An Epistle of the Metropolitan of Cairo and Northern Africa,
Interim Head of the Southern African Diocese,
To the priests, deacons, monastics and all the faithful
Of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa
of the Russian Orthodox Church
Regarding the beginning of Great Lent
Dear fathers, brothers, and sisters,
I congratulate all of you on the approach of Great Lent.
Great Lent is a special journey of spiritual labor. But every journey has a destination. The goal of Great Lent is to worthily prepare ourselves for Pascha, for the Glorious Resurrection of Christ, which He accomplished for us, so that we might become heirs of eternal life, in unity with God and with one another.
To prepare for this means, first of all, to free ourselves from everything that prevents us from receiving this great gift from Christ. That is sin and the absence of virtues.
We all know that sin is bad, that it is a violation of God’s commandments – of God’s order for a normal, natural life. True life, not its counterfeit or distorted imitation. Yet for some reason we continue to sin. The Apostle Paul writes: “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (Rom. 7:19).
Here we also see our own laxity, our laziness. We often allow ourselves to sin at the slightest appearance of an impure desire. We do not resist; we do not struggle for virtue. With whom must we struggle? First of all, with our own weaknesses, infirmities, and passions that have entangled us.
How, then, are we to be freed? Christ frees us, but not without our effort. What kind of effort? The recognition of our sins and of our inability to overcome them by our own strength alone; the resolve to enter into battle with sin; self-restraint; patience; opposition to sin though virtues such as: prayer, the reading of Holy Scripture, participation in the Sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, forgiving our neighbors, and performing good deeds.
These efforts are easiest to undertake in an ordered way with the help of our Mother Church. This is the reason the journey of Great Lent exists, which I bless all of you to undertake.
May the peace of God abide with you.
Konstantin, Metropolitan of Cairo and Northern Africa, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church
