Great Lent

Details

Publication Data: Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: 140
Dimensions (l × w × h): 21.6 cm × 14.1 cm × 1.0 cm
ISBN: 0‒913836‒04‒4


by Alexander Schmemann

“This short explanation of Great Lent is written for all those—and they are many today—who desire a better understanding of the liturgical tradition of the Church and a more conscious participation in her life. [...]To the questions: What is repentance? Why do we need it? How are we to practice it?—Great Lent gives the answer. It is indeed a school of repentance to which every Christian must go every year in order to deepen his faith, to re-evaluate, and, if possible, to change his life. It is a wonderful pilgrimage to the very sources of Orthodox faith—a rediscovery of the Orthodox way of life.”
—“Foreword”

CONTENTS

Foreword
Introduction LENT: JOURNEY TO PASCHA
Chapter One PREPARATION FOR LENT
   (1) The Desire (Zacchaeus)
   (2) Humility (The Publican and the Pharisee)
   (3) Return From Exile (Prodigal Son)
   (4) The Last Judgment (Meat-Fare Sunday)
   (5) Forgiveness (Cheese-Fare Sunday)
Chapter Two THE LENTEN WORSHIP
   (1) “Bright Sadness”
   (2) The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem the Syrian
   (3) The Holy Scriptures
   (4) The Triodion
Chapter Three THE LITURGY OF THE PRESANCTIFIED GIFTS
   (1) The Two Meanings of Communion
   (2) The Two Meanings of Fasting
   (3) The Evening Communion
   (4) The Order of Service
Chapter Four THE LENTEN JOURNEY
   (1) The Beginning: The Great Canon
   (2) Saturdays of Lent
   (3) Sundays of Lent
   (4) Mid-Lent: The Holy Cross
   (5) On the Way to Bethany and Jerusalem
Chapter Five LENT IN OUR LIFE
   (1) “Taking It Seriously...”
   (2) Participation in Lenten Services
   (3) “...But By Prayer and Fasting”
   (4) A Lenten “Style of Life”
Appendix: HOLY THINGS FOR THE HOLY
   (1) An Urgent and Essential Question
   (2) “Religionless Religion”
   (3) Why Sacraments?
   (4) The Norm
   (5) The Decay: Its Causes And Its Excuses
   (6) The Meaning Of Communion
   (7) The Meaning of Preparation for Communion
   (8) Confession and Communion
   (9) A Total Rediscovery
Notes and References

Reviews