The Shepherd, February 2008
The fourth and the last of the preparatory Sundays before Lent is called Forgiveness Sunday, or sometimes because on this day we eat dairy products for the last time, Cheesefare. The two Gospel sections, read on the Saturday before this and on this Sunday itself, cover verses 1 -21 of chapter six of St Matthew’s Gospel. In those twenty-one verses we are given precise instructions on the keeping of the fast, which is about to begin, and it is well worth our reading those verses over and again during the fast. One prominent theme is forgiving one another that the Lord might forgive us, and this is why, either at the Rite of Forgiveness held in Church or in conversations and correspondence, we ask the forgiveness of our acquaintances, friends and relatives for the ways in which we have wronged, offended or hurt them. As with everything that we do in Orthodoxy, it is important that this asking of forgiveness does not simply remain a ritual observation. We should therefore reflect on our relationships with others and prepare ourselves to ask forgiveness. Of course, in our multicultural and multi-faith society, we have also to exercise some discretion in how we go about asking forgiveness. If you throw yourself on the floor in a full prostration, saying “Forgive, servant of God,” before an agnostic colleague in the office - it not likely to have the desired effect! One sometimes has to adapt the rite, but the asking of forgiveness is nonetheless fundamentally important. There is little more corrosive and destructive to our spiritual wellbeing then harbouring ill-feeling or remembering wrongs against others. It is the rejection of love. One of the Fathers said that our love of our neighbour is linked to our love of God like the spokes of a wheel; the closer in love we draw to our neighbour, the closer we draw in love towards God, just as the spokes of a wheel are nearer each other as they near the hub. And so that which destroys our love of our neighbour also destroys our love of God and separates us from Him. We can see this in practice: in the Divine Liturgy, we pray “with one mouth and one heart.” If anything disturbs that unity in love it separates us from Holy Communion and thus from God. This is why we begin our lenten course, making a serious and sustained effort to remove that impediment, so that God might forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
By committed Orthodox Christians, the first week of Great Lent is kept with particular rigour. On every evening from Monday to Thursday, we have the reading of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete, and on the Friday evening we have the first of the Friday evening Akathist services. One should make every effort to attend these services, if at all possible, and, if it is simply impossible, one should try and read them at home, thus joining in prayer as closely as possible with the whole Church. The first week is called Clean Week and it customary for all Orthodox Christians to prepare in that week, through prayer and fasting, for confession and to receive the Holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ in Communion.
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