Great Lent and Passion Week in the Maronite Church
By Fr. George El-Andari
Great Lent
The lenten season is a sacred 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving; these are the three pillars of Lent, which begins on Cana Sunday with the Gospel reading of Jesus turning water into wine and is followed by Ash Monday and ends on the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. Thus, counting the days from Ash Monday until the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday is exactly forty days, but even in the Book of Apostolic Canons, which dates back to the beginning of the fourth century, we know that they did not fast on Saturday or Sunday. Thus, if we subtract Saturday and Sunday from these 40 days of fasting, we would have 30 days of fasting. Therefore, Christians would add some days before and after Lent to the fast in order to get forty days of fasting. However, the fast remains the forty-day fast, which begins on Ash Monday and ends on the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday.
Passion Week
Palm Sunday begins on the evening of Holy Week with the rite of arrival at the harbor. Here we began with Holy Week, in which we remember the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this fast is not part of Lent. Rather, it is a fast with the suffering of Christ. Here, we suffer with the suffering of Christ and fast for the suffering of Christ. It is a fast that is not related to Lent. Maronites fast on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (of Passion Week).
Thursday remains a major feast in the Church,, the feast of all the sacraments, and that is why we call it Holy Thursday, but it is also the feast of Most Holy Communion, the feast of the Eucharist in every sense of the word. Therefore, it is a feast, and the Church on Holy Thursday removes all manifestations of sadness in her parishes and replaces them, decorating churches with flowers and joy in order to rejoice in all the sacraments that our Lord Jesus Christ gave us.
Friday is Good Friday; we contemplate the sufferings of Christ, His crucifixion, death and burial. Saturday is the Day of Atonement; the Church contemplates that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the grave and has visited hell to tear down its gates and did not remain in hell. Rather, he descended into death to destroy it and triumph over it and rose from the dead on the morning of the resurrection. The time of the resurrection begins with the Sunday of the Glorious Resurrection. The Glorious Sunday of the Resurrection begins a new season, that is, we begin the season of the Resurrection, and the Sundays during this season are with all the rituals.
Fasting and abstinence
Fasting and abstinence are important traditions of the Maronite Church and have scriptural basis. As we know from the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles fasted. This sacred tradition has wonderful benefits for our souls and bodies.
Fasting is a discipline of the body through which we learn to control our bodily desires and to discipline them. We take back the control of ourselves that was lost with the Fall of Adam. By controlling our physical impulses, we may approach God with a clear mind. Fasting permits us to detach ourselves from our physical desires and needs and to concentrate on our spiritual relationship with the Lord. "Through fasting and prayer, souls are made pure, bodies are made chaste, spirits are uplifted, passions are restrained, mercy abounds, and the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul that was created to be the temple of God." (Maronite Book of Offering, p. 190).
Fasting and Abstinence Regulations
Observation and regulation of fasting and abstinence are for all Maronites age 14 and older who are physically capable. Every Maronite that meets these qualifications is to abstain from meat on Ash Monday and all Fridays of Lent. Ash Monday and Great Friday of the Crucifixion are fasting days, which means no eating or drinking at all except water and medicine if necessary from midnight until noon. After twelve noon, normal meals can be eaten but without meat. People over the age of 60 and those who have any medical condition or illness where fasting may cause more harm or damage are dispensed from this obligation as well as those who have to perform hard labor. We need to remember that Great Lent is also a time of prayer, penance, and change of heart. It is time to come closer to God spiritually and turn away from sin.
Liturgies and Prayers of Great Lent and Holy Week
The season of Great Lent is of great traditional importance both liturgically and spiritually. Great Lent is a Maronite tradition that links fasting to the feast of Epiphany, as our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan before journeying into the wilderness to fast and pray. Great Lent directs fasting toward the resurrection and Easter that leads the faithful to the harbor, that is, our salvation and resurrection.
The seven Sundays of Great Lent are:
- Entrance into Lent, Cana Sunday
- First Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Leper
- Second Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Hemorrhaging Woman
- Third Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Prodigal Son
- Fourth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Paralytic
- Fifth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of Bartimaeus the Blind
- Sixth Sunday of Lent, Hosanna Sunday
The Maronite Passion Week is the great week in which the Maronite Church celebrates the mystery of the crucified Redeemer, Christ, the Man of Sorrows and the Lord of Glory from whom, through whom, in whom, and for whom all were created. The climax of this week is Good Friday, the day of the greatest redemption.
In the Maronite rite, the celebration and the joy of the resurrection is an essential theological truth that begins on Good Friday and is the uniting factor between Holy Week and Good Friday on one hand and Easter Sunday on the other. Passion Week is the suffering week of Christ when the Church celebrates his passing from suffering to death, to life, and to resurrection. In addition to the prayers and readings of the Maronite Holy Week, the faithful participate in special celebrations: the Palm Sunday procession, the arrival at the harbor rite on Sunday evening, the rite of the lamp and the blessing of the oils rite on Wednesday, the washing of the feet rite on Holy Thursday, the signing of the chalice rite and the burial of Christ rite on Good Friday, and the forgiveness rite on Holy Saturday.
In addition, the Church celebrates the devotion of the Stations of the Cross every Friday of Lent. The Stations of the Cross are 14 stations or events that mark the condemnation, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus Christ. Each event occurred during Jesus’ Passion and death at Calvary on Good Friday. It begins with his condemnation by Pilate and ends by laying him in the tomb. The 14 stations are hung on the wall of the church as pictures, paintings, or carvings, and the prayers of every station happen as the faithful pass from one station to another, meditating on each event through prayers and reflections.
Conclusion
In the Maronite Church, Lent is more prayers and reflections which bring us closer to God as a community and parish or as individuals. This closeness to God helps us pray, fast, love, give, repent, forgive, and have mercy on each other. This is the faith that our Lord asks us to have in Him; this is the work that our Lord asks to do toward our brothers and sisters, and this is what He asks from us as baptized Christians.
The lenten season is a sacred 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving; these are the three pillars of Lent, which begins on Cana Sunday with the Gospel reading of Jesus turning water into wine and is followed by Ash Monday and ends on the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday. Thus, counting the days from Ash Monday until the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday is exactly forty days, but even in the Book of Apostolic Canons, which dates back to the beginning of the fourth century, we know that they did not fast on Saturday or Sunday. Thus, if we subtract Saturday and Sunday from these 40 days of fasting, we would have 30 days of fasting. Therefore, Christians would add some days before and after Lent to the fast in order to get forty days of fasting. However, the fast remains the forty-day fast, which begins on Ash Monday and ends on the Friday before Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday.
Passion Week
Palm Sunday begins on the evening of Holy Week with the rite of arrival at the harbor. Here we began with Holy Week, in which we remember the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, but this fast is not part of Lent. Rather, it is a fast with the suffering of Christ. Here, we suffer with the suffering of Christ and fast for the suffering of Christ. It is a fast that is not related to Lent. Maronites fast on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (of Passion Week).
Thursday remains a major feast in the Church,, the feast of all the sacraments, and that is why we call it Holy Thursday, but it is also the feast of Most Holy Communion, the feast of the Eucharist in every sense of the word. Therefore, it is a feast, and the Church on Holy Thursday removes all manifestations of sadness in her parishes and replaces them, decorating churches with flowers and joy in order to rejoice in all the sacraments that our Lord Jesus Christ gave us.
Friday is Good Friday; we contemplate the sufferings of Christ, His crucifixion, death and burial. Saturday is the Day of Atonement; the Church contemplates that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the grave and has visited hell to tear down its gates and did not remain in hell. Rather, he descended into death to destroy it and triumph over it and rose from the dead on the morning of the resurrection. The time of the resurrection begins with the Sunday of the Glorious Resurrection. The Glorious Sunday of the Resurrection begins a new season, that is, we begin the season of the Resurrection, and the Sundays during this season are with all the rituals.
Fasting and abstinence
Fasting and abstinence are important traditions of the Maronite Church and have scriptural basis. As we know from the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles fasted. This sacred tradition has wonderful benefits for our souls and bodies.
Fasting is a discipline of the body through which we learn to control our bodily desires and to discipline them. We take back the control of ourselves that was lost with the Fall of Adam. By controlling our physical impulses, we may approach God with a clear mind. Fasting permits us to detach ourselves from our physical desires and needs and to concentrate on our spiritual relationship with the Lord. "Through fasting and prayer, souls are made pure, bodies are made chaste, spirits are uplifted, passions are restrained, mercy abounds, and the Holy Spirit dwells in the soul that was created to be the temple of God." (Maronite Book of Offering, p. 190).
Fasting and Abstinence Regulations
Observation and regulation of fasting and abstinence are for all Maronites age 14 and older who are physically capable. Every Maronite that meets these qualifications is to abstain from meat on Ash Monday and all Fridays of Lent. Ash Monday and Great Friday of the Crucifixion are fasting days, which means no eating or drinking at all except water and medicine if necessary from midnight until noon. After twelve noon, normal meals can be eaten but without meat. People over the age of 60 and those who have any medical condition or illness where fasting may cause more harm or damage are dispensed from this obligation as well as those who have to perform hard labor. We need to remember that Great Lent is also a time of prayer, penance, and change of heart. It is time to come closer to God spiritually and turn away from sin.
Liturgies and Prayers of Great Lent and Holy Week
The season of Great Lent is of great traditional importance both liturgically and spiritually. Great Lent is a Maronite tradition that links fasting to the feast of Epiphany, as our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan before journeying into the wilderness to fast and pray. Great Lent directs fasting toward the resurrection and Easter that leads the faithful to the harbor, that is, our salvation and resurrection.
The seven Sundays of Great Lent are:
- Entrance into Lent, Cana Sunday
- First Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Leper
- Second Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Hemorrhaging Woman
- Third Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Prodigal Son
- Fourth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of the Paralytic
- Fifth Sunday of Lent, Sunday of Bartimaeus the Blind
- Sixth Sunday of Lent, Hosanna Sunday
The Maronite Passion Week is the great week in which the Maronite Church celebrates the mystery of the crucified Redeemer, Christ, the Man of Sorrows and the Lord of Glory from whom, through whom, in whom, and for whom all were created. The climax of this week is Good Friday, the day of the greatest redemption.
In the Maronite rite, the celebration and the joy of the resurrection is an essential theological truth that begins on Good Friday and is the uniting factor between Holy Week and Good Friday on one hand and Easter Sunday on the other. Passion Week is the suffering week of Christ when the Church celebrates his passing from suffering to death, to life, and to resurrection. In addition to the prayers and readings of the Maronite Holy Week, the faithful participate in special celebrations: the Palm Sunday procession, the arrival at the harbor rite on Sunday evening, the rite of the lamp and the blessing of the oils rite on Wednesday, the washing of the feet rite on Holy Thursday, the signing of the chalice rite and the burial of Christ rite on Good Friday, and the forgiveness rite on Holy Saturday.
In addition, the Church celebrates the devotion of the Stations of the Cross every Friday of Lent. The Stations of the Cross are 14 stations or events that mark the condemnation, crucifixion, death, and burial of Jesus Christ. Each event occurred during Jesus’ Passion and death at Calvary on Good Friday. It begins with his condemnation by Pilate and ends by laying him in the tomb. The 14 stations are hung on the wall of the church as pictures, paintings, or carvings, and the prayers of every station happen as the faithful pass from one station to another, meditating on each event through prayers and reflections.
Conclusion
In the Maronite Church, Lent is more prayers and reflections which bring us closer to God as a community and parish or as individuals. This closeness to God helps us pray, fast, love, give, repent, forgive, and have mercy on each other. This is the faith that our Lord asks us to have in Him; this is the work that our Lord asks to do toward our brothers and sisters, and this is what He asks from us as baptized Christians.
