Category Archives: Lent

Adam’s Complaint

Lent, poetry,

In the Orthodox Church, today we remember the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Tomorrow is the beginning of Great Lent, and Pascha will be May 5th. Yes, this year we are five weeks later than Western Easter. But next year we celebrate on the same day, so that is something to look forward to.

ADAM’S COMPLAINT

Some people,
no matter what you give them,
still want the moon.

The bread,
the salt,
white meat and dark,
still hungry.

The marriage bed
and the cradle,
still empty arms.

You give them land,
their own earth under their feet,
still they take to the roads.

And water: dig them the deepest well,
still it’s not deep enough
to drink the moon from.

-Denise Levertov

A feast of fasting guidelines.

church, Lent,

More Fasting Guidelines,
from Abbot Tryphon’s The Morning Offering:

FAST from self-concern and FEAST on compassion for others.
FAST from discouragement and FEAST on hope.
FAST from lethargy and FEAST on enthusiasm.
FAST from suspicion and FEAST on truth.
FAST from thoughts that weaken and FEAST on promises that inspire.
FAST from shadows of sorrow and FEAST on the sunlight of serenity.
FAST from idle gossip and FEAST on purposeful silence.
FAST from problems that overwhelm you and FEAST on prayer that sustains.
FAST from criticism and FEAST on praise.
FAST from self-pity and FEAST on joy.
FAST from ill-temper and FEAST on peace.
FAST from resentment and FEAST on contentment.
FAST from jealousy and FEAST on love.
FAST from pride and FEAST on humility.
FAST from selfishness and FEAST on service.

The ladder and the toil.

church, Lent, work, , , , ,

During Lent we Orthodox sing the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, a long penitential hymn composed in the seventh century. It is divided into four parts, which are sung in four different services in the first week.

“A basic distinguishing feature of the Great Canon is its extremely broad use of images and subjects taken both from the Old and New Testaments. As the Canon progresses, the congregation encounters many biblical examples of sin and repentance. The Bible (and therefore, the Canon) speaks of some individuals in a positive light, and about others in a negative one—the penitents are expected to emulate the positive examples of sanctity and repentance, and to learn from and avoid the negative examples of sin, fallen nature and pride.” -Orthodox Wiki

One of the exhortations which caught my attention this year was regarding the lessons that might be learned from the life of the patriarch Jacob:

The ladder which the great Patriarch Jacob saw of old is an example, O my soul,
of approach through action and of ascent in knowledge. If then thou dost wish to live rightly in action and knowledge and contemplation, be thou made new. (Genesis 28:12; Rom. 12:2; Titus 3:5)

In privation Jacob the Patriarch endured the burning heat by day and the frost by night, making daily gains of sheep and cattle, shepherding, wrestling and serving, to win his two wives. (Genesis 29:16-30; 31-40)

By the two wives, understand action and knowledge in contemplation. Leah is action, for she had many children; and Rachel as knowledge, for she endured great toil. For without toil, O my soul, neither action nor contemplation will succeed.

May God strengthen us!