Day 4 – Be Victorious over Sin

Last night, I celebrate one of my favorite services, which contains one of my favorite prayers. At the end of the Presanctified Liturgy is a prayer that puts our entire Great Lenten Journey into perspective. It assists us not only to keep up the effort, but even to double down. I help us understand the value of Great Lent.

Standing on the Soleas, facing the Holy of Holies, the priest prays:

Almighty Lord, You have created all things in wisdom. In Your inexpressible providence and great goodness You have brought us to these saving days, for the cleansing of our souls and bodies, for control of our passions, in the hope of the Resurrection. After the forty days You delivered into the hands of Your servant Moses the tablets of the law in characters divinely traced. Enable us also, O benevolent One, to fight the good fight, to complete the course of the fast, to keep the faith inviolate, to crush underfoot the heads of unseen tempters, to emerge victors over sin and to come, without reproach, to the worship of Your Holy Resurrection. For blessed and glorified is Your most honorable and majestic name, of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forevermore.

These words should encourage us. They should inspire us. They should teach us. There is purpose to Great Lent much greater than just prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting, along with almsgiving, have a purpose. This purpose is to help us achieve the victory of the Saints. Great Lent is about training us to live as God wants us to live. Are you wondering what you should be getting out of Great Lent? You need only to read this prayer, and then LIVE IT.

• Control Passions
• Hope in the Resurrection
• Keep the Faith
• Crush Tempters
• Be Victorious over Sin