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Dear Parish Faithful,
LENTEN MEDITATION - Day X
How many people have accepted the idea that Lent is the time when something which may be good in itself is forbidden, as if God were taking pleasure in torturing us.
For the authors of lenten hymns, however, Lent is exactly the opposite; it is a return to the "normal" life, to that "fasting" which Adam and Eve broke, thus introducing suffering and death into the world. Lent is greeted, therefore, as a spiritual spring, as a time of joy and light:
The lenten spring has come,
The light of repentance ...
The time of Lent is a time of gladness!
With radiant purity and pure love,
Filled with resplendent prayer and all good deeds,
Let us sing with joy ...
— Fr. Alexander Schmemann
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The above passage is very typical of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, we could actually say "vintage." In his many writings, he recovered so much of a lost Orthodox Christian vision that was actually right in front of us, if we would only open our eyes and look carefully. I know that many of you are currently reading Fr. Schmemann's Great Lent. I hope that the book is proving to be precisely an eye-opening experience that will bring to life the richness and depth of the Church's liturgical life. At the midpoint of Great Lent we will be able to sing "For through the Cross joy has come into the world" - actually something we chant at every celebration of the Divine Liturgy!
There is a joyousness at the very heart of Great Lent for the simple reason that this season is given to us as a gift during with we draw nearer to Christ, the living Source of joy and gladness.
