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Sunday of the Last Judgment (Meatfare)

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This coming Sunday, March 7, is the Sunday of the Last Judgment. It is also the 3rd of the pre-Lenten Sundays and perhaps more commonly known as Meatfare Sunday or simply Meatfare. This Sunday marks the last day of eating meat or meat products until the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection on Pascha.

The Gospel reading for the Sunday of the Last Judgement is Matthew 25:31-46. Building on the theme of repentance found in the previous two Sundays (Publican and the Pharisee, Prodigal Son), we are reminded that:

…while trusting in Christ’s love and mercy, we must not forget His righteous judgment when He comes again in glory. If our hearts remain hardened and unrepentant, we should not expect the Lord to overlook our transgressions simply because He is a good and loving God. Although He does not desire the death of a sinner, He also expects us to turn from our wickedness and live (Ezek. 33:11). 1
1 Orthodox Church in America, Sunday of the Last Judgement

See also the podcast on the Sunday of the Last Judgement by the late Fr. Thomas Hopko on Ancient Faith Radio.

An important note about Meatfare and fasting from the Lenten Triodion:

Let us observe a fast acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.
True fasting is to put away all evil,
To control the tongue, to forbear from anger,
To abstain from lust, slander, falsehood and perjury.
If we renounce these things, then is our fasting true and acceptable to God.2
2 Sung on Monday of the first week of Lent.

and

Let us keep the Fast not only by refraining from food,
But by becoming strangers to all the bodily passions.
That we who are enslaved to the tyranny of the flesh…3
3 Sung on Tuesday of the first week of Lent.

May God grant this!

The Last Judgement. Late 17th c. Kyiv. | via Flickr

Great Lent Epistle of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine

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Through prayer, repentance, fasting and simple daily kindness, we lead ourselves and our loved ones to a renewed faith in the power of God’s Love for us, a Love that is stronger than sin, death, and the devil.
Great Lent Epistle, 2021

As we prepare for the beginning of Great Lent and all of the benefits it affords us, please see the Lenten Epistle of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine which can be found here: uocofusa.org/files/Archpastoral/2021/Proclamation-EN.pdf

Click to access Proclamation-EN.pdf

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

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Tomorrow, February 28, is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. This Sunday, the second of the pre-Lenten Sundays, highlights the love and mercy that God extends to those who repent. The Gospel reading (Luke 15:11-32) calls us to forgo the false home we’ve created and return to the Father. | Read more about the Sunday of the Prodigal Son here.

It also on this day that, during Matins, we begin to sing the sorrowful and poignant verses of Psalm 136, ‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept...’.

As Metropolitan Kallistos Ware writes in his introduction to The Lenten Triodion:

This Psalm of exile, sung by the children of Israel in their Babylonian captivity, has a special appropriateness on the Sunday of the Prodigal, when we call to mind our present exile in sin and make resolve to return home”.

The Meaning of the Great Fast

Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee & the Gate to Lent

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Today, February 21, we celebrate the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee and begin the use of the Triodion (the service book of the Orthodox Church that provides the texts for the divine services for the pre-Lenten weeks of preparation, Great Lent, and Holy Week).

‘Open unto me, O Giver of Life, the gates of repentance . . .’ sings the Church at Matins for the first of the four Sundays which prepare us for Lent. Indeed, this Sunday could be thought of as a gate: a gate through which we enter the sacred period which leads us on to Easter; a gate which opens into that atmosphere of repentance, to that life of repentance which Lent should bring to each one of us. But we must remember that the word “penitence” or “repentance” is a translation of the Greek gospel term metanoia: and that this means “change of spirit”. Much more is involved than the observance of some kind of outward repent ance. What is asked of us is radical change, renewal, conversion.

The Year of Grace of the Lord: A Scriptural and Liturgical Commentary on the Calendar of the Orthodox Church by Fr. Lev Gillet

Feb 13 Vespers Cancelled | Winter Storm

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Please see the following note from Fr. Gregory regarding Saturday evening Vespers for February 13:

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I hope this note finds you all well.  Please note that, with today’s forecast of wintry weather, this evening’s Vespers Service has been canceled.  However, as the precipitation is expected to end tonight, Liturgy tomorrow morning is still scheduled to begin at its normal time.  So, in accordance with our Re-Opening procedure, please respond to this email and let me know if you plan on attending tomorrow morning’s 9am Divine Liturgy (who and how many from your family) – as you know, our attendance may be limited by state requirements.  If you will attend, please remember to practice the required social distancing and wear a mask, as well as practicing the other precautionary suggestions listed in our Plan.  And, of course, if you are not feeling well, or meet one or more of the high-risk criteria, you are urged to continue to worship from your home.  

Finally, please be reminded that, if you have not already done so since our re-opening, you should contact me in order to set up a time to make your Confession, which is required before you may receive Holy Communion once again.  And, as is always the case, if you have missed 3 or more consecutive Sunday Divine Liturgies, you must also make your Confession before again receiving Holy Communion, as specified by the Canons of the Church and our Hierarchs.

Thanks.  As the threat of C-19 is far from over, I hope and pray that we all continue to use all due caution, and that you all take all of the care of yourselves that is necessary for your personal situations.  Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything at all that I can do for you.

Please stay safe today!  May the blessings of the Lord be upon you all.

With love in Christ, 

frGregory

Sunday of Zacchaeus

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This year on February 14, we celebrate what has come to be known as “Zacchaeus Sunday” in the Orthodox Church. This day is a liturgical signifier that Lent is on the way!

The paschal season of the Church is preceded by the season of Great Lent, which is also preceded by its own liturgical preparation. The first sign of the approach of Great Lent comes five Sundays before its beginning. On this Sunday the Gospel reading is about Zacchaeus the tax-collector. It tells how Christ brought salvation to the sinful man, and how his life was changed simply because he “sought to see who Jesus was” (Luke 19:3). The desire and effort to see Jesus begins the entire movement through Lent towards Pascha. It is the first movement of salvation.

Sunday of Zacchaeus | https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2021/02/14/1-sunday-of-zacchaeus

The readings for this Sunday are:

  • Mark 16:9-20 (3rd Matins Gospel)
  • 1 Timothy 4:9-15 (Epistle)
  • Luke 19:1-10 (Gospel)