SUNDAY OF CHEESEFARE — Tone 4. The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. First (4th c.) and Second (452) Finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord, John.
Tone 4 Troparion (Resurrection)
When the women disciples of the Lord learned from the angel the joyous message of Your Resurrection, they cast away the ancestral curse and elatedly told the apostles: “Death is overthrown! Christ God is risen,// granting the world great mercy!”
Tone 4 Troparion (Forerunner)
The head of the Forerunner has shone from the earth, sending forth rays of incorruption and healings to the faithful. It gathers together a multitude of angels above and summons the human race below// to send up glory with one voice to Christ our God.
Tone 2 Kontakion (Forerunner)
O Prophet of God and Forerunner of Grace, we have found your head as a sacred rose. Therefore we always receive healings from it,// and, as in times past, now you preach repentance to the world.
Tone 6 Kontakion (from the Lenten Triodion)
O Master, Teacher of wisdom, Bestower of virtue, Who teach the thoughtless and protect the poor, strengthen and enlighten my heart! O Word of the Father, let me not restrain my mouth from crying to You: “Have mercy on me, a transgressor,// O merciful Lord!”
Tone 8 Prokeimenon (from the Lenten Triodion)
Pray and make your vows / before the Lord, our God! (Ps. 75:10a)
V. In Judah God is known; His name is great in Israel. (Ps. 75:1)
Tone 7 Prokeimenon (Forerunner)
The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord / and shall hope in Him. (Ps. 63:11a)
Romans 13:11-14:4 (Epistle)
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
2 Corinthians 4:6-15 (Epistle, Forerunner)
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed – always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Tone 6
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!
V. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your Name, O Most High. (Ps. 91:1)
V. To declare Your mercy in the morning, and Your truth by night (Ps. 91:2a)
Tone 4
V. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. (Ps. 91:11)
Matthew 6:14-21 (Gospel)
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 11:2-15 (Gospel, Forerunner)
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.’ Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
Sunday of Cheesefare: Expulsion of Adam from Paradise
As we begin the Great Fast, the Church reminds us of Adam’s expulsion from Paradise. God commanded Adam to fast (Gen. 2:16), but he did not obey. Because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden and lost the life of blessedness, knowledge of God, and communion with Him, for which they were created. Both they and their descendants became heirs of death and corruption.
Let us consider the benefits of fasting, the consequences of disobedience, and recall our fallen state. Today we are invited to cleanse ourselves of evil through fasting and obedience to God. Our fasting should not be a negative thing, a mere abstention from certain foods. It is an opportunity to free ourselves from the sinful desires and urges of our fallen nature, and to nourish our souls with prayer, repentance, to participate in church services, and partake of the life-giving Mysteries of Christ.
At Forgiveness Vespers we sing: “Let us begin the time of fasting in light, preparing ourselves for spiritual efforts. Let us purify our soul, let us purify our body. As we abstain from food, let us abstain from all passion and enjoy the virtues of the spirit….”
First and second finding of the Honorable Head of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist of the Lord, John
After the Beheading of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John (August 29), his body was buried by disciples in the Samarian city of Sebaste, and his venerable head was hidden by Herodias in an unclean place. Saint Joanna (June 27), the wife of King Herod’s steward Chuza (Luke 8:3), secretly took the holy head and placed it into a vessel and buried it on the Mount of Olives in one of Herod’s properties.
After many years, this property passed into the possession of a government official who became a monk with the name of Innocent. He built a church and a cell there. When they started to dig the foundation, the vessel with the venerable head of John the Baptist was uncovered. Innocent recognized its great holiness from the signs of grace emanating from it. Thus occurred the First Finding of the Head. Innocent preserved it with great piety, but fearful that the holy relic might be abused by unbelievers, before his own death he again hid it in that same place, where it was found. Upon his death the church fell into ruin and was destroyed.
During the days of Saint Constantine the Great (May 21), when Christianity began to flourish, the holy Forerunner appeared twice to two monks journeying to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to the holy places, and he revealed the location of his venerable head.
The monks uncovered the holy relic and, placing it into a sack of camel-hair, they proceeded homewards. Along the way they encountered an unnamed potter and gave him the precious burden to carry. Not knowing what he was carrying, the potter continued on his way. But the holy Forerunner appeared to him and ordered him to flee from the careless and lazy monks, with what he held in his hands. The potter concealed himself from the monks and at home he preserved the venerable head with reverence. Before his death he placed it in a water jug and gave it to his sister.
From that time the venerable head was successively preserved by devout Christians, until the priest Eustathius (infected with the Arian heresy) came into possession of it. He beguiled a multitude of the infirm who had been healed by the holy head, ascribing their cures to the fact that it was in the possession of an Arian. When his blasphemy was uncovered, he was compelled to flee. After he buried the holy relic in a cave, near Emesa, the heretic intended to return later and use it for disseminating falsehood. God, however, did not permit this. Pious monks settled in the cave, and then a monastery arose at this place. In the year 452 Saint John the Baptist appeared to Archimandrite Marcellus of this monastery, and indicated where his head was hidden. This became celebrated as the Second Finding. The holy relic was transferred to Emesa, and later to Constantinople.
Great Lent
The season of Great Lent is the time of preparation for the feast of the Resurrection of Christ. It is the living symbol of man’s entire life which is to be fulfilled in his own resurrection from the dead with Christ. It is a time of renewed devotion: of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It is a time of repentance, a real renewal of our minds, hearts and deeds in conformity with Christ and his teachings. It is the time, most of all, of our return to the great commandments of loving God and our neighbors.
In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent is not a season of morbidity and gloominess. On the contrary, it is a time of joyfulness and purification. We are called to “anoint our faces” and to “cleanse our bodies as we cleanse our souls.” The very first hymns of the very first service of Great Lent set the proper tone of the season:
Let us begin the lenten time with delight . . . let us fast from passions as we fast from food, taking pleasure in the good words of the Spirit, that we may be granted to see the holy passion of Christ our God and his holy Pascha, spiritually rejoicing.
Thy grace has arisen upon us, O Lord, the illumination of our souls has shown forth; behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the time of repentance (Vespers Hymns).
It is our repentance that God desires, not our remorse. We sorrow for our sins, but we do so in the joy of God’s mercy. We mortify our flesh, but we do so in the joy of our resurrection into life everlasting. We make ready for the resurrection during Great Lent, both Christ’s Resurrection and our own.
Lenten Fasting
A special word must be said about fasting during lent. Generally speaking, fasting is an essential element of the Christian life. Christ fasted and taught men to fast. Blessed fasting is done in secret, without ostentation or accusation of others (Mt 6.16; Rom 14). It has as its goal the purification of our lives, the liberation of our souls and bodies from sin, the strengthening of our human powers of love for God and man, the enlightening of our entire being for communion with the Blessed Trinity.
The Orthodox rules for lenten fasting are the monastic rules. No meat is allowed after Meatfare Sunday, and no eggs or dairy products after Cheesefare Sunday. These rules exist not as a Pharisaic “burden too hard to bear” (Lk 11.46), but as an ideal to be striven for; not as an end in themselves, but as a means to spiritual perfection crowned in love. The lenten services themselves continually remind us of this.
Let us fast with a fast pleasing to the Lord. This is the true fast: the casting off of evil, the bridling of the tongue, the cutting off of anger, the cessation of lusts, evil talking, lies and cursing. The stopping of these is the fast true and acceptable (Monday Vespers of the First Week).
The lenten services also make the undeniable point that we should not pride ourselves with external fasting since the devil also never eats!
The ascetic fast of Great Lent continues from Meatfare Sunday to Easter Sunday, and is broken only after the Paschal Divine Liturgy. Knowing the great effort to which they are called, Christians should make every effort to fast as well as they can, in secret, so that God would see and bless them openly with a holy life. Each person must do his best in the light of the given ideal. In addition to the ascetic fasting of the lenten season, the Orthodox alone among Christians also practice what is known as eucharistic or liturgical fasting. This fasting does not refer to the normal abstinence in preparation for receiving the holy eucharist; it means fasting from the holy eucharist itself.
During the week days of Great Lent the regular eucharistic Divine Liturgy is not celebrated in Orthodox churches since the Divine Liturgy is always a paschal celebration of communion with the Risen Lord. Because the lenten season is one of preparation for the Lord’s Resurrection through the remembrance of sin and separation from God, the liturgical order of the Church eliminates the eucharistic service on the weekdays of lent. Instead the non-eucharistic services are extended with additional scripture readings and hymnology of a lenten character. In order that the faithful would not be entirely deprived of Holy Communion on the lenten days, however, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Even during Great Lent, Saturday (the Sabbath Day) and Sunday (the Lord’s Day) remain eucharistic days, and the Divine Liturgy is celebrated. On Saturdays it is the normal Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, usually with prayers for the dead. On Sundays it is the longer Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great.
The well-known teaching that Saturdays and Sundays are never days of fasting in the Orthodox Church, an issue emphasized centuries ago when controversy arose with the Latin Church, refers only to this eucharistic-liturgical fast. During Great Lent, even though the eucharistic fast is broken on Saturdays and Sundays, the ascetical fast continues through the weekends since this fasting is an extended effort made from Meatfare Sunday right to Easter itself.
The Surprise of Joy and the Dismay of Just Recompense
As we come to the forefeast of Great Lent, the holy Church, the mother of all Christians, prepares us to enter this period with joy and inspiration, so that it may be a time of spiritual renewal and we may be vouchsafed to enter into the quickening presence of the risen Christ. Those of us who are in debt, ‘of whom I am chief ’, are given the privilege to ‘tear up the handwriting of transgressions’, while for those who long to acquire spiritual capital, ‘behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ We stand with awe at the doors of the fearsome Great Lent. It is fearsome, not because it imposes on us superhuman exercises, but because of the awesome things the grace of this period performs in the heart of the faithful. In the bosom of the Church, the atmosphere is stirred up spiritually, and the grace that permeates it is so tangible and abundant that it would be terrifying to lose it. God grants us the honour and privilege to co-work with Him for an indescribably magnificent purpose. He longs to impart to us, by grace, all that belongs to Him by nature, so as to make us nothing less than what He Himself is. If we have not failed to convince Him that we are His true children, who wholeheartedly embrace and adopt His will as the sole law of our being, He will also address to us the words that we heard in last week’s Gospel reading, ‘All that I have is thine.’ Saint Sophrony said that when he was a young monk, he awaited Great Lent as a feast, and if we enter this arena with enthusiasm and inspiration, not only will we receive no harm from such ascetic labours as fasting, prostrations, long services and prayer, but it can even heal our bodily illnesses.
— Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou. At the Doors of Holy Lent
How to Prepare for the Sacrament of Holy Confession
Some helpful guidance from an experienced priest of the OCA, Fr. Paul Jannakos, on the subject of preparing for Holy Confession
“For the time has come for judgement to begin in the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17)
1). PRAY. As with everything else we do as Orthodox Christians, we begin by praying. Holy Confession is our chance to stand before Christ as though we are standing before Him at the Last Judgement to enumerate all our sins, passions, transgressions, iniquities, weaknesses, and infirmities. But in our fallen state we are incapable not only of showing true sorrow for our sins, but of even knowing what our sins are. Prayer is the door that opens the grace of the Holy Spirit within our hearts and minds, for it is the Holy Spirit Who convicts us of our sins and transgressions. Without this experience of sinful conviction, there can be no true confession.
2). THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. The conscience that God has rooted within each of us is an “inner judge” that reveals to us our sins and faults. The Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience so that it might function in its proper way, not to deprive of us God’s mercy and love, but to help us overcome the poison of pride that blinds us from what our sins are and the degree to which they have caused harm to ourselves and others. Humility begins when we accept what our conscience tells us by overcoming the prideful reactions of denial, blame, and the diminishing of our sins. Here we also watch for the devil who, when he cannot defeat us through our pride, or through the sins of the flesh, seeks to destroy us through godless despair – the demeaning ridicule of the demons.
3). READ THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) is the Church’s reference “guide” to what amounts to human sin. This is important because in our fallen state we sometimes do not even know what counts as being sin. The Sermon on the Mount is healing for mind and soul because it sensitizes us to thoughts, intents, and behaviors that we might otherwise have no moral qualms. The Sermon on the Mount, most especially, locates the beginning of sin not with anything external, but with the internal movements of the human heart, thus teaching us about the passions of pride, anger, lust, greed, laziness, and gluttony.
4). REHEARSE YOUR CONFESSION. When the Prodigal Son “came to himself,” he was not only convicted by the grace of God concerning his sinful state, but he rehearsed his confession by saying, “I will go to my Father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and earth and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’” Here it is important to know that when confessing, one should not be so vague as to not really confess (E.g., “I have issues with my mother-in-law”), nor too graphic in that actual description of one’s sins. (E.g., “I cussed-out my co-worker out by calling him a _”). Related to this is the danger of speaking about the sins or problems of other people in detail as a way of deflecting from owning up to one’s own sin.
5). BE COURAGEOUS. Just as doctors rigorously scan the human body to find any hidden cancer cells in order to save lives, so we must be undaunted in a fearless searching out of the sinful attitudes, motives, and desires that lie hidden beneath the thick veneer of our pride. Pay attention, particularly, to anything that leans towards self-justification. “But if I wasn’t so stressed out all the time I wouldn’t…)”. All evil thoughts, feelings, motives, words, and actions need to be verbalized in confession for cleansing and healing to take place. Those who hold back verbalizing their sins on account of prideful embarrassment negate the sacrament.
6). LOOK FOR PATTERNS. The sins we commit on a daily basis have their source in the passions that are rooted in the heart, mind and will. It is not necessary in the Orthodox tradition to confess how many times we may have committed a sin, but that we recognize our sin as part of a pattern of soul-sickness that needs to be diagnosed and healed. Sin is a disease of the human soul that presents itself in different ways. Sins of the flesh pattern themselves around food, drink, sex, and lethargy. Sins of the spirit pattern themselves around arrogance, pride, anger, hate, greed, and unbelief. The more vigilant we are of our vulnerability to these patterns, the better the healing will be. We carry to Christ as our sacrifice in Holy Confession the brokenness of our lives by verbalizing what these sinful patterns are and how they have affected our lives, uniquely.
7). MAKE A RESOLVE TO CHANGE. Holy Confession is useless without a firm resolve not to continue living in the same manner as before. It does not matter if we have confessed the same thing 1000 times. What matters is that we beg God for the gift of His mercy and healing and for the strength of grace to both change and heal. The grace of God is not magic. We must do our part by avoiding the “occasions” that lead us to sin and by being ever watchful over our thoughts and motivations. Listening closely to the priest hearing your confession is also important as he may be giving you good, practical advice as to how to continue along your path of healing and growth.
MAY GOD RENEW OUR HEARTS THROUGH THIS GREAT SACRAMENT!
Fr. Paul Jannakos
Sunday Bulletin February 15, 2026