Great and Holy Lent
2004
BARTHOLOMEW
B A R T H O L O M E W
BY THE GRACE OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
NEW ROME, AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH,
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH, GRACE AND
PEACE FROM OUR SAVIOUR CHRIST, TOGETHER WITH
OUR PRAYER, BLESSING AND FORGIVENESS
Beloved brethren and children in the Lord,
At the beginning of Triodion a heart searching hymn is
chanted, which includes the phrase: Life-giver, open
up the doors of repentance for me. It is
immediately understood that the Holy Orthodox Church has
devoted a great deal of the time of the year to our
repentance. Moreover, at every hour and every day she
reminds us of the need to repent. She is fully aware that
repentance is the starting point of spiritual life and
salvation for every human being. In addition, the fact that
both Saint John the Forerunner and our Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself, started their preaching by calling people to
repentance, testifies to that.
As the meaning of the Greek word itself reveals metanoia,
repentance, consists of the changing of our minds, and of
our spiritual stance toward the world and God. It certainly
entails the renunciation of our sins and the decision to
live henceforth according to the holy commands of God. What
repentance is primarily, is the renewal and change of our
way of thinking, namely, of the way we evaluate the elements
of the material and spiritual world. It is also a
reclassification of the hierarchy of values, by which we
regulate our lives, according to Gods will.
If we have been giving priority to the gathering of
riches, we should hereafter strive for the beneficial
utilisation of financial goods to enhance public welfare. If
we have been trying to primarily satisfy our own individual
needs, we should from now on attend to the needs of others,
starting with the people close to us, advancing to the
greater societal family, within which we live, and possibly
reaching the entire humanity.
If, so far, the centre of our interest has been to attain
success in this life, we should henceforth expand it beyond
this life into the next one. If our studies and research
have been limited and covered only the areas of human
sciences and the arts, we should delve into the holy science
and art of spiritual life, which has its own rules that need
to be similarly studied and learned. If we have been anxious
to form good relationships with the powerful people of this
world, we should henceforth take great pains to form
friendly relationships with the powerful figures of the
spiritual world, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Theotokos and the Saints. If we have been in the habit of
believing that our judgment and understanding surpass that
of others, we should from now on recognise that many
times the judgment of other people is better than ours. In
general, we will be able to truly repent, when we are in the
position to re-evaluate our notions and re-assess our
thinking in order to correct it when wrong, until we align
ourselves with the positions of our Holy Church. These are
positions of the Holy Gospel, which are ultimately the
saving and true teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, repentance must be accompanied by the
confession of our sins to a suitable Confessor and it should
be done in total honesty and utter humiliation. God has
bestowed His authority upon spiritual Confessors to bind and
to loose sins. Repentance without the clean confession of
sins to the philanthropic authority of a Confessor is
inconceivable and does not exist. In the Holy Sacrament of
Confession, through the Grace of the Holy Spirit, the
Christian is cleansed from any impurity. The wounds caused
by the passions are healed through confession, the Christian
is spiritually renewed and reborn, and receives strength
that empowers him to continue his good fight. Continuous
repentance is necessary, as the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox
Church teach, even for the people that are most pious, if
any, because the perfection of the divine teachings, with
which as human beings we are called to harmonise our minds
and hearts, is infinite.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, lets
refrain from saying that we have no sins or that we need not
to repent, for we are running the risk of assuming the
blameworthy arrogance of the Pharisee. We all need to
repent, since we are all in need to better learn the will of
God, to love and forgive more, to have a more enlightened
zeal, and a stronger interest for the spiritual life,
despite the level of perfection that we have attained.
May the Holy God, through the intercessions of the
Most-Holy Theotokos and of all His Saints, bless us to
traverse the holy period of Lent in physical health and in
soul repentance, and to approach the Holy Pascha cleansed
and restored, so that we can partake in the joy of the
Resurrection during this year and we can eternally hold
steadfast on the manner of the resurrected eternal life. So
be it.
Great and Holy Lent, 2004
+ BARTHOLOMEW
Patriarch of Constantinople
fervent intercessor to God for all
Protocol No. 80
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