Written by: Catechist Branislav Ilić, Editor of the “Kinonia” Portal
“Having completed the soul-beneficial Forty Days, and beseeching to behold the holy week of Thy Passion, O Lover of mankind, grant that we may glorify in it Thy majesty and Thine inexpressible work of love, as with one voice we cry aloud: O Lord, glory to Thee!”
With these words, the Vespers service for the Saturday evening of the sixth week of Great Lent announces that the period of the Holy and Great Forty Days has come to an end. The liturgical book known as the Lenten Triodion (whose significance we discussed in detail here) serves as a spiritual guide throughout the days of the Fast, daily directing us through hymnography toward the goal of this Lenten pilgrimage. We must not forget that even before the beginning of Great Lent, the Church, through its liturgical texts, revealed to us the sweetness of which the Psalmist David spoke: “How sweet are Thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps. 119:103). Among those spiritual delights is Psalm 136 (the commentary on which we provided here), which, at the beginning of our preparation for the Fast, taught us that one cannot pray truly while “in a foreign land”—that is, while one is preoccupied with material and worldly concerns—pointing out that fasting as abstinence is intimately connected with prayer.
Our forty-day spiritual journey, guided by fasting, prayer, repentance, and active participation in the Lenten liturgical life, has reached its conclusion. We are now called to examine what spiritual state we find ourselves in as we complete this ascetic endeavor. When we say that the period of the Holy Forty Days has ended, we do not mean that fasting itself has ended. The fast continues for another week, but these days no longer belong to the Great Forty Days; they carry a distinct significance, as they are dedicated to the remembrance of the Lord’s Passion. During the forty days, we focused on repentance and personal ascetic effort, while in the coming days of Holy Week, we set aside our own weaknesses and accomplishments and turn our attention solely to the Lord and what He endured for us and for our salvation. The great and holy days ahead, which we will reflect upon in due time, mark the summit of our path toward the Feast of Feasts. For this reason, the Holy Church, as a loving mother, draws our attention through its services to the present day, proclaiming repeatedly in the stichera: “Having completed the soul-beneficial Forty Days!” This is not merely an announcement—it is a call to spiritual self-examination.
Let us recall the words with which the Church proclaimed the beginning of the Holy Forty Days:
“Let us begin the time of fasting in readiness for spiritual struggle. Let us cleanse our souls and cleanse our bodies. Let us abstain not only from food but from every passion, delighting in the virtues of the Spirit, that, perfected in them with love, we may all be granted to behold the most honourable Passion of Christ God and His holy Resurrection in spiritual joy.”
Now that we have arrived at the end of the Holy Forty Days, it is time for each of us to ask: Have I fulfilled what was expected of me during these most precious days? And to what extent have I kept the words of the sticheron that we heard at the beginning of Great Lent? These are simple yet profound questions. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts (on the significance of which we wrote here) reminded us throughout the Fast that the ultimate goal of our ascetic striving is communion with the Lord. On Wednesdays and Fridays, in the central prayer of the Presanctified Liturgy, we heard these moving words: “And deliver us and Thy faithful people from every impurity. Sanctify our souls and bodies with an unceasing sanctification, that with a pure conscience, unashamed face, and enlightened heart, we may partake of these holy Mysteries and, being enlivened by them, be united to Thy Christ, our true God, Who said: ‘He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him.’”
The Lenten Prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, which is recited only during the days of Great Lent (and which we discussed in detail here), has been a pedagogical call for us to overcome sinful weaknesses and to preserve Christian virtues within ourselves. Now is the day to ask ourselves whether—and to what degree—we have fulfilled the words of this beautiful prayer. We will continue to hear it in church services until Holy and Great Wednesday, performing full prostrations and striving to more fervently receive in our hearts the spiritual seed this prayer sows.
The period of the Holy Forty Days, aside from the Feast of the Annunciation, includes no festal days, but it is rich in sacred commemorations during which we honour great ascetics. Just recently we celebrated the commemoration of a newly revealed saint—Saint Irinej, Bishop of Bačka, Confessor of the Faith—whom we (in an authored text here) referred to as a teacher of asceticism. This is an opportunity to look into the depths of our own soul and ask ourselves whether, during these most sacred days of Great Lent, we have followed the luminous example of Saint Irinej, Bishop of Bačka and Confessor of the Faith, who remained steadfast in ascetic struggle even in the most difficult of circumstances, his gaze fixed on Christ. This gaze upon Christ should be the guiding principle of our own lives as well, for having the Lord as our Guide ensures that our spiritual steps are directed along the narrow and secure path that leads to eternal life.
The words continue to resound: “Having completed the soul-beneficial Forty Days,” and they call us to ask yet more questions—questions that will help us discern whether we are truly ready to enter into the great and holy days ahead. Each of us must ask: Has the ice of an unfeeling and hardened heart melted within me? Have I washed away the filth of sin with the tears of faith and repentance? Is my soul ready, like fertile soil, to bring forth the fruits of love and righteousness? While we feel this trembling in the depth of our being as we search for answers to these questions, let us pray together with the church poet, saying:
“Grant us, O Lord, to follow the path of Thy voluntary Passion. Make us worthy to bow down before Thy sufferings and to glorify Thy three-day Resurrection.”