This Sunday, March 24, is the second Sunday of Great Lent, as well as the Forefeast of the Annunciation and the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas.
The readings from Holy Scripture are: Genesis 28:10-17 (Vespers, 1st reading), Ezekiel 43:27-44:4 (Vespers, 2nd reading), Proverbs 9:1-11 (Vespers, 3rd reading), John 21:1-14 (10th Matins Gospel), Hebrews 1:10-2:3 (Epistle), and Mark 2:1-12 (Gospel).
As each Sunday of Lent has its own spiritual theme and historical context, we know that the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas is of a later origin. Of this day we are told:
This Sunday was originally dedicated to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second Sunday of Great Lent as a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
2nd Sunday of Great Lent: St Gregory Palamas
To learn more about this day, including what it means for our spiritual lives, see the podcast episode on the Second Sunday of Lent by Fr. Thomas Hopko and the article A Man Fully Alive by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick.
