Tag: lent

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The Passiontide Veiling

St. Michael Orthodox Church, Whittier, California

As the faithful of the Western Rite enter in our church buildings on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, our eyes search for the familiar and holy images that we have become accustomed to seeing there, but instead we find violet veils. Those experiencing this for the first time may be confused—and hopefully, disturbed—at not seeing the holy images. The cross and the icons are veiled from our sight on the fifth Sunday of Lent, traditionally called “Passion Sunday,” and it marks a distinct turning toward the end of this Lenten journey. But why are the icons veiled, and why is this called “Passion” Sunday if the Gospel passage (St. John 8:46-59) isn’t the account of Christ’s passion?

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The Secret Current: Lectionary Lessons and the Way to Easter

In the Western Tradition, Septuagesima Sunday kicks off the Easter cycle of the Church Year (like beginning the Triodion in the Eastern Rite). As the first of the three Sundays which make up the Pre-Lent season in the West, Septuagesima (the Sunday nearest the 70th day before Easter) makes it clear liturgically that we have turned a corner: all “alleluias” are suppressed until Easter, as well as other exuberantly joyful hymns and canticles, and the liturgical color is changed to violet. The lectionary also shifts gears to themes appropriate to this new path: themes of repentance, renunciation, and works of mercy.

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Mothering Sunday

The fourth Sunday in Lent in the Western tradition is  known by several names: “The Sunday of the Five Loaves” from the Gospel passage for the day (John 6:1-14). “Rose Sunday” because the clerical and Altar vestments may change color from violet to rose. But why the change in color in the first place? Another name for this Sunday gives us a clue: “Laetare Sunday” (Laetare meaning: Rejoice).

The Introit chant for this Sunday begins in Latin: Laetare Jerusalem, et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam. (Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her). This chant is taken from Isaiah 66:10. The call to rejoice here in the middle of this season of repentance is meant as an encouragement to us, a comforting reminder of the tenderness, the nurturing, even the motherliness of God. As an outward symbol of this, the liturgical vestments here in the West lighten on Laetare Sunday from a somber violet to a soft, maternal rose color. And that maternal-ness gives this Sunday yet another popular name: Mothering Sunday. The theme of mothering features prominently in the Propers of this day. Continue reading “Mothering Sunday”

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Eastern Wisdom in Western Verse

In both the Eastern and Western traditions, the Church year is centered around Jesus and the redemptive story of his life, death, and resurrection. The Scriptures read in the Liturgies, the various prayers, and also the hymns that are sung generally correspond to the seasons of the year, and the seasons themselves correspond to events or periods in the life of Jesus. The season of Lent takes the Church with Jesus both into the desert where he fasted for forty days and also on his last journey to Jerusalem (and ultimately to the cross and his glorious resurrection). Several themes and lessons of the Lenten season are emphasized in the Liturgies, but two of the most prominent are repentance and spiritual struggle.

These are the overarching themes in two songs that come to us from St. Andrew of Crete (8th century) through the translation and poetical rendering of Fr. John Mason Neale (19th century).  Continue reading “Eastern Wisdom in Western Verse”

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How the East and West Begin Lent

In accordance with my stated theme for this blog, I want to very briefly compare the beginnings of Lent in the Eastern and Western traditions, focusing especially on their similarities. There’s enough that superficially appears different about the way the two traditions begin the Lenten journey that to the casual observer, they may appear to have different spirits. But in comparing the Eastern Forgiveness Sunday and Clean Monday with the Western Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, there’s actually much commonality to find. Continue reading “How the East and West Begin Lent”

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Pilgrims of History

What’s the difference in a pilgrimage and a vacation? This past November I made trip to the British Isles that was maybe a little of both. Among the places I visited were the shrine of St. Alban (the first martyr of Britain), the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (one of the most venerated Marian apparition sites in medieval Europe), and the shared burial site of Sts. Patrick, Columba, and Brigit of Ireland. Though I prayed at each of these sites, I often couldn’t help feeling like I was a tourist more than a pilgrim, especially after hearing of the devotions that Christians of the past would keep at these holy places, like walking the last ‘holy mile’ to the Shrine at Walsingham barefoot.

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The Beginning of Pre-Lent

Lent. It’s a heavy portion of the Church’s year. It is too important a season just to jump right into, so both the Western and Eastern traditions have allotted time in the liturgical calendar to prepare for it. In the West, there are three Sundays in this season, and they are counted down by their distance from Pascha. In Latin they are called Dominica in septuagesima, in sexagesima, and in quinquagesima, that is the Sundays falling closest to seventy days before Easter, sixty days, and fifty days, respectively. The first of these, Septuagesima Sunday, is a turning point in the Church year.

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