www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Questions regarding Lent

Let me first state that these are Beginner 101 questions...

What are the Eastern Catholic devotions during the Lenten season? Do Eastern Catholics call this time Lent? For RC's there is Ash Wednesday, Stations of the Cross, Holy Week, etc., what are the Byzantine devotions during this time?

Thanks in advance!

TG

I can tell you what we do at our Melkite parish.

We have Forgiveness Vespers the evening before the begining of Great Lent. Great Lent begins on the Monday prior to the Latin Ash Wednesday.

We have Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesdays and Akathist to the Holy Mother of God on Fridays.

I will let someone else tell you about Holy Week.

David

Dear Friend,

David is absolutely correct. He is a very nice fellow, you know!

We call Lent the "Great Fast and it begins on the Monday following Forgiveness Sunday, rather than on Ash Wednesday.

During the Great Fast, the Book of Psalms, which is read through once a week, is read through two times a week.

The only Divine Liturgy or Mass that is celebrated during the week, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, is the Presanctified Liturgy of St Gregory the Dialogist and this is now only celebrated on the evenings of Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent/Great Fast.

Every service and other prayer ends with the special prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian that contains four great bows to the floor or prostrations and twelve metanoias or bows to the waist.

Sundays and other days in the Great Fast have special commemorations and services. The first Sunday of Lent is the "Sunday of Orthodoxy" commemorating the victory over the iconoclasts and icons are carried in procession and are venerated. We are called to be living icons of Christ ourselves through prayer, fasting and charitable works especially.

The Second Sunday of Lent is that of Grace and we celebrate St Gregory Palamas the Teacher of the Jesus Prayer that reminds us to recite it frequently: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.

On the Third Sunday we honour the Holy Cross of our Lord as a reminder for us to pick it up and carry it in our lives daily.

On the Fourth, we celebrate St John of the Ladder whose book is our "Imitation of Christ" and teaches about the spiritual life. It is read in Lent and is composed of 30 chapters representing 30 "steps" of the ladder asending to heaven and union with God in Christ.

On the Fifth, we celebrate St Mary of Egypt, a great penitent of the desert. On the Saturday before, we celebrate the Akathist to the Mother of God, a long, standing service that is the grandfather of your litanies.

As for private and paraliturgical devotions, we have devotional Akathists and Canons to the Passion of our Lord. Some churches will also celebrate the Stations of the Cross as well.

During Passion Week, we actually give what you call "Extreme Unction" to all parishioners on Holy Wednesday.

On Holy Thursday, there is a foot-washing service in the morning following the Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great and then there is a long Vespers service with the reading of 12 Passion Gospels.

On Holy and Great Friday there is a total fast from all food. There is the long services that culminate in the bringing out of the Shroud of our Lord that is carried in procession and then placed in the middle of the Church for the veneration of all.

On Holy Saturday around midnight, there are the Matins of the Resurrection followed by the Divine Paschal Liturgy. People hold Paschal candles and each time "Christ is Risen" is sung, we hold up our candles in salute to the Giver of Light, Christ the Resurrected.

The faithful draw on the rich liturgical sources of the Church throughout Lent/Great Fast to renew themselves spiritually to prepare for Holy Week.

Lent is a time for repentance and relates to the time when catechumens prepared themselves for baptism at the Paschal Liturgy. It has nothing to do with the Passion of Christ per se in our tradition. Holy Week is separate from, even though it follows, the Great Fast. Meditation on the Passion of Christ is appropriate then.

Alex

David

Thanks for that prod - yes Presanctified Liturgy .

This has come up before - quite a few times and yes I know that it is akin to our Service of Holy Communion outside of the Mass, inasmuch as the Sacrament is given without the presence of a Priest to perform the Consecration [ sorry people, but that is the best way I can think of describing it ] but can someone give me a break down as to the form of the Service ?

The ever inquisitive Anhelyna

Dear Anhelyna,

The Presanctified Divine Liturgy of St Gregory the Dialogist is basically the Eastern Vespers Service with the latter part of the Divine Liturgy following the Consecration tacked onto it.

It is always served in the evening at the time appropriate for Vespers, but now only on Wednesdays and Fridays whereas before it was served each and every weekday evening in Lent.

Holy Communion at this Liturgy is meant to be the first Food of the day for pious Christians.

Alex

Dear TG,
Glory to Jesus Christ!
The actual devotions of Byzantines represent only a portion of the experience of the Great Fast (Lent). Perhaps I may indulge on your patience to include a more complete understanding of the very special time of the year.

Fast is one of the oldest and most venerable practices in the Church which came to us through an interrupted tradition." (St. Basil, Hom, on Fast I, 5) We have various days and seasons of Fast in the Byzantine Churches (Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox) but the pre-Paschal Fast known as the Great Fast. It is called the Great Fast not only on account of its duration (seven weeks) but mainly on account of its importance for the spiritual renewal of the faithful. In the Old Slavonic, the Great Fast is called "Svjata Chetyredesjatnic Ia," meaning the Holy Forty Days while in English, it is called Lent from the Anglo-Saxon Lencten, meaning spring. The Great Fast can be described as a forty-day period of prayer, penance, and spiritual exercises in preparation for the proper celebration of Easter.

Originally, the forty-day period was computed from Good Friday, the day the Pasch of Crucifixion was celebrated, and then extended to six weeks. In Constantinople, when they transferred the solemn Baptism from Easter to the Saturday of Lazarus, the Lenten season of preparation also had to be anticipated by one week. Thus, according to the Byzantine practice, the Great Fast began seven weeks before Easter and ended on the Friday before the Saturday of Lazarus. At the Vespers of Lazarus we sing: "We have concluded the beneficial Forty Days (Lent) and we implore You, 0 Lover of Mankind, make us see the Holy Week of Your Passion and praise Your work (of redemption)." Liturgically, then, our Great Fast ends on the Friday before the Saturday of Lazarus and is exactly forty days long.
Holy Week, in the Byzantine Rite, is considered as a "special week" and, strictly speaking, is not included in the Forty-Days Fast as St. John Chrysostom indicates: "At last we have arrived at the end of the Holy Forty Days and, with the help of God, we reached this Great (Holy) Week. Why do we call this week Great? Because of the great and indescribable benefits that have befallen us during this week." (cf. Hom. on Gen. XXX, 1)
In the Roman Rite, Holy Week was included into the Lenten season and the Lenten season was of six-week duration. But later, when the Sundays in Lent were exempt from fasting in the West, Lent became only thirty-six days long. This situation was remedied in the seventh century by adding four more days of fasting at the beginning of the Lenten season with the first day of Lent on Ash Wednesday. This is the reason for the difference in the first day of Lent between the Byzantine Rite and the Roman Rite.

According to Byzantine tradition, the Lenten discipline consists of three separate parts; 1. Corporal or External Fast, including the abstinence from certain foods, drink and amusements; 2. Spiritual or Internal Fast which consists of abstinence from "all evil"�sin; 3. Spiritual Renewal achieved by the practice of the virtues and good works.
Corporal Fast, also called ascetical fast, developed mostly under the influence of monastic discipline and became very rigid, as described by St. Theodore Studite (d. 826): "During the Great Fast, we eat only once at about the ninth hour (i.e. 3:00 P.M.) taking only dry food and vegetables without oil; we do not drink wine, either, except on Saturday and Sunday, when we are also permitted to eat fish. During the Great (Holy) Week we observe, as much as possible, a complete fast without wine and oil until (Holy) Saturday night." (cf. Chron. Catech. 9)
St. Theodore, who followed a moderate monastic discipline, gives the following advice: "Concerning the quantity and quality of food, you should fast as much as your body can endure." (cf. Epistolary, 1. II, ep. 135) The same principal should be applied today since our Lenten Regulations prescribe only a token of fasting.
In order to create a prayerful atmosphere during Lent, the Fathers insisted on a complete abstinence from all kinds of amusements, i.e. music, dances, parties during Lent (cf. Hom. Against Drunks, 1-2) and St. John Chrysostom chastised those who during the Great Fast "dared to attend horse-races." (cf. Hom. on Gen. VI, 1) This point of fast should be stressed today with the mania of entertainment besetting our younger generations.

Spiritual or Internal Fast, which is the abstinence from all evil�especially from serious sin�is the most essential part of fast. St. John Chrysostom taught that the "value of fasting consists not so much in abstinence from food but rather in withdrawal from sinful practices." (cf. Hom. on Statutes III, 11) St. Basil the Great explains: "Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, supressing evil desires, and avoiding all gossip, lying and swearing. To abstain from these things�herein lies the true value of fast!" (cf. Hom. on Fast II, 7) This is harmony with the Prophet�s cry: "Return from your evil ways and reform your bad deeds!" (Jer. 18, 11) Hence St. John Chrysostom decries the folly of those Christians who "abstain all day long from food but fail to abstain from sin." (cf. Hom. on Gen. VI, 6)
We are all sinners and "if we say that we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves." (I Jn. 1, 8) Divine law prescribes that we do penance, for "unless we repent we shall all perish." (Lk. 13, 3) Lent was always a special season of repentance and penitential practices by which Christians sought reconciliation with God and expiation for their sins. It was a time set aside for a worthy fulfillment of one�s Easter duty, as explained by St. John Chrysostom:
"In ancient times, many Christians received the Holy Mysteries (Communion) at random and without discrimination, especially on the day of their institution (i.e. Holy Thursday). Seeing the great harm that comes from the careless reception of Communion, the Fathers have set aside forty days (of Lent) for prayer, listening to God�s word, and attending services in order that, after proper purification of our heart by prayer, fasting, alms-giving, night-vigils and confession, we may receive Holy Communion with a clear conscience as many times as possible."

Spiritual Renewal, with the practice of the virtues and doing good works, must be the main objective of our fasting as suggested by St. Basil in his homily on fasting: "Accept fast as an experienced educator by whom the Church teaches us piety." (cf. Hom, on Fast II, 3)
The Fathers of the Church insisted that during Lent the faithful attend the Lenten church services which were enriched with moving liturgical hymns, penitential prayers and prostrations. One such penitential prayer with prostrations, ascribed to St. Ephraem (d. 373), is still used in our churches today. (cf. Back Cover) Special Lenten sermons were preached every night during Lent (cf. St. Chrysostom, Horn on Gen. Xl, 3) exhorting the faithful to "die to sin and to live to God in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 6,11)
To live "in Christ" also meant frequent Holy Communion. St. John Chrysotom encouraged his people to receive Holy Communion "as many times as possible" and St. Basil recommended daily Communion as a "most beneficial practice." (cf. Ep. 93)
To give the faithful the opportunity to receive Holy Communion every day of Lent, even on the aliturgical days, the Fathers introduced the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. (cf. Council of Trullo, can. 52) This Liturgy also fostered all-day fasting since it was celebrated late in the day (after 3:00 P.M.) and the faithful had to keep the "Eucharistic fast" to receive Communion.
In recent centuries, unfortunately, a true renewal of Christian life was replaced by a formal "fulfillment of the Easter Duty" without stressing a sincere "change of heart" (Gr. rnetanoia, used for repentance) and the practice of penitential works. And yet we must admit, with St. John Chrysostom, that "Fast has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal." (cf. Hom. on Gen. Xl, 3)

PRAYER OF ST. EPHRAEM
O Lord and Master of my life, keep away from me the spirit of discouragement, negligence, desire for power and idle talk;
Grant me, Your servant, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and charity;
Yea, my Lord and King, grant me the ability to see my own sins, and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed forever and ever, Amen.

Hope this helps,
Deacon El

Also the Canon of St Andrew of Crete is chanted, especially in the First Week of the Great Fast. Believe me, that is the BEST preperation for Great Lent!!!!! Those words like so much of the words of the Service during this this liturgical season, reach to the depths of the heart!

Brian

Dear Brian,

Actually, to read through Deacon El Pekarik's post is enough of a penitential exercise in preparation for Lent .

The Great Canon of St Andrew is read twice, as we know.

In addition, it is a tradition to recite this Canon as a preparation for Confession at any time of the year.

St Andrew himself read out his Canon to the Fathers sitting in Council who then approved its use.

Alex

Well before we get too immersed in Lent/Great Fast

How about a break down/explanation of some terms that have caused a bit of head scratching for me in the past - and I confess they are not yet clear

The Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Saturday of All Souls
Meatfare Sunday
Cheesefare Sunday
etc etc

Anhelyna

Hi Anhelyna

Well, with my Baba (grandmother) Meatfare Sunday used to be the last day for eating meat; Cheesefare Sunday was the last day for dairy products until Easter.

All Souls Saturdays are the days when we read the HROMOTI, the names of the dead in our families and we sing the Panachida or Memorial service.

One book that I read during Great Lent is called THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE GREAT FAST. It's published by the Byzantine Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and contains scripture readings and thoughts for the season of Great Lent.

The cost is about $5 and well worth the investment!

JMHT....

mark

The Great Fast or Lent is something the Byzantine Church works up to. There are five pre-Lenten Sundays each with their own theme. Some are named for the Gospel reading prescribed for the day: Sunday of Zaccheus, Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, and Sunday of Prodigal Son. The names of the two closest to the beginning of the Great Fast reflect the traditional fasting practice, as stated by Medved.

There are also five All Souls Saturdays at least in Slavic Byzantine Churches. They fall on Saturdays (of course) starting just before the beginning of the Great Fast, the 2-4th Saturdays of the Great Fast and then finally the Saturday before Pentecost.

Traditional parishes have the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesdays and Fridays and the Liturgy of St. Basil on Sundays during the Great Fast.

And the best book on the heart (and some of the mechanics) of Great Lent is the book by the same name by Alexander Schmemann, published by St. Vladimir's Seminary Press

Sharon

I fervently second the recommendation on the book by Father Alexander Schmemann of blessed memmory. The complete title of Father Alexander's masterpiece is "The Great Fast: Journey to Pascha". Icon and Book Service usually has it in stock, as does St. Vladimir's Seminary Bookstore or Light and Life Publishing.

Arguably this is the best synthesis of spirituality and theology, and is very readible, about the Great Fast and the preparation for the Great Fast. Father Alexander goes back to the baptismal aspect of Pascha and the paschal aspect of baptism in a wonderful way. If you want to understand the Great Fast this is the book.

As Alex mentioned, another book which has given immense spiritual benefit to many, is the "Ladder of Divine Ascent" by St. John Climacus, who was the hegumen of St. Katherine's on Mt. Sinai, the place of the apparition of the burning bush to Moses. This book is read at monasteries during weekdays of the Great Fast, usually at the Sixth Hour after the paremia (prophecy) of Isaiah is read.

The Divine Office is lengthened for the weekdays of the Great Fast with the extra readings of the Kathismata of the Psalter in addition to readings from Isaiah and the Ladder at Sixth Hour, and readings from Genesis and Proverbs at the vesperal Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of St. Gregory Dialogus.

The Prayer of St. Ephrem is read with prostrations during all offices during the weekdays of Great Lent (unless the Annunciation falls on a weekday). Alex as usual expounded marvelously in his week-by-week account of the significance of the various parts of the Great Fast.

I would debate a bit what Deacon El mentioned. It is rather scholastic to separate aspects of the fast into the three separate parts or disciplines you mentioned. The beauty and genius of the Byzantine tradition is precisely the synthesis and organic unity of physical and spiritual aspects during the Great Fast, as the bodily fasting, the prostrations, the extra reading and medidation, all act to rein in that wild horse of our flesh and start us down the road of metanoia.

We pray with our whole body, mind and heart when we recite that prayer of St. Ephrem and pull our sluggish (at least mine is always that way) bodies into prostration before the majesty, glory, and mercy of our God and Savior.

The book Medved mentioned, "Journey through the Great Fast" is also a nice gem - it has a meditation for every day of the Great Fast as well as some of the preparation time. It also has the OT readings for each day. Another really nice work is "The Paschal Pilgramage" by Bishop Basil Losten.

TG, in the Slavic practice (Ruthenian/Ukrainian) the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays of the weekdays of the Great Fast, and Monday through Wednesday of Holy Week.

In the Greek tradition on Fridays of the Great Fast there is Small Compline with the Akathist to the Theotokos, a really beautiful tradition as well. In some parishes Lenten Vespers is also celebrated on certain nights of the Great Fast.

Also, at Matins during weekdays of the Great Fast instead of "God is the Lord" Alleluia is sung. This is different from the Latin practice as they drop the Alleluia at the Mass between Septuagesima and Easter. But in the Byzantine tradition we use Alleluia at Matins specifically during the Great Fast (and other fasting periods).

Dear Alex,

You mentioned the prayer of St. Ephrem with four great bows or prostrations and twelve metanoias or bows to the waist.

For those of us of the Latin Church trying to learn from our Eastern brothers, could you explain when these are done in the prayer?

Thank you!

Deacon Michael