FEBRUARY 2011 PASTORAL MESSAGE
Friends,
The month of February begins by preparing us to enter the sacred season
of Great Lent and ends with Clean Monday, the first day of lent on
February 27th. Lent affords
us the opportunity to place more emphasis on our spiritual lives and our
relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Throughout this blessed time we will be encouraged to cleanse
ourselves spiritually and physically by fasting, almsgiving,
forgiveness, the Sacrament of Confession and reading scripture. We will
be enriched by a more fervent prayer life and by participating in the
many worship opportunities that the Church has available to us.
One of the greatest prayers we have in our arsenal as Christians on this
spiritual journey of Lent is given to us by St. Ephraim and is provided
for you in its entirety below.
Let us pray it, meditate upon it and allow it to guide us every
day, from the moment we awake to the moment we rest our heads at the end
of the day.
PRAYER OF ST. EPHRAIM
O Lord and
Master of my life,
Take away from me the spirit of idleness,
despair, lust for power,
and idle talk.
But bestow
upon me, Thy servant,
the spirit of chastity, meekness,
patience and love.
Yes, Lord and
King,
grant that I may see my own sins,
and not judge my brother or sister,
for You are blessed unto ages of ages.
Amen.
May this Lenten journey be a blessing to you as we become imitators of
Christ with mercy, love, selflessness and forgiveness.
In His loving service,
Rev. Father Christ Kontos, Presiding Priest
