Abp. John of Albania Opens Triodion with Call to Humility and Repentance

Abp. John of Albania speaks to the faithful on Sunday. Photo: Aaron Hickman/UOJ-USA

TIRANA — The Orthodox Church formally entered the pre-Lenten Triodion period on Sunday, as His Beatitude Archbishop John of Tirana, Durrës, and All Albania delivered a homily at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ centered on the Gospel parable of the Publican and the Pharisee (Luke 18:10–14).

Members of the Union of Orthodox Journalists' team are currently in Albania for a special project and attended Liturgy for the beginning of Triodion in Tirana. An interview was conducted with His Beatitude after the service.

Marking the start of the Church’s most intensive season of spiritual preparation for Pascha, Archbishop John described the Triodion as a time of repentance and reflection. He emphasized that the Church begins this period with the parable to highlight the contrast between pride and humility in prayer.

Retelling the Gospel story, the Archbishop noted that while the Pharisee listed his virtues and religious observances, his prayer was ultimately self-directed and rooted in pride. The tax collector, by contrast, offered only a brief plea for mercy, which Christ presents as the model of justified prayer. The message, the Archbishop said, is that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Archbishop John stressed that God looks not at eloquent words but at the condition of the heart. He warned against spiritual pride and self-congratulation, citing St. Paul’s question: “What do you have that you did not receive?” to underscore that all good comes from God’s grace.

Drawing on biblical and patristic examples — including King David, the Prophet Isaiah, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Isaac the Syrian — he said that true holiness is marked by awareness of one’s own sins rather than judgment of others. Humility, he said, is the foundation of genuine prayer and repentance.

"For the person who humbles himself and admits his fault is illumined by God," His Beatitude said. "St. Isaac the Syrian, one of the greatest spiritual masters of the Orthodox Church, said: “The one who perceives his own sins is greater than one who sees angels and raises the dead.”

He further explained that in Orthodox theology, sin is not merely the breaking of rules but the rupture of a relationship with God. Repentance, therefore, is the restoration of that relationship and a transformation of mind and life.

"That is why today with the Triodion we begin for the first time to sing the famous troparion, 'Open to me the doors of repentance, O Giver of Life…,' in which we ask God to open to us the door of repentance," he said. "If the door of repentance opens, it opens through humility. The more humble we are, the more God will help and illumine us."

To illustrate the power of repentance, the Archbishop recounted a traditional story from the time of Emperor Maurice, in which a notorious bandit’s sincere, tearful repentance outweighed his many sins. The lesson, he said, is that the quality of repentance matters more than its duration.

"Maurice, a devout Christian, sent him a cross and asked him to repent, promising to forgive him. When the bandit saw the cross, he remembered his childhood and his parents who had spoken to him about Christ, and he repented. He went to the emperor, fell to his knees in tears, and asked forgiveness, and the emperor forgave him. He spent ten days praying and repenting, weeping so much that his handkerchief was soaked with tears. On the tenth day he died. A great saint living in a monastery in Constantinople saw in a vision the bandit before the judgment seat. Demons brought all his sins written on papers and placed them on the scales, which sank from the weight. Then they sought what good he had done. In an angel’s hands appeared the handkerchief wet from the tears of those ten days of repentance. When it was placed on the other side of the scale, it lifted the other side, because repentance is powerful. True repentance changes a person, and the change is not in length of time but in the quality of repentance."

Concluding, Archbishop John called on the faithful to “light the lamp of the heart” during the period of Triodion through humility, self-examination, and prayer. He encouraged believers to combine the good deeds of the Pharisee with the humility of the tax collector, saying this balance reflects the Church’s true spiritual path.

Previously, UOJ reported that numerous icons stolen from the Albanian Church had been returned after 14 years.

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