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The Holy Lent

DAY 8 - Second Monday of The Holy Lent

by Prince Mathew

Preface for Meditation:

Fasting is the advocate of repentance. Adam and Eve disobeyed God; they refused to fast from the forbidden fruit. They became slaves of their own desires. But now through fasting, through obedience to the rules of the Church regarding the use of spiritual and material goods, we may return to the life in Paradise, a life of communion with God. Thus, fasting is a means of salvation, this salvation being a life we live in accordance with the Divine will, in communion with God. Because of the liberating effect of fasting, both material and spiritual, the Church has connected fasting with the celebration of the major feasts of our tradition.

Easter is the "feast of feasts." It is the feast of our liberation from the bondage of sin, from corrupted nature, from death. For on that day, through His Resurrection from the dead, Christ has raised us "from death to life, and from earth to heaven", Christ, "our new Passover," has taken us away from the land of slavery, sin and death, to the promised land of freedom, bliss and glory; from our sinful condition to resurrected life.

"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."(Romans 8: 5-6) We need to live in accordance with our spirit and not our natural desires if we want to overcome temptation. Also God gave us His Holy Spirit. With His power we can overcome the devil.

Bible Reading:
Second Monday of The Holy Lent

Morning

* Genesis 35: 1 - 5
* II Samuel 16: 5-12
* Hosea 2:21-3: 5
* St. James 4: 7-5: 6
* I Timothy 2: 1-15
* St. Luke 6:27-36

Verse for the day:

"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" - St. Luke 6:36

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