Easter, the commemoration of the Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, is the culmination of the Orthodox liturgical year. But the Church prepares us for a long time for this painful and enlightening period. The period of Lent precedes the period of the Passion and Resurrection. This fast, also called Great Lent (to distinguish it from the fast of the Most Holy Virgin Mary which precedes the Dormition in August, from the fast of the Apostles which precedes the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in June, and the fast of Christmas which precedes Christmas), is a time of special prayers and fasting. If we put aside Holy Week, that is, the Passion Week which immediately precedes Easter Sunday, and if we add to the period of actual fasting the weeks that precede and prepare for it, we get a total of ten weeks, beginning with the Sunday called the Advent of the Pharisee and the Publican and ending with the Saturday called Lazarus Saturday, on the eve of Palm Sunday, followed by Holy Week.
This fast is the result of a long historical growth. (1) It combines very different elements. Let's take a look at each one.
* Fasting is a time of repentanceIn the first centuries of the Church, the reconciliation of the (repentant) or the publicly repentant sinners with the community of believers was... (2) It is officially done during this period. However, public repentance has become uncommon in the Orthodox Church. However, the idea of repentance remains. Aren’t we all, to varying degrees, sinners and repentant? And isn’t the period leading up to Easter an excellent time for contrition and reflection? Lent is therefore an opportunity to examine our conscience and reconcile with the Lord.
* Fasting is a time of spiritual education and enlightenment.In the ancient Church, the catechumens, that is, those who were preparing for baptism, were the subject of special attention. (3)During Lent. They were taught with redoubled zeal. They were baptized during the Paschal Vigil. Although the catechumenate, or the status of adults preparing for baptism, has become an exceptional situation in the present Orthodox Church, we call for prayer for the catechumens during every Divine Liturgy. The service of the Presanctified Liturgy, which we will speak about later, prays for them with special insistence. This prayer is not devoid of meaning, because in the countries of evangelization there are still catechumens preparing for baptism. In Africa, India, Japan, and other countries the Orthodox Church also has catechumens. We will pray for them during Lent. We will also pray for the catechumens of the evangelizing Christian churches, which are not Orthodox. We will pray for the millions of people of non-Christian religions, of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other groups as well. They are, in a way, catechumens. All that is right in their belief and good in their action has been taught to them by the inner teacher whose name they do not know, the divine Word, “the true light which enlightens every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9). Finally, it must be noted that we too never cease to be catechumens. The Word of God made flesh never ceases to teach us. The Holy Spirit never ceases to knock at the door of our hearts. Lent is a time in particular for listening to God’s voice and for heeding Him.
* Fasting commemorates the forty years of Israel's wandering in the wilderness....that when God's people left the captivity of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, they walked in faith toward the distant Promised Land and received from God earthly sustenance in the form of manna and spiritual sustenance in the form of the Ten Commandments, and sometimes rebelled and fell into sin and yet reached the goal. Fasting also speaks to us of liberation, travel, walking in a barren wilderness, divine manna, communion with God on Mount Sinai and other places, falling, and reconciliation.
* Fasting commemorates the forty days that the Lord Jesus spent in the wilderness, during which He struggled against the tempter Satan. Our fasting should also be a period of struggle against sin.(The Lord your God you shall fear and serve) (Deuteronomy 6:13). May God grant us, during fasting, to learn and understand this word with which the Lord opposed Satan and which sums up all spiritual struggle!
It is obvious: Lent is a very rich and profound gathering of diverse elements for our purification and illumination. It can be said that during Lent the Church takes us by the hand to lead us to the radiant feasts of Easter. The more seriously our fasting is a preparation, the more we enter into the mystery of Easter and receive its fruits.
Father Lev Gille (*)
(*) Father Lev Gillet (1892-1980), a French-born convert to the Orthodox Church in the early twentieth century, was one of its most prominent spiritual fathers. He wrote many theological and spiritual books that were published in different languages around the world. Father Lev accompanied the Orthodox Youth Movement since its inception and was one of those who contributed effectively to guiding many of its leaders and members. He published the following books through Al-Nour Publications: (The Blessed Year of the Lord) (in two parts and in French), (Comments on the Divine Liturgy) (in French), (Our Father) (in French), (Be My Priest) (in French and Arabic), (The Season of Lent) and (For a Better Understanding of the Divine Liturgy).
What we are publishing now is a reprint of sections of the book (The Time of Lent) and a new Arabic translation of the second chapter of the second part of the book (The Blessed Year of the Lord) by Raymond Rizk.
(1) Lent, with its original outlines that still distinguish it today, originated in the fourth century AD. In the second and third centuries, it was sufficient to observe what was called the (pre-Easter) fast, extending from Good Friday until Easter Sunday. However, the Council of Nicaea (the first ecumenical) mentioned (the forty days). In the seventh century, Lent was established almost everywhere in its current form.
(2) The idea of forgiveness granted by the Church for serious sins was not generally accepted before the third century. When a baptized Christian committed a crime, the Church entrusted his case to divine justice and mercy, but did not recognize for herself the authority to retain him in the company of the faithful. Despite objections from Africa, the "tolerant" theories that had prevailed in Rome prevailed in the third century. Heretics and repentant sinners were given the possibility of reconciliation, but this presupposed public repentance. A special place of lower status was reserved for penitents in the churches. The bishop "reconciled" penitents at the end of Lent. Public repentance was considered necessary in three cases: idolatry (or apostasy), murder, and adultery. Falling into heresy was similar to apostasy. The custom of private confession began in the fourth century in Constantinople, in the circle of St. John Chrysostom. No Ecumenical Councils issued any decree regulating its practice. However, the example of the monasteries, where monks confessed their secret sins to their superiors or to their spiritual fathers, greatly contributed to the spread of private confession. The latter is obligatory in the Latin Church. The system of private confession in the Eastern Churches has fluctuated greatly and still does, depending on the place and time. There are Orthodox countries where it is generally practiced, but there are other Orthodox regions where it is almost unknown.
(3) The catechumenate system originated in the second half of the second century. It was common in the fourth century and disappeared after the sixth century. Baptism was usually administered on Easter days. The catechumens were previously subjected to a prior laying on of hands, various examinations or “investigations,” special prayers were recited over them, and shortly before baptism they were “initiated” into the Creed. They were dismissed from the church before the Creed was recited, which is why this first part of the Divine Liturgy is called the “Mass of the Catechumens,” to distinguish it from the following part, called the “Mass of the Faithful.”