In his message for the beginning of the Holy and Great Lent, Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden and all Scandinavia referred to the vast numbers of services that take place during the Great Lent.
More specifically, the Metropolitan said that, even though the health crisis put everything in question, the Church was steadfast reminding the faithful of the new struggles they must fight during the Lenten period.
“Specifically, remembering our spiritual obligations and utilizing the spiritual means, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, forgiveness, patience and love, we show our eagerness for the ideal model of life we experience as members of the Body of Christ, the beginning of the “other life,” the eternal one!” stressed the Metropolitan.
In conclusion, the Metropolitan urged the faithful to enter with joy into the stage of spiritual struggles and to strive, in whatever way one can, by studying the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the lives of the saints, by participating in the sacred services and the Mystery of salvation, the Divine Eucharist, to be strengthened in this crucifixion/resurrection course.
Read the full message of Metropolitan Cleopas:
Dear Brethren and supporters of our local Church,
“The time has come.” With these words the hymn-writer marks the alternation in our liturgical year, through a vast number of services; the Compline services, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, the services of the Rejoicings to Our Lady, alongside the beginning of the fast, the consciousness of our sinfulness and the need to confess and seek Divine mercy.
While people around the world have been plagued by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, by a health crisis that has leveled all that we considered as given and achieved, which put everything in question, the Church as a loving mother reminds us that the time has arrived for new struggles, physical and spiritual, so that through spiritual vigilance we can escape from the plots and traps of the object, that is, the one that idolizes “the sin easily beset you,” to prevent thoughts and our works by the One Who is the only truth in our lives.
In our daily lives, we must remember that we are not only a body, but we also have a spirit, and in fact the theology of the Church Fathers and its ascetic ideal aim at the spirit.
Specifically, remembering our spiritual obligations and utilizing the spiritual means, fasting, prayer, almsgiving, forgiveness, patience and love, we show our eagerness for the ideal model of life we experience as members of the Body of Christ, the beginning of the “other life,” the eternal one!
From the very first Sunday of Triodion, the psalmist, addressing Christ, asks to open the door of repentance, which is the key to our personal salvation. Physical repentance exercises the body, but at the same time it reminds us that we are sinners, we participate in the spiritual struggle and we ask God to resurrect us.
Let us, my brethren, enter with joy into the stage of spiritual struggles and let us strive, in whatever way one can, by studying the Holy Scriptures, the Fathers of the Church, the lives of our saints, by participating in the sacred services and the Mystery of salvation, the Divine Eucharist, to be strengthened in this crucifixion/resurrection course.
Let us fight and repent, and let us ask the Lord to deem us worthy “to fight the good fight, to walk the way of fasting, to keep the indivisible faith, to crush the heads of the invisible dragons, to prove ourselves victorious over sin, and without condemnation to reach our goal of venerating the Holy Resurrection.”
Amen!With heartfelt paternal wishes for a good Lent,
+ Metropolitan Cleopas of Sweden
