Monachos eNewsletter - 25th February / 9th March 2012

[Monachos.net eNewsletter]

Monachos.net eNewsletter

Friday, 25th February / 9th March 2012

St Tarasios of Constantinople

Greetings to subscribers of our eNewsletter in this second week of the fast of Orthodox Great Lent. As is our custom at Monachos.net, we are providing extensive resources on Lent for those who wish to engage more deeply with this important season in the life of the Church -- drawing, as is our wont, on the patristic, monastic and liturgical heritage of Orthodoxy.

Central Great Lent Resource Area:

Our central Resource Area for Great Lent is the main hub for the hundreds of materials provided on Monachos.net for the season of the Great Fast. Gathered around a week-by-week calendar of the key dates in Lent for 2012, the area provides daily reading plans from the Fathers; texts of the Lenten services; reflections on Lenten themes; studies on the persons and histories of lenten commemorations; homilies and epistles; and much more. These materials are regularly added to throughout the Fast, so it is a good idea to bookmark this page and check back often (and you can keep track of the latest updates via our What's New page and RSS feed).

A Patristic Daily Reading Plan for Great Lent:

Introduced last year and highly popular, our Daily Patristic Reading Plan for Great Lent provides two different plans for your use: a longer version, with substantial readings; as well as a plan with shorter texts for those with less time at their disposal. These plans provide a robust engagement with the Church Fathers each day during Lent, with all the writings provided on-line.

Multiple New Resources for This Coming Sunday of St Gregory Palamas:

New this year, we have just added the Reading from the Synaxarion for the Sunday of St Gregory, as well as a brief overview of the place of St Gregory in the Lenten commemorations. These have been added to the already substantial collection of information on St Gregory Palamas in the Lenten area, which includes a study on the theology of St Gregory, as well as a detailed historical overview of his life and times.

An Overview of the Presanctified Liturgy:

Updated and revised this year, the outline of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts provides an overview of this remarkable service, which is one of the key liturgical features of the Great Fast.

'Ascetic - Reflections on the Way of Self-Sacrifice':

This anonymous, poetic reflection on the nature of ascesis and self-sacrifice -- key Lenten virtues -- has been a much-demanded piece of Lenten reading since we first published it in 2004. 

Join the Lenten & Other Conversations in our Discussion Community:

The Monachos.net Discussion Community is a unique discussion forum on the internet, recently surpassing 101,000 discussions all focussed on the monastic, patristic and liturgical heritage of Orthodoxy. Many current threads relate to Lenten themes, as well as other topics of interest during the Fast. Consider visiting the Community to take part in engaging discussions with hundreds of other participants from across the world.

This is but a small selection of the resources available for Great Lent on Monachos.net: we invite you to visit the web site and explore the hundreds more.

May we wish all our readers and subscribers a fruitful continuation of the Fast, and a blessed journey through the days and weeks ahead.