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The Easter Cycle
Prayer
Sanctify our fasts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and mercifully grant us the forgiveness of our sins.
Give Thy people, we beseech Thee, O Lord, health of soul and body, that by persevering
in good works we may ever deserve to be defended by Thy protection. Through Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Tuesday
The divine services today are held in the sanctuary of the martyr St. Cyriacus. He brought help
and comfort to the Daniel of the New Testament, Christ, held captive in His members. He
brought help and food to the prisoners of Christ, just as the prophet Habacuc brought help to
Daniel in the lion’s den in Babylon.
In Daniel the liturgy recognizes Christ, surrounded on all sides by unbelief, ridicule, and by the
unfaithfulness of His brethren in Galilee, who go to Jerusalem earnestly seeking to put Him to
death. Some of them say that He is a good man, but others say that He is a seducer of the people
(Gospel). After a few days they will call upon false witnesses and drag Him before Annas and
Caiphas; they will hand Him over to the pagan judge, Pilate, and seek His condemnation. They
will help stir up the mob to demand His death. He is like Daniel among the lions. They are not
satisfied merely with destroying Him; they must have Him put to death on the cross to satisfy
their thirst for revenge. They will stand under His cross and in their hatred will deride and torment
Him even in His disgrace and agony. They will shake their heads and say, “Vah, Thou that
destroyest the temple of God and in three days dost rebuild it, save Thy own self. If Thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross. . . . He saved others, Himself He cannot save. If He be
the king of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him” (Mt 27:40
ff.). He is like the innocent Daniel among the lions. He dies on the cross, and His body is laid in
the tomb. Like lions guarding their prey, His enemies seal the tomb where they have laid Him.
“Distinguish my cause, O Lord; deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man” (Gradual).
The enemies of Daniel believed that they had destroyed him, but he was miraculously saved.
So, too, the enemies of Christ thought that they had destroyed Him; but God put them to
shame. By His death He lays the foundations of His kingdom. He sends forth His apostles, and
soon all nations flock to Him, to love Him and serve Him. Men leave father and mother, give
up earthly possessions, earthly love and companionship, and embrace a life of mortification,
privation, and labor for the love of souls. They give up all things to follow Christ. “He humbled
Himself; . . . for which cause God also hath exalted Him and hath given Him a name which is
above all names.” All creatures shall bow to His name and acknowledge that Christ has been
glorified by God (Phil 2:8 ff.).
“And upon the seventh day the king came to bewail Daniel; and he came to the den and
looked in, and behold Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. And the king cried out with
a loud voice, saying: Great art Thou, O Lord, the God of Daniel. And He drew him out of the
lions’ den. But those that had been the cause of his destruction, he cast into the den, and they
were devoured in a moment before him. Then the king said: Let all the inhabitants of the whole
earth fear the God of Daniel; for He is the Savior, working signs and wonders in the earth, who
hath delivered Daniel out of the lions’ den” (Epistle). In like manner Christ was sealed in the
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