Our life is a pilgrimage toward our heavenly fatherland. Fr.Alexander Schmemann

Forgiveness (Cheese-Fare Sunday)
by Alexander Schmemann

Finally comes the last day [of preparation for Lent], usually called “Forgiveness Sunday,” but whose other liturgical name must also be remembered: the “Expulsion of Adam from the Paradise of Bliss.” This name summarizes indeed the entire preparation for Lent. By now we know that man was created for paradise, for knowledge of God and communion with Him. Man’s sin has deprived him of that blessed life and his existence on earth is exile. Christ, the Savior of the world, opens the door of paradise to everyone who follows Him, and the Church, by revealing to us the beauty of the Kingdom, makes our life a pilgrimage toward our heavenly fatherland. Thus, at the beginning of Lent, we are like Adam:

Adam was expelled form paradise through food;
Sitting, therefore, in front of it he cried:
“Woe to me….
One commandment of…