The fifth Sunday of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Judge. The message of the day teaches us with the parable of the widow and the Judge. This parable comes to us in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 18:1-8). The parable tells the story of a widow who repeatedly came to a judge, who neither feared God nor respected man, and pled for her rights. For a long period of time the judge refused to act, but in the end, he fulfilled her request, to put an end to her continuous appeals. Otherwise, he feared that she would continue to return indefinitely.

After telling this parable, the Lord assures everyone, that if a man as corrupt and unfair as this judge decided in favor of the widow, then God surely would judge in favor of his own people and grant the requests of all those who submit to Him through prayer. This parable exhorts us to always and continually pray, as prayer symbolizes the soul’s eternal striving and thirst for God.  The parable also contains an appeal from Christ. After telling the parable, Christ says: “But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when He comes?” In His words, Jesus gives a reference to the Second Coming, and sadness and anguish are felt in the Lord’s remark. It is truly painful for the Savior that many people may be subject to just, yet cruel judgment, instead of becoming the inheritors of the Kingdom of God.

The Forty Holy Martyrs martyred in approximately 320 AD were Christians from various towns and cities of Lesser Armenia. They served as soldiers in the royal regiment of Sebastia.  Upon the decree of Roman Emperor Likianos, interrogations were organized by Lucias, Duke of Caesarea, to reveal the Christian soldiers. Forty of the soldiers remain steadfast in their faith, defy the judges by their brave answers, and are imprisoned. One cold winter night the soldiers are thrown into a lake near Sebastia, to freeze them to death. Only one of the forty soldiers, being unable to endure the torments, comes out of the water, and tries to find salvation in a bathhouse built on the bank. The lone soldier dies and becomes deprived of both earthly and heavenly life.

At dawn, halos are seen encircling the heads of the soldiers. One of the guards charged with the execution of the forty, witnessing the holy phenomenon accepts Christ and throws himself into the lake to be martyred along with the others. In the morning it becomes apparent that through a divine miracle, the forty soldiers have been saved from freezing. This infuriates their captors who execute them and thus, they become martyrs. The martyrs’ remains are buried in Sebastia, where subsequently a Forty-domed Cathedral is built. The Cathedral of Sebastia stood for nearly one thousand years until the invasion of Tamerlane and the Mongols at the end of the 14th Century. The name of the “Forty Martyrs Cathedral” has survived to this day.

According to Archbishop Malachia Ormanian, the 24th day or the fourth Wednesday of the period of Great Lent, is called Mijink symbolizing that the first half of the period of Great Lent has already passed. Since that day church hymns written by Stegh are sung during the Peace Service held in the evenings on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

According to the folk tradition the housewives bake unleavened cake and put a coin in it while baking. The current year will be successful for the member of the family who will have the coin in his/her portion.

The fourth Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Steward, and the message of the day teaches us with the parable of the unjust steward. This parable is mentioned only in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke 16:1-13). In the parable, a wealthy man learns that the steward of his house (the supervisor of his holdings) is squandering his possessions.  The rich man calls the steward, asking for an accounting, having decided to release him from employment. The steward, realizing that he may soon be without work, begins to act accordingly so that in the near future, others may accept him into their homes. The steward calls those men who have debts to his employer, and he relieves them of a portion of their debts. Following this act, the wealthy man praises the steward for his contrivance.

At first glance, it seems as though there is a great contradiction in this commendation.  But the unjust steward grants back to the debtors, only that which he had added to the debt originally for his own gain. Thus, the wealthy man is not injured by the actions of his steward. The master praises the steward for resigning himself from the gains that the steward would have realized in these transactions. Thus, high praise is given to resignation, or abstinence, which is one of the foundations of Great Lent.

Lent teaches mankind about the ability we each have to resign ourselves from all forms of temptation, the beginning of which is self-control and self-denial. Christ says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). This parable admonishes every one of us that the journey towards salvation must include self-control and resignation. The allegorical meaning of the parable is in the wealthy man symbolizing God, and the unjust steward symbolizing the sinner. For an extended period of time, the sinner carelessly wastes the graces granted by God, until God calls him for an accounting of his life. The unjust steward symbolizes all who, upon regretting their actions, forgive those who have sinned against them, and become seekers of righteousness and the just.

St. John (Hovhannes) of Otzoon, who has also been recognized as “the Philosopher”, is one of the greatest fathers of the Armenian Church.  According to hagiographers, he possessed both spiritual and mental brilliance.  During the 11 years of his reign (717-728), Catholicos Hovhannes managed to withstand Byzantine and Arab pressures and incursions, while struggling mightily against sects.  Hovhannes of Otzoon endowed to us a rich and priceless literary legacy.  His work entitled “Canons of the Armenians” is the first voluminous collection in Armenian history, which contains ecclesiastical canons and laws. He is also famous as the author of numerous sermons and church hymns. Among the most important initiatives undertaken by Catholicos Hovhannes of Otzoon, is the church council convened in Dvin in 725, with the aim of reforming the Armenian Church.  He also convened the meeting in Manazkert in 726, dedicated to the goal of strengthening the union of the Armenian and Assyrian Churches.

The tomb of Catholicos Hovhannes is in the Church of Srbanes (St. Hovhannes) in the village of Ardvi, near his birthplace of Otzoon.  The church has remained a sanctuary for the faithful of the Armenian Nation.

The names of Vartabeds (church divine or archimandrite) St John (Hovhan) of Vorotan (1315-1388) and St. Gregory of Datev (1346-1410) are closely interrelated. Gregory of Datev, the greatest Vartabed and theologian of the Armenian Church, studied under Hovhan of Vorotan, and later raised the famous school founded by his teacher in the Monastery of Datev. Gregory of Datev authored numerous significant theological works.  Included in his literary legacy are the “Book of Questions” and the collections of his sermons.  He is closely associated with Hovhan of Vorotan, because as a result of the notes and records made by Gregory, a portion of the literary legacy of Hovhan has survived to this day. 

Finally, the blessed memory of St. John the Patriarch of Jerusalem is commemorated on the same day, along with the aforementioned three fathers of the Armenian Church.  St. John was Patriarch of Jerusalem in the 4th Century.  He is remembered to this day as being a great orator and a defender of Christianity through his sermons.

The third Sunday of the period of Great Lent is called the Sunday of the Lost Son according to the Parable of the Lost Son told in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 15:15-32), the content of which is the following. There was once a man who had two sons. Upon the request of the younger one he divided his property between his two sons. After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living. He spent everything he had. Then a severe famine spread over that country and he was left without a thing. In that time of trouble he remembered his father’s house, regretted for his reckless living and returned to his father’s home. Seeing that his younger son has regretted, the father received him joyfully. Whereas the elder son complained, saying that during all those years he had worked for his father like a slave and had never disobeyed his orders, and however, he had never deserved such honor. His father answered him: “My son, you are always here with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and to be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.”

The elder and the younger sons are the righteous and the sinful souls, and father’s receiving his lost son means that in the same way God receives the regretting sinner. The allegoric meaning of the parable is in the elder son symbolizing all those who are righteous or think that there are righteous. The parable admonishes all of them not to be self-conceited.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem is one of the prominent Patriarchs of Jerusalem. He has been repeatedly persecuted by the supporters of the Arian heresy, he has been exiled, and however, eventually again has become the Patriarch of Jerusalem. He has participated in the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople. Many sermons and speeches of the Patriarch Cyril about Christian doctrine have been translated into Armenian. His letter addressed to the King Costandios on the occasion of the apparition of the Holy Cross in the sky of Jerusalem is up to date read in the Armenian churches. Patriarch Cyril’s collection of sermons is instructive and edifying for those who are preparing for baptism. According to the tradition the basin in which Patriarch Cyril has been baptized is inside the Chapel of St Stephen of the Church of St. Hakob (St. James), of Jerusalem.

The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates the memory of the Patriarch Cyril twice during the year.

St. Cyril the Bishop is the contemporary of St. Cyril the Patriarch. His secular name is Huda. According to the hagiographical sources, well knowing the locality, Bishop Cyril helps the queen Heghine (Helen) to find the Holy cross of Christ, Witnessing the wonder-working power of the Holy Cross Bishop Cyril is baptized together with his mother, Anna, and after the baptism is renamed “Cyril”. Later he is ordained a bishop and during the period of exile of the Patriarch Cyril he takes his place for a time. Being subjected to severe torments, Bishop Cyril and his mother have been killed during the persecutions realized by the King Julianos the Betrayer.

The second Sunday of the period of Great lent is called the Sunday of Expulsion. The basis of the mystery of and the name of the day can be found in the Holy Bible, the Book of Genesis: “So the Lord God sent him out of the Garden  of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed” (Genesis 3:23). Prehistory is the following. The human being, listening to the deceitful words of Satan, disobeyed the divine commandments and ate the forbidden fruit, As punishment the human being, the human being, of course, didn’t die at once, but was deprived of the eternity granted by God and was cursed Since then man must work hard and sweat to make the soil produce enough food, and woman will have pain in giving birth to her offspring. And in end God said to the human being: “You were made from soil and you will become soil again” (Genesis 3:19).

The church Fathers have given the Sundays of the Period of great lent such names and mysteries which symbolize the mankind’s way of life – birth, sinning, regret and repentance. This should serve for the human being as an occasion for thinking of himself/herself and his/her lifer so that the period of great Lent should be fruitful and productive.

According to hagiographers, St. Theodoros was born to God-fearing and pious parents in the village of Saroo, near the town of Amasia.  He was a soldier in the Roman Army, and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a Captain.

In the beginning of the fourth century, Rome was under the rule of the Emperor Diocletian.  Instead of worshipping at the temple of the pagan goddess Rea, as he had been instructed to, St. Theodoros burns the temple to the ground, thus demonstrating that pagan idols were false. For this act, Diocletian imprisons St. Theodoros, and he suffers severe tortures.  In the year 306 A.D., he is martyred by being set on fire.

St. Theodoros is also known as the “Slayer of the Dragon”, as he was said to have defeated a great and mighty dragon due to his courage and faith.

During the fasting period people eat exceptionally food of vegetable origin.
During the fasting period people not only refuse of certain kinds of food, but also of ill habits – talkativeness, lying, swearing and other sins.
Refusing from food without avoiding of sins is useless. “Satan always fasts, it does not eat anything and however, it does not and is not tired of sinning,” says St Gregory of Tatev. During the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says the following about fasting: “Moreover when you fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face; that you appear not unto men to fast, but unto your Father which is in secret: and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly.” (Mt 6:16-18). Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us the way of fasting. As disease makes influence on the body in the same way sin makes influence on the soul. It is not fasting that atones the sin. It is God that gives absolution to sins. However, fasting is important in giving absolution to sins. Repentance, prayer and confession are the main conditions for receiving absolution of sins.
Forty days of fasting period symbolize Christ’s 40-day lasting period of abstinence and repentance in the desert. After His baptism Jesus “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil and in those days he did eat nothing” (Lk 4:1-3). Jesus subjected Himself to abstinence for the salvation of mankind, He repented instead of mankind so that penitence of all those who fast should gain sense and be realized by means of His abstinence. Another period of fasting lasting for a week follows the 40-day fasting period. It is the Holy Week. That is why the forty-day called fasting period lasts 48 days.
The period of Great Lent consists of seven remarkable Sundays: Eve of Great Lent, Sunday of Expulsion, Sunday of the Lost (Prodigal) Son, Sunday of the Steward, Sunday of the Judge, Sunday of Advent and Palm Sunday.
The 24th day or the fourth Wednesday of the period of Great Lent is called Mijink symbolizing that first half of the period of Great Lent has already passed. This year Mijink is on March 11. That day fasting is not stopped. According to folk tradition the housewives bake unleavened cake and put a coin in it while baking. The current year will be successful for the member of the family who will have the coin in his/her portion.
According to ancient traditions marriage and offering sacrifice were forbidden during the period of Great Lent. However, by the pontifical encyclical of Vazken A Catholicos of all Armenians it was permitted in case of extreme necessity to perform the sacrament of marriage during the period of Great Lent and on Sundays except all days of the Holy Week.

On these days of Barekendan, the angel’s words addressed to the prophet Elijah are fulfilled:  “Arise and eat, otherwise the journey will be too great for you” (1 Kings 19:7). The Armenian Church thus allows her faithful to organize games, festivals, carnivals and large, plentiful meals to observe the feast, as it is followed by a period of fasting and abstinence.

The Eve of Great Lent, as Great Barekendan is also called, commemorates the human bliss, which Adam and Eve enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.  It also symbolizes the heavenly right, according to which, mankind could eat all types of fruit, except the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Barekendan is the manifestation of the virtues of the soul, through which people can transform mourning to joy, and torment to peace. It is with this comprehension, with bowing of our souls, penitence, fasting and hope for mercy, that each Christian individual should take his first step on the long, 40 day journey of Great Lent, culminating with the Glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The period starting from the day following the Great Barekendan and lasting till the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is called Great Lent. In the period of the Great Lent, people, refraining from bodily pleasures and sins, get prepared for the Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ by means of abstinence and repentance. Both spiritual and moral and bodily abstinence are considered to be important.Our church fathers have called the period of the Great Lend as “Karasnordats”, as the period of fasting lasts 40 days. This period of the Great Lent is also called “Salt and bread”, as in the past during the period of the Great Lent people have eaten only salt and bread.

In the New and old Testaments there are many testimonies concerning the period of Great Lent. Moses fasted for forty days and only then received the Lord’s rules and canons. However, this period is related to 40-day period of temptation of Christ in the desert, following which our Church fathers established this period of fasting.

Fasting may be of three kinds: usual fasting, rigorous abstinence and absolute fasting. In case of usual fasting people can eat only food of vegetable origin. In case of rigorous fasting people refuse to eat any food even of vegetable origin. And in case of absolute fasting people refuse to eat any kind of food, including even bread and water.

During the period of the Great Lent curtains in the churches are closed in commemoration of the fact that after sinning Adam was exiled from Eden and the doors were closed before him.

As the result of Arian disputes a new heresy had appeared, the head and supporter of which was Bishop Makedon of Constantinople, who denied the deity of the Holy Spirit. The Ecumenical Council convened in Constantinople on that special occasion, re-endorsed the definition of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and stack for the formulation “One deity, three persons”.

Accepting the Ecumenical Council, the Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates the memory of 150 Patriarchs participating in the Council.