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    Great Lent: A School of Repentance Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians
    Great Lent: A School of Repentance Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians
    Great Lent: A School of Repentance Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians
    Ebook54 pages40 minutes

    Great Lent: A School of Repentance Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians

    By Alexander Schmemann

    4.5/5

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateJan 1, 1974
    Great Lent: A School of Repentance Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians

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    Reviews for Great Lent

    4.5/5

    28 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was really helpful for helping me think about fasting!
    • 4/5
      Time and linguistic shift have shifted the effectiveness of this book - ironically, in a sense, as Orthodoxy has rightly stood out against the caprice of time (see 89), but writing styles, unlike theology and liturgical practice, are not under the imprimatur of ecclesiology. Nevertheless, Schmemann, that great theologian of Orthodoxy, takes us deep into the meaning of Orthodox Lent, and therefore Orthodoxy's attractive spirituality; for that we should be thankful (even if I admit I am too lazy to swim the Bosphorous!).
    • 5/5
      For those who appreciate Father Alexander's counsel, there are many gems to mine in this 133-page text. Chief among the precious stones is his discussion of spiritual diseases. For example, Father Alexander unfolds the spiritual diseases that St. Ephrem the Syrian battled in what is now called "the lenten prayer."These spiritual diseases include sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. In a deft analysis, Father Alexander argues that lust of power results from sloth and despondency. (Paraphrasing the author, sloth is a cynical attitude toward life, and despondency is a pervasive view that everything will reach a negative end.) Once other beings have become subordinated to selfish desires (lust of power), then all reserves of the soul have been spent, leaving nothing more to speak than idle words.For anyone who battles these diseases and cannot see the way clear to reach God, this book is a compassionate guide both during Lent as well as any season of repentance in life.

    Book preview

    Great Lent - Alexander Schmemann

    The Project Gutenberg EBook of Great Lent: A School of Repentance, by

    Alexander Schmemann

    This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

    almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

    re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

    with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

    Title: Great Lent: A School of Repentance

    Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians

    Author: Alexander Schmemann

    Release Date: June 13, 2011 [EBook #36415]

    Language: English

    *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT LENT: A SCHOOL OF REPENTANCE ***

    Produced by Gerard Arthus, David Garcia and the Online

    Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

    GREAT LENT

    A SCHOOL OF REPENTANCE

    Its Meaning for Orthodox Christians

    by

    The Rt. Rev. Alexander Schmemann

    DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

    ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

    New York 1970

    Second Printing 1977

    CONTENTS

    GREAT LENT

    THE TIME OF REPENTANCE

    Brethren, while fasting bodily, let us also fast spiritually; let us loosen every bond of injustice; let us destroy the strong fetters of violence; let us tear up every unjust writing; let us give bread to the hungry and let us welcome the homeless poor to our houses, that from Christ our God we may receive the great mercy.

    (Stichira, Wednesday of the First Week)

    We are approaching again the Great Lent—the time of repentance, the time of our reconciliation with God. Repentance is the beginning and also the condition of a truly Christian life. Repent! was the first word of Christ when He began to preach (Matt. 4:17). But what is repentance? In the daily rush of our life we have no time to think about it, we simply take it for granted that we must go to confession, receive absolution, and then forget all about it until next year. Yet there must be a reason why our Church has set apart seven weeks as a special time of repentance and calls each Orthodox Christian to a special

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