Dear Brethren and Friends of St Elizabeth’s,
Attached to this post are some of the stichera (verses) from the services of Matins and Vespers for first week of Great Lent. They are taken from The Lenten Triodion, which is the special liturgical book used during this season of the year for our worship and edification. The verses chosen focus on how fasting, prayer, and practicing the Christian virtues are essential for our spiritual lives, which is being “refocused” during Great Lent.
With much love in Christ,
Fr Mark
Lenten Quotations for the First Week of Great Lent (from The Lenten Triodion)
Monday of the First Week of Great Lent:
“Come, O ye people, and today let us accept the grace of the Fast as a gift from God and as a time for repentance, in which we may find mercy with the Savior. The time for combat is at hand and has begun already; let all of us set forth eagerly upon the course of the Fast, offering our virtues as gifts to the Lord.”
Tuesday of the First Week of Great Lent:
“Armed with fasting, Elijah the wonderful was taken up in a chariot of fire; through fasting Moses received a vision of secret mysteries; and if we also fast like them, we shall see Christ.”
“Through fasting let us all ascend the mountain of virtuous action, forsaking the sensual temptations that creep upon the ground. Let us enter into the darkness of holy visions; by the divine and mystical ascent let us become godlike, and let us look only upon Christ our beloved in His beauty.”
“Showing joyfulness of soul in the Fast, let us not be of a sad countenance; for the change in our way of life during these blessed days will help us to gain holiness.”
Wednesday of the First Week of Great Lent:
“From the tree of the Cross there grows for all the world the flower of abstinence. Let us then accept the Fast with love and take pleasure in the fruit of Christ’s divine commandements.”
“While fasting in the body, brethren, let us also fast in spirit. Let us loose every bond of iniquity; let us undo the knots of every contract made by violence; let us tear up all unjust agreements; let us give bread to the hungry and welcome the poor who have no roof to cover them, that we may receive great mercy from Christ our God.”
Thursday of the First Week of Great Lent:
“Let us abstain from every pleasure; through fasting let us enrich our powers of perception, and gladly let us drink the cup of compunction, as we sing: O ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord.
“Great is the power of Thy Cross! It has made the flower of abstinence to grow within the Church; it has stripped bare and uprooted the sinful greed that Adam showed in Eden. Adam’s greed brought death to men, but the Cross brings immortality and incorruption to the world. As though from some new river of Paradise, there flows from it the quickening stream of Thy Blood mingled with water, restoring all to life. Through this Thy Cross make sweet the Fast for us, O God of Israel, great in mercy.”
Friday of the First Week of Great Lent:
“O merciful Lord, who art the source and fountain of purity, preserve us in the Fast. Look upon us as we fall before Thee: be attentive to the lifting up of our hands, O Thou who hast stretched out Thine hands upon the Tree and wast crucified for the sake of all those born on the earth, the only Lord of the angelic powers.”
“Come, ye faithful, and in the light let us perform the works of God; let us walk honestly as in the day. Let us cast away every unjust accusation against our neighbor, not placing any cause of stumbling in his path. Let us lay aside the pleasures of the flesh, and increase the spiritual gifts of our soul. Let us give bread to those in need, and let us draw near unto Christ, crying in penitence: O our God, have mercy on us.”
Saturday of St Theodore the Tyro:
“The pure and undefiled Fast has now begun, and brings us to the celebration of the martyr’s miracles. Through the Fast our souls are cleansed from filth and defilement, and through the martyr’s suffering and miracles we are given strength to fight bravely against the passions. Illumined, therefore, by the grace of holy abstinence and by the wonders worked by Theodore the martyr, strengthened by our faith in Christ, we pray Him to bestow salvation on souls.”