2025 Great Lent by Rev Christopher P Foustoukos

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. (Matthew4: 1-2)

On March 3, the Church will enter the Ecclesiastical Period known as Great Lent, the forty-day period prior to the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord. St. Ignatius writes in one of his letters, “As our Lord Jesus Christ prior to His mission to bring the message of redemption for all mankind, went to the wilderness for forty days after His baptism and spent most of the time in fasting and prayer, in the same manner the true followers of Jesus must prepare themselves to be worthy in celebrating the great event of the Resurrection.” No institution but the Church endeavors to instruct us to struggle to acquire spiritual goals, which are thy only goals which will secure for us inner peace, joy and happiness.

As Orthodox Christians, Great Lent is a time for us to exercise the spirit with meditation and prayer, which means we must set aside our other activities for these 40 days. We struggle or some might even say suffer today because most of our time is spent on things that only satisfy the body, and we neglect the needs of our souls. A psychologist once said, “Unless we realize that we must set aside some time for the pleasure and enrichment of our soul, we are bound to experience unhappiness and misery because the flesh is unable to satisfy our spiritual needs.” In the Gospel of Matthew we read, “Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Great Lent in the Orthodox Church provides us the opportunity to attend special services (Great Compline on Monday evening, Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evening, and the Salutations to the Virgin Mary on Friday evening) so that we might nurture and grow in the Spirit of the Lord.

Let us make an exception this Great Lent, as good and faithful Orthodox Christians, by not allowing the various activities of our everyday life to dominate and interfere with our spiritual commitments as faithful Orthodox Christians.

The fullness of joy is promised to those who have a relationship of dependence and communion with our Heavenly Father.

Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16:24)

+ Fr Christopher P Foustoukos