The Great Fast
March 3, 2022
Dear Children of God, Greetings to you and gratitude to Almighty God!
Children, how are you? We hope you are well!
Today we are going to teach you about “The Great Fast.”
First, Let us remind you the meaning of Fasting.
Fasting means to give up eating Food and drinking water or any other liquid during the seven fasting season named as Prophet’s Fast, Fast of Wednesday and Fridays, Fast of Gehade (eve of Epiphany and Birthday of Lord Jesus Christ) Fast of Nineveh, the Great Lent, Fast of Apostles, Fast of the Assumption of Saint Mary. It is to abstain from morning till afternoon (12 am-9pm local time), from eating or drinking anything especially meat, egg butter, milk.
For this session, we will see “The Great Fast” which Our Lord and Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights and its eight weeks.
LORD Jesus Christ fasted for forty days and Forty nights in the desert to save human race. Holy Bible stated the fast as “The Great Fast.”After His baptism, He was challenged by enemy Satan, during His fasting but defeated all of them through patience, propriety and hate of money.
Dear Children of God, if you have understood the meaning of fasting and about the reason of “The Great Fast” it is good. So, if your age is above seven, you shall start fasting as it is the Law of God.
Now, Let us proceed to “The Eight Weeks or Sundays” of the fast. Follow us attentively!
Dear Children! Each of the Sundays of Great fast has its own name and meaning. We will see them one by one. For this session, we will teach you about the four of them.
The First Sunday:- “Zewerede:He who comes down” (John 3:16)
The first Sunday of “The Great Fast” is called “Zewerede” which means God came down from heaven to save human race. He was born from Saint Mary in Bethlehem by work of Holy Spirit. God love us so much that He came to defeat Satan who was imprisoning human being by giving us His life (scarifcing His life) upon the cross.
Therefore, we commemorate this week which referrers to His coming to this world as a Human.
The Second Sunday:- “Holy/Sanctify” (Matthew 5, 6, 7)
The Second week is known as Holy. It represents God’s Holiness and His teaching for us to be Holy just as He. So, with His Holy words, we shall all abstain from sin, be apart from the evil deeds (bad work) and practice good deeds to become Holy by praying, fasting and receiving the Holy Communion (eating the flesh and drinking of the blood of Lord Jesus Christ)
The Third Sunday:- Synagogue/Temple (Saint John 2:19)
On the third Sunday of this Great Fast, Lord Jesus Christ went to the temple to teach. But then, He saw changer selling oxen, sheep and doves. So, He got very hungry and made a whip of cords (a kind of rope) and drove them all out of the temple, with their sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. Then He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2:14-16)
For that reason, synagogue/temple exemplifies the preaching of LORD Jesus Christ in the Temple. It is reminder of the Church Liturgy inside the Temple as a place of worship, Divine Liturgy and devotion.
The Fourth Sunday:- “The Impotent Man” ( John 5: 1 -15)
There was once an impotent man called “Mestagu.” He was a bedridden man (confined to bed) and couldn’t be healed. Then one day Lord Jesus Christ came to His bed where he was lying and healed Him. As, he exemplified all the others healed by the hands of the LORD Jesus, the fourth week is named after his name, “Mestagu.” It is an example of Lord’s mercy for all who were physical and spiritual ill because of their sins. His forgiveness is at His presence linked with our faith and the Holy Spirit through Holy Church.
Dear Children, we hope you have understood today’s lesson and fast throughout this season. We have seen the four weeks of The Great Fast and on our next lesson, we shall see the rest of them.
Till we meet then, farewell!
May God be with you during the fasting season, Amen!