Orienting to the Liturgy: Some notes on the Propers of Cheesefare Sunday

The Sunday of Forgiveness (Cheesefare Sunday) (Tone 4)

Tropar, Tone 4

When the disciples of the Lord learned from the angel* the glorious news of the resurrection* and cast off the ancestral condemnation,* they proudly told the apostles:* “Death has been plundered!* Christ our God is risen,* granting to the world great mercy.”

[Cheesefare Sunday is also called “Forgiveness Sunday” (on account of the Gospel reading), and also “The Sunday of the Expulsion from Paradise.”  The Vespers service of this day is entirely concerned with the expulsion of our ancestors from Paradise.  The expulsion from Paradise is the “ancestral condemnation” of which the tropar speaks. 

    The hymns at Vespers are very expressive of the mournful ambience of the beginning of the Fast. 

“Indeed, Adam sat before the gates of Eden, bewailing his nakedness and crying out: “Woe is me, the loser, who have listened to the wicked deceit and have been driven away from glory! Woe is me, who through simplicity of heart have become naked and am now perplexed.  Wherefore, I shall no longer enjoy your bliss, O Paradise, nor shall I ever see my Lord, my God, and my Creator, for I shall return to the earth from which I had been taken.  And yet, O Lord my God, I shall cry out to You and say: “O compassionate One, have mercy on me who have fallen!”

     The intersection of the themes of the expulsion from Paradise and forgiveness is to be found in the teaching of the Lord: “If you forgive others their trespasses, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you.” In the Lord’s Prayer we make a covenant with Christ our God, as we say: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”]

                                                                                                              

Glory…Now…

Kondak of the Triodion, Tone 6

O Master, Guide of Wisdom,* Bestower of prudent counsel,* Instructor of the foolish and Defender of the poor ones;* make firm my heart and give it understanding.* Give me a word, O Word of the Father:* Behold, I shall not stop my lips from crying out to You:* In Your mercy, have mercy on me who am fallen.

   

[These are fallen Adam’s words.  It is often said that the Fast is like our life in this world. Both the Fast and life itself are enterprises.  In order to succeed in these enterprises, we need prudence, counsel and understanding.  Prudence is the virtue that determines what is appropriate in particular circumstances, while counsel gives us the supernatural ability to discern what will be most profitable for our salvation and the glory of God.  Lastly, we need understanding, which helps us grasp the truths of our faith as far as is necessary.  Above all, we need to hold fast to the Wisdom of God, which detaches us from the things of this world and teaches us to love the spiritual treasures of the world that is to come.]

Prokimen, Tone 8

Pray and give praise to the Lord our God.

v. In Judea God is known; His Name is great in Israel.

A READING FROM THE 1^st LETTER OF SAINT PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO ROMANS:

Brethren, now our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness (and) put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on someone else's servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Rom. 13,11-14,4)

[The central “rule” of the Fast is “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” What this means is “imitate the Lord Jesus Christ.” In our conduct during the Fast, we have to conform ourselves to the Lord Jesus.  Whatever fasting, almsgiving and mortification we choose to do, our motive remains the same.  Because of our great love for Christ, we desire to do these things in order to grow in His likeness.]

Alleluia, Tone 6

It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to Your name, O Most High.

v. To announce Your mercy in the morning and Your truth every night.

A READING FROM THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW:

The Lord said, If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions. "When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you. "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

 (Mt. 6,14-21)

Communion verse

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest.

Alleluia (3)