Fr. George Kapsanis, former abbot of the Monastery of Gregoriou (Mount Athos) talks about the Great Lent as the tithe of the year.
Fr. George:
“This Lent should be for all of us at least a period of spiritual maturation! That it may bear a spiritual fruit!
And as the Holy Fathers say, Great Lent is the tithe of the year.
The tithe that we offer to God as a sacrifice, as a struggle, as an ascesis, as a fasting period, as a prayer.
For the Lord commanded in the Old Testament that man should give away his tithe to church and charities.
We have the tithe not only as mercy and worship, but also as a spiritual sacrifice. And to offer our spiritual fruits as gifts to God.
And again, the Holy Fathers speak so beautiful… that the first three days of Lent constitute the tithe of the Lent.
So the offering of the first three days was already the tithe of the Lent, and the entire Lent to be the tithe of the year.
…
We must and we can do this fight! It is the fight that will help us to reach spiritual maturation.
The more we speak, the less the soul is cleansed.
The less we talk, the more the soul is cleansed starts to desire God.
…”
English subtitles, por favor. Gracias.
Lent is such a wonderful opportunity to repent and to take stock of ourselves. It truly is a beautiful beautiful discipline that we all should all enter into with our heartsby