How is it possible that we receive the Holy Gifts on fasting days during Lent or on any other day besides the Lord‟s Day, excepting Feasts? The answers to these questions illuminate the very meaning of Lent. We fast during Lent so that our every thought might be of Christ. We receive the Heavenly Gifts (presanctified from the previous Sunday to be used on Wednesday) for the same reason. If fasting is indicative of the intensification of our spiritual struggle during Lent then we must needs have the Spiritual Nourishment necessary to succeed in that struggle. This Nourishment is the very Manna from Heaven which we may come and receive on Wednesdays – the Heavenly Manna, our Lord Jesus Christ, that sustains us and focuses our every thought as we progress on our spiritual path to Pascha.
-Part of a series adapted from “Great Lent – Journey to Pascha” by Fr. Alexander Schmemann
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