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Here you will find news and general information about the Byzantine Catholic (Greek Cath- olic) and other Eastern Christian Churches.

Fasts & Feasts

February 15 - March 26

The Holy and Great Fast

February

21 - 1st Sunday of the Great Fast (Sunday of Orthodoxy)
27 - All Souls Saturday
28 - 2nd Sunday of the Great Fast (Palamas)

March

6 - All Souls Saturday
7 - 3rd Sunday of the Great Fast (Veneration of the Cross)
13 - All Souls Saturday
14 - 4th Sunday of the Great Fast (Climacus)
18 - Canon of St. Andrew of Crete
20 - Akathistos Saturday
21 - 5th Sunday of the Great Lent (Mary of Egypt)
25 - Annunciation to the Mother of God

March 27-April 4

Great and Holy Week

28 - Palm Sunday

April

4 - Pascha

Latest Forum Discussions

Fourth Week of the Great Fast

March 8-14, 2010

Isaiah 25:1-9 - O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For thou hast made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify thee; cities of ruthless nations will fear thee. For thou hast been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the blast of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. Thou dost subdue the noise of the aliens; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined. And he will destroy on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (RSV – Reading for the Sixth Hour on Tuesday)

Our God will save us! - It is appropriate and necessary that at the time the “mystery” is handed over, the “resurrection of the dead” is included. For at the time we make the confession of faith at holy baptism, we say that we expect the resurrection of the flesh. And so we believe. Death overcame our forefather Adam on account of his transgression and like a fierce wild animal it pounced on him and carried him off amid lamentation and loud wailing. Men wept and grieved because death ruled over all the earth. But all this came to an end with Christ. Striking down death, He rose up on the third day and became the way by which man would rid himself of corruption. He became the first born of the dead, and the first fruits of those who had fallen asleep. (St. Cyril of Alexandria)

This Week's Scripture

Monday - Isaiah 14:24-32 (Sixth Hour), Genesis 8:21-9:7, Proverbs 11:19-12:6 (Vespers)
Tuesday - Isaiah 25:1-9, Genesis 9:8-17, Proverbs 12:8-22
Wednesday - Isaiah 26:21-27:9, Genesis 9:18-10:1, Proverbs 12:23-13:9
Thursday - Isaiah 28:14-22, Genesis 10:32-11:9, Proverbs 13:20-14:6
Friday - Isaiah 29:13-23, Genesis 12:1-7, Proverbs 14:15-26
Saturday - Hebrews 6:9-12, Mark 7:31-37 (4th Saturday), 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17, John 5:24-30 (All Souls)
Sunday - Hebrews 6:12-20, Mark 9:17-31 (4th Sunday), Ephesians 5:9-19, Matthew 4:25-5:12 (St. John)

The icon is the Veneration of the Hoy Cross, which is placed before us at the middle of the Fast as sign of victory to help us in our lenten journey. "We bow to Your Cross, O Master, and we praise Your holy resurrection!"

What are you doing for Lent?

Have you looked at the calendar lately? Have you noticed that we are already past the halfway point of the Holy Forty Days Fast? What have you done to prepare for the upcoming days in which we celebrate the Cross and Resurrection of the Savior?

If you’re still looking to get started we have some suggestions: Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving.

The Fasting part is pretty straight forward. If you’ve not kept the Fast before (or not kept it well) keep it from today until Pascha. You probably know the rules and certainly that should be the minimum fast that you keep. But the minimum fast is not something really challenging, especially if you can stop at your favorite restaurant for a good fish or lobster meal. Do something more. On the days you fast eat simply prepared foods.

Prayer? Many of us never know how to pray or what to pray. Start with the Lord’s Prayer three times a day (morning, noon and night) and then - if you can - keep the short “Rule of Prayer” every day. If that goes well, try something more – find and dust off the Bible and between now and Pascha read Matthew’s account of the life of Christ (it’s only 28 short chapters!).

Almsgiving? Yes, write a check to help those in need, and make it big enough to cause you to blink twice. If you don’t have ample resources for that then give of your time. Call a local charity and offer to help on Saturday. Two hours is a great start.

Finally, don’t advertise the fact that you are fasting, praying and giving alms. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:4b).

Oh! There is an earthly reward. If you do all this (which is really not all that much) you are going to be really happy with yourself on Pascha.

St. John Chrysostom on Fasting

The value of fasting consists not only in avoiding certain foods, but in giving up of sinful practices. The person who limits his fast only to abstaining from meat is the one who especially lowers the value of it.

Do you fast? Prove it by doing good works. If you see someone in need, take pity on them. If you see a friend being honored, don't get jealous of him. For a true fast, you cannot fast only with your mouth. You must fast with your eyes, your ears, your feet, your hands, and all parts of your body.

You fast with your hands by keeping them pure from doing greedy things. You fast with your feet by not going to see forbidden shows or plays. You fast with your eyes by not letting them look upon impure pictures. Because if this is forbidden or unlawful, it mars your fast and threatens the safety of your soul. But if you look at things which are lawful and safe you increase your fast, for what you see with your eyes influences your conduct. It would be very stupid to eliminate or give up meat and other foods because of the fast but feed with your eyes upon other things which are forbidden.

Byzantine Catholic Church in America