Christ is Risen!

Holy Saturday

Introduction

On Great and Holy Saturday the Orthodox Church commemorates the burial of Christ and His descent into Hades. It is the day between the Crucifixion of our Lord and His glorious Resurrection. The Matins of Holy Saturday is conducted on Friday evening, and while many elements of the service represent mourning at the death and burial of Christ, the service itself is one of watchful expectation.

Commemoration Of Holy Saturday

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

On Great and Holy Saturday the Church contemplates the mystery of the Lord's descent into Hades, the place of the dead. Death, our ultimate enemy, is defeated from within. "He (Christ) gave Himself as a ransom to death in which we were held captive, sold under sin. Descending into Hades through the Cross ... He loosed the bonds of death" (Liturgy of St. Basil).

On Great Saturday our focus is on the Tomb of Christ. This is no ordinary grave. It is not a place of corruption, decay and defeat. It is life-giving, a source of power, victory and liberation.

Great Saturday is the day between Jesus' death and His resurrection. It is the day of watchful expectation, in which mourning is being transformed into joy. The day embodies in the fullest possible sense the meaning of xarmolipi - joyful-sadness, which has dominated the celebrations of Great Week. The hymnographer of the Church has penetrated the profound mystery, and helps us to understand it through the following poetic dialogue that he has devised between Jesus and His Mother:

"Weep not for me, O Mother, beholding in the sepulcher the Son whom thou hast conceived without seed in thy womb. For I shall rise and shall be glorified, and as God I shall exalt in everlasting glory those who magnify thee with faith and love."

"O Son without beginning, in ways surpassing nature was I blessed at Thy strange birth, for I was spared all travail. But now beholding Thee, my God, a lifeless corpse, I am pierced by the sword of bitter sorrow. But arise, that I may be magnified."

"By mine own will the earth covers me, O Mother, but the gatekeepers of hell tremble as they see me, clothed in the bloodstained garment of vengeance: for on the Cross as God have I struck down mine enemies, and I shall rise again and magnify thee."

"Let the creation rejoice exceedingly, let all those born on earth be glad: for hell, the enemy, has been despoiled. Ye women, come to meet me with sweet spices: for I am delivering Adam and Eve with all their offspring, and on the third day I shall rise again." (9th Ode of the Canon)

Great Saturday is the day of the pre-eminent rest. Christ observes a Sabbath rest in the tomb. His rest, however, is not inactivity but the fulfillment of the divine will and plan for the salvation of humankind and the cosmos. He who brought all things into being, makes all things new. The re-creation of the world has been accomplished once and for all. Through His incarnation, life and death Christ has filled all things with Himself He has opened a path for all flesh to the resurrection from the dead, since it was not possible that the author of life would be dominated by corruption.

Saint Paul tells us that:

"God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world to Himself" (2 Corinthians 5:19). Hence, eternal life - real and self-generating - penetrated the depths of Hades. Christ who is the life of all destroyed death by His death. That is why the Church sings joyously "Things now are filled with light, the heaven and the earth and all that is beneath the earth" (Canon of Pascha).

The Church knows herself to be "the place, the eternal reality, where the presence of Christ vanquishes Satan, hell and death itself.

The solemn observance of Great Saturday help us to recall and celebrate the great truth that "despite the daily vicissitudes and contradictions of history and the abiding presence of hell within the human heart and human society," life has been liberated! Christ has broken the power of death.

It is not without significance that the icon of the Resurrection in our Church is the Descent of Christ into Hades, the place of the dead. This icon depicts a victorious Christ, reigned in glory, trampling upon death, and seizing Adam and Eve in His hands, plucking them from the abyss of hell. This icon expresses vividly the truths resulting from Christ's defeat of death by His death and Resurrection.

Icon Of The Commemoration Of Holy Saturday

Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of God, John the beloved disciple, and Joseph of Arimathea are shown preparing Christ's body for the tomb. Icon provided by Athanasios Clark and used with permission. Icon of the Epitaphios Thrinos provided by Athanasios Clark and used with permission.

Orthodox Celebration Of Holy Saturday

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

At the Third Stasis when the verse "Eranan ton Tafon ai miroforoi mira lian proi elthousai-early in the morning the myrrh-bearers came to Thee and sprinkled myrrh upon Thy tomb" is sung the priest sprinkles the Epitaphios with rosewater, using the rantistirion (sprinkler). This verse is usually repeated three or more times. It has become the custom to sprinkle the people as well.

Photos courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

At the conclusion of the service, the faithful go in procession with the Epitaphios and often the entire structure that represents the Tomb of Christ around the Church chanting the Thrice-Holy hymn, in a similar manner to the traditional procession for a funeral.

Photos courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

It is customary for the clergy and people to hold candles during the singing of the Lamentations and at the procession of the Epitaphios. This practice is rooted in ancient Christian burial practices. Candles were lit in order to symbolize the victory of Christ over death, and to express as well the Church's belief in the Resurrection.

The Scripture readings for the Matins service are: Ezekiel 37:1-14; I Corinthians 5:6-8; Galatians 3:13-14; and Matthew 27:62-66.

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

The Liturgy held on the morning of Holy and Great Saturday is that of Saint Basil the Great. It begins with Vespers. After the entrance, the evening hymn 'O Gentle Light' is chanted as usual. Then the Old Testament readings are recited. They tell of the most striking events and prophecies of the salvation of mankind by the death of the Son of God. The account of creation in Genesis is the first reading. The sixth reading is the story of Israel's crossing of the Red Sea and Moses' song of victory - over Pharaoh, with its refrain: 'For gloriously is He glorified'. The last reading is about the Three Children in the fiery furnace of Babylon, and their song of praise with its repeated refrain: 'O praise ye the Lord and supremely exalt Him unto the ages.' In the ancient church the catechumens were baptized during the time of these readings. The Epistle which follows speaks of how, through the death of Christ, we too shall rise to a new life. After the Epistle, the choir chants, like a call to the sleeping Christ: 'Arise, O Lord, Judge the earth, for Thou shalt have an inheritance among all the nations... The deacon carries out the Book of the Gospels, and reads the first message of the resurrection from Saint Matthew. Because the Vespers portion of the service belongs to the next day (Pascha) the burial hymns of Saturday are mingled with those of the resurrection, so that this service is already full of the coming Paschal joy.

Photos courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

After the reading of the Epistle, the priest follows the custom of tossing of laurel, saying: "Arise, O God, and judge Thou the earth: for Thou shall take all heathen to Thine inheritance". The Cherubic hymn of this day is: "Let all mortal flesh keep silence and stand with fear and trembling...", a thoughtful hymn of adoration and exaltation. The Divine Liturgy ends with the Communion Hymn: "So the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and He is risen to save us".

Hymns Of Holy Saturday

Hymns from the Anoi
"Come, let us see our Life lying in the tomb, that He may give life to those that in their tombs lie dead. Come, let us look today on the Son of Judah as He sleeps, and with the prophet let us cry aloud to Him: Thou hast lain down, Thou hast slept as a lion; who shall awaken Thee, O King? But of Thine own free will do Thou rise up, who willingly dost give Thyself for us. O Lord, glory to Thee."

"Today a tomb holds Him who holds the creation in the hollow of His hand; a stone covers Him who covered the heavens with glory. Life sleeps and hell trembles, and Adam is set free from his bonds. Glory to Thy dispensation, whereby Thou hast accomplished all things, granting us an eternal Sabbath, Thy most holy Resurrection from the dead."

Source: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_saturday/learn/

Great and Holy Friday

Introduction

On Great and Holy Friday the Orthodox Church commemorates the death of Christ on the Cross. This is the culmination of the observance of His Passion by which our Lord suffered and died for our sins. This commemoration begins on Thursday evening with the Matins of Holy Friday and concludes with a Vespers on Friday afternoon that observes the unnailing of Christ from the Cross and the placement of His body in the tomb.

Commemoration Of Great And Holy Friday

Icon of the Extreme Humility provided by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline, MA.

On this day we commemorate the sufferings of Christ: the mockery, the crown of thorns, the scourging, the nails, the thirst, the vinegar and gall, the cry of desolation, and all the Savior endured on the Cross.

The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There, sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the Cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature.

In Christ, who is the New Adam, there is no sin. And, therefore, there is no death. He accepted death because He assumed the whole tragedy of our life. He chose to pour His life into death, in order to destroy it; and in order to break the hold of evil. His death is the final and ultimate revelation of His perfect obedience and love. He suffered for us the excruciating pain of absolute solitude and alienation - "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me!" (Mark 15:34). Then, He accepted the ultimate horror of death with the agonizing cry, "It is finished" (John 19:30). His cry was at one and the same time an indication that He was in control of His death and that His work of redemption was accomplished, finished, fulfilled. How strange! While our death is radical unfulfillment, His is total fulfillment.

The day of Christ's death has become our true birthday. "Within the mystery of Christ dead and resurrected, death acquires positive value. Even if physical, biological death still appears to reign, it is no longer the final stage in a long destructive process. It has become the indispensable doorway, as well as the sure sign of our ultimate Pascha, our passage from death to life, rather than from life to death.

From the beginning the Church observed an annual commemoration of the decisive and crucial three days of sacred history, i.e., Great Friday, Great Saturday and Pascha. Great Friday and Saturday have been observed as days of deep sorrow and strict fast from Christian antiquity.

Great Friday and Saturday direct our attention to the trial, crucifixion, death and burial of Christ. We are placed within the awesome mystery of the extreme humility of our suffering God. Therefore, these days are at once days of deep gloom as well as watchful expectation. The Author of life is at work transforming death into life: "Come, let us see our Life lying in the tomb, that he may give life to those that in their tombs lie dead" (Sticheron of Great Saturday Orthros).

Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a particular kind of silence, i.e. by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held. However, before the twelfth century it was the custom to celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on Great Friday.

The divine services of Great Friday with the richness of their ample Scripture lessons, superb hymnography and vivid liturgical actions bring the passion of Christ and its cosmic significance into sharp focus. The hymns of the services on this day help us to see how the Church understands and celebrates the awesome mystery of Christ's passion and death.

Icons Of The Commemoration Of Great And Holy Friday

Christ is depicted nailed to the Cross. The wound on His right side pours out both blood and water.	The mount where Christ was crucified was known as Golgotha, or the "place of the skull". A skull can be seen below the Cross.

On Great and Holy Friday, Orthodox churches display the icon known as the "Axra Tapeinosis - The Extreme Humility." This icon depicts the crucified dead body of Christ upright in the Tomb with the Cross in the background. It combines the two awesome events of Great Friday - the crucifixion and burial of Christ.

On the left-hand side of the icon are depicted Mary, the Mother of God (front) and Mary Magdalene (right).	On the right-hand side of the icon are depicted Saint John and Saint Longinus, the Centurion.

The Church also has an icon of the Crucifixion of Christ. He is shown nailed to the Cross. His right side is pierced and from the wound flows blood and water. At the foot of the Cross is a skull. (Golgotha, the Mount of the Crucifixion, means "the place of the skull.") Tradition related that the Cross of Christ stood directly over the grave of our Forefather Adam. On the top bar of the Cross is the inscription "I.N.B.I.", the initials for the Greek words meaning "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." To the left of Christ, the Theotokos and St. Mary Magdalene are often pictured as well; the youthful St. John the Beloved Disciple and St. Longinus the Centurion (Mark 15:39) are shown to the right if they are depicted.

Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of God, John the beloved disciple, and Joseph of Arimathea are shown preparing Christ's body for the tomb. Icon of the Epitaphios Thrinos provided by Athanasios Clark and used with permission.

Another icon that depicts the events of Holy Friday is known as the Epitaphios Thrinos. In this icon, Christ has been taken off of the Cross, and His body is being prepared for burial. Shown around the body and mourning His death are His mother, the Theotokos and Virgin Mary, John the beloved disciple, Joseph of Arimathea, and Mary Magdelene.

In addition to these icons, Orthodox churches process with and display a large wooden Crucifix with an image of Christ attached. At the Vespers on Friday, the image of Christ is removed from the Cross and wrapped in a white cloth. Another icon, one that depicts the body of Christ removed from the Cross, appears on the Epitaphios that is carried and placed in the Tomb during this service.

Orthodox Celebration Of Great And Holy Friday

The commemorations of Holy Friday begin with the Matins service of the day which is conducted on Thursday evening. The service is a very unique Matins service with twelve Gospel readings that begin with Christ's discourse at the Last Supper and end with the account of His burial: John 13:31-18:1, John 18:1-29, Matthew 26:57-75, John 18:28 - 19:16, Matthew 27:3-32, Mark 15:16-32, Matthew 27:33-54, Luke 23:32-49, John 19:38-42, Mark 15:43-47, John 19:38-42, Matthew 27:62-66

These readings relate the last instructions of Christ to His disciples, the prophecy of the drama of the Cross, the dramatic prayer of Christ and His new commandment. After the reading of the fifth Gospel comes the procession with the Crucifix around the church, while the priest chants the Fifteenth Antiphon:

"Today is hung upon the Tree, He Who did hang the land in the midst of the waters. A Crown of thorns crowns Him Who is King of Angels. He is wrapped about with the purple of mockery Who wrapped the Heavens with clouds. He received buffetings Who freed Adam in Jordan. He was transfixed with nails Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He was pierced with a spear Who is the Son of the Virgin. We worship Thy Passion, O Christ. Show also unto us thy glorious Resurrection."

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

During the Procession, Orthodox Christians kneel and venerate the Cross and pray for their spiritual well-being, imitating the thief on the Cross who confessed his faith and devotion to Christ. The faithful then approach and reverently kiss the Crucifix which has been placed at the front of the church.

Photos courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

On Friday morning, the services of the Royal Hours are observed. These services are primarily readings of prayers, hymns, and passages from the Old Testament, Epistles, and Gospels. The Scripture readings for these services are: First Hour: Zechariah 11:10-13, Galatians 6:14-18, Matthew 27:1-56; Third Hour: Isaiah 50:4-11, Romans 5:6-10, Mark 15:6-41; Sixth Hour: Isaiah 52:13-54:1, Hebrews 2:11-18; Luke 23:32-49; Ninth Hour: Jeremiah 11:18-23,12:1-5,9-11,14-15, Hebrews 10:19-31, John 18:28-19:37.

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

The Vespers of Friday afternoon are a continuation of the Royal Hours. During this service, the removal of the Body of Christ from the Cross is commemorated with a sense of mourning. Once more, excerpts from the Old Testament are read together with hymns, and again the entire story is related, followed by the removal of Christ from the Cross and the wrapping of His body with a white sheet as did Joseph of Arimathea.

Photo courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

As the priest reads the Gospel, "and taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in a white cloth," he removes the Body of Christ from the Cross, wraps it in a white cloth and takes it to the altar. The priest then chants a mourning hymn: "When Joseph of Arimathea took Thee, the life of all, down from the Tree dead, he buried Thee with myrrh and fine linen . . . rejoicing. Glory to Thy humiliation, O Master, who clothest Thyself with light as it were with a garment." The priest then carries the cloth on which the Body of Christ is painted or embroidered around the church before placing it inside the Sepulcher, a carved bier which symbolizes the Tomb of Christ. We are reminded that during Christ's entombment He descends into Hades to free the dead of the ages before His Resurrection.

The Scripture readings for the Vespers are: Exodus 33:11-23; Job 42:12-17; Isaiah 52:13-54:1; I Corinthians 1:18-2:2; and from the Gospels Matthew 27:1-38; Luke 23:39-43; Matthew 27:39-54; John 19:31-37; and Matthew 27:55-61.

Photos courtesy of John Thomas and used with permission. Experience more of Holy Week in pictures through John Thomas' book "Sacred Light: Following the Paschal Journey"

Source: http://lent.goarch.org/holy_friday/learn/

The Holy and Great Thursday

COMMENTS ON THE MAIN THEMES

On Great Thursday the focus of the Church turns to the events that occurred in the Upper Room and at the Garden of Gethsemane.

In the Upper Room, while at meal, Jesus established and instituted the mystery or sacrament of the holy Eucharist and washed the feet of His disciples as well.

The Garden of Gethsemane calls our attention to Jesus' redemptive obedience and sublime prayer (Mt 26.36-46). It also brings us before the cowardly, treacherous act of Judas, who betrayed Christ with a kiss, the sign of love and friendship.

The Eucharist
At the Mystical Supper in the Upper Room Jesus gave a radically new meaning to the food and drink of the sacred meal. He identified Himself with the bread and wine: "Take, eat; this is my Body.…Drink of it all of you; for this is my Blood of the New Covenant" (Mt 26.26-28).

We have learned to equate food with life because it sustains our earthly existence. In the Eucharist the distinctively unique human food - bread and wine - becomes our gift of life. Consecrated and sanctified, the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. This change is not physical but mystical and sacramental. While the qualities of the bread and wine remain, we partake of the true Body and Blood of Christ. In the eucharistic meal God enters into such a communion of life that He feeds humanity with His own being, while still remaining distinct. In the words of St. Maximos the Confessor, Christ, "transmits to us divine life, making Himself eatable." The Author of life shatters the limitations of our createdness. Christ acts so that "we might become sharers of divine nature" (2 Pet 1.4).

The Eucharist is at the center of the Church's life. It is her most profound prayer and principal activity. It is at one and the same time both the source and the summit of her life. In the Eucharist the Church manifests her true nature and is continuously changed from a human community into the Body of Christ, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and the People of God.

The Eucharist is the pre-eminent sacrament. It completes all the others and recapitulates the entire economy of salvation. Our new life in Christ is constantly renewed and increased by the Eucharist. The Eucharist imparts life and the life it gives is the life of God.

Through baptism and chrismation we have entered into a new mode of existence. It is an existence of constant becoming. The Scriptures describe this as new birth, the death of the old man, the putting off of the old nature and the putting on of the new. This newness, this radical change in the mode of existence, is not accomplished by human effort. It is a gift from God. Rooted in the age to come, this new existence is maintained and nourished by the Eucharist. At every Divine Liturgy we hear the good news of Christ and enter into the process of conversion. We are given the possibility to acquire for ourselves the eucharistic manner of existence. Little by little we become ourselves communion and love. At the Divine Liturgy the tragic elements of our fallen existence - pride, individualism, blasphemy, vanity, hypocricy, envy, anger, division, fear, despair, pain, deceit, untruth, malice, greed, vice, gluttony, passions, corruption, death - are being continuously defeated, in order to make us capable to be love, freedom and life.

The Eucharist is offered to the Church as a whole not as a reward, but as a remedy for sin, a provision for life, the communion of the Holy Spirit, and an opening to others. Every baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christian should be a regular and frequent recipient of the divine Mysteries. Care, however, must be taken that Holy Communion is approached with spiritual discernment and adequate preparation. A total fast, as described above, precedes our reception of Holy Communion. The observance of God's commandments constitutes the essential preparation and proper disposition for participation in the sacrament.

In the Eucharist the Church remembers and enacts sacramentally the redemptive event of the Cross and participates in its saving grace. This does not suggest that the Eucharist attempts to reclaim a past event. The Eucharist does not repeat what cannot be repeated. Christ is not slain anew and repeatedly. Rather the eucharistic food is changed concretely and really into the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, “Who gave Himself up for the life of the world.” Christ, the Theanthropos, continually offers Himself to the faithful through the consecrated Gifts, i.e., His very own risen and deified Body, which for our sake died once and now lives (Heb 10.2; Rev 1. 18). Hence, the faithful come to Church week by week not only to worship God and to hear His word. They come, first of all, to experience over and over the mystery of salvation I on and to be united intimately to the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

By the power of His sacrifice Christ draws us into His own sacrificial action. The Church also offers sacrifice. However, the sacrifice offered by the Church and her members can only be an offering given in return to God on account of the riches of His goodness, mercy and love. This sacrifice is first of all, a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. It also has other forms, including commitment to the Gospel, loyalty to the true faith, constant prayer, fasting, struggles against the passions, and works of charity. At its deepest level, however, this offering in return (antiprosfora) is an act of kenosis (Lk 9.23-25). It is constituted by our willingness to lose our life in order to gain it (Mt 16.28).

In the Eucharist we receive and partake of the resurrected Christ. We share in His sacrificed, risen and deified Body, "for the forgiveness of sins and life eternal" (Divine Liturgy). In the Eucharist Christ pours into us - as a permanent and constant gift - the Holy Spirit, "Who bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God - and if children - then heirs with Christ (Rom 8.16-17).

The central fruit of the Eucharist is the communion of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life, who prepares us for the resurrection and makes us advance toward it (Rom 8.2, 9-8). The other fruits of the Eucharist are related to this central gift. Vigilance of soul, forgiveness of sins, a clear conscience are both a preparation for as well as the result of our communion with the Holy Spirit. Sonship, fellowship with the saints, the manifestation of love in the unity of faith, and the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom are obtained by the communion of the Holy Spirit.

St. Gregory Palamas, in an insightful passage, helps us to understand the profound power and wonder of the Eucharist:

Christ has become our brother by sharing our flesh and blood and so becoming assimilated to us. . . He has joined and bound us to Himself, as a husband his wife, by becoming one single flesh with us through the communion of His blood; He has also become our Father by divine baptism which renders us like unto Him, and He nourishes us at His own breast as a tender mother nourishes her babies ... Come, He says, eat my Body, drink my Blood . . . so that you be not only made after God's image, but become gods and kings, eternal and heavenly, clothing yourselves with me, King and God.

The Washing of the Feet

The events initiated by Jesus at the Mystical.Supper were profoundly significant. By teaching and giving the disciples His final instructions and praying for them as well, He revealed again His divine Sonship and authority. By establishing the Eucharist, He enshrines to perfection God's most intimate purposes for our salvation, offering Himself as Communion and life. By washing the feet of His disciples, he summarized the meaning of His ministry, manifested His perfect love and revealed His profound humility. The act of the washing of the feet (Jn. 13:2-17) is closely related to the sacrifice of the Cross. Both reveal aspects of Christ's kenosis. While the cross constitues the ultimate manifestation of Christ's perfect obedience to His Father (Phil 2.5-8), the washing of the feet signifies His intense love and the giving of Himself to each person according to that person's ability to receive Him (Jn 13.6-9). In a meditation on liturgical and priestly service, Father Lev Gillet - who wrote under the pseudonym-- A Monk of the Eastern Church - made the following observations on the significance of Jesus' act. Though his words are addressed to priests, they are appropriate for and applicable to every Christian as well.

The washing of feet does not merely signify a necessary purification - take away the dust accumulated along the roadway, take away the errors due to human weakness. More than that, this act is a mystery of humility and love. Jesus wanted to be designated by the prophet Isaiah as the "Suffering Servant." In the Gospels He describes Himself as "Him who serves." He insisted on the fact that, in the Kingdom of God, the greatest should be the least. And now, before entering into His Passion, he says to His disciples: "If 1, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you" (Jn 13.14-15).

The priest of Jesus cannot fruitfully accomplish this double priestly act - share the bread of the Word and break the bread of the Lord's Supper - unless, first of all, like His master, he kneels before others in an attitude of humility and service, and washes their feet. Without this precondition, his ministry will bear no fruit. How, then, in the priest's daily life, can this attitude of humility and service be realized?

Every pastoral act performed by the priest and every human relationship established by him should be marked by this double attitude of humility and service . . . Above all other, the priest should devote himself to those who suffer ... For the task of the priest is to direct towards the Savior every form of physical or psychological suffering, as well as every need for salvation. The priest will be especially devoted to the dying, the sick, those in prison, the persecuted, the poor, and the afflicted. He will give alms in the form of his money and his consolation. If he has no money, he will recall the words St. Peter spoke to the paralytic, and say: "I have neither silver nor gold, but I give you what I have . . ." (Acts 3.6). What I have - that is, my affection and my prayer ... In each new situation the priest is called upon to make a wholly new effort of understanding and love ... The priest has done nothing until he himself has "shared" the burden borne by the other person, until he himself has tried to bear that same burden (in a way that differs in each case and should be guided by discernment and grace), until he himself has truly entered into the suffering of his brother, and until his compassion actually costs him something and directs him towards a specific sacrifice.

Prayer
The Synoptic Gospels have preserved for us another significant episode in the series of events leading to the Passion, namely, the agony and prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26.36-46; Mk. 14.32-42; Lk. 22.39-46).

Although Jesus was Son of God, He was destined as man to accept fully the human condition, to experience suffering and to learn obedience. Divesting Himself of divine prerogatives, the Son of God assumed the role of a servant. He lived a truly human existence. Though He was Himself sinless, He allied Himself with the whole human race, identified with the human predicament, and experienced the same tests (Phil 2.6-11; Heb 2.9-18).

The moving events in the Garden of Gethsemane dramatically and poignantly disclosed the human nature of Christ. The sacrifice He was to endure for the salvation of the world was imminent. Death, with all its brutal force and fury, stared directly at Him. Its terrible burden and fear - the calamitous results of the ancestral sin - caused Him intense sorrow and pain (Heb 5.7). Instinctively, as man He sought to escape it. He found Himself in a moment of decision. In His agony He prayed to His Father, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mk 14.36).
His prayer revealed the depths of His agony and sorrow. It revealed as well His "incomparable spiritual strength (and) immovable desire and decision . . . to bring about the will of the Father.'

Jesus offered His unconditional love and trust to the Father. He reached the extreme limits of self denial "not what I will" - in order to accomplish His Father's will. His acceptance of death was not some kind of stoic passivity and resignation but an act of absolute love and obedience. In that moment of decision, when He declared His acceptance of death to be in agreement with the Father's will, he broke the power of the fear of death with all its attending uncertainties, anxieties and limitations. He learned obedience and fulfilled the divine plan (Heb 5.8-9).

In the course of His agony, Jesus exhorted His disciples to watch and pray that they may not enter into temptation (Mt 26.41). This same admonition is applicable to every Christian in every generation.

Prayer connects us with Jesus, who, through His obedience became the unique and perfect worshipper of God. He becomes both the model as well as the subject of our prayer. Thus, with Christ always on our mind and in our heart we can neither be tempted nor can we perish, to paraphrase an ancient Christian text.

Prayer is the power that fuels the spiritual life. As breathing, eating, drinking, and thinking are essential to human existence, prayer is a fundamental element and acitivity of the Christian life. Authentic Orthodox spirituality is constituted by a vibrant prayer life rooted in the life of the Church, her faith and her sacraments; and related, as well, to the practice of fasting, which is seen primarily as obedience to and love for God, the transformation of the passions, and acts of charity.

Prayer is the most sublime experience of the human soul. Without it the soul is left cold and spiritless. It cannot enter into a sustained personal relationship with God.

Prayer is an act of faith. It brings us to the threshold of another world. Through it we reach and cross the ultimate frontier. We touch another world, which we come to experience as extraordinary peace, beauty, goodness, joy and trust. Prayer opens our life to a new reality which transcends us. We encounter the living God and converse with Him. The Holy One, who alone has existence, embraces us with His tender mercy, compassion and love. Divine light penetrates the depths of our soul to reveal our sins, purge our iniquities, heal our brokenness, illumine our intellect, strengthen our will, and gladden our heart.

The Betrayal

As we noted above, Judas betrayed Christ with a kiss, the sign of friendship and love. The betrayal and crucifixion of Christ carried the ancestral sin to its extreme limits. In these two acts the rebellion against God reached its maximum capacity. The seduction of man in paradise culminated in the death of God in the flesh. To be victorious evil must quench the light and discredit the good. In the end, however, it shows itself to be a lie, an absurdity and sheer madness. The death and resurrection of Christ rendered evil powerless.

On Great Thursday light and darkness, joy and sorrow are so strangely mixed. At the Upper Room and in Gethsemane the light of the kingdom and the darkness of hell come through simultaneously. The way of life and the way of death converge. We meet them both in our journey through life.

Everyone born into this life is involved inevitably in the spiritual warfare, contending not against flesh and blood, "but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness" (Eph 6.12).

Sadly, there are those who continue in willful disobedience, who not only reject God but also wage war upon Him. There are others who evade Him. And still others, who have been baptized, but for one reason or another are negligent or lukewarm in their relationship with Christ and His Church.

In the midst of the snares and temptations that abound in the world around and in us we must be eager to live in communion with everything that is good, noble, natural, and sinless, forming ourselves by God's grace in the likeness of Christ.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Holy Chrism

In Christian antiquity it was customary to baptize the catechumens on the feast of Pascha. The oils of Chrism, used for the anointing of the neophytes or newly-baptized persons, were consecrated in advance, on Great Thursday. This practice continued through the late middle ages. The service of consecration was conducted annually. In time, however, it began to be celebrated occasionally, as the need to replace the Chrism arose.

When it is performed, the long and elaborate service takes place at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy on Great Thursday.

By ancient practice and custom the right to consecrate the Chrism belongs only to the bishop, although presbyters usually administer it in current usage. Each autocephalous church has the right to prepare and consecrate holy Chrism. The Patriarchate of Constantinople, as the first see of Orthodoxy, consecrates and distributes holy Chrism to other churches.

Holy Chrism is also called holy Myron. It is a mixture of olive oil, balsam, wine and some forty aromatic substances symbolizing the fulness of sacramental grace, the sweetness of the Christian life, and the manifold and diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Chrismation as the second sacrament of the Church, is related intimately to baptism both theologically and liturgically. While baptism make us sharers in Christ's death and incorporates us into His new risen existence, Chrismation makes us partakers of the Holy Spirit. Chrismation takes us beyond the restoration of our fallen nature by introducing in us the charismatic life. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us; embrace our life with power and love; infuse in us the gift of action; render us strong combatants in the spiritual warfare; and purify our hearts, transforming us continuously into a temple of the living God.

The Reserved Sacrament

By custom we consecrate two Lambs at the Divine Liturgy on GreatThursday. The second Lamb is used as the Reserved Sacrament. The Reserved Sacrament is used especially to give communion to the sick.

The priest prepares the consecrated Lamb, which is to be reserved, in exactly the same way the Lamb is prepared and reserved for the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts. Special care must be taken to dry the Lamb thoroughly. To accomplish this, the Lamb is separated into several pieces. Some priests choose to heat the particles by placing them over fire (heat) in an appropriate vessel.

While there is no special service for the preparation of the Pre-Sanctified Reserved Sacrament, we have learned by tradition to do the following: At an appropriate, quiet time within the first or second day, when the Lamb has dried thoroughly, the priest approaches the holy Table and unfolds the antimension. Vested with rason and epitrachelion, he reverences in the usual manner and censes the Gifts. He places the discos or any other container that holds the Lamb, upon the antimension. Then with the lance (loghi) or some other appropriate instrument, he begins to break the Lamb into small particles (merides), known also in the liturgical language as margaritai (pearls). These are then placed in the Artophorion in an appropriate container. It is understood, that the priest performs this service with a prayerful disposition.

The Reserved Sacrament from the previous year, is consumed by the priest after the Liturgy on either Great Thursday or Great Saturday in the usual manner.

In the event the Reserved Sacrament has been exhausted; or for any reason altered, lost or destroyed; or does not exist, as in the case of the founding of a new church, the priest may consecrate a second Lamb at any Divine Liturgy, and prepare it in the manner described above, and place it in the Artophorion.

The Service of the Nipter (Washing of the Feet)

It appears that the Church had a ceremony of the Washing of the Feet annually on Great Thursday in imitation of the event at the Last Supper. For the most part, it was limited to Cathedral Churches and certain monasteries. In time, the service fell into disuse except in certain areas. It is now being recovered by many dioceses throughout the Orthodox world. The service is elaborate, dramatic and moving. It is conducted with special solemnity at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on the island of Patmos. The service is contained in a separate liturgical book.

Vestments - Because we commemorate the establishment of the Eucharist, the usual mourning colors are not used at the Divine Liturgy on GreatThursday. The priest wears crimson or whitepurple vestments. The holy Table also is covered with a similar cloth.

The Icon - On Great Thursday morning and afternoon, we display the icon of the Mystical Supper.

Fasting - Because we commemorate the establishment of the Mystery of the Eucharist, wine and oil are served at the meal of the day.

Paschal Eggs - By custom, the paschal eggs are boiled in red dye on this day. By custom too, the paschal eggs are distributed to the faithful after the Liturgy at Pascha and are served at the paschal meal(s). Of course it should be noted that this subject is a matter of custom and not a liturgical rule.

The Orthros - of Great Thursday is usually chanted the previous evening by anticipation. Sometimes it is said on the morning of the same day. However, in this country the tendency has been to ommit it. For the most part it has fallen into disuse. In its place parish clergy celebrate the service of Holy Unction.

The Divine Liturgy - of Great Thursday was originally celebrated with greatsolemnity in the evening, in imitation of the Last Supper. In Constantinople it was preceded by the Service of the Nipter (Niptir) or Foot-washing Ceremony which was conducted by the Patriarch himself.

Gradually, the Divine Liturgy was moved first to the late afternoon and later to the morning hours of the day. The Liturgy, however, has retained its original vesperal character. It is comprised of two main parts: (a) the service of the Great Vespers, including the Entrance and three Old Testament Readings, and (b) the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil, beginning with the Prayer of the Trisagion.

Great Thursday Evening - Following closely the New Testament events the solemnities of Great Thursday proper ended with the celebration of the vesperal Divine Liturgy. But as we have noted above the evening Divine Liturgies were transposed gradually to the morning hours of the day. In modern liturgical practice the Orthros of Great Friday is now celebrated onGreat Thursday evening.

RUBRICS

The Order of the Vesperal Divine Liturgy

The Proskomide - The priest prepares for the Divine Liturgy in the usual manner. At the Proskomide he will extract a second Lamb exactly as is done for a Pre-Sanctified Liturgy.

The Vesper Service
The priest fully vested, comes before the Holy Table in the usual manner. He raises the Gospel and intones the enarxis, Evlogimeni Basileia… -Blessed is the Kingdom

The Reader says "Come, let us worship. and reads Psalm 103. The Priest intones the Great Synapte.

The Choirs sing the Psalms of Vespers together with the appointed troparia of the Triodion.

The Priest censes as usual.

The Entrance - When the choirs sing the Doxastikon hymn, the priest reads the prayer of the Entrance of the Vespers. The Entrance is made with the Gospel (According to an ancient custom he may also hold the censer.). He blesses the Entrance. At the conclusion of the hymn, he raises the Gospel and says "Sofia Orthoi." The Evening Song of Thanksgiving, "Fos ilaron - O Joyous Light," is sung. The priest enters the sanctuary.

The Priest says: ... Esperas" at the conclusion of the hymn.

The Reader chants the Prokeimena and according to custom intones the three appointed lections of the Old Testament.

The Divine Liturgy
The Priest says "Tou Kiriou deithomen - Let us pray to the Lord" at the conclusion of the Old Testament readings. The Prayer of the Trisagion follows.

The Choir sings the Trisagion hymn ("Agios O Theos - Holy God"). The Reader recites the Apostolos in the prescribed manner.

The Priest reads the Gospel.

The remainder of the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil follows. It is celebrated in the prescribed manner. However, in the place of the usual Cherubikon we sing the ancient troparion "Tog deipnou sou tou mistikou - At Your Mystical Supper . . . Also, this same hymn is chanted as the Communion hymn and in the place of " Eidomen ro' fos - We have seen the true light." The, Apolysis of the Divine Liturgy has a distinct festal prologue, "'O di' ipervallousan agathotita-…of His exceeding goodness."

Source: http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8436