By Frederica Mathews-Green
Each
Wednesday during Lent the church community met at the Family Life Center after
the Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts for a Lenten pot-luck dinner. Following
dinner, Father Christos lead a discussion of a few chapters of First
Fruits of Prayer: A Forty Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew.
Adapted from the introduction: The Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is a prayerful hymn of epic length, which is offered in a Lenten worship service every year in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was written by the 8th century St. Andrew, a leading figure of early Christian hymnography. St. Andrew built up his Canon while taking to heart lessons from Scripture urging him to love God more completely. The work is very personal and may have been written for his own personal use. But it was taken up broadly and used every Lent in the Eastern Church. Through rigorous self-examination, St. Andrew shows us a path to repentance. The book is arranged into 40 readings, one for each day of Lent. Each reading is accompanied by commentary and suggested meditations. The Appendix includes the Life of St. Mary of Egypt, Lenten intercessor.
The commentrary by Mathews-Green is very helpful. The book is available in the church bookstore and library. Please note: It is strongly encouraged to discuss spiritual material with your spiritual father, father confessor or spiritual mother.
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