The Sundays of Great Lent in the Syriac Orthodox Church (and Beyond)

Tonight, I was reflecting on the beauty of the Lenten season. Great Lent is a season of fasting, praying, and almsgiving for the Orthodox faithful. Depending on the tradition, fasting is more or less stringent. Since I live in the Spannungsfeld (German, the field of tension) between Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox traditions, with a Coptic Orthodox spiritual father, I tend to fast, i.e., eat vegan with the exception of shellfish (Greek tradition), with my husband for the full almost 50 days of Lent.

According to several decrees by Syriac Orthodox patriarchs, the fast is much more lenient in the Syriac Orthodox Church. I do, however, know a number of people who diligently fast there the whole time, too. I’ll be brutally honest, it’s not easy when you go to an event at the church (e.g., a recent memorial of a departed loved one) where meat dishes are served. But let me tell you something: meat, eggs, wine, and chocolates of all sorts never tasted better than on Pascha early morning at my husband’s Greek Orthodox Church, when we jointly break the fast around 1:45 am after the midnight Divine Liturgy. The party goes into the morning hours, and wine flows!

Anyway, this post is about the Sundays of Lent, so let me rein it back in. I do get sidetracked easily, sorry. There are seven Sundays from the beginning of Great Lent, which kicks off with Shubqono, or the Forgiveness service at the beginning of Great Lent, through Palm Sunday. Of course, the Sunday after Palm Sunday is the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord, Easter, or Pascha, as my Greek Orthodox brethren call it. In the middle of Great Lent is the Elevation of the Holy Cross, intended to bring joy and encouragement to the faithful during the fast.

• 1st Sunday of Great Lent: Wedding of Cana (John 2:1-11)

• 2nd Sunday of Great Lent: Healing of the Leper (Luke 5:12-16)

• 3rd Sunday of Great Lent: Healing of the Paralytic (Mark 2:1-12)

• 4th Sunday of Great Lent: Healing of the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-31)

• Sandwiched in between: Mid Lent, King Avgar of Edessa, Elevation of the Cross (John 3:13-21)

• 5th Sunday of Great Lent: The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

• 6th Sunday of Lent: Healing of the Blind Man (Mark 10:46-52)

• Lazarus Saturday

• Palm Sunday (John 12:12-19)

I really like this depiction of the “Mountain of Great Lent” by Fr. Rijo Geevarghese:

All of these Sundays of Great Lent have special hymnody, which I try to read up on before attending the Holy Qurobo. I am very grateful to Malphono Gabriel Aydin, the brother of His Eminence Mor Polycarpus of the Netherlands, who has done truly mind-blowing work with his Syriac Hymnal and the Syriac Hymnal app. On the app, you get Western notation for the hymns, a transliteration of the Syriac text, an English translation, and a recording! Just today, there was an educational interview with him on Urho - The Way YouTube channel. You can listen to it here.

I cannot stress enough how important the rhythm of the church calendar has become the longer I am Orthodox. I perceive such strengths in bringing to mind certain biblical happenings or the lives of the saints. The same holds true in the Greek (or rather, Eastern) Orthodox Church, which has different themes for its Sundays of Great Lent, all of which are no less meaningful. Here is their sequence throughout Great Lent:

• Forgiveness Sunday: Start of Great Lent

• 1st Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of Orthodoxy

• 3rd Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas

• 4th Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of the Holy Cross

• 5th Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of St. John Climacus

• 6th Sunday of Great Lent: Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

• Lazarus Saturday

• Palm Sunday

So while the specific focus topics on the Great Lent Sundays may differ across Orthodox traditions, the overarching theme remains consistent: Great Lent is a season of repentance and prayer that prepares the hearts and souls of the faithful for meaningful worship. Honestly, my heart yearns for Great Lent every year since I was received into the Syriac Orthodox Church. While it is no joke to completely change your diet for just about 50 days, the body's deprivation of foods that normally gratify it leads to a sharper spiritual focus.

I can’t begin to describe to you the many times I have cried over my sins during this time. It really draws a very intense focus on my failure to follow Christ faithfully in so many aspects of my life. I also feel an intense desire to do my confession with my confessor. Not because I suddenly sinned more or differently, but because Great Lent’s intense worship puts a bull’s-eye on what I need to address with Christ.

I know there are people who are incredulous as to how much time we spend in church during Great Lent, but I literally CRAVE to be in worship. My soul has never felt so much desire to be in the presence of Christ as it does during this time. To be able to partake of the Holy Eucharist as often as possible, to sing praises to the Mother of God for her obedience to God and the great gift she gave us in her Son, all these are moments I wouldn’t want to miss.

I was a very devout evangelical Christian, but nothing, absolutely nothing, compares to the work Christ is doing in me now. I had a woman whom I love and who was in a small group with us in our evangelical church come to me the other day and ask me something akin to why I looked down on Protestants now. I do not, let me be very clear. What I know about Scripture comes from being a Protestant. (I will definitely offer the critique of Orthodoxy that I wouldn’t have learned it as readily here.)

Yet now, I realize that Orthodox worship is the Scriptures. We sing Scripture. And, oh my, how amazing it is to see all I have ever learned about the Bible now come to glorious life in the worship of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Glory be to God!

In closing, let me share this most beautiful icon of the Holy Virgin Mary, which I was blessed to decorate for the final Akathist, a 6th-century hymn to the Theotokos, at my husband’s church yesterday on my birthday. What a huge blessing to me. I hope the blessed Lady loved her flowers!