www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Question regarding the Presanctified Liturgy

"Gaudior, tired of visiting parishes where meat is served in Lent."

Come to our parish...there's no meat served there...and there's a real nice Lenten meal served on Wednesday evenings after Presanctified!

In Him Who calls us,
+Father Archimandrite Gregory, who asks for your holy prayers!

Kissing your right hand, Father!

With thanks, but must decline the second invitation from that direction! My parish obligations tie me far too close to my own (strictly observant) parish during this season to admit of travel.

Gaudior, busily preparing chant

Father Archimandrite, bless!

I am so glad to see your loving contribution to this discussion.

I will freely admit I do not maintain Strict Abstinence throughout the Fast - even when I'm NOT a nursing mama.

Why not? largely because my husband asked me not to. I work fulltime, with a half-hour commute, and at least two nights a week don't get home 'til after 9:00pm 'cause I'm singing Presanctified. I do not have the time or energy to prepare truly balanced (strict fast-legal) meals daily that my family will eat, nor do I have the time to prepare two sets of meals - and if I don't keep things pretty balanced, I am not a pleasant person to be around - either inside my body or outside. (And my husband is diabetic.) That doesn't benefit anybody's spiritual state.

My eparchy's guidelines are pretty minimal, but ya know, I remember reading some of the Fathers speaking about the point not always beng the rigor of the discipline, but the spirit of obedience that wears the stone around our hearts away. (And defeats the devil too, but that's another tale)

As a convert of some years, I am also wary of what fruit discussions like these may bear in the young and earnest who may not have the benefit of a Spiritual Father's wisdom, or any real knowledge of nutrition. ("If you see a young monk ascending the ladder to heaven on his own, take him by the heel and pull him down...")I don't for a moment discount the necessity of fasting, but I have a bit of a problem when the "ideals" are set forth as the "minimums." (Just as bad as setting forth the "minimums" as the "ideals", eh? )

So mebbe I'm a terrible minimalist, along with being first among sinners. Down the hatch, one more thing to repent of, I guess. Mebbe I've got a warped idea of what Lent is - to me it's like that time between thunderstorms, when the sky is dark, but there is light illuminating the grey. The air is charged, and things seem clearer for the short time it lasts. Lent is a time to look deeper, to turn away from the noise, the junk and the STUFF that fill our heads and our lives. Time to see and serve Christ in folks we should love all year - and maybe don't. Time to rediscover what the belly really needs, and what is indulgence. A time to LISTEN. A time to lie prostrate with tears at the feet of our Lord, a time of repentance - a time of quiet, holy JOY.


Our Presanctified is at 7:30. I try to get lunch in early on those days, but it ain't always possible.

Forgive me, and pray for me.


Stumbling through the desert towards Pascha,


Sharon

And that, Sharon, is why they have exceptions!
In your case, it isn't possible to follow "the rule", nor desireable, because it produces spititual harm..crankines, disorder in the home, etc.

The moment the Fast becomes a burden, rather than a thing of joy that brings us closer to God, it should be modified by one's spiritual father.

My only objection as above is that the Church must be exemplary, and priests must teach the ideals, then state that they modify due to individual circumstances. Otherwise, the Priest is himself at fault for failing to communicate the faith to his spiritual children, and those children then can get lax ideas and become resentful of another priest who does teach them the truth when they move from one parish to another. You are correct that no one should climb the ladder alone.

The key thng is to reestablish the broken link between laity and spiritual fathers in this country. When one has a Spiritual Father whom one can turn to for such advice, the struggle gets easier!

Gaudior, in humility.