Today as we bear in our hands lighted candles, how can we not fail to remember that venerable old man Simeon who on this day held the child Jesus in his arms – the Word who was latent in a body, as light is latent in a wax candle – and declared him to be ‘the light to enlighten the nations’? Indeed, Simeon was himself a bright and shining lamp bearing witness to the Light. Under the guidance of the Spirit which filled him, he came into the temple precisely in order that, ‘receiving your loving kindness, O God, in the midst of your temple’, he might proclaim Jesus to be that loving kindness and the light of your people.
Behold then, the candle alight in Simeon’s hands. You must light your own candles by enkindling them at his, those lamps which the Lord commanded you to bear in your hands. So come to him and be enlightened that you do not so much bear lamps as become them, shining within yourselves and radiating light to your neighbours. May there be a lamp in your heart, in your hand and in your mouth: let the lamp in your heart shine for yourself, the lamp in your hand and mouth shine for your neighbours. The lamp in your heart is a reverence for God inspired by faith; the lamp in your hand is the example of a good life; and the lamp in your mouth are the words of consolation you speak.
We have to shine not only before others by our good works and by what we say, but also before the angels in our prayer, and before God by the intentions of our hearts. In the presence of the angels our lamps will shine with unsullied reverence when we sing the psalms attentively in their sight or pray fervently; before God our lamp is single-minded resolve to please him alone to whom we have entrusted ourselves.
My friends, in order to light all these lamps for yourselves, I beg you to approach the source of light and become enlightened – I mean Jesus himself who shines in Simeon’s hands to enlighten your faith, who shines on your works, who inspires your speech, who makes your prayer fervent and purifies the intentions of your heart. Then, when the lamp of this mortal life is extinguished, there will appear for you who had so many lamps shining within you the light of unquenchable life, and it will shine for you at the evening of your life like the brightness of the noonday sun.
Though you may think your light is quenched in death, you will rise like the daystar and your darkness be made bright as noon. As Scripture says, ‘No longer will you need the light of sun to shine upon you by day, or the light of the moon by night; but the Lord will be an everlasting light for you.’ For the light of the new Jerusalem is the Lamb.
To him be glory and praise for ever!
ORDINARY TIME BEFORE LENT
O Paradise,
share in the sorrow of Adam who is brought to poverty,
and with the sound of your leaves pray to the Creator
that we may not find your gates closed for ever.
We are fallen;
in your compassion have mercy on us.
Hymn for the Sunday before Lent
in the Orthodox Church
Depending on the date of Easter, the period of Ordinary Time between Candlemas and Ash Wednesday will be of variable length, and in any given year many of the readings provided in this section will be surplus to requirements.
The Book of Common Prayer follows medieval custom in naming the three Sundays before Lent respectively Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. This designation reflected the monastic custom of maintaining a longer, more rigorous fast in preparation for Easter. In the revision of the Calendar, the Church of England has dispensed with the medieval nomenclature whilst retaining something of a penitential flavour to this time of the year.
In the Eastern Churches the Sunday immediately before Lent is known as the ‘Sunday of Forgiveness’. Before renewing our relationship with Christ through the Lenten fast and Paschal mystery, there must be a renewal of relationships within the Body of Christ through the offering and receiving of forgiveness which alone leads to a restoration of trust. The readings chosen for this period of Ordinary Time reflect these themes.
The Fifth Sunday before Lent
A Reading from a homily of John Chrysostom
‘You are the salt of the earth.’ It is not for your own sake, Christ says to his disciples, but for the world’s sake that the word is entrusted to you. I am not sending you to a couple of cities, to ten or twenty cities, not even to a single nation, as I sent the prophets of old, but across land and sea, to the whole world. And that world is in a pitiful state. For when Jesus says: ‘You are the salt of the earth,’ he is indicating that all humanity had lost its savour and been corrupted by sin.
What else do his words imply? For example, were the disciples to restore what had already turned rotten? Not at all. Salt cannot help what has already become corrupted. That is not what they did. Rather what had first been renewed and freed from corruption by Christ, and then turned over to them, they salted and preserved in the newness the Lord had bestowed. It took the power of Christ to free humanity from the corruption caused by sin; it was the task of the apostles through hard work to prevent that corruption from returning.
Have you noticed how, little by little, Christ demonstrates the apostles to be superior to the prophets of old? He says they are to be teachers not simply for Palestine but for the whole world. Do not be surprised, then, he says, that I address you apart from the others and involve you in such a dangerous enterprise. Consider the numerous and extensive cities, peoples and nations I will be sending you to. This is why I would have you make others prudent, as well as being prudent yourselves. For unless you can do that, you will not be able to sustain your own lives.
If others lose their savour, then your ministry will help them regain it. But if you yourselves suffer that loss, you will drag others down with you. Therefore, the greater the undertaking put into your hands, the more zealous you must be. This is why Jesus says: ‘But if salt becomes tasteless, how can its flavour be restored? It is good for nothing now, but to be thrown out and trampled under foot.’
Then Jesus passes on to a yet more exalted comparison: ‘You are the light of the world.’ Once again, note that he says ‘of the world’: not of one nation or twenty cities, but of the whole world. The light of which he speaks is an interior light, something far superior to the rays of the sun we see, just as the salt of which he speaks is a spiritual salt. First salt, then light, so that you may learn how profitable sharp words may be and how important clear doctrine is. Such teaching brings coherence and prevents dissipation; it leads a person to the practice of virtue and sharpens the mind’s eye. ‘A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do you light a lamp and put it under a basket.’ Once again Jesus urges his disciples to a careful manner of life and teaches them to be watchful, for they live under the scrutiny of others and have the whole world for the arena of their struggles.
Monday after 5 before Lent
A Reading from Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich
Sin is the sharpest scourge that any elect soul can be flogged with. It is the scourge which so reduces a man or woman and makes him loathsome in his own sight that it is not long before he thinks himself fit only to sink down to hell until the touch of the Holy Spirit forces him to contrition, and turns his bitterness to the hope of God’s mercy. Then he begins to heal his wounds, and to rouse his soul as it turns to the life of Holy Church. The Holy Spirit leads him on to confession, so that he deliberately reveals his sins in all their nakedness and reality, and admits with great sorrow and shame that he has befouled the fair image of God. Then for all his sins he performs penance imposed by his confession according to the doctrine of Holy Church, and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. This is one of the humble things that greatly pleases God. Physical illness that is sent by him is another. Others are those humiliations and griefs caused by outside influences, or by the rejection and contempt of the world, by the various kinds of difficulty and temptation a person may find himself in, whether they be physical or spiritual.
Dearly,