The Dormition Fast – it is about “us”.

Posted on August 1, 2025 Tagged bible, christianity, Fasting, jesus, prayer, TheotokosLeave a comment

As we enter the final month of summer holidays, we are presented with the two week fast, as being part of our preparation for the Dormition of the most holy Theotokos and ever virgin Mary. To be honest, no fast is easy, and I suppose that one could make an excuse to avoid fasting in any of the four major fasts (Great Lent, Advent, the Apostles fast, and the Dormition fast) yet these summer fasts always seem to be either waterdown or completely ignored. This is for obvious reasons, given that they happen when most of us are away on holiday, visiting family and friends, or just relaxing – not to mention it is a challenge trying to fast when no one else (family or friends) is fasting.

I more than understand the challenge of this fast, and as always, I recommend that if fasting rules can’t be entirely followed due to one thing or another, that we defer to modesty and restraint; we shouldn’t eat as much as we want, or as St. Cassian says “stop eating while still hungry and do not continue until you are satisfied”.

All this being said, fasting is more than just a diet, in fact the restraint from certain foods is only part of a fast. We are called to pray more, be less distracted, and be more charitable.

While it might be hard to refuse eating meat at a friend’s BBQ, or when traveling – there is generally nothing compeling us to spend hours upon hours scrolling on our phones, or inhibiting us from taking time to silence our thoughts, and pray throughout the day; let alone prohibit us from thinking, and more to the point – acting – in serving the needs of those who are in want. If we are being honest, making time for prayer, and charity are far more challenging than being vegan for a couple of weeks.

It is one thing to fast from food; but to put the phone down when one is bored, and pray for the people around you, or just say the Jesus prayer (Lord Jesus Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner) is something completely different – indeed it seems fruitless. It is one thing to fast from food; but to be in silence even for a few minutes, for the sake of recognizing both our brokenness and needs, and the love offered to us, is something completely different – indeed this is even uncomfortable. I suppose anyone can fast from food; but to pray for those in need – and more than that, to serve and provide for them, as we would desire and expect to be served (which is to say very well) is something completely different – indeed it is counterintuitive.

Fasting from food has profound value- and should not be outrightly dismissed, yet without our willingness to engage the counter intuitive, or uncomfortable, and seemingly fruitless “little things” like putting down our phones to pray or being in silence to be reflective, or put our prayer for those in need, by serving and providing for them, we open our hearts to see that it isn’t just about “me” – rather it is about the relationships that we have with those around us (whether they be friends, family or strangers) and our relationship with a loving God. It is about “us”.

After all, fasting in all its forms, is a way for us to see and understand the saving work of the Lord for each of us; and to see specifically that it is done for “us” by the Lord who humbles Himself to be with “us” (Cf. Phil. 2:7). The Dormition of the Theotokos is a feast that brings this all in sharp focus; for when the Theotokos said “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk. 1:38), she dismissed the concept of “me” and opened her heart to bear the Lord of Glory – being a part of what the Lord was doing for “us” in his saving love for humanity; by being with “us” as a child being carried in her womb like every person. Truly the Theotokos exemplifies that salvation is about “us” – the divine and the created.

Even in these heady days of summer, this feast which we are preparing ourselves for through fasting, prayer and charity, is the opportunity to broaden our perspective and follow the example of the most holy Theotokos. That we like her can bear Christ – in our own hearts – manifesting the love of the Lord for “us” to a world mired in the loneliness of isolation of individuality, the manifestation of the “me”.

By the prayers of the most holy Theotokos, may the Lord bless our fasting, prayers and charity with peace and mercy.

A prepper for the Presanctified Liturgy. (Becoming a people who think, feel and do)

Posted on March 7, 2025 Tagged christianity, faith, lent, liturgy, prayerLeave a comment

I was asked to give a “prepper” about the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, for those who are not as familiar with this beautiful and unique service, that is only ever served in Great Lent, or might not a clue about what is done, and why it is done. Indeed if a person who only ever went to Church on a Sunday (or any time) but then showed up at a Presanctified Liturgy, they would be really confused. Why are people prostrating, going on their knees, Why is there so much silence and muted hymns?

Well a lot of this has to do with the general characteristic of Great Lent is somewhat penitential in context – especially on the weekdays when this service is offered (normally on Wednesdays and Fridays). Indeed, Great Lent is a season that highlights humanities fallen state. The work of fasting, prayer, and works of charity, which we are called to do, are meant to put aside those distractions that veil the problems of sin and death – it is a time were we like Adam and Eve, realise we are naked of any virtue and meaning. To emphasise this, the serving of Divine Liturgies on weekdays are prohibited, as the Divine Liturgy is festive and resurrectional, both in character and content (Liturgies are still served on Saturday and Sunday yet with reference to the work of the fast). This being said, there always existed in the Church an understanding that the Eucharist (the Body and Blood of the Lord), was a necessity in the work of bearing those fruits of repentance So what could be done that reflected penitential characteristic of Great Lent, and the importance of frequent common to realise this ?

The solution was to serve a Vespers with a few extra prayers, and commune the faithful from the gifts (the offered bread and wine) that was previously consecrated or sanctified at the previous Liturgy – thus the name “pre – sanctified”. This service is commonly attributed to St. Gregory I, Pope of Rome (also called the “dialogiest” because he wrote four dialogues about Church life). There are some disagreements about whether he composed it, or just recorded it while serving as the papal legate in Constantinople in the early 7th century – yet it really doesn’t matter because the important thing is that, in this service, there was a way in which the faithful could participate in the Eucharistic life of the Church, and be strengthened and inspired in their fasting, prayer and acts of charity.

Some might wonder if this service was a way of “getting around the rule” of not having a Divine Liturgies on weekdays… Well, if the Church really wanted to have a Liturgy during the week, they would have made it happen – rather than beat around the bush. Instead, this service is an expression that the Euchrist is a vital element in our ability to fast, pray and offer works of charity – as such the Presanctified Liturgy is a beautiful accommodation that respects the penitential character of this season, while at the same time respecting that we need to participate in the Eucharist to assist us in this difficult journey – and it is/should be difficult. What is remarkable, is that this particular service in many respects is a snapshot of our Lenten labours and struggles. The colours are dark, hymns are penitential, the music is as mournful as our realisation that we are sinful, broken, and mortal people. Yet (and it is big “Yet”) in the midst of it all, there is the very real sacramental presence of the Lord Himself – His Body and His Blood – that conveys life itself to the faithful, even as we are stretching to understand and live it through our fasting, prayers, and works of charity.

This sacramental presence, of the Body and Blood of the Lord, in the consecrated bread and wine, at this service, indeed shapes how we ought to act during the service. For the first few weeks of Great Lent, I generally serve with the royal doors of the Iconostas open, so that the faithful can see (as best as they can) how reverently the priests, deacons and servers conduct themselves during the service. The prostrations, the slow methodical movements, censings, set the standard of how we should react to such a profound mystery.

During the singing of the beautiful hymn of “Let my prayer arise…” ( Ps. 141) it is the tradition that the faithful (like the clergy in the sanctuary) lower themselves to their knees (in some Churches, they even prostrate). This hymn is followed by the prayer of St. Ephraim which is the prayer par excellence of Great Lent, where, following every verse, we do a full prostration (fall down on all fours, with head to the floor). After the first Old Testament reading, the second prokeminon is sung, and then the priest turns and stands towards the faithful with a candle and censer in hand and intones “the Light of Christ, Ilumens all” –

At this, the faithful again do a full prostration; a response to the principle that we can only understand all of the Old Testament, and indeed these lenten labours, through Him who is the Light (Jn. 8:12). After the readings and some prayers, there is the Great Entrance, where the Body and Blood of the Lord are processed to the Altar. This is of great solemnity, where no one has their back to the gifts (even the servers, and deacons walk backwards, always facing the priest who carries the gifts). This is done in silence, with no commemorations, and everyone fully prostrates in awe, that “Now the Powers of Heaven invisibly with us do serve. Lo, the King of glory enters. Lo, the mystical sacrifice is upborne, fulfilled” (the hymn of the entrance). Following this, there is again, the prayer of St. Ephraim is said, with the appropriate prostrations.

Please know that I more than realise that there are some people who might be able to go down to be on their knees, or to make a prostration – yet can’t get up! There might be some who are stuck in pews – where making a prostration is really impractical; or they are some who feel really uncomfortable with kneeling, or doing a prostration, as they don’t understand it. This is all more than understandable. As such, a deep bow, or a revernace (bowing the head) is more than sufficient in recognizing that something special is happening.

Indeed something special and miraculous is happening! The involvement of our body through kneeling and prostrations truly reflects this and reveals that all this is very real, and not just a mental exercise. For the Lord is acting to save us, He is acting to feed us. If we can see and physically respond to what is offered and expressed in the Presanctified Liturgy, then we have a better chance to see that our fasting, praying and offering acts of charity are meant to be very real – something more than a mental exercise.

By the prayers and intercessions of St. Gregory Dialogos, Pope of Rome, may we be strengthened in our lenten journey as a people who think, feel and do, and not just think and feel.

A joyful fast (Advent)

Posted on November 14, 2024 Tagged Advent, bible, Christmas, faith, Fasting, jesus, Orthodox, Orthodox Canada, Orthodox Church in America, Orthodox mission, Orthodoxy, prayerLeave a comment

As we begin the 40 day fast leading to Christmas (Advent), it is helpful to remind ourselves of the reason we fast. It is not self mortification, or a kind of penance, in fact it isn’t anything negative or sorrowful (although it might feel like that). On the contrary, the call to fast is ultimately joyfully positive in its application and goal.

The call to fast at certain times of the year, presents us the opportunity to broaden our perspective by exercising a degree of restraint with those things we eat, and those things we do; yet the temptation to forget the reasons we fast, can have the opposite effect, and narrow our perspective – both with God and neighbour alike.

If one could summarise the whole practice of fasting (as understood in the Orthodox Church) it would be the call for us to put aside our normal wants, and desires (for a time) that we can see something more than ourselves as being the centre of everything. The intended effect of this work (and it is work!) is that we see those around us not simply as the “others” whose struggles don’t have anything to do with us; but rather as people just like you and me, whose struggles to get through the day, week, season or years, are not unlike our struggles (in either principle or actuality). What is presented is that those “others” are people just like you and me, seeking the same kinds of things we seek – hope and deliverance – from the challenges, labours, and sorrows of life. I suppose a glib or negative way of looking at this is that “misery loves company”, yet our faith calls us to consider that no one is alone in carrying the burdens and tragedies of life; not even the Lord Himself – for God in his mercy and love for humanity, “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Phil. 2:8,9). It is in this that there is an even greater revelation that our fasting reveals.

In looking beyond ourselves, we recognise the struggles of those around us, as being our struggles; and in this we see that with greater clarity the love of God who takes on these struggles for us, reconciling them all in His saving victory and abiding presence. This is the perspective that compels us to look beyond ourselves, so that we can offer and serve those around us as brothers and sisters, because “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mk. 10:45). Truly this is a “hope that does not disappoint” (Rm. 5:5), and a deliverance from the bondage of sin and death that all humanity seeks. This is nothing short of a wonder. For we not only can behold the hope and deliverance that the Lord manifests, but also participate in it – Revealed mystically in our fasting as we journey to Bethlehem, and the timelessly feast that is the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We fast from certain foods (as best as we can) and behaviours, not simply because “we have to”; but because with joy, we seek to clear away those distractions that inhibit the eyes of our hearts from beholding a God who comes to us identifying Himself with those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, naked and in prison (Mt. 25:36-44). We offer charity and alms not simply because “people need help”; but because, the Lord in seeing our necessity, acts out of love for us in becoming like us in every way except sin, that we might by the grace of the Holy Spirit cry out “Abba, Father” (Rm. 8:15).

Advent (and any fast) is meant to be a joyful anticipation in that hope that we and those around us have in “His calling”, bestowing upon all humanity “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph. 1:18). Advent (and any fast) is meant to be a joyful participation in the deliverance“from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Rm. 8:21)

May we have the eyes of faith to see in this season of fasting something greater than ourselves and our needs – to see those around us, and to see the Lord’s love for them and us. In this season of fasting, may we have the strength to act and in serving those around us, as the Lord is continually serving us, out of His unending and boundless love.

How could any fast (let alone this Advent fast) that reveals these things, not be understood as anything less than joyful and positive in its application and goal.