Our Holy Father Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch (379-95).
First day of the Great Fast. Abstention from meat, dairy, and eggs, and foods that contain these ingredients. According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 1:1-20: Vespers – Genesis 1:1-13. Proverbs 1:1-20.
Read Isaiah 1:1-20
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Last night at the Vespers service, we sang the following as we began the Great Fast:
Let us set out with joy upon the season of the Fast and prepare ourselves for spiritual combat. Let us purify our soul and cleanse our flesh; and as we fast from food, let us abstain also from every passion. Rejoicing in the virtues of the Spirit may we persevere with love, and so be counted worthy to see the solemn Passion of Christ our God, and with great spiritual gladness to behold His holy Pascha [Passover].
This is our wish for you for the annual Lenten journey upon which we commence today together. For most if not all, these past years have been a very strange. The pandemic and following years seem to have shifted our world in ways we thought unimaginable. The fallout of all of this can be confusing and distracting from what is good and needful.
Strange times come and go. Struggles come and go. What must remain is our vision of God. What we must hang onto is the fact that God-is-with-us, that the Lord is not up on the second floor, but here, among us, dwelling with us, ever drawing all of us and each of us into His divine life. As noted above, this requires purification of our soul and flesh which is accomplished by the Lord’s own movement in us through His grace along with the practice of ascesis (fasting, prayer, almsgiving). It is a return to the Lord through repentance, a turning to the Lord and turning away from sin. The Church, the Bride of Christ, like a mother, assists us in this endeavour throughout the Great Fast.
Fr. James Spontak writes:
Each day at the Sixth Hour, which is one of the daily liturgical services designed to be prayed at noontime—the middle of the day, there is a section from the Book of Isaiah, which is prescribed to be read. These Old Testament readings are known as paremias. Prominent in the late eighth century before Christ, and sensitive to the eventual fall of Jerusalem and the exile of its inhabitants, the Holy Prophet Isaiah constantly proclaims the message of trust and confidence in God. Justice on the part of the people and their rulers and sincerity in divine worship are concerns which are found repeatedly at the core of Isaiah’s message. Besides the significance of the content of his message, the zeal and intensity of this man of God are a needed stimulus in carrying out any effort of renewal and repentance during the Holy Great Forty-Day Fast. (Journey Through the Great Fast, McKees Rocks, PA: Archdiocesan Byzantine Catechetical Center, unknown year, 14.)
For Great Fast 2024, we will be offering a reflection on the Book of Isaiah on weekdays. For Saturdays and Sundays, we will continue with reflections on the Gospel readings as we have done since Pascha 2023. We pray that you find these reflections helpful and fruitful. Let us make this Lenten journey together, ever lifting our eyes and hearts to the Lord, leaving sinful actions and desires behind, pressing on to finish this race, and all the while, through His love, mercy, and compassion, do so with a joyful step!
Fr. Michael Winn