Two Sundays ago was Forgiveness Sunday (February 26^th, 2017), and the subsequent beginning of Great Lent on the following Monday. This marks the beginning of a time of increased spiritual effort for the Orthodox Christian in preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been abstaining from meat, dairy, fish, and eggs for the past week, attending the additional church services of the canon of St. Andrew of Crete and Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, and attempting to draw closer to God in all that we do and say.

…Or have we? It seems to me that despite all of the additional effort in fasting and prayer, it still remains incredibly difficult for me to relinquish my own pride and treat my neighbor how I should. The first few days of Lent felt like utter failures to me: the fasting felt long and arduous, the temptation to give in to vices seemed to be lurking at every corner, and it remained difficult to forgive those who had wronged me. The beginning of the week seemed void of hope.

But I know that Christianity is not a hopeless faith, for we await the resurrection of Christ and the subsequent redemption of the entire universe, including whatever faults or misgivings we may have. Death is to be destroyed and the curse on Adam is to be revoked, for the Second Adam, who is Christ Himself, has come and redeemed us from the curse of the law. Will not the same God graciously forgive our transgressions and grant us all things?

As we continue through this journey of Great Lent, I realize more and more my own need for God’s forgiveness in order to progress spiritually. I need His forgiveness when, in my own smallness and selfishness, I alienate myself from Him, who is the Author of Life. I need to be grafted back into that Life which I have rejected. I need to be raised from the dead.

Perhaps this need for forgiveness is the reason I keep returning to Forgiveness Sunday in my mind. To this day I am still struck by how, at the end of Forgiveness Vespers, the people line up and one by one ask each other for forgiveness, saying, “Forgive me the sinner.” This seems like the perfect way to begin Great Lent and our preparation for the resurrection; we confess our own sinfulness and faults to our neighbors and subsequently ask for forgiveness. Interestingly enough, the response to this request for forgiveness is, “The Lord forgives,” instead of some other statement like, “I forgive you.” This is because we know that forgiveness is ultimately not our own; it comes from God. When I forgive someone, I am simply extending the same forgiveness to them that God has extended to me. By swallowing our pride and extending this forgiveness, we, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

A radical example of this kind of forgiveness is provided by St. Dionysios of Zakynthos, a priest-monk at the monastery of Anaphonitria on an island in Greece in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries. Fr. Dionysios was going about his business as usual at the monastery when a man came running to the monastery seeking refuge, banging on the door and being asked to be let in. Fr. Dionysios let the man in, to whom he offered the sacrament of confession. The man began his confession, and confessed that he had murdered another man named Constantine, a nobleman in Greece. However, the man was not aware that Constantine was Fr. Dionysios’ own brother. Fr. Dionysios, beginning to weep and with tears in his eyes, prayed the prayer of absolution over the man, asking for God’s forgiveness upon him.

After this, Fr. Dioynsios heard another knock on the door and instructed the man with him to hide. Upon opening it, he saw his own family on the other side, who told him about how his brother had been killed and that they were searching for the murderer. Fr. Dionysios responded by lying to his own family, stating he had not seen anyone.

Later that night, Fr. Dioynsios would help the man escape from the island on a boat. According to local tradition, the same man would later return there and become a monk at the same monastery Fr. Dioynsios had been at.

Why did St. Dionysios do this? What drove him to forgive his brother’s murderer and hide him from those who sought vengeance?

My guess is that St. Dionysios, being a very holy and Christ-like man, knew his own need for God’s forgiveness. Thus, he saw no reason why he should not extend this forgiveness to a man who was also seeking to repent, even if that man had done something as terrible as murdering his brother. Like Christ, St. Dionysios willing bore the burden of this man’s sins upon himself and thus sought to hide him from all future harm.

Let us thus imitate the example of St. Dioynsios, by not only realizing and accepting the forgiveness that God has given us but also by extending this forgiveness to others. Through the prayers of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos and of all the saints, Lord Jesus Christ our God have mercy on us and save us.