From our own Fr. Cyprian:

Dear brethren,  

   We have now come to the culmination of the preparation period for Great lent.  While this Forgiveness Sunday marks the conclusion of one period of our liturgical life, it also begins what promises to be a fruitful spiritual journey if we give the idea of forgiveness the serious attention it deserves.  This weekend stresses two themes in our liturgical hymnody.  The first theme is that of the “Expulsion of Adam from the Paradise of Bliss”.  Quite obviously, one could dedicate whole treatises to this topic as many of the Holy Fathers have already done.  The second theme is that of forgiveness.  We see this most abundantly in the Rite of Forgiveness that takes place at the end of Forgiveness Vespers.  In this humbling endeavor, we are called to come face to face with each of our brethren and ask them to forgive us for the offenses that we may have caused.  In turn, our neighbor is to ask forgiveness of us for whatever he has done wrongly unto us.  It is this magnificent theme of forgiveness that will be the focus of this brief article.