HOMILY
Preached at Holy Sepulcher Parish on March 14, 2016 at 7:00PM Penance Service
Happy first day of Lent! Today actually is the first day of Lent… for Orthodox Christians, who celebrate Easter on a different day than we do, this year May 1. They do not have Ash Wednesday, they start their Lent with what is known as Clean Monday, and it is a national holiday in Greece. This first day of Lent, this Clean Monday, is reserved for two things: 1) Clean your home, to clean your castle so to speak. The idea of spring cleaning can be traced back to this Orthodox tradition of Clean Monday. 2) Go to confession, to clean your interior castle so to speak. In this way the faithful begin their Lent renewed in Christian love, mercy, and forgiveness.
Deacon DSM 