On Holy and Great Wednesday the divine Fathers ordained a commemoration to be kept of the woman who was a harlot and who anointed the Lord with myrrh, inasmuch as this took place a short time before the saving Passion.
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On Holy and Great Tuesday, we commemorate the parable of the ten virgins, because the Lord related this parable to His disciples as He was going toward Jerusalem to His Holy Passion.
When I enrolled in university, I met some Russian emigre youth my first year, wishing to deepen and broaden my knowledge of Russian and get more practice. It happened that I would attend church with them: on Saturday evenings, Sunday mornings, on holidays… I went for many years, not having been Orthodox yet. So the impulse to accept Orthodoxy arose in me, but I was afraid of the reaction of my relatives, and so I put off that decision. But at age twenty I finally became Orthodox. Some twelve years later I was tonsured a monk.
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On Holy and Great Monday we commemorate the blessed Joseph the All-comely and also the withered fig tree. Inasmuch as the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ has its beginning on this day, and as Joseph is regarded as an image of Christ from former times, he is thus set forth here.
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Heal me, Lord! Seal the flow of impurity, sin and vice. Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Ps. 50:10). Because of my deeds I deserve eternal torments, but the Lord secretly nourishes a hope in my soul for His mercy. Otherwise, it would be beyond my strength for me to live.
