St Andrew's Blog - Theology & Life

Dear Friends of St Andrew's

A short message from St Andrew’s Theological College, on behalf of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, our College President and Dean, and all the Faculty, to wish you and your families a spiritually uplifting and Light-filled Easter. Let us focus on the life-giving message of Holy and Great Week, during which the entire Passion of Christ will unfold before us, giving us an opportunity, once again, to receive Him truly into our life! It is a week in which the gift of Christ’s unfading light to come enters human history providing serenity and solace amongst life’s many anxieties as it reveals to us “the certainty that Someone loves us”.

By Dr Andrew Mellas (Senior Lecturer in Church History and Liturgical Studies)

As with the pre-Lenten period, which part one of this blog post explored, here in part two, we will look at how the hymns we sing during Great Lent invite us to reflect, ponder and pray. Indeed, part one finished with Cheesefare Sunday, but neglected to note what happens on the evening of that Sunday, which is often called the vespers of forgiveness. As we take our first steps of the 40-day Lenten journey, we ask each other for forgiveness. We remember the Gospel from earlier that day, Matthew 6:14–21, which teachers us the forgiveness that is afforded to the faithful by God if they too forgive their neighbour..