The Shepherd, May 2005
Adapted from
“THE HOUSE OF GOD AND THE CHURCH SERVICES”, 1
By the Priest N. R. Antonov
Continuation
§ 114. The services of the Sundays and Weekdays of Great Lent. On every Sunday in Great Lent, we celebrate the Liturgy of St Basil the Great, and for each of them the Church has appointed a special commemoration which corresponds to the inner meaning of the fast as a period of repentance. Not only do we chant the hymn, “Open unto me the doors of repentance,” at the Vigil (or during Mattins) on every Sunday in the fast, but each Sunday has is own special commemoration, manifest in the prayers, hymns and rites.
The first week of the fast is distinguished by its particular strictness, and by the fact that the services are much longer than usual. On the first four days (Monday to Thursday) we read the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete on Great Compline with the refrain, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.” The canon consists of some 250 troparia, and it is called great not only because of their number but also because of its integral worth, the exaltedness of the thoughts it expresses, and the depth of the feelings, and because of the power of expression. Events from the Old and New Testaments are presented in it and their moral significance is brought to our attention. St Andrew of Crete introduces people from Sacred History as exalted icons of the holy life and as examples warning us of those who fell into sin. After bringing to our attention the falls which even many great men suffered through their passions, the composer calls upon the sinful soul to seek the heavenly fatherland along with Abraham. In Isaac he shows us the sacrifice of obedience, in Ismael an example of the daring which is motivated by the uncontrollable flesh. The punishment for carnal sins is depicted by the fire of Sodom. Using as images the two wives of Jacob, he presents the twofold life: that of activity and that of divine vision. The rod of Moses which divided the Red Sea is a fore-figuring of the Cross of Christ, through which the Christian soul can do wondrous things. Then he speaks of the kings who repented and the prophets of Israel. At the end, in the Ninth Ode, the composer recalls the Divine Word and the merciful activities of the Lord and Saviour; inciting us to flee to Him through the fast and with the Publican to cry out humbly, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner;” or again with the Canaanite woman and the blind men to pray: “Have mercy on me, Son of David;” like the harlot to wash the feet of the Saviour, and like the Thief who came to one’s right mind to exclaim, “Remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.”
On the Friday of the first week, during the Presanctified Liturgy, after the Prayer Beyond the Ambon, there is the rite of blessing the Koliva (boiled wheat) in memory of the holy Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit. This is in thanksgiving for his aid in helping the Christians to keep the fast. In 362 A.D., the Emperor Julian the Apostate ordered that in Antioch all the produce should be sprinkled with the blood of animals which had been slain in pagan sacrifice, thus hoping to defile the fast of the Christians. The Great Martyr Theodore, however, appeared in a vision during his sleep to the Bishop, and revealed Julian’s secret plan to him and proposed that during the week the faithful buy nothing in the market places, but eat only koliva, and thus the Christians were able to keep the fast without even the appearance of having defiled it.
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