It was summer and everything was ahead of us, a move to Madison, a new parish, and a new life four hours over the eastern horizon. There was so much to do, so much to learn, so much to get ready. 

And there was also all kinds of stuff. 

For over a quarter century our little Cape Cod in St. Paul had been home. It had been part of our life, our routine, in fact the longest single place that either of us had ever lived. It was ingrained into our personalities. And over the years it had become filled with the accumulation of our life, not just memories but little tokens and books and things and what we thought were necessities or at least things we were too thrifty to get rid of just now.  

We weren’t hoarders, just regular people living in a regular house that slowly became full of things The move was a wake up call, we had to lighten the load, we had take just exactly what we needed with us and for the sake of space and ease of transport only take that which mattered the most. Anyone who’s ever moved knows this. In a moment the thought of traveling on remind you of all the things that somehow filled your life while you weren’t paying attention. 

It had to go. 

And sometimes the decision were easy. College notes from the 80’s? I had no idea why I even kept them in first place. Clothes we hadn’t worn for ages? No problem. There was a whole lot of stuff we didn’t immediately know what it was and other things that had long outlived their usefulness. Easy call. Into the garbage. 

And there were harder things. 

Some of the things we knew needed to go still had memories attached to them. As we filed through papers and rummaged through boxes those old stories would come back to life again, the past was present, and from time to time there were even tears as we knew, deep down, we had to part with these things even though they weren’t junk. They simply had to go.  

By the time we finished we were sometimes relieved, sometimes exhausted, sometimes sad, but also ready, light, and prepared for the next adventure. One last look at the empty house, leave the keys, White Bear avenue to east I 94 and straight on to Fitchburg. 

Its Meat Fare Sunday, the day when, as Lent is calling, the Church in her holy wisdom asks us to let go of flesh meats. In another week it will be Cheese Fare Sunday as we allow dairy foods to leave for a while. These things we let go are not works to appease God or things we somehow add to our pile of good deeds so He will save us. Instead, we’ve learned over the centuries that when we discipline our stomach, our physical desires, by periodic abstinence, we also learn the art of disciplining our hearts and souls. In fasting we learn a very important spiritual principle, the leaving aside of that which is less for the sake of that which is better. 

So in Lent, and all the fasting seasons and days of the Church, we lay aside certain things to remind us to lay aside all those things which would hinder us from traveling the narrow road of salvation. Food, yes, but also attitudes, thoughts, actions, hurts, grudges, harsh judgments, spiritual sloth, anything that would weigh us down as we run the race, anything that would bind us to this world as we journey to heaven, any and all of the sins that so easily beset us.  

Sometimes if you want to move forward you have to let go. 

Yes, it can be very difficult sometimes. There are times when each of us needs to realize there are things that keep us from the fullness of our life in God that we, if we were to be honest, actually cherish. There is clutter that’s sentimental and sometimes cleaning house to step out by faith into God’s future can be frightening because we might not have control. 

Still, Lent is calling us today and as we let go of flesh meats in anticipation the voice of our Lord is softly calling to us to prepare to have a season where we can cleanse our hearts, our souls, our lives, of everything that would weigh us down, everything that would keep us from being the child of God we were meant to be, all the stuff that’s accumulated in our life with no real purpose except to hold us back. 

And one final word. 

It’s good to feel light and clean and fresh in body and soul. There is joy as everything that’s truly needed finds its proper place and the depressing clutter is jettisoned from the house of our soul. Over the years those who practice the spiritual life of Lent to the best of their ability and with holy intent increasingly discover this and begin to actually crave this wonderful and beautiful time of year, a springtime of our souls. I say this from my own experience as well. In the years since becoming Orthodox I’ve discovered how much I need Lent, how much I need to declutter, how much I need to leave behind, and how good it is to draw closer to the God who, despite my many sins, loves me with a love beyond words. In that spirit be encouraged to step out, prepare, and live these coming weeks with all the faith and love you can muster so that when Pascha comes we can shine with the holy light that illumines all. 

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I’m not speaking about the kind of shame people put on you to manipulate, coerce, or control. There’s a different kind, the real stuff that comes from somewhere deep inside and you own it because you made it happen and there’s no one else to blame but the person you see in the mirror every morning.

It’s the shame of hungover Sunday mornings, miscellaneous flings, bad choices made in the heat of the moment, words that just came flying out of your mouth and stuff you thought was so right until the moment it blew up in your face. Some of it was the foolishness of youth, some, perhaps, was force of habit, a fair amount was just being dumb, and perhaps a little bit was being a rare combination of stubborn and arrogant right before the whole thing went south.

And when it hits it hits like a double shot of pain and regret with an embarrassment chaser. Now what? Is there a way out? Can this whole pile of junk be fixed? What am I going to do?

Come on home.

It’s true, God knows you’ve made a mess of things, so have I. God knows you stepped in it big time and there might be consequences. God knows you’re embarrassed and perhaps a little bit angry and overwhelmed. God knows every bridge you’ve burned, every heart you’ve broken (including your own) and everything you no wish you hadn’t done even if it was all done on the downlow. You, and I, we’re open books to God and every game we think we could play with others doesn’t work with Him.

Still, come on home.

You see while you and I were out there just inventing stupid and sinful things to do and be He was waiting in the distance for the moment we’d come to our senses. When we were playing our games and working our hustle God’s heart was still with us. When we were degrading ourselves with sin and idiocies of our own design, He never shook his head and walked away. As we were, in our own ways, wasting everything we had on just one more hit on the world’s dirty glass pipe He was keeping a room ready for our return. 

So, just come on home.

It’s okay if you feel bad about it all because that means you’re coming to your senses. When you start to realize your clothes smell of pig and none of your good time friends care about you after the money is gone it’s a sign that the good inside of you hasn’t completely been killed. Realizing you’re hungry is the first step in being filled with good things and the emptiness inside is the very space that God will fill with every step you take on the road back.

Get up and come on home.

Because the God you ran away from, the God you may have cursed to His face has never given up on you. Every day while you were away, every moment you were gone, He was waiting for the first glimpse of you on the road, and, seeing you He began to run, not away but towards you with a welcome like you’d never left in the first place. Maybe you didn’t want Him as a Father, but He never stopped wanting you as a son.

Please, come on home. 

If you’ve been away from God for a while. If your love has grown cold. If you’re bitter or angry or unforgiving or you’re just so tired let this Lent be your road back. If life has roughed you up a bit, and who hasn’t that happened to, let these holy days ahead be holy oil on open wounds. If everything seems so uncertain and frightening we have beautiful weeks in front of us where you can come, take on His yoke, and find rest.

And if you’ve sinned, and who among us hasn’t, and the weight of it, the shame of it, and the remorse of it has gotten a hold of you, drop your embarrassment, lose the false pride, turn, and walk back to God. God already knows who you are, where you’ve been, and what company you’ve kept and none of it is so bad, so dark, or so monumental that his love is powerless before it. In our Orthodox churches we venerate the icons of people who’ve been and done worse than you can imagine but found, even in their darkness, the Light which has never been overcome. You, and we, can find it to.

Just come on home.

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Little is known about the life of St. John of the Ladder, or St. John Climacus. According to one source, he was born around the year 579; tonsured a monk prior to 599; became abbot of St. Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai no later than 639; and died around 649.

The Greek word “klimakos” means “ladder.” The name was given to John because he wrote a popular book on asceticism, titled The Ladder of Divine Ascent. The book is divided into 30 chapters, or “steps on the ladder,” describing the spiritual journey from sinfulness to entrance into God’s Kingdom and perfection.

His 30 steps are regarded as falling into two sections; steps 1-26 mainly concern sins that must be overcome and suggestions as to how do so; steps 27-30 speak of prayer, solitude, faith, hope and love-the virtues that are to be perfected in order to achieve communion with God.

John’s work primarily was written for monastic communities, but it has proven valuable for readers outside the monastic life.

He spent 40 years in solitude near a monastery church, ate and slept little, prayed much and wrote books. His life was dedicated to unceasing prayer, full of Christian humility and love for Christ.

A Journey Through Great Lent Very Rev. Stephen Belonick

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The Third Sunday of Lent is called “The Veneration of the Cross.” At the Vigil of that day, after the Great Doxology, the Cross is brought in a solemn procession to the center of the church and remains there for the entire week-with a special rite of veneration following each service. It is noteworthy that the theme of the Cross which dominates the hymnology of that Sunday is developed in terms not of suffering but of victory and joy. More than that, the theme-songs (hirmoi) of the Sunday Canon are taken from the Paschal Service-“The Day of the Resurrection”-and the Canon is a paraphrase of the Easter Canon.

The meaning of all this is clear. We are in Mid-Lent. On the one hand, the physical and spiritual effort, if it is serious and consistent, begins to be felt, its burden becomes more burdensome, our fatigue more evident. We need help and encouragement. On the other hand, having endured this fatigue, having climbed the mountain up to this point, we begin to see the end of our pilgrimage, and the rays of Easter grow in their intensity. Lent is our self- crucifixion, our experience, limited as it is, of Christ’s commandment heard in the Gospel lesson of that Sunday: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). But we cannot take up our cross and follow Christ unless we have His Cross which He took up in order to save us.

It is His Cross, not ours, that saves us. It is His Cross that gives not only meaning but also power to others. This is explained to us in the synaxarion of the Sunday of the Cross: On this Sunday, the third Sunday of Lent, we celebrate the veneration of the honorable and Life- Giving Cross, and for this reason: inasmuch as in the forty days of fasting we in a way crucify ourselves … and become bitter and despondent and failing, the Life-Giving Cross is presented to us for refreshment and assurance, for remembrance of our Lord’s Passion, and for comfort. We are like those following a long and cruel path, who become tired, see a beautiful tree with many leaves, sit in its shadow and rest for a while and then, as if rejuvenated, continue their journey; likewise today, in the time of fasting and difficult journey and effort, the Life-Giving Cross was planted in our midst by the holy fathers to give us rest and refreshment, to make us light and courageous for the remaining task …. Or, to give another example: when a king is coming, at first his banner and symbols appear, then he himself comes glad and rejoicing about his victory and filling with joy those under him; likewise, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to show us His victory over death, and appear to us in the glory of the Resurrection Day, is sending to us in advance His scepter, the royal symbol-the Life-Giving Cross-and it fills us with joy and makes us ready to meet, inasmuch as it is possible for us, the King himself, and to render glory to His victory …. All this in the midst of Lent which is like a bitter source because of its tears, because also of its efforts and despondency … but Christ comforts us who are as it were in a desert until He shall lead us up to the spiritual Jerusalem by His Resurrection …. for the Cross is called the Tree of Life, it is the tree that was planted in Paradise, and for this reason our fathers have planted it in the midst of Holy Lent, remembering both Adam’s bliss and how he was deprived of it, remembering also that partaking of this Tree we no longer die but are kept alive …. .

Fr. Alexander Schmemann

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Dormition Cathedral in Moscow (July 8). It was originally located in Ustiug, and was the icon before which St Procopius the fool (July 8) prayed to save the city from destruction in 1290. One of the most highly revered icons in Greece is the Tinos icon of the Annunciation (January 30).

The Annunciation falls during Lent, but it is always celebrated with great joy. The Liturgy of St Basil or St John Chrysostom is served, even on the weekdays of Lent. It is one of the two days of Great Lent on which the fast is relaxed and fish is permitted (Palm Sunday is the other).

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Gregory Palamas was born in 1296 and educated in Constantinople. He became a monk and spent much of his life on Mount Athos. He was ordained a priest at age 30. Palamas practiced hesychasm, an ascetic and mystical life of silence, rigorous bodily discipline, fasting and the continuous repetition of the Jesus Prayer. Through this method of prayer, the hesychasts were often granted spiritual graces. Palamas achieved a balance between his personal spiritual life and communal prayer by going to his monastic community for the liturgy and sacraments on Saturdays and Sundays.

Palamas became the defender of hesychasm in a controversy led by the philosopher Barlaam, who denied the possibility for men to experience genuine union with God. Palamas made a distinction between the essence of God, which is unknowable, and the divine energies of God, such as the uncreated divine light experienced at the Transfiguration. The debate over hesychasm went on for more than 20 years, but Gregory’s position as that of the Orthodox Church has withstood the tests of time. Palamas became the archbishop of Thessalonica in 1347. Respected as a pastor and teacher, he was canonized in 1368, just nine years after his death.

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The Sunday of Orthodoxy is the first Sunday of Great Lent. The dominant theme of this Sunday since 843 has been that of the victory of the icons. In that year the iconoclastic controversy, which had raged on and off since 726, was finally laid to rest, and icons and their veneration were restored on the first Sunday in Lent. Ever since, this Sunday has been commemorated as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

The Seventh Ecumenical Council dealt predominantly with the controversy regarding icons and their place in Orthodox worship. It was convened in Nicaea in 787 by Empress Irene at the request of Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople. The Council was attended by 367 bishops.

Almost a century before this, the iconoclastic controversy had once more shaken the foundations of both Church and State in the Byzantine empire. Excessive religious respect and the ascribed miracles to icons by some members of society, approached the point of worship (due only to God) and idolatry. This instigated excesses at the other extreme by which icons were completely taken out of the liturgical life of the Church by the Iconoclasts. The Iconodules, on the other-hand, believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal teachings of the Church; they considered icons to be man’s dynamic way of expressing the divine through art and beauty.

The decree of the Council for restoring icons to churches added an important clause which still stands at the foundation of the rationale for using and venerating icons in the Orthodox Church to this very day: “We define that the holy icons, whether in colour, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and honour, but not of real worship, which is reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the divine nature. The veneration accorded to an icon is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands”.

A Regional Synod was called in Constantinople in 843. Under Empress Theodora. The veneration of icons was solemnly proclaimed at the Hagia Sophia Cathedral. The Empress, her son Michael III, Patriarch Methodios, and monks and clergy came in procession and restored the icons in their rightful place. The day was called “Triumph of Orthodoxy.” Since that time, this event is commemorated yearly with a special service on the first Sunday of Lent, the “Sunday of Orthodoxy”.

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From the book “Great Lent” by Fr. Alexander Schmemann:

Finally comes the last day, usually called “Forgiveness Sunday”, but whose other liturgical name must also be remembered: the “Expulsion of Adam from the Paradise of Bliss”. This name summarizes indeed the entire preparation for Lent. By now we know thatman was created for paradise, for knowledge of God and communion with Him. Man’s sinhas deprived him of that blessed life and his existence on earth is exile. Christ, the Savior of the world, opens the door of paradise to everyone who follows Him, and the Church, by revealing to us the beauty of the Kingdom, makes our life a pilgrimage toward our heavenly fatherland. Thus, at the beginning of Lent, we are like Adam:

Adam was expelled from paradise through food; Sitting, therefore, in front of it he cried: “Woe to me …..One commandment of God have I transgressed,

depriving myself of all that is good; Paradise Holy! Planted for me,
And now because of Eve closed to me; Pray to thy Creator and mine

that I may be filled again with thy blossom. Then answered the Savior to him:
I wish not my creation to perish;
I desire it to be saved and to know the Truth;
For I will not turn away from him who comes to Me ….

Lent is the liberation of our enslavement to sin, from the prison of “this world”. And theGospel lesson of this last Sunday (Matt. 6: 14-21) sets the conditions for that liberation. The first one is fasting – the refusal to accept the desires and urges of our fallen nature as normal, the effort to free ourselves from the dictatorship of flesh and matter over the spirit.To be effective, however, our fast must not be hypocritical, a “showing off”. We must “appear not unto men to fast but to our Father who is in secret”. The second condition isforgiveness – “If you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you”. The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world, is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness: thereturn to unity, solidarity, love. To forgive is to put between me and my “enemy” theradiant forgiveness of God Himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless “dead-ends” of human relations and to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a “breakthrough” of theKingdom into this sinful and fallen world.

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Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare)

Matt. 25: 31 – 46

The Dread Judgment! The Judge comes in the clouds, surrounded by a countless multitude of bodiless heavenly powers. Trumpets sound to all the ends of the earth and raise up the dead. The risen regiments pour into the preordained place, to the throne of the Judge, having a foreboding of what verdict will sound in their ears. For everyone’s works are written on the brow of their nature, and their very appearance will correspond to their deeds and morals. The division of those on His right hand and those on His left is accomplished in and of itself.

At last all has been determined. Deep silence falls. In another instant, the decisive verdict of the Judge is heard: to some, “Come,” to the others, “Depart.” “Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! May Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us!” they shall say, but then it will already be too late to plead. We need to take the trouble now to wash away the unfavorable marks written upon our nature. At the Judgment, we may be ready to pour out rivers of tears in order to wash ourselves, but this would do us no good then. Let us weep now – if not rivers of tears, then at least streams; if not streams, then at least drops. If we cannot find even this much, then let us become contrite in heart, and confess our sins to the Lord, begging Him to forgive them, and promising not to offend Him any more through the violation of His commandments. Then, let us be zealous to faithfully fulfill this promise.

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Luke 15:11-32

The Sunday of the Prodigal Son says so much to us! It speaks about our peace and abundance in the house of the Heavenly Father, about our mad departure from the Father’s guardianship to unbridled freedom, about the richness of the heritage given us despite our disobedience, about its reckless waste on all sorts of indecencies, and about our utter impoverishment as a result. But then it talks also about how one recovers his senses and coming to himself, decides to return to his greatly merciful Father. It talks about how he returns, how he is received. lovingly and is restored to his first state. Who will not find this lesson profitable? If you abide in your Father’s house, do not strive for freedom. You see how a similar experience ended! If you have run away and are squandering all, stop this quickly. If you have already squandered everything and are living in poverty, resolve quickly to return – and then, return. There every lenience and the former love and prosperity await you. This last step is the most necessary one. But there is no point in enlarging upon this. All has been said concisely and clearly. Come to your senses, resolve to return, arise and hasten to the Father. His embrace is open and ready to receive you.

From the book, “Celebration of Faith”, Fr. Alexander Schmemann:

This parable is read in church as believers are beginning to prepare themselves for Great Lent, the time of repentance. And perhaps nowhere else in the gospels is the essence, of repentance better revealed. The prodigal son left home and went into “a far country,” and it is this “far country,” this foreign land which shows us the deepest essence also of our own life, of our own condition. Only if we have understood this can we begin the return to authentic life. The person who has never felt this distance, even once in his life, who has never felt himself to be in a spiritual wasteland, separated, exiled, can never understand the meaning of Christianity.

A person who is totally “at home” in this world, who has never experienced longing for a different reality, cannot comprehend remorse and repentance. These are not simply the formal enumeration of one’s shortcomings, mistakes and even crimes. No, remorse and repentance are born from an experience of alienation from God and from joy in communion with him. It is relatively easy to admit my mistakes and shortcomings, but how much more difficult it is suddenly to realize that I have broken, betrayed and lost my spiritual beauty, that I am such a long way from my true home, from my true life; that something in the very fabric of my own life, something priceless, pure and beautiful has been destroyed and torn apart. But this realization is precisely repentance, and therefore necessarily involves a deep desire to go back, to return, once again to find the lost home.

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