|
|
|
Published
by the
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
March 13, 2005
Catechetical
Homily of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
on the Occasion of Holy and Great Lent |
 |
 |
Protocol No. 229
CATECHETICAL HOMILY
ON THE OCCASION OF
HOLY AND GREAT LENT
†B A R T H O L O M E W
BY THE MERCY OF GOD
ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
NEW ROME, AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH,
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH,
GRACE AND PEACE
FROM OUR SAVIOR CHRIST,
TOGETHER WITH OUR PRAYER,
BLESSING AND FORGIVENESS
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,
“Time has come for the beginning of spiritual
toil, the victory against demons, the fully
armored self-restraint, the grace of Angels, our
outspokenness toward God….”
The period of Holy and Great Lent interrupts the
dullness of our routine; it is the ultimate time
of spiritual struggle.
One more arena of toil opens up in front of us.
This is an Arena where not only the body strains,
but also the spirit. It is a great Arena, in which
all of us can and must participate, unequivocally.
This “arena of virtues”, as holy hymnography
describes it, does not have tiers. It does not
allow for spectators. It only provides tracks for
contenders. Its judges and spectators are watching
from heaven above, namely, the Lord, the
establisher of good struggles of Faith, and the
Saints, who have already taken part and excelled
in these struggles and have received their winning
wreaths and trophies. They stand to watch our own
efforts, to admire our own accomplishments.
We have essentially entered this arena of
spiritual struggle already from the moment we were
baptized. It was then that we renounced Satan and
his works and clothed ourselves with our Lord
Jesus Christ, as with a robe as white as snow,
Whom we promised to follow throughout our life.
Selfishness and our attraction to life's vanity,
in conjunction with the incessant “war” which the
devil works against us with “simple
all-encompassing sin,” render us many times
lethargic; as a result, we abandon our exercise in
Christ and sink into the obliviousness of
indifference. Following that path, though, leads
us astray from the source of life, Christ, until
we are completely separated from Him. This is
exactly what death is all about. Eternal,
horrible, true death. Because as much as Christ is
Life, true Life, eternal Life, that is exactly how
much estrangement from Him is death, deprivation
of Life, Joy and Light - total loss of everything.
Thus, the Mother Church, exercising wise care,
established the period of the Fast so that we may
all remember our duties emanating from our holy
Baptism, and may understand that we are by
definition contenders and athletes taking part
with the grace of honor in the various sacred
exercises: forgiveness of one another, fasting,
prayer, charity, patience in sorrow and hardships
of life, perseverance in pain, and the offering of
brotherly love to one another.
Fasting relieves the body from unneeded weight; it
empowers prayer, humbles the sense of one's worth,
and opens up the gates of repentance. Physical
“repentance” strains and exercises the body, but
it also constitutes a clear demonstration of our
self-knowledge that we are sinners and fallen
people, and that in repentance we ask God humbly
to bring us back to life. It is a confession and
prayer in which the body partakes as well.
Charity sanctifies fasting and makes our prayer
more agreeable to our Merciful God. Our patience
in illness, pain and sorrow leads us to the
footprints of the holy Martyrs and secures for us
tremendous gifts and wreaths from our Lord. Our
act of forgiving all who have harmed and hurt us
in any way, and our love for all, seal our
genuineness as Christians and render us emulators
of Christ. The frequent study of the Holy
Scriptures, the teaching of the Fathers and the
lives of Saints give our spirit necessary food,
which we need so that we fight well and until the
end.
The “appropriate hymn” of piety which we are urged
to repeat many times during our struggles of Lent,
and moreover, while prostrating, is the prayer of
Saint Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord and Master of my
life, do not give me a spirit of idleness,
curiosity, lust of power and occupation with
trivialities. Instead, give me, your servant, a
spirit of prudence, humility, patience and love.
Yes, Lord, make me able to see my own faults and
not judge my brother, for You are blessed unto the
ages of ages. Amen.” In this prayer, we invoke
Him, the Lord and Master of Life, and ask through
Him to be delivered from the four main evil
spirits, the four most hideous passions. We also
ask to be endowed with the four most principal
good spirits, namely the four most important
virtues. At the same time, we ask that we be given
the virtue of self-knowledge, so that we then may
occupy ourselves with our own sin and not that of
others. This prayer may very well be the most
wholesome and beautiful prayer of repentance.
Brothers and sisters, let us enter the holy Arena.
Let us begin, with the blessing of God and the
Most Holy Theotokos, the good struggle of
repentance and purification through fasting,
self-restraint, forgiveness of one another,
patience, acts of charity, prayer, and love. Let
us struggle with the grace of honor like all the
Saints -- with a yearning for Christ and spiritual
“nobility,” with humility but also with fervor.
The Mother Church, from the martyred Seat of the
humble but perpetually bright Phanar, sends to all
persons her blessings, and urges in love that no
one remain inactive, seek out a seat in the tiers,
or remain indifferent to the trumpeter calling us
to spiritual exercise.
“Time has come…,” beloved brothers and sisters in
the Lord. The word time does not just mean earthly
time; it also means “opportunity.”
Blessed be God, Who presents us with yet another
Great Lenten period, yet another opportunity to
fight spiritually and to win against the devil,
sin and death, an opportunity leading to
repentance and salvation. To Him, the Savior God,
belong the glory and the power unto the ages.
Amen.
Holy and Great Lent 2005
Your fervent intercessor before God
†BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople
|
