In the pre-Lenten cycle of services, we sing at Matins: “Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life/for my soul rises early to pray toward your holy Temple” (Stichera after Psalm 50 Lenten Triodion).
This verse sets the stage for our Lenten journey of prayer during the 40-day fast, which is characterized by a striving for re-entry into paradise, a time when God and man were united in intimate friendship.
This re-entrance into paradise is characterized in liturgical terms: a return to the temple or the heavenly Jerusalem.
It is our task to understand the prayer routine offered to us in the Byzantine Catholic tradition and to make its striving toward union with God our own.
The following outlines the unique aspects of the Byzantine Catholic prayer itinerary during Lent. Ideally, this prayer will give us a fuller participation in that experience of longing and partaking in his resurrection.
PRAYER OF ST. EPHREM The Prayer of St. Ephrem, prayed at every service during the Great Fast aside from the Sunday Divine Liturgy, is a wonderful synthesis of the remedy for sinfulness.
We petition for relief from the most volatile passions — indifference, despair, lust for power and idle chatter — and for their remedies — humility, patience, love and awareness of our own sinfulness.
This prayer serves as an excellent examination of conscience before receiving the sacrament of confession, which should be a part of everyone’s Lenten journey.
MATINS One of the daily features of Matins is Psalm 117: “The Lord is God and has revealed himself to us; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
However, during the Great Fast, this verse is changed to the more ancient custom of singing “Alleluia,” accompanied by verses from Isaiah 26.
While outside of Lent we commemorate daily God’s arrival on earth, during Lent we emphasize our search for him in daily life: “My spirit seeks you early in the morning O God, for your commandments are a light on the earth” (Is 26:9).
We understand the curious inclusion of “Alleluia” during the daily Lenten services — which is suppressed in the Western Church — as our opportunity to thank God joyfully for the gift of repentance.
So grateful are we for this gift that we double down on singing “Alleluia” during Lent: daily at Matins, as well as on Sundays.
VESPERS & PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY The Psalms of Ascent (119-133 LXX) is the chosen psalmody for Vespers during the Great Fast.
Originally, they were hymns that accompanied pilgrims as they processed to the Temple of Jerusalem. It is fitting that they mark our Lenten journey, a spiritual pilgrimage to the heavenly Jerusalem.
Along this journey, we hear lessons from the Old Testament, particularly from the books of Genesis and Proverbs.
In these interwoven lessons, we see the consistent foibles that exclude humans from paradise and from the wisdom that would aid their journey back to their heavenly home.
The Presanctified Liturgy is at the heart of our Lenten experience. It crowns our private fasting. We traditionally fast until the reception of Communion.
We should be reminded that one of the feats of our Byzantine Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council is the restoration of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, which had fallen into disuse.
One of the unfortunate realities is that the recovery of this service has not always coincided with the restoration of proper fasting practices.
Typically, one waits to break the fast until after receiving the Presanctified Gifts. Celebrated in the evening, this service underscores our waiting for God’s advent.
Lent in the Byzantine Tradition leans forward in anticipation of Pascha.
Through its rhythm of prayer and with all of our actions, private and public, we anticipate the coming of Christ’s resurrection, which allows us to fully participate as humans in divine life.
As published in Horizons, March 3, 2019. Sign up for the Horizons digital newsletter.