Great Lent begins with the service of Forgiveness Vespers, which will follow the Coffee Hour this Sunday. It is easily one of the most important services in the Lenten cycle. Although we may not personally feel the need for others in the congregation to forgive us, or a need to forgive them, the habit and practice of forgiveness is essential to our life in Christ. This service gives us a "running start" in what should be the daily tone of our lives throughout the Lenten Season (and really all time). Make plans to come. 

It is interesting to me that in Dostoevsky's classic Crime and Punishment, when the axe murderer, Raskolnikov, comes to his senses and begins the road to repentance, he is told to go and find a crossroads and there to bow down to the four corners of the earth and beg forgiveness of the earth for having spilled blood. The action is a deeply imaginative use of the Orthodox instinct. 

The Orthodox faith, when rightly practiced, should be marked by frequent asking of forgiveness and always generosity in giving it to others. 

Let us make a good beginning!