Preparing for the #great #lent
Beloved and respected members who follow the orthodox education and spiritual service that we convey on John's Repentance page, we send you this writing about the great lent by Bishop Serapion of the Coptic Orthodox Church so you may read and understand to get the blessings of this fast.
Great Lent is considered the holiest fast since our Lord Jesus Christ Himself had fasted it.
Therefore, during Great Lent we follow the example set by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who fasted on our behalf forty days and forty nights (Matt. 4: 2). Also during Holy Week, which comes after the 40 days, we live the Passion of Christ day-by-day and hour-by-hour. Because of the significance and holiness of Great Lent, the Church designated a week of preparation to precede the 40 days. The Church is teaching us to prepare for Great Lent in a spiritual manner. We fast to prepare ourselves for the 40 holy days. In fact, the preparatory week is not the only fast which the Church designated to get us ready for Great Lent and Holy Week. Two weeks prior to Great Lent there is Jonah’s Fast, also known as Nineveh’s Fast. It is a short fast, only three days, and it is a fast of repentance. During this fast, we live with Jonah his fasting and repentance in the whale’s belly. We also live with the Ninevites their fasting and repentance. Just as the fasting accompanied by repentance saved Jonah and the Ninevites from perdition, also our fasting accompanied by repentance will save us from eternal destruction and death due to sin. Great Lent is an Apostolic Fast:
It is mentioned in the Didskalia (chapter 18) the following: "Great Lent should be honored before Holy Week. It starts on the Monday following the Saturday and is completed on the Friday preceding Holy Week. After it, you must pay great attention to Holy Week and fast it with fear and piety." In Canon 69 from the Canons of our Fathers the Apostles, the following is mentioned: "Any bishop, priest, deacon, reader, or chanter who does not fast Great Lent or Wednesdays and Fridays shall be excommunicated, unless he has a physical ailment. As for a lay person, he shall be excluded."
Great Lent is an Ascetical Fast:
The Church teaches us to fast until sunset. Fish is not allowed during this period. Also married couples should refrain from physical relations to give themselves time for fasting and prayer (1 Cor. 7: 5). We would like to emphasize the importance of the period of strict abstention during fasting. It is refraining from eating and drinking for a period of time, followed by eating vegetarian food.
Some people practice fasting by abstaining from meat and they eat vegetarian food, disregarding the period of strict abstention. These people should actually be regarded as vegetarians and not as fasting. A vegetarian eats only vegetarian food, but is not considered a fasting person. True fasting must be accompanied by abstention from food and drink until sunset as designated by the Church. However, due to variations in people’s physical and spiritual abilities, the Church gave the father of confession the authority to designate to his children the length of their strict abstinence. He determines what is suitable for their spiritual benefit according to the nature of their work, as well as their physical ability to endure fasting.
Great Lent is a Period of Prayer:
The period of Great Lent is distinctive for its many Liturgies. They become the spiritual treasure for the fasting person to help him throughout the rest of the year. In addition to the Divine Liturgy on Sundays, which have specific readings, hymns, and tunes, the Church also arranged special readings for the daily Liturgies during Great Lent. Also, during the weekdays, there are special hymns.
The Church celebrates the Divine Liturgy almost daily during Great Lent. It is preferred that these Liturgies start late in the day to offer those fasting the opportunity to practice strict abstinence.
About a #Father of #Repentance and his Responsibility
👉Question: What does the father of repentance mean? What is expected of a repentant father? What about his authority?
All our beloved and respected members who follow the orthodox education and spiritual service that we convey on the website of John's Repentance; Based on the above-mentioned question, we have sent you an important lesson that will help you to lead your spiritual life with knowledge, and to constantly grow under the guidance of a repentant father by getting the appropriate service from them, and we entrust you all to read and use it.
✍Answer: A Father of penitence is one's closest advisor in spiritual and physical life. In Sirac 6-6, it says: "Let many people be your friends, and let one of many be your counsel, and let your counsel be one with your heart." This means that although the believers may have many priests to teach them about religion and morals, one of them should be the teacher to whom they confess their repentance.
The Father of pennance is to whom we confess our sins. When we confess our sins to the priest, we are confessing and honoring God. As Joshua said, "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what you have done; hide it not from me.” Joshua 7-19 shows us that confessing sins to a priest is giving glory to God. After accepting the confession, the priests say "May God release you" and not "I have released you". Even if we confess our sins in front of our father of confession, the one who hears and forgives our sins is God, but the system is carried out through our spiritual father whom God The Son Himself has appointed over us. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
A father of penance is a shepherd who teaches the children basic religion, monitors the overall change of the children, and cares about his sheep.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, to save us - crucified on a cross, died and was buried, rose from the dead on the third day, appeared to the apostles after the resurrection and taught them : - "Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep." (Joh 21:15-17) And thus he gave him authority over the believers; And he made him a guard.
The father of penitence or the teacher of penitence means a good leader who makes the penitent children start a penitent life with the right intention.
A teacher of penance means a shepherd who teaches the children basic religion, monitors the overall change and spiritual progress of the children, and cares about his sheep.
The father of penance means a trustee who is able to provide the clear church teaching from the source; and has the duty to do so in order to protect the faithful from changing their religion, from losing their Christian charactor, and from becoming victims of sorcerers and deceivers.
A penitent father means one who tirelessly strives to make his children mature. A penitent father must always pull and rouse his children to be active partakers of the for Holy Communion. This is not done by force, haste, or intimidation. Since the priest is the agent of the Holy Church, God's trustee, he is always required to teach, advise, encourage, pull, and arouse the faithful.