TEXTS IN ENGLISH

The Lenten period is a time when a man is on his way – the way to Pascha. So – as far as we are on the road – we have, curiously enough, fewer divine services during the Great Fast than ordinary.

Every pastor in the Orthodox Church struggles with how often to expect the Sacrament of Confession from those in his parish who regularly approach the chalice.

For our generation today, we are faced with an opportunity to rediscover what still lies buried in the living memory of Orthodox domestic tradition - a tradition we must either rediscover, or lose forever to the bloodless world of sociology textbooks.

To be in the Church, we must live the life of the Church—with its fasts and feasts, its services and sacraments—all has been established for our benefit.

We all agree on some things: on the importance of icons, for example, rooted as they are in the doctrine of the incarnation.

When in Church circles they say, “During the fast of that year, this or that took place” or “I’ll visit you during the fast”, they usually mean the fast of Great Lent, and the other three fasts in this case need to be specified.

O Lord and Master of my life,
Take from me the spirit of sloth, despair,
lust of power and idle talk;
But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Father Parker is a writer and the priest-in-charge of Holy Ascension Orhtodox Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston. Today, he tells us how the start of Great Lent differs from the Western customs of Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday

Biografia Archimandrite Gabriel (Vuckovic)

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