For Orthodox Christians, today is the first day of Great Lent and the beginning of the fasting period which lasts until Pascha (Easter). Last night, most Orthodox Churches had a service called Forgiveness Vespers, where each member present asks forgiveness of every other member. It’s interesting, because I’ve seen some of this spill over onto the internet. I’m no theologian, to be sure, but my own opinion is that it’s a practice that should no way take the place of the actual thing, but is not necessarily a bad idea either… A few thoughts in that direction can be found here: https://breathofhallelujah.com/2024/03/18/online-forgiveness/
I realize that I’m late with this, but I’ll end this post as I did on Wordpress… please forgive me for anything that I may have done here to hurt, frustrate, annoy, or otherwise need forgiveness. Even with this being a very small blog in terms of readership, I'm still very grateful for each of you.
My priest figured out a way to ensure we attended the forgiveness service: instead of having us return in the evening, he’d start the forgiveness right after Divine Liturgy before any of us could slip out. He knows us well!
I like your idea of asking forgiveness of our online contacts. In that spirit, I ask that you might forgive me any offense or hurt I may have caused, inadvertently, through carelessness.
Happy Lent!