Since today is Forgiveness Sunday I should probably start by asking forgiveness for not having had time to post much the last couple of weeks.
As we now enter Great Lent, we stop reading the New Testament liturgically on weekdays and instead read from the three Old Testament books of Genesis, Proverbs and Isaiah. We do this because Lent is a time of preparation and expectation, which culminates in the celebration of the Lord's saving passion, death and resurrection in Holy Week. The Old Testament is divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (the Hebrew name for the Old Testament, Tanakh, is an acronym derived from the first letters of these three: Torah, Naviim, and Khetuvim), and so we read one book from each of these. We read Genesis because it reminds us of man's creation and fall, from which Christ came to save us, and of the promises God made to His people that this salvation would come. We read Isaiah because in this book we see the coming of Christ anticipated more clearly than in any other of the prophetic books, so much so that Isaiah is often referred to as the fifth Evangelist. We read from the Proverbs of Solomon to remind us of the conduct and attitude needed for us to draw near to God.
The readings are rather lengthy, so I'm not sure how much time I'll get to write anything on them, but if and when I do I will probably limit my comments to the readings from Genesis. The English translation of the Septuagint text will be taken from Fr. Ephrem Lash's translation on anastasis.org.uk
Readings from Isaiah are read during the 6th hour (at noon) while Genesis and Proverbs are read in the evening at Vespers.
As we now enter Great Lent, we stop reading the New Testament liturgically on weekdays and instead read from the three Old Testament books of Genesis, Proverbs and Isaiah. We do this because Lent is a time of preparation and expectation, which culminates in the celebration of the Lord's saving passion, death and resurrection in Holy Week. The Old Testament is divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (the Hebrew name for the Old Testament, Tanakh, is an acronym derived from the first letters of these three: Torah, Naviim, and Khetuvim), and so we read one book from each of these. We read Genesis because it reminds us of man's creation and fall, from which Christ came to save us, and of the promises God made to His people that this salvation would come. We read Isaiah because in this book we see the coming of Christ anticipated more clearly than in any other of the prophetic books, so much so that Isaiah is often referred to as the fifth Evangelist. We read from the Proverbs of Solomon to remind us of the conduct and attitude needed for us to draw near to God.
The readings are rather lengthy, so I'm not sure how much time I'll get to write anything on them, but if and when I do I will probably limit my comments to the readings from Genesis. The English translation of the Septuagint text will be taken from Fr. Ephrem Lash's translation on anastasis.org.uk
Readings from Isaiah are read during the 6th hour (at noon) while Genesis and Proverbs are read in the evening at Vespers.
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