like a "workshop" where the character of the faithful is spiritually uplifted and strengthened; where his life is rededicated to the principles and ideals of the Gospel; where the faith culminates in deep conviction of life; where apathy and disinterest turn into vigorous activities of faith and good works. Lent is not for the sake of Lent itself, as fasting is not for the sake of fasting. But they are means by which and for which the individual believer prepares himself to reach for, accept and attain the calling of his Savior. Therefore, the significance of Great Lent is highly appraised, not only by the monks who gradually increased the length of time of the Lent, but also by the lay people themselves, although they do not observe the full length of time. The deep intent of the believer during the Great Lent is "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus", Philippians 3:13-14. 

by Rev. George Mastrantonis 

An Anthem for Great Lent and all of Life.

Wash yourselves, and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 17. learn to do well; diligently seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. 18. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: and though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they red like crimson, I will make them white as wool. 19. If then ye be willing, and obedient unto Me, ye shall eat the good of the land; 20. but if ye desire not, nor will obey me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. (Is 1:1-20, First Monday of Great Lent, the Sixth Hour)

Great Lent Begins

As we enter the Lenten season (March 2), there are things we can do to prepare ourselves for the celebration of The Resurrection on Pascha. Here are some things we should consider:

Prayer - All good things begin with prayer. Think about it this way; when we meet someone we like, we spend time talking with them. The more we talk with them the more we know them and the more we want to know. Prayer is a conversation with God. We should tell him our fears, ask him to guide us and thank him for our blessings. If you do not already have one, order an Orthodox prayer book to help you.

Go to Church - We know some of us may think that church only occurs on Sunday. Wrong! The Orthodox Church offers an entire cycle of worship throughout the year. No time is that more evident than during Lent. We should go to the Divine Liturgy on Sunday but we should also go to the other liturgical services (Vespers, Compline, Salutations & Akathist Hymn, Pre-Sanctified Liturgy). But here is the really important part, we should not just "go" to the services…we need to be active participants in the services. Ask your priest where you can get books for the services so that you can participate by reading, chanting and following along.

Repentance/Confession - We know it is hard, but confession is necessary for spiritual growth. Do not look at it as going in with your shopping lists of sins and trying to rattle them off as quickly as possible. Instead look at it as an opportunity to fix your relationship with God through repentance. Repentance is accepting that we have done something wrong and (here's the hard part) committing to try very, very hard not fall into those sins again.

Read the Bible - If you don't have one, get one immediately! Ask your priest for the list of daily bible readings for the church calendar. This will help you in your journey through lent and throughout the year.

Fast - We know what you are all thinking… beans, greens and rice how does that make me a better Christian? Fasting is really about discipline. We discipline ourselves in other areas of our life (athletics, academic). We should be disciplining ourselves spiritually in what we do as well as in what we eat.

Give - Take time during lent to give to those in need. You do not need money to do this. Ask yourself how can I give of my time, talents and treasure to give Glory to God?

Excerpted from: For The Youth-What's Up With Lent?
by Melissa K. Bazos and Anna Nicole Kyritsis