Sunday, March 2, 2025
Forgiveness Sunday · Great Lent begins at Vespers
New Calendar
Forgiveness Sunday · Great Lent begins at Vespers
Also commemorated
- Hieromartyr Theodotus, Bishop of Cyrenia
- St Arseny, Bishop of Tver
- The Four Hundred and Forty Martyrs of Lombardy (579)
- Holy Martyr Euthalia (257)
Today is a partial fast, no meat, but dairy, eggs, and fish are permitted (a Cheesefare day).
Old Calendar
Forgiveness Sunday · Great Lent begins at Vespers
Also commemorated
- Greatmartyr Theodore Tyro
- Hieromartyr Germogen, Patriarch of Moscow
Today is a partial fast, no meat, but dairy, eggs, and fish are permitted (a Cheesefare day).
- The Paschal season
The day’s readings
3rd Matins GospelMark 16.9-20
16:9Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. 12After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked, on their way into the country. 13They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either. 14Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 17These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 18they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
WEB, public domain
EpistleRomans 13.11-14.4
13:11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light. 13Let’s walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts. 14:1Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. 2One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.
WEB, public domain
GospelMatthew 6.14-21
6:14“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you don’t forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 16“Moreover when you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with sad faces. For they disfigure their faces that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Most certainly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18so that you are not seen by men to be fasting, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 19“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; 21for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
WEB, public domain
The order and appointment of the readings follow the Orthodox lectionary. Come to the Liturgy to hear them proclaimed.