{"id":517376,"date":"2025-03-03T14:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T12:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=517376"},"modified":"2025-03-03T14:31:49","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T12:31:49","slug":"metropolitan-serafim-lent-journey-with-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/metropolitan-serafim-lent-journey-with-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Metropolitan Serafim: Great Lent is a journey with Christ through His Passion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWith a kind and forgiving heart that does not hold on to resentment, we can begin Great Lent\u2014a journey alongside our Savior Jesus Christ on the path of His Passion,\u201d explains Metropolitan Serafim of Germany, Central, and Northern Europe in his pastoral letter at the start of Great Lent 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his Lenten pastoral letter, His Eminence Metropolitan Serafim describes the process of man’s deification through union with Christ, renunciation of sin, and a life lived in virtue and obedience.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian life means an ever-deepening union with Christ until we can say, along with the Apostle Paul, \u2018I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me\u2019 (Galatians 2:20).\u201d<\/p>\n

Spiritual Weapons<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Highlighting the spiritual struggle of Lent, the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of Germany, Central, and Northern Europe points to three essential \u201cweapons\u201d of the Christian life: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Lent is a time of repentance through increased prayer\u2014at church, at home, on the road, at work, at all times and in all places\u2014fulfilling the exhortation of Saint Paul: \u2018Pray without ceasing\u2019 (1 Thessalonians 5:17).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us therefore pray with joy and faith, knowing that through prayer we unite with Christ in our hearts and receive His help for all our beneficial petitions. Let us not forget the reading of the Psalter, especially now, during fasting season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Physical Benefits of Fasting<\/strong><\/h2>\n

His Eminence also emphasized the physical benefits of fasting, alongside its spiritual significance.<\/p>\n

\u201cFasting, or a vegan diet\u2014more and more recommended by modern medicine\u2014is a great blessing for the health of both body and soul. According to our strength, let us strive to fast with joy throughout this holy season. Likewise, let us make every effort to show generosity to those in need, especially to large families in Romania.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray to our Savior Jesus Christ to give you strength to forgive all, to increase your love for prayer and mercy toward the poor, and to grant you a blessed fast!\u201d the metropolitan concluded.<\/p>\n

Photo: Basilica.ro<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWith a kind and forgiving heart that does not hold on to resentment, we can begin Great Lent\u2014a journey alongside our Savior Jesus Christ on the path of His Passion,\u201d explains Metropolitan Serafim of Germany, Central, and Northern Europe in his pastoral letter at the start of Great Lent 2025. In his Lenten pastoral letter,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":207453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[34328,5644,34307,4665,34466],"class_list":["post-517376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora-en","tag-almsgiving","tag-fasting","tag-great-lent-2025","tag-metropolitan-serafim","tag-spiritual-weapons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}