CONTENTS GREAT LENT 5 The Time of Repentance SUNDAYS OF PREPARATION 7 LENTEN WORSHIP 13 HOW CAN WE KEEP GREAT LENT? 23GREAT LENTTHE TIME OF REPENTANCE "Brethren, while fasting bodily, let us also fast spiritually; let us loosen every bond of injustice; let us destroy the strong fetters of violence; let us tear up every unjust writing; let us give bread to the hungry and let us welcome the homeless poor to our houses, that from Christ our God we may receive the great mercy." (=Stichira, Wednesday of the First Week=)We are approaching again the Great Lent--the time of repentance, thetime of our reconciliation with God. Repentance is the beginning andalso the condition of a truly Christian life. "Repent!" was the firstword of Christ when He began to preach (Matt. 4:17). But =what isrepentance=? In the daily rush of our life we have no time to thinkabout it, we simply take it for granted that we must go to confession,receive absolution, and then forget all about it until next year. Yetthere must be a reason why our Church has set apart seven weeks as aspecial time of repentance and calls each Orthodox Christian to aspecial spiritual effort. And this reason must obviously concern=me=, =my= life, =my= faith, =my= membership in the Church. I must try tounderstand it, to follow as much as I can the teachings of my Church, beOrthodox not only by name, but in life itself. What then is repentance?Great Lent gives the answer to this question. It is indeed a =schoolof repentance=, to which each Christian must go every year in orderto refresh the understanding of his faith. It is a wonderful pilgrimageto the very sources of Orthodoxy, a rediscovery of a truly Orthodox wayof life. Let us try to make these forty days as meaningful, as deep, andas rich, as possible.In this brief explanation of Lent we shall deal with: --the preparation for Great Lent, --the Lenten worship of the Orthodox Church, --the Orthodox teaching on fasting, prayer and other spiritual efforts prescribed during Lent.SUNDAYS OF PREPARATIONThree weeks before Lent proper begins we enter into a period of=pre-Lenten= preparation. It is a constant feature of the Orthodoxtradition of worship that every major liturgical event--(Christmas,Easter, Lent)--is announced and prepared in advance. Knowing our lackof concentration, the "worldliness" of our life, the Church calls ourattention to the seriousness of the approaching event, invites us tomeditate on its significance. Thus, before we can =practice= Lent, weare given its meaning.This preparation includes four consecutive Sundays preceding Lent, eachone of them dedicated to some fundamental aspect of repentance.1. Humility(Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee)On the eve of this day (i.e. on Saturday at Vespers) the liturgical bookof the Lenten season--the =Triodion= makes its first appearance and textsfrom it are added to the usual liturgical material of the weeklyResurrection service. They develop the first major theme of repentance:=humility=.The Gospel lesson (Luke 18:10-14) teaches us that humility is thecondition of repentance. The parable of the Publican and Phariseepictures a man who is always pleased with himself and who thinks that hecomplies with all the requirements of religion. He is proud of himselfand self-assured. In reality, however, he has falsified the meaning ofreligion. He has reduced it to external observations and he measures hispiety by the amount of money he gives to the temple. Religion is for hima source of self-admiration. The Publican humbles himself and humilityjustifies him before God."Let us avoid the high-flown speech of the Pharisee"--says the Kontakionof the day--"and learn the majesty of the Publican's humble words."