Ukrainian Catholic ChurchAustralia, New Zealand and Oceania
Walking together through Lent to the Resurrection
March 23, 2024
Throughout Great Lent, the Eparchial Pastoral Council of the Melbourne Eparchy posted posts on its Facebook page entitled “Walking together through Lent to the Resurrection”. The meaning and purpose of these posts are described below.
Every day, during Great Lent, the Eparchial Pastoral Council, chaired by Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk, Synkellos for Laity, publishes on the Facebook page of the Melbourne Eparchy the stychyras from the Vespers from the Lenten Triodion. The Lenten Triodion is a liturgical book that contains interchangeable parts for the services of the daily cycle from the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee to Lazarus Saturday. The Church uses different texts for prayer. The common prayer is not only the Liturgy, but also the services of the daily circle, which include Vespers, Compline, Midnight, Matins, Hours, and Typika. Each of these services has fixed and variable parts; the fixed parts are basic, and the variable parts depend on the day, on the saint commemorated on that day, and on the period in which the Church currently is.
As Fr. Andriy Mykytyuk explains, “In the period from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee to Lazarus Saturday, the Church uses texts from the Lenten Triodion, which aim to show what fasting is for. Very often, we associate Lent only with the Passion of Christ, but we have Holy Week for that. Instead, Lent is a fast of conversion, a fast of repentance. That is, Lent is a time when we have a special opportunity to change our lives for the better and thus get closer to God.”
Given the fact that, very often, not all the faithful can attend services every day, the Eparchial Pastoral Council decided to publish one stychyra from the Vespers with a short reflection each day. The purpose of these posts is, among other things, to show what a deep meaning these prayers have for our lives. “If we have the opportunity to pray these services every day, they teach us; they become catechesis for us through prayer,” Fr. Andriy continues his explanation. “They give us a deeper understanding of how we should behave during Lent and what fruits it can give us.”
As the Eparchial Pastoral Council continues its initiative, we will have the opportunity to pray the stychyras together during Holy Week. If, in addition to praying in church, you would like to pray more at home, you can find the texts of all the services in the printed Church’s publications as well as in the online prayer book “Prayer of the Church”.
