The Triodion-Our Spiritual

Journey to Pascha

The Triodion A Time of Preparation

The Triodion Period is the period of time in our Orthodox Liturgical year that encompasses 3 segments of time, that of the Pre-Lenten cycle, of Great Lent itself and of Holy Week.

The word "Triodion" literally means "3

odes" referring to a series of hymns that

are sung, but also applying to the 3

segments of time and the associated

observances in each of these time

segments.

The Triodion Period begins on the 4th Sunday before Great Lent.

During the church services, "The Triodion" is used which contains special readings and hymns. The book is used during Pre-Lenten, through Lent, Holy Week, up until Holy Saturday night.

There is a special service known as "The Saturday of Souls" that are observed in which we commemorate and remember our departed relatives.

Two of these services are held during the Pre-Lenten Period, and one more is celebrated on the First Saturday of Lent.

Saturday of Souls Through the Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII,

ch. 42), the Church of Christ has received the

custom to make commemorations for the

departed on the third, ninth, and fortieth days

after their repose. Many throughout the ages,

because of an untimely death in a faraway place,

or other adverse circumstances, have died without

being deemed worthy of the appointed memorial

services.

The divine Fathers, being so moved in their love

for man, have decreed that a common memorial

be made this day for all pious Orthodox

Christians who have reposed from all ages past,

so that those who did not have particular

memorial services may be included in this

common one for all.

Also, the Church of Christ teaches us that alms

should be given to the poor by the departed one's

kinsmen as a memorial for him.

Since we make commemoration of the Second

Coming of Christ, and since the reposed have

neither been judged, nor have received their

complete recompense (Acts 17:31; II Peter 2:9;

Heb. 11:39-40), the Church rightly

commemorates the souls today, and trusting in

the boundless mercy of God, she prays Him to

have mercy on sinners.

. Furthermore, since the commemoration is for all

the reposed together, it reminds each of us of his own

death, and arouses us to repentance.

Each of the four Sundays of the Pre-Lenten Period

have special themes and Bible Readings. Each

Sunday initiates the week. Certain observances occur

on certain weeks.

TriwdionSundays of the

Triodion:

The Publican and the Pharisee

The Sunday of the Publican and the

Pharisee is the first Sunday of the three-

week period before Lent. These three

weeks are in preparation for the spiritual

journey we are all about to take together as

Orthodox Christians. In three weeks, we

will begin our journey through Lent. This

is the time we can all come closer to God

through worshiping together, praying

together, fasting together and sharing with

each other.

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

The Theme for this week is the

warm gentle love of a father toward

his child. The 'son' took his

inheritance and squandered it on

things unworthy. Yet, when he

chose to return, his father forgave

all things, thankful that his 'son'

who was lost, found his way home,

to the loving arms of the father.

The Theme of a 'loving and forgiving Father' is also here for all of us. We often misuse the 'gifts' that God has gifted us with and we often sin against 'Heaven and before God and yet......

God wants us all to rejoice

when any one of our brothers

and sisters in Christ leaves

the safety of God’s embrace.

but returns, realizing the

necessity and rightness of

living in our Heavenly

Father's loving embrace.

Judgment Sunday The Theme of this week is that

we must all see Christ in

everyone. We must be prepared

to meet our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ, during His

second coming. At this time,

Jesus shall begin to separate us

and begin the process of our

judgment. We will be judged,

and we will learn where we will

live Eternity.

The most important aspect of this Theme is that the way we will be judge is based on how we helped those less fortunate that us, how we can clothe them, feed them and comfort them.

Much of our judgment will rely on how we showed mercy on others and each other. What we do reflects our true inner self. We are told that we must take care of those who are ‘the least of my brethren’.

We must work on our spiritual and physical needs. Therefore, when we hear ‘thus you saw me hungry and you gave me to eat’, we need to become aware that all who are hungry should be given food to sustain them. This is the hope of our own salvation.

Sunday of Forgiveness

This weeks Theme reminds us

that Jesus expects us to forgive

one another before we receive

God’s forgiveness. Therefore,

those who are unable to forgive

are NOT forgiven. To not forgive

one another causes us to lose the

forgiveness of our God.

This Theme also reminds us that if we hold our ‘treasures’ on Earth as more important than our Heavenly treasures, we become slaves to ‘material things’ and forget about attaching ourselves to God, our true treasure.

Fasting is not only from food, but

our way of trying to escape the

control of the passions. Fasting,

therefore, is our way of growing in

our spirituality and to glorify God,

not to show those around us that we

are sacrificing and how hard it is.

St. John Chrysostom writes: “What good is it if we

abstain from eating birds and fish, but bite and devour our brother?”

Great and Holy Lent

The Sundays

leading to Holy

Week

Sunday of OrthodoxyFor more than one hundred years,

the Church of Christ was troubled

by the persecution of the Iconoclasts

of evil belief, ending in the reign of

Theophilus (829-842). After

Theophilus's death, his widow the

Empress Theodora, together with

the Patriarch Methodius established

Orthodoxy anew.

This is the holy deed that all we, the Orthodox, commemorate today, and we call this radiant and venerable day the Sunday of Orthodoxy, that is, the triumph of true doctrine over heresy.

St. Gregory PalamasPrayer, as defined by St. John Climacus,

is the “friendship with God”, that is

setting of the mind on the meditation of

God and the love of His Divine Word. St.

John wrote “The Ladder of Divine

Ascent”. The 80 chapters help us

understand the progress of our spiritual

struggle to attain salvation. “For no one

can climb a ladder in just one stride”, it

requires patience and time. (Step 7)

Sunday of the Holy Cross

This Sunday commemorates the venerable

Cross and the Crucifixion of our Lord,

Jesus Christ. The passages read this day

repeat the calling of the Christian by

Christ to dedicate his life for “If any man

would come after me, let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me.” The

Adoration of the Cross is expressed by the

faithful through prayer, fasting,

almsgiving and forgiveness of the

trespasses of others.

 

St. John Climacus-The Ladder of Divine

Ascent

Theme: Building a Foundation of love and

humility The Ladder of Divine Ascent teaches how

build a foundation, fight the evils which

tempt us, and how to be a good person and

live with love and humility. It is considered

to be so important that it is universally read

in its entirety in monasteries during the

Great Fast.

St. Mary of Egypt

 This Sunday commemorates the life of St. Mary

of Egypt, who is a shining example of

repentance from sin through prayer and fasting.

The Church commemorates St. Mary for her

recognition of her own sins as an example of

how one can free oneself from the slavery and

burdens of wrongdoings. This recognition of sin

is important during Lent, for the faithful, as a

means of self-examination and preparation for a

more virtuous life in anticipation of the

Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Christ.

Saturday of Lazarus

The miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus

from the dead was the last of the

seven signs about Jesus found in the

Gospel of John. This miracle is the

final sign, which sealed the fate of

our Lord, because it caused the

Jewish authorities to want to put

Jesus to death.

When Lazarus became ill, his sister sent a message to Jesus

saying, “Lord, behold, him who You love is sick.?

(John11:3) Jesus responded: “This sickness is not unto

death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be

glorified”. This, in other words, was an act that would

bring glory to the Father and to the Son. Jesus did not go

to Lazarus immediately.

Then, Jesus told His disciples that His friend Lazarus was

ill and slept, but that now He would need to go to him and

wake him. The disciples were worried that Jesus would

come to harm if He went to Bethany and they told Him that

if Lazarus was sleeping then he will become well. Finally,

Jesus explained: “Lazarus is dead.” (John 11:14)

When Jesus came to Bethany, Martha came to Him and

said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not

have died.” (John 11:21) Jesus told he, “Your brother

will rise again.” Jesus asked her if she believed and she

said, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the

Son, of God, who is to come into the world.”

They came to a tomb, which had a large stone in front of

it. Jesus asked that the stone be removed. Martha

explained that Lazarus had been dead for four days and

that there would be a terrible smell. But Jesus explained,

“Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would

see the glory of God?”

At this point, Jesus prayed to His Father to thank

Him. He then called, “Lazarus, come forth.”

Lazarus came out of the tomb and lived again.

Those who saw this miracle were astonished. Many

came to believe n Jesus as the Son of God and the

glorified Him. Others did not, and they would run

to tell the Pharisees what they had witnessed to

condemn our Lord.

Palm SundayThis day is a day of celebration and

triumph for Jesus. It is a day that He is

welcomed happily by the people. He enters

the city after many have witnessed the

raising of Lazarus from the dead. The

people laid palm branches on the ground

as He passed. It was prophesied earlier

that Jesus would enter the city riding on a

colt that had never been ridden. Jesus sent

His disciples to bring the colt to Him so

that He may ride it into the city.

Jesus would enter into the city triumphantly, but

there where there had been joy and glad tidings,

only anger and discontent were found.

The symbolic aspic to this day is that Jesus rode

into the time when He would be betrayed, denied,

questioned, found guilty and crucified, as a

common thief. He came into the city knowing

His time on earth was drawing near.

At this time in our Journey, we begin the

Celebration of

Megalh Ebdomada Holy Week