Now I realize that most of you are following a different calendar, so
if you follow Lent at all, for you, it started weeks ago. But today's
entry in www.days.ru was _so_ relevant to so many different recent
threads, I thought it would make sense to translate it for this post,
even though most of you did not observe "Meatfare Sunday, about the
Last Judgment".
I leave it to the reader to see the relevance: it should not be
challenging to see.
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The week after the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and the Sunday
concluding it are called "meatfare" because on this Sunday we say
farewell to eating meat.
Meatfare Sunday is also called The Sunday of the Last Judgment, since
at the Liturgy the corresponding Gospel lection (Mt 25:31-46) is
read. This Sunday is dedicated to commemorating the general, last and
fearful Judgment. This is done so that sinners in hope for the
indescribable mercy of God might not deliver themselves over to
laziness and neglect of their own salvation. In the stichera and
troparia [these are special short hymns] of the service for this
Sunday, the Orthodox Church depicts the horrible consequences of the
lawless life, when the sinner appears before the impartial judgment of
God.
Reminding of the last and fearful Judgment of Christ, the Church also
indicates the true sense of hope itself, hope on the mercy of God. God
is merciful, but at the same time, He is the righteous judge. The Lord
Jesus Christ, who will come to judge the world, is called in the
church singing, "righteously-judging" and His judgment is called
"righteous" and "incorruptible" trial. All shall be equal before the
righteous judgment of God.
"In his rank, the monk, the hierarch, the old and the young, slave and
master shall all be interrogated, the widow and the maid will be put
to the test, and grief for all who did not lead a blameless life!"
(Meatfare Sunday Canon Song 4, 1).
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[fm http://days.pravoslavie.ru/Days/fewral'18.htm]
Now I know many will object to this interpretation of the Gospel
lection on various different grounds; before you do, I hope you will
at least _read_ the Gospel passage above, and take into account that
"EQNH" here means _all_ peoples, not just the Gentiles, as is shown by
all the universal expressions for all mankind throughout this passage.
Finally, in many parishes, this is the favored day for serving the
traditional Russian answer to Mardi Gras - Bliny, a yeast-pancake
served not with syrup, but with delicious fish, caviar, sour cream and
eggs. The other popular choice (and last choice) is next Sunday, so
the gluttons among us haven't lost their chance yet;)
--
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Subducat se sibi ut haereat Deo
Quidquid boni habet tribuat illi a quo factus est
(Sanctus Aurelius Augustinus, Ser. 96)
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