The Holy Apostles Herodion, Agabus, Rufus, Asyncretus, Phlegontus and Hermes
Isaiah 66:10-24; Genesis 49:33-50:26; Proverbs 31:8-31
Great Fast Day 40. Abstention from meat and foods that contain meat. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today
Read Proverbs 31:8-31
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Today is Day 40 of the Great Fast. We have come to the end. Lazarus has been dead for some days. Tomorrow, we will hear his family and friends weep and witness the compassion of our Lord. And we will see Lazarus rise from within the tomb, a foreshadow of our Lord’s own resurrection.
All through these forty days, we have been reading and reflecting on the Book of Proverbs. The holy Wisdom of God has been personified as a woman and we have been watching her, observing her, and, please God, developing the desire to imitate her.
Today, we are invited into the house of holy Wisdom. We are made aware not just of her activity in the world, but now we observe her domestically. She is not only high and lofty, what some would call transcendent, she is also present in daily affairs, what some would call immanent.
All of this, of course, is to remind us that God in all that He is, especially in His personified gift of holy Wisdom, is everywhere present and fills all things. And we mustn’t be afraid. Rather, we are to open wide our hearts to receive, be transformed, and live.
May the Lord lead us all in this very special Great Week upon which we are to embark.