Great and Holy Lent
2005
BARTHOLOMEW
B A R T H O L O M E W
BY THE MERCY 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 brothers and sisters in the Lord,
"Time has come for the beginning of spiritual toil, the
victory against demons, the fully armored self-restraint,
the grace of Angels, our outspokenness toward God?".
The period of Holy and Great Lent interrupts the dullness
of our routine;it is the ultimate time of spiritual
struggle.
One more arena of toil opens up in front of us. This is
an Arena where not only the body strains, but also the
spirit. It is a great Arena, in which all of us can and must
participate, unequivocally. This "arena of virtues", as holy
hymnography describes it, does not have tiers. It does not
allow for spectators. It only provides tracks for
contenders. Its judges and spectators are watching from
heaven above, namely, the Lord, the establisher of good
struggles of Faith, and the Saints, who have already taken
part and excelled in these struggles and have received their
winning wreaths and trophies. They stand to watch our own
efforts, to admire our own accomplishments.
We have essentially entered this arena of spiritual
struggle already from the moment we were baptized. It was
then that we dismissed Satan and his works and clothed
ourselves with our Lord Jesus Christ, as with a robe as
white as snow, Whom we promised to follow throughout our
life.
Selfishness and our attraction to life's vanity, in
conjunction with the incessant "war" which the devil works
against us with "simple all-encompassing sin," render us
many times lethargic; as a result, we abandon our exercise
in Christ and sink into obliviousness of indifference.
Following that path, though, leads us astray from the source
of life, Christ, until we are completely separated from Him.
This is exactly what death is all about. Eternal, horrible,
true death. Because as much as Christ is Life, true Life,
eternal Life, that is exactly how much estrangement from Him
is death, deprivation of Life, Joy and Light - total loss of
everything.
Thus, the Mother Church, exercising wise care,
established the period of the Fast so that we may all
remember our duties emanating from our holy Baptism, and may
understand that we are by definition contenders and athletes
taking part with the grace of honor in the various sacred
exercises: forgiveness of one another, fasting, prayer,
charity, patience in sorrow and hardships of life,
perseverance in pain, and the offering of brotherly love to
one another.
Fasting relieves the body from not needed weight and
juices and empowers prayer, humbles the sense of one's
worth, and opens up the gates of repentance. Physical
"repentance" strains and exercises the body, but it also
constitutes a clear demonstration of our self-knowledge that
we are sinners and fallen people, and that in repentance we
ask God humbly to bring us back to life. It is a confession
and prayer in which the body partakes as well.
Charity sanctifies fasting and makes our prayer more
agreeable to our Merciful God. Our patience in illness, pain
and sorrow leads us to the footprints of the holy Martyrs
and secures for us tremendous gifts and wreaths from our
Lord. Our act of forgiving all who have harmed and hurt us
in any way, and our love for all, seal our genuineness as
Christians and render us emulators of Christ. The frequent
study of the Holy Scriptures, the teaching of the Fathers
and the lives of Saints give our spirit necessary food,
which we need so that we fight well and until the end.
The "appropriate hymn" of piety which we are urged to
repeat many times during our struggles of Lent, and
moreover, while prostrating, is the prayer of Saint Ephraim
the Syrian: "Lord and Master of my life, do not give me a
spirit of idleness, curiosity, lust of power and occupation
with trivialities. Instead, give me, your servant, a spirit
of prudence, humility, patience and love. Yes, Lord, make me
able to see my own faults and not judge my brother, for You
are blessed in the ages of ages. Amen." In this prayer, we
invoke Him, the Lord and Master of Life and ask through Him
to be delivered from the four main evil spirits, the four
most hideous passions. We also ask to be endowed with the
four most principal good spirits, namely the four most
important virtues. At the same time, we ask that we be given
the virtue of self-knowledge, so that we then may occupy
ourselves with our own sin and not that of others.
This prayer may very well be the most wholesome and
beautiful prayer of repentance.
Brothers and sisters, let us enter the holy Arena. Let us
begin, with the blessing of God and the Most Holy Theotokos,
the good struggle of repentance and purification through
fasting, self-restraint, forgiveness of one another,
patience, acts of charity, prayer, and love. Let us struggle
with the grace of honour like all Saints -- with a yearning
for Christ and spiritual "nobility," with humility but also
with fervor. The Mother Church, from the martyred Seat of
the humble but perpetually bright Phanar, sends to all her
blessings and urges in love that no one remain inactive,
seek out a seat in the tiers, or remain indifferent to the
trumpeter calling us to spiritual exercise.
"Time has come?" beloved brothers and sisters in the
Lord. The word time does not just mean earthly time; it also
means "opportunity".
Blessed be God, Who presents us with yet another Great
Lenten period, yet another opportunity to fight spiritually
and to win over the devil, sin and death, an opportunity
leading to repentance and salvation. To Him, the Savior God,
belong the glory and the power unto the ages. Amen.
Great and Holy Lent, 2005
+ BARTHOLOMEW
Patriarch of Constantinople
fervent intercessor to God for all
Protocol No. 229
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