THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT

The Fourth Sunday of Lent has a double dedication. This means that, like the second and fifth Sundays of Great Lent, the first of which is celebrated on a specific Gospel theme, and the second in memory of great saints, Gregory Palamas and Mary of Egypt, the Fourth Sunday commemorates both a Gospel event and a saint. This event is the healing of a demon-possessed boy.

The saint whom the Church particularly remembers on this day, according to the liturgical calendar of the Orthodox Church, is Saint John of Sinai. In Christian tradition, both in the East and the West, according to the title of his principal work that has come down to us, he is called John Climacus. It is important not to forget the double dedication of this Sunday of Lent and others like it. The first dedication is older. The second dedication, in honor of the saints, began over time to eclipse the last, so that the Gospel dedication ceased to be commented on or even mentioned.

During the liturgy, the text of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, verses 17–31, is read. After the Transfiguration, the Lord came down from the mountain, and a man came out to meet him, whose son was “gravely possessed by a demon.” “Wherever he lay hold of him, he threw him to the ground, and he foamed at the mouth, gnashed his teeth, and became stiff” (18). Then he said to the Lord: “I told your disciples to cast out the demon, and they could not” (Mark 9:18). The inhabitants of Palestine, raised on the words of the Old Testament Scriptures, knew very well that casting out unclean spirits was a great boldness.

Coming from this man, whom Mark calls “one of the people” (17), that is, not a pagan, but a Jew who knew the Scriptures, these words obviously sounded like a condemnation and a reproach. Hence the Lord’s prophetically indignant response: “O faithless generation! How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me” (19). The Lord Jesus, in the sequence and succession of the ancient prophets, knew how to be indignant. This happened according to the example of the biblical prophets. The Bible says of Moses: “Moses was the meekest of all men” (Numbers 12:3). But coming down from the mountain, Moses, seeing the disbelief of the people, broke the tablets (Ex 32:19). Jesus denounces the disbelief of those around him. He himself is also outraged. For the people, this was a sign that he was the perfect fulfillment of the Bible’s prophets.

What is wrong with the father’s words to Jesus? It is possible that the child’s father asked for healing in absentia, without the Lord’s participation, as is evident from the preceding words: “I spoke to your disciples” (18). In this detail and in Christ’s response, there is a lesson for all of us who often turn to God through prayer intentions, prayer requests, and other requests that require no sacrifice on our part.

We often try to write as many names as possible on the same note, as if trying to cut costs. A prayer request must be accompanied by a donation to the Church. Only a gift makes a prayer request powerful. This may not be popular, it may seem odd, but it is an ancient biblical axiom.

Our contemporary, the grandson of Father Pavel Florensky, himself an exceptional theologian and spiritual father, who taught us the theology of the Church Fathers at the Moscow theological schools of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in the 1990s, Father Andronik Trubachev (1952-2021), said, “the concept of sacrifice is axiomatic.”

It is also possible that this man was trying to set Jesus and his disciples against each other. This is why he said: “I spoke to your disciples” (18). Let us be careful not to pit different priests against each other. It is impossible to imagine a Muslim imam publicly slandering another. In our Orthodox world, unfortunately, local Churches speak ill of one another, and different communities often behave like fierce competitors.

But this is rather the content of a possible pastoral instruction. During Lent, theological interpretation is very important.

“When Jesus entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why were we not able to drive it out?’ And he said to them, ‘This species can only get out through prayer and fasting’” (29-30). This was said to the Apostles during Jesus’ earthly life. Today, it concerns all of us, the wandering Church, the Church traveling the paths of Lent.

Power over the evil world requires great grace. It is union with God in prayer and the overcoming of ambitions and natural forces. The fasting of which the Lord speaks in the Gospel is not at all self-restriction, nor a diet, nor the choice of one food over another, but a total refusal of food and drink. It is a refusal to maintain vital forces. This is why the Orthodox monks of the late Middle Ages decided not to shave their beards or cut their hair. For a man’s corpse grows a beard. Monks are dead to the world. Unfortunately, this symbolism of the appearance of monks has been lost today.

The Lord’s Fast is a biblical fast. In the liturgical calendar, this passage from the Gospel corresponds to the number 40. Although the numbering of the New Testament texts by chapters hardly follows any deliberate design, the number forty itself is deeply symbolic. This is a biblical sign of repentance, corresponding to the Lenten pilgrimage of the People of God, the Church.

The Lord Himself, following the example and fulfilling the prophetic image of Moses (cf. Ex 24:18), by which the people of God were to recognize Him, fasted for 40 days. Then the demon of demons, that is, the devil, approached Him to tempt Him (cf. Mt 4:3). Apparently, He was convinced that a hungry, cold, and thirsty man could be tempted and defeated. But before Him stood the Messiah, who lived not by the force of his will, as non-Christian ascetics attempt, but as One with the Heavenly Father.

“These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons, speak with new tongues, and kill serpents”. (Mark 16:17-18) By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Mark knew from experience what he was talking about. This was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Then the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and gave them the strength and authority to accomplish great works in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another dedication of this day is the memory of Saint John Climacus (579–649). The saint was a great ascetic and theologian. The great tradition of Orthodox asceticism at Sinai is associated with the name of John.

The memory of John is inseparable from his work “The Ladder,” whose title recalls Jacob’s ladder, by which the angels ascended to heaven. By imitating this image, the monks attempted to climb the ladder of spiritual rebirth.

John was a contemporary of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (570–632). Just as Muhammad left behind the Quran, a sacred book that Muslims consider to be revelation, John left behind a book called The Ladder for the Church, as a society of believers, which shaped the lives and worldview of many monks and Orthodox Christians for centuries. Such a comparison will help us better remember dates, events, times, and names.

The memory of John is celebrated twice a year. First, on a movable day of the fourth Sunday of Lent; and again, on April 12 (March 30). This latter date remains unchanged. This last celebration in the calendar in honor of the ascetic of Sinai unfortunately generally goes unnoticed, since the Church celebrates John’s memory with particular solemnity during the fourth Sunday of Great Lent. By the way, the famous Ivan the Great Bell Tower within the walls of the Moscow Kremlin is dedicated to Saint John of Sinai, as is the main church of the Moscow Theological Academy Seminary building in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

Let us also recall that on April 12, 1961, the first man, Yuri Gagarin, at the age of 27, went into space and opened the way for mankind to the visible heavens. It is particularly remarkable, noteworthy, and truly unforgettable that the annual celebration in honor of John on April 12 in Russian, Serbian, Georgian, Polish, and Jerusalem churches, as well as on Mount Athos, which adhere to the ancient Julian calendar, coincides with this significant historical date. Everything secular has its own mysterious theological tectonics. There is a theology of simple things. This incredible and mysterious coincidence indicates to the believing heart that the history of the world is always written by the hand of the Heavenly Father.