vanshan
20th February 2006, 01:57 PM
About the upcoming Great Lent, Saint Leo of Rome (461 A.D) said the following:
"With the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of redemption, and of the days that lead up to the Paschal Feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit . . . Initially, all men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair they shortcomings of our moral nature . . . All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life. Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times, should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food, but above all by the renunciation of sin."
Saint Augustine said:
"Because there are two periods of time--the one that is now, beset with the trials and troubles of life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy--we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Pascha and the other after. The season before Pascha signifies the troubles in which we live here and now . . .
What we commemorate before Pascha is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Pascha points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer . . . Both these periods are represented and demonstrated for us in Christ our head. The Lord's passion depicts for us our present life of trial--shows how we must suffer and be afflicted and finally die . . . "
Basil
"With the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of redemption, and of the days that lead up to the Paschal Feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit . . . Initially, all men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there is still required a daily renewal to repair they shortcomings of our moral nature . . . All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life. Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times, should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food, but above all by the renunciation of sin."
Saint Augustine said:
"Because there are two periods of time--the one that is now, beset with the trials and troubles of life, and the other yet to come, a life of everlasting serenity and joy--we are given two liturgical seasons, one before Pascha and the other after. The season before Pascha signifies the troubles in which we live here and now . . .
What we commemorate before Pascha is what we experience in this life; what we celebrate after Pascha points to something we do not yet possess. This is why we keep the first season with fasting and prayer . . . Both these periods are represented and demonstrated for us in Christ our head. The Lord's passion depicts for us our present life of trial--shows how we must suffer and be afflicted and finally die . . . "
Basil