Dismissal Hymn of the Resurrection – 4th  Tone

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

ENCYCLICAL ON GREAT LENT OF HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Clean Monday, March 10, 2008

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

   Once again we express our gratitude to God for bringing us to the beginning of Great and Holy Lent.  We recognize this as an extension of our time on this Earth to experience another Lenten season, another period to come closer to Him and to His infinite and saving love.   We begin the period of Great and Holy Lent on this day known as Clean Monday, an appropriate term that implies purity of mind, heart, and soul.  This purity is paramount to a productive start to our Lenten journey, which we begin with vigilant prayer, fasting, and worship so that we may properly orient ourselves as we enter the Lenten season.  Throughout this forty day period, we review with heightened scrutiny our shortcomings, our inadequacies, our inabilities to live up to our full potential as Christians, and the myriad of ways in which we may have fallen short of expressing the fullness of our love to God and neighbor.

   As such, the period of Great and Holy Lent is an exercise in prayerful contrition.  It is an exercise in repentance.  It is a period of time when we consciously endeavor to turn our hearts and minds toward all that is good and holy, to a genuine “metanoia,” to a saving transformation of our inner self.  It is, in other words, an opportunity for us to transform our beings into a renewed closeness with God through a period of sustained spiritual discipline or “askesis.”  We do this with an eager anticipation of a newness of heart and with a spirit of gratitude and joy, remembering the unending love of God for all of us as His children.

   In considering the spiritual challenges and opportunities that are afforded to us throughout Great and Holy Lent, we take special note of the unique period of the Holy Week, which, formally, marks the end of the forty day Lenten Fast.  The Holy Week provides us with an especially intense time of prayer and fasting.  Correspondingly, our coming closer to Christ is intensified, as we are offered more opportunities to partake of the Holy Mysteries in the Divine Liturgy and to experience the healing power of the Holy Spirit through our being anointed with Holy Oil.  During Holy Week, we contemplate the days leading up to Christ’s betrayal by Judas the Iscariot in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s subsequent arrest there, and the tremendous agonies of His Passion.  We encounter Christ nailed on the Cross; we remember with prayerful Lamentations His burial and descent into Hades.  Above all, we glorify His triumphant Resurrection, which awaits us at the very end of the Lenten journey upon which we embark today, and which serves as a vivid reminder that death no longer has dominion over us.

   This, my beloved Christians, is the period that we enter today.  It is a period of magnificent opportunity for renewal.  It is a season for intensified focus on the transformation of our inner selves and for intensification of our relationship with God, a God Who "humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross"  (Philippians 2:8).  It is our fervent prayer that, as we reflect upon this act of supreme love throughout this season of Great and Holy Lent, we may all increase our love for Jesus Christ and our commitment to His Holy Church.  May Christ’s love blossom in your hearts on the blessed occasion of the Lenten season. 

                                                                                 With paternal love in Christ,

                                                                                 +DEMETRIOS
                                                                                  Archbishop of America

FROM THE CATECHETICAL ADDRESS ON THE COMMENCEMENT OF HOLY AND GREAT LENT BY + B A R T H O L O M E W, ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH

   During this period of Holy and Great Lent, our Church calls us to repentance. Doubtless, as contemporary man hears this invitation to repentance, he does not feel comfortable, because he has accustomed himself to a certain way of life, and does not wish to question his own rectitude. Calling one’s own rectitude into question produces feelings of insecurity, because the ideological structure within which you have sure and certain refuge is clearly risked.

    However, a deeper examination of the issue compels us to accept that people’s convictions do not conform to objective reality, on the basis of reasonable judgment. Rather, they create a justification that is pleasing to self, namely: "excuses in sins" (Psalm 140:4). When a person justifies his or her actions and self-vindicates on the basis of erroneous values, significant harm happens, because inevitably, the moment comes when the truth emerges, and we find ourselves without excuse. Moreover, there may be no more time to adjust our convictions: that is, to repent of our sinful deeds and erroneous beliefs, through which we have tried to justify our behavior.

Now as Christians, we are used to both hearing about and practicing repentance, and we do not feel a conflict with our Church’s call to repentance. However, there is a need for us to make a deliberate and conscious effort to realize that a complete repentance that has two objectives.

The first objective is threefold: a renunciation of our sins, a decision to cease and desist from sinful deeds and habits, and a decision to make amends for the consequences of our sins.

   The second objective of repentance is that we should change our mentality. We should replace our understandings with other higher and loftier ones; or in the words of the Psalmist: to "ascend in our hearts" (Psalm 83:6). This second objective needs to be pursued especially by those who are unconvinced by their consciousness about specific sins. For example, our understanding of love surely falls short of perfection; likewise our understanding of humility. For when we compare our own spiritual state to the perfection of God, a perfection we are called to imitate, surely we will see our shortcomings and realize the endless road we must traverse in order to find ourselves in the path of those who are like unto God. 

As we examine the quality of our inner peace, we ascertain that we fall short of the peace of Christ "which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Pondering the level to which we trust our lives to God’s Providence, we sadly realize that we are often seized by anxiety and uncertainty about the future, as if we were either of little faith or even without faith. In general, upon examination of the purity of our conscience, we realize that we fall short of understanding correctly the many feelings we harbor within ourselves that are detrimental to our purity, often mistaking them as healthy. Since no one can claim to judge himself perfectly, by the same token no one can claim that he has no need of a renewed mind, a more enlightened mind, a transformation of mind, a correction of mind and mentality, i.e. a need of repentance.

   The call of our Orthodox Church to repentance is not merely a call to self-reproach. Self-reproach can be useful, as are deep contrition and tears of repentance; but they are not of themselves sufficient. We need to experience the joy emanating from the forgiveness granted to us by God, the sense of deliverance from the burdens of the bondage of sin, and the sense of God’s love for us. Our repentance does not deprive us from the joy of life. Repentance means cleansing and enlightenment of our minds, more ardent love for Christ and His creation, freedom and joy through the newness of life into which we enter through our constant repentance.

   The one who constantly repents, ever progresses, ever rejoices through new ascents, finds constant satisfaction in deeper understandings of all things. Through the transformation of mentality and understanding, the one who repents better understands the whole world, becomes wiser, more judicious, more discreet, nobler and a true friend of Christ. Therefore, the preaching of repentance should be favorably received by wise persons who are able to appreciate any improvement that comes from the renewal of the human person through repentance.

Therefore, brothers and sisters and beloved children in the Lord, let us accept the invitation of our Church to repentance. Let us who have fallen short through sin cleanse ourselves from sin through confession. Let us constantly examine our own presuppositions, so our judgments and thoughts may be godly and pure, just and true.

Finally, we paternally pray that all of you may enjoy the every assistance and help of the Lord on your road to repentance and throughout your renewed life in Christ.

BARTHOLOMEW of Constantinople
The fervent intercessor for you all before God