On the repentance and forgiveness

Abstract

Dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters! We have just heard two prayers that are recited on the eve of Holy Lent. In these prayers we ask God's blessing for the work of Lent, hope to achieve repentance and humility, and pray that we may be worthy to receive the Holy Communion of Christ. The contents of these prayers are penitential in nature and the whole of Lent is a time of penitence. On the first four days of the first week of Lent we will read the canon of St. Andrew of Crete, which is called the Great Canon of Repentance. On the eve of the Sunday services in the evening the hymn "Open to me, O Life-Giver, the gates of repentance" will be sung. On the eve of the Thursday of the fifth week of Great Lent, the entire Canon of St. Andrew of Crete will be read. We will constantly hear the short prayer of St Ephrem the Syrian, "Lord and Master of my life.