Every work of labor has great difficulty, but the size of its difficulty appears in the middle of it; for the labor that wears you down brings weakness, and weakness makes the rest of the work harder. Because we also, by divine grace, have arrived at about the middle of the fast, and weakness has surrounded us and the difficulty has increased, for this reason our holy Mother, the Church of Christ, sets before us as a most-mighty aid the all-holy Cross, the joy of the world, the strength of the faithful, the support of the righteous and the hope of sinners; so that we being broken may reverently receive grace and strength to complete the divine struggle of the fast.
from the Horologion