Maronite Servants YouTube Channel

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel at:  MaroniteServants.  Our channel includes videos of previous virtual workshops and information on a vocation as a Maronite Servant of Christ the Light.  Here is one of the post from our channel: Fr. Rudy Wakim shares on three spiritual practices of Great Lent: Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

Passion Week in the Maronite Church

Read about the most important week in the Maronite Calendar, Passion Week, at these links

Hosanna Sunday

The Arrival at the Harbour

Monday of Passion Week

Tuesday of Passion Week

Wednesday of Passion Week

Thursday of the Mysteries

Great Friday of the Crucifixion

Saturday of the Light

Lent: Fasting, Abstinence, and Prayer

Our tradition of fasting, abstinence and prayer for a definite season goes back to the example of Our Lord Himself, who fasted for forty days in the wilderness. He prophesied that when He was taken away from us, we would fast (Luke 5:35). Those days have come, but He has left us this holy tradition by which we can imitate, even in a small way, His example.
Fasting is restricting our intake of food and drink, either completely or in part. But it does not stand alone from prayer, the search for holiness, and leading a good life. Rather, it gives more meaning, more power to these.
Abstinence, for us, is refraining from eating meat and dairy, that is, exercising will- power to decide what I will and will not eat.
We fast to do penance for our sins, to acquire will-power (to do what is good and avoid what is evil), to link or thoughts and emotions to a good and virtuous life, to make our religion a part of our every-day life, and to help us see ourselves and how attached we are to our bellies, and to certain types of food. The purpose of fasting is to grow in holiness.
Whenever we fast, we should remember that we seek holiness. Then, whether we are feeling hungry, desiring food or a drink which we cannot have, preparing our food, or even just thinking about our fast, we should make an intentional connection with the fast.
If we use the fast, and everything which follows from it, to remind us that we fast in order to seek holiness, then we shall grow in holiness, because food and drink are so fundamental to our lives that we will have endless reminders.

Fasting helps us come to holiness because it is a form of penance, and it develops strength of will and self-understanding. But holiness never comes automatically. We need a complete Christian discipline for life; and fasting is an important part of that. Fasting can have no supernatural results unless it is undertaken in a spirit of prayer. It is often found by those who pray and fast, that God works small miracles for them. The person who fasts diligently and conscientiously can exercise an unprecedented control over his carnal appetites and desires. It is also essential that we fast for ourselves alone, and not compare ourselves with others who are not fasting. The great temptation of those who fast is pride.

Fasting is a powerful means of mortification (i.e. disciplining our body for our sins). When one fasts and prays, one feels in one’s very body that one has struggled to make sincere atonement. When people feel that they have not done enough penance for a sin, let them fast 24, 36 or 48 hours, and they will know that they have performed their penance.
Second, fasting strengthens the will. Our Lord said that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41). Fasting helps the spirit to exercise its will over the flesh. It helps if the decision to fast is made a day or two before the fast commences.
Third, fasting facilitates self- examination, because under the influence of the fast we see ourselves quite differently. Our sense of ourselves is related to feeling our ordinary selves, to eating and drinking like our ordinary selves. Changing our intake of food and drink immediately upsets the established patterns of our reactions: we are no longer our ordinary selves. We acquire new perceptions and feelings through the unaccustomed impressions of depriving ourselves of food and flavoured drink.
Being prepared to discipline ourselves, we are often able to make better confessions.

Fasting can bring a welcome sense of freedom, not only physically, but in the feeling and the mind, too. Our appetites enslave us more than we know, and being able to do without food helps us break this slavery. We often find, when we fast, that we don’t need as much food as we thought we did.
What we really crave is often not so much the food as the experience of satisfying our desire. Being a little hungry is not as bad as we might imagine: but the anticipation of eating something delightful can make fasting seem intolerable. Fasting shows us what a large part eating and even drooling over the prospect of eating play in our lives. When consumption is put into its proper place, there is more room in our minds and hearts for the spiritual life.
It should also be noted that the traditional understanding of the Church is that fasting from meat and dairy products is of help in overcoming the lust of the flesh. Further, substantial health benefits accrue from fasting, as long as one does not binge afterwards. Looking after our health is good and legitimate, after all, our body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

St Maximos the Confessor tells us that: “Food was created for nourishment and healing. Those who eat food for purposes other than these two are therefore to be condemned as self- indulgent, because they misuse the gifts God has given us for our use. In all things, misuse is a sin.” This is worth pondering, especially today as modern culture has tried to sensualise food and eating, and has, to a significant extent, succeeded for many people.
If food is fresh, nourishing and natural, then it will be satisfying to the taste as well. In fact, part of God’s providence.

The law of abstinence bind all Catholics from the age of seven to 59, and the laws of fasting from the age of fourteen to 59. But judgment is needed, and if you are older, you can always keep those rules.

This was written by a Maronite priest. Of your mercy, please pray for those souls in Purgatory who have no one else to pray for them, and also pray for that priest.

MARONITE GREAT LENT OBSERVANCES 2020

LENTEN OBSERVANCES 2020
The Most Reverend Bishops Gregory J. Mansour and A. Elias Zaidan have issued the following Lenten guidelines for the Maronites of the U.S.:

• All Maronites who are physically capable are to abstain from meat on Ash Monday (24 February 2020) and all Fridays of Lent.
• Ash Monday and the Great Friday of the Crucifixion (10 April 2020) are also days of fasting. Fasting in the Maronite Church involves eating and drinking nothing at all (except water and medicine) from midnight until noon. The rest of the day normal meals can be taken, but without meat. All Maronites who are physically capable are to fast on these two days.

Distribution of Ashes
All parish priests are to bless and distribute ashes on Ash Monday during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy as indicated in our liturgical books. This ceremony may not be celebrated on the vigil of Ash Monday (Cana Sunday). For the convenience of some faithful of the Latin Church who may come to Mass at a Maronite Church on their Ash Wednesday, ashes that were blessed on Monday may be given to them after the Mass. However, ashes are not to be blessed again on this day.

Devotion of Lenten Fridays
All parish priests are to celebrate the Benediction with the Cross every Friday of Lent except for the Great Friday of the Crucifixion. This service may be preceded by Evening Prayer (Ramsho), Stations of the Cross, or even the Divine Liturgy. Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament should not take place on the Fridays of Lent.

Personal Observance
Great Lent and Passion Week, beginning on Ash Monday and ending at 12:00 (noon) on Saturday of the Light, is a season of penitence. In our Maronite Church each day of this season is considered to be a day of fasting and abstinence from meat and dairy products, (with the exception of Sundays and Holy Days). Although highly encouraged, this fast is not obligatory in this Eparchy. However, it is obligatory to abstain from meat on Ash Monday and all Fridays of Lent, and to fast on Ash Monday and Great Friday, as long as one is physically able to do so.

Family Catechesis – Jamaica Plain, MA

The Maronite Servants of Christ the Light facilitated an afternoon of catechesis on March 23

centered on the Passion of Jesus and the celebration of Passion Week in the Maronite Church.   Several catechists, parents and children attended the day sponsored by Our Lady of the Cedars Church in Jamaica Plain, Boston. 

While the children were learning about the true meaning of Great Lent and Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, Sr. Therese Maria was with the catechists and parents facilitating a guided meditation on the Gospel of the Prodigal Son.

The combined group came together for a discussion and catechesis on Passion Week according to the Maronite Church. Using Maronite iconography, Sr. Natalie Sayde walked through the different rituals of of each day during Passion Week, beginning with Hosanna Sunday, culminating with Great Friday of the Crucifixion and the Sunday of the Glorious Resurrection. Our Maronite liturgy offers different prayer services and rituals for each of these days, drawing the church into the richness and depth of the Paschal Mystery.

We all joined in praying the 14 Stations of the Cross with a guided meditation at each station and then attended the Saturday Vigil Liturgy with Monsignor Georges as celebrant.  The children beautifully served at the Liturgy.  The day concluded with a  potluck dinner and fellowship in the church hall.  

Great Lent

Excerpts taken from the book, “Captivated by Your Teachings”, by Rev. Anthony Salim.

In the Maronite Church, the Entrance into Lent begins with “Cana Sunday”. The Wedding at Cana has, as its central theme, transformation. On the one hand we see this pattern: in the Gospel, water becomes wine; in the Liturgy, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. On the other hand his physical body, changed in the Resurrection, the greatest miracle, a new creation, is symbolized by the water-made-wine. This focus on change should lead us to make the necessary changes in our own spiritual lives. We move from an earthly wedding story to considering our life at the eternal Wedding Banquet.

Great Lent is above all the time of the Great Fast. Fasting, acts of penance and self-denial, as well as intense self-reflection, mark this season. One remedy for sin that the ancient Christians saw as helpful was fasting. Maronite Tradition has always encouraged heroic fasting, and our ancestors excelled at it. Maronites are obligated to fast and abstain from meat on Ash Monday (February 12, 2018) and Great Friday of the Crucifixion (March 30, 2018), and also to abstain from meat on all Fridays throughout Great Lent.

On the Fridays of Lent, the traditional Veneration of the Holy Cross is prayed, and at some parishes, Stations of the Cross are also prayed.

Great Lent is above all a time of purification and reflection before the wondrous celebration of the Glorious Resurrection, a time designed to lead us to personal and communal conversion. In view of our common sinfulness and need of purification, this season is as relevant now as ever.