Quotes of the Day for February 23, 2026 – Thoughts on Great Lent as we begin the Lenten Journey
- 5 days ago
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Updated: 35 minutes ago
“Our lives are a gift from God and not of our own making. The Classical Christian spiritual life is not marked by choice and self-determination: it is characterized by self-emptying and the way of the Cross. When a modern Christian confronts the season of Lent – the question often becomes: “What do I want to give up for Lent?” The intention is good, but the question is wrong. Lent quickly becomes yet another life-choice, a consumer’s fast.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Lent is an opportunity for us to escape from the deadening atmosphere of vanity, haste, chattering, superficiality, emptiness, idleness, despondency and boredom, into which we often voluntarily immerse ourselves. Lent is a God-given chance to stop, get out of the rhythm of callous insensitivity and lack of prayer and think about the most important things—about Eternity, about the soul, about God. Lent is a space of love, kindness, compassion, self-reproach, leniency towards others, penitential tears, watching your heart and soul!” (Igumen Tikhon Borisov)
“Great Lent is a period of spiritual work for the sake of the salvation of the soul. And the first thing we need to do is forgive. First of all, forgive ourselves. After all, we often get angry with ourselves because we just can’t seem to be able to correct ourselves; because the years go by, and we do not become what we would like to become. From this comes disappointment, and then even despair. We have to understand that only God’s grace can change us for the better, while it is our duty only to be humble and labor according to our strength to acquire sanctity. Having forgiven ourselves, we have to also forgive all our enemies, knowing that all people on earth are entangled in sin. Having experienced ourselves how difficult it is to be freed from bad habits and inclinations, we should have more condescension for those who offend and anger us. Let’s not forget that people who don’t like us are whetting stones that scrub off the pride of our hearts, show us our imperfections, and help us correct ourselves.” (Metropolitan Luke Kovalenko)
“Especially in Lent, we must reject the temptation of trying to impress God by doing good deeds of any kind. Instead of obsessively trying to justify ourselves through religious legalism, our calling is to take the small and imperfect steps that we currently have the strength to take in conveying His selfless love to other people. The point is not to measure ourselves according to an impersonal standard of legal perfection, but to grow in conforming our character to His as we serve those who need our help. Doing so is an essential dimension of being able to say truthfully, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“We focus on Christ and God’s love and this helps declutter our hearts and minds so that we can know what is essential. We may want to clutch on to some dearly held things, but we learn to let them go and so they do not become the idols of our hearts (which is the true goal of any Lenten self-denial, not simply and legalistically substituting one food for another). We realize we will not disappear if we let go of all the things we love swirling in our hearts (whether things, people, or thoughts). We learn no longer to live but to have Christ live in us (Gal 2:20) so that we don’t fear death.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)