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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Here, for Holy Week is the final installment of the beautiful poem of Gregory Petrov.
Monday, April 18, 2011
For this start of Holy Week, today's Lenten meditation is from the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is called Open to me the doors of Repentance. For those of you who, like me, were not familiar with this prayer before now, here are the words, although the chant here is in English.
Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit.
Open to me the doors of repentance, O Live-giver
For my spirit rises early to pray towards Thy Holy Temple
Bearing the temple of my body all defiled
But in Thy compassion
Purify me by the loving kindness of Thy mercy.
Now and ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.
Lead me on the paths of salvation, O Mother of God
For I have profaned my soul with shameful sins
And have wasted my life in laziness
But by your intercessions
Deliver me from all impurity
Have Mercy on me Oh God
according to Thy great Mercy
and according They Loving Compassion
blot out my transgressions.
When I think of the many evil things I have done
Wretch that I am
I tremble at the fearful Day of Judgment
But trusting in Thy loving kindness
Like David I cry to Thee:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Our poem today is another portion of the beautiful prayer of Gregory Petrov, written in a prison camp in 1940.
Monday, April 11, 2011
This Lenten meditation reminds us to fast from petty sinfulness and to feast on the Love of Christ.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Another installment from the beautiful prayer/poem of Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov, written in a prison camp in 1940.
Monday, April 4, 2011
This is a very meditative Lenten meditation with pictures of the desert, reminding us to enter the desert of denial of our earthly passions in order to allow the grace of Christ's love to replace our human sins and shortcomings.
Edited to add: Sorry I had the wrong link earlier. It has now been corrected.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
More poetry from Gregory Petrov for Lent.
Monday, March 28, 2011
This Lenten meditation is a deceptively simple one, focusing on the power of prayer and the presence of Christ in the gathered church.
Friday, March 25, 2011
This video is a fascinating rendition of Saint Thomas Aquinas' Pange Lingua with beautiful visuals to help us meditate on Our Lord's gift of Himself in the Eucharist on this Lenten Friday.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Todays poem is another installment from Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov, written in a prison camp in 1940.
Monday, March 21, 2011
This is the Great Lenten Prayer of St. Ephram from the Eastern Church. It focuses on asking God for the grace to embody the virtues and take away sinfulness.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Just saw this beautiful video. Gorgeous music and visuals reminding us of the richness of Our Catholic Faith.
Have a blessed Lenten Friday, everyone.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Today's poem is a portion of Akathist of Thanksgiving by Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov shortly before his death in a prison camp in 1940.
I will try to feature further portions of this beautiful prayer/poem in subsequent Wednesdays during Lent.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Our Music Mondays during Lent will consist of Lenten meditations from YouTube. I was pleasantly surprised how many good Lenten themed videos there were.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Facing our faults and making amends for them will cure us of the suppressed hatred that we often turn on ourselves in the form of depression, anger and mistreatment. Truly digging deep, truly going after our most entrenched sins takes time, but is well worth the freedom that results.
We cannot confess our sins, in whatever form that may take, without facing them squarely. This is often awkward and painful. But, Lent is not meant to make us hang on to our sins in an obsessive way. Once we face them, we confess them, make amends and move on.
A modern example of this is the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. In Step 4, we make a "searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves." That is what Lent calls us to do.
Step 5 asks us to "admit to God, ourselves and another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs." I'm amazed at how Catholic this is. Yes, God knows our sins. But, we need to say, out loud, to another human being "the exact nature of our wrongs." It is too easy otherwise, to make excuses and rationalize why we need this unhealthy behavior to continue.
In Step 6, we should be "entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character." It won't happen until we are ready. It won't happen until we swallow our pride and admit to God that we need His help.
Step 7 says that we should "humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings." This brings to mind the Act of Contrition that we are asked to say after confessing our sins. We talk directly to God and let Him know we are truly sorry and with His help, we won't put ourselves in sin-inducing situations again.
In Step 8, we "make a list of all persons we have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all." Notice we have not yet made amends to anyone. This is a process that is done little by little. Perhaps having a 40 day penitential season makes sense!
In Step 9, we make direct amends except where it would injure someone. This doesn't take place until the 9th step. Also, our spirituality is not so rule-based that we are required to injure another in order to "cure" ourselves. We are always other-focused because all are children of God.
Step 10 reminds us to continue to take inventory and to make amends. This is a journey. Lent is often compared to Christ's journey in the desert, which was also 40 days, where He was tempted by Satan. We are on a life-long journey to deification--becoming like God.
Becoming holy is a life time process. The wisdom of the Church's Lenten season has been recognized by the 12 step programs across the world and continues to change people's lives today.
