The Discovery of the Relics of the Holy Martyrs at Eugenius (345-408)
Great Fast Day 8
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 4:2-5:6; Vespers – Genesis 3:21-4:7; Proverbs 3:34-4:22
Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Isaiah 4:2-5:6
In the city of St. Albert, just to the north of Edmonton, the city council decided that during this time of the pandemic, they would relax a bylaw which would permit people to at-home gatherings in small-sized groups and still maintain proper social distancing. The city permitted residents to have blazing wood fires on their driveways in proper firepits. Could imagine the newspaper headline: Fire brings people together? We ought not to be surprised at this, though. We always gather around bonfires and BBQs, etc.
Fire can gather together, it can destroy (that is self-evident), and it also purifies. We use fire to cleanse all sorts of metals of impurities. St. John Chrysostom connects the purifying of metal to the purifying of our hearts:
And what does he mean by the words “with the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning?” He has continued the metaphor of the smelting of metals. There, in effect, in the foundry, the engulfing blast stirs up the flame, makes the coals burn more and consumes all of the dross; in the same way the divine wrath and the invasion of enemies venting themselves on the town had been like a fire for them—not a destroying fire, but one which burns, refines, chastises, and corrects.
St. John Chrysostom
While Israel endured many calamities, it turned out that those very calamities, as difficult as they were, purified its relationship with the Lord. The Lord, always present, had allowed these things so that Israel would understand who she was as God’s chosen and what purpose she had.
As we continue our Lenten journey, let us turn first to the Lord when hardships arise, whether they be material or immaterial. Let’s seek His presence in the middle of it all. Perhaps we, too, like Israel, can continue to deepen our understanding of His ways, that He is always present, and receive His love and mercy.