St. Epiphanios of Salamis: The Lord's Descent Into Hades

By St. Epiphanios of Salamis

Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness.

The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep.

The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and He has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began.

God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep.

Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, He has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, He who is both God and the son of Eve.

The Lord approached them bearing the Cross, the weapon that had won Him the victory.

At the sight of Him Adam, the first man He had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: "My Lord be with you all." Christ answered him: "And with your spirit."

He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: "'Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by My own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake.

I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of My hands, you who were created in My image.

Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in Me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on My face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you.

See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in My image.

On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back.

See My hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the Cross and a sword pierced My side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced Me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise.

I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven.

I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them venerate you as a god.

The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager.

The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open.

The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."

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Jesus In Hades and the Sign of Jonah

Jesus and the Sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:38-41)

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, "Master, we would like to see a sign from thee."

But he [Jesus] answered and said unto them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here."


The Prayer of Jonah In the Belly of the Fish (Jonah 2:1-3:2)

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said:

"I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."

And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, "Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee."

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Great Friday Vespers In Moscow (Photos - Video)

Amidst thousands of worshippers and many clergymen, Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia celebrated Great Vespers for Great Friday in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Moscow.












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Video: 2011 Foot Washing Ceremony In Jerusalem

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III washes the feet of his clergymen on Holy Thursday. Travis Brecher reports (Reuters).

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"My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?"

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Christ's fourth saying on the Cross is the cry: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). This saying must be interpreted in an Orthodox way, within the interpretive analysis of the holy Fathers of the Church, because otherwise it can be considered heretical. This is said because there are some scholastics and rationalists who try to interpret these words of Christ by maintaining that, if only for a few seconds, the divine nature abandoned the human nature on the Cross in order for Christ to feel the pain, the suffering of His abandonment.

In the first place this saying is connected with a Psalm of David (22) which is purely christological, since it refers to Christ's incarnation and His saving Passion, and which begins as follows: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Ps. 22:1). This Psalm is prophetic, because it reveals Christ's suffering on the Cross. Christ was not repeating it mechanically, but by the repetition He was fulfilling the prophecy. Of course the prophet's vision came first, and Christ said it in order for all the prophecies which had been spoken about Him to be fulfilled.

St. Gregory the Theologian, interpreting this cry of Christ, says that Christ was not abandoned by either His Father or by His own divinity, as if fearing the Passion and shrinking from the suffering of the Christ. So what happened? By this cry Christ "stamps on Himself what is ours". In other words, at that moment Christ is speaking in our place. For we were those abandoned and overlooked and then assumed and saved by the Passion of the impassible One. And St. Cyril of Alexandria, interpreting this, says that "He abandoned understanding and forgave the passion". Christ's kenosis, which began with His incarnation, reached its highest point. And this is called abandonment.

We have emphasized in previous analyses that in Christ the divine and human natures were united unchangeably, inseparably and indivisibly, according to the definition of the Fourth Ecumenical Council. This means that they have not been separated, nor ever will be separated. And this is why we can partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. So this cry of Christ to the Father expresses our own cry at having lost communion with God through sin. Moreover, Christ was suffering for us.

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Synaxarion For Holy and Great Friday

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

GREAT FRIDAY

On this day, Holy and Great Friday, we celebrate the awesome, holy, and saving Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ - the spitting, the blows with the palm of the hand, the buffeting, the mockery, the reviling, the wearing of the purple robe, the reed, the sponge, the vinegar, the nailing, the lance, and above all, the Crucifixion and Death which He condescended to endure willingly for our sakes - and also the saving confession of the grateful thief upon the cross.

Verse for the Crucifixion

Thou art a living God, even though Thou wast lifeless on the Wood. O naked corpse, Thou art the Word of the living God.

Verse for the Penitent Thief

The thief opened the locked gates of Eden with the key, "Remember me".


Synaxarion

After our Lord Jesus Christ was sold for thirty pieces of silver and was betrayed by a friend and disciple, He was led to Annas the High Priest. Annas again sent the Lord to Caiaphas, where He was spat upon and at the same time mocked and laughed at. He heard them saying to Him, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one that struck you?" (Matt. 26:68). Then many false witnesses and accusers arrived, perhaps because He said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19) and because He said about Himself, "I am the Son of God" (Matt. 27:43), or because He said, "Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matt. 26:64). At that point, the High Priest tore his own garment, saying, "He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy!" (Matt. 26:65). And when morning came, Jesus was led into the Praetorium to Pilate, and "they did not enter," as they said, "lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover" (John 18:28).

Then when Pilate came, he asked them about Jesus, saying, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?" (John 18:29). Since he did not find any reasonable cause for the accusation, he sent Him to Caiaphas, since he was the one who was seeking His execution, and Caiaphas sent Him back again to Pilate. Then Pilate said to them, "You take Him and judge Him according your Law." Therefore the Jewish leaders said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death" (John 18:31). They said this so Pilate would pronounce the judgment of death on the cross. Pilate asked Jesus whether He was the King of the Jews, and Jesus acknowledged this and said that His Kingdom is eternal and not of this world (John 18:36). Pilate wished to release Jesus and first told the crowd that he did not find any serious accusation against Him. Then he reminded the Jews of their custom of releasing a prisoner of their choice on the feast of Passover. The crowd named Barabbas the robber as acceptable choice but not Christ. Pilate then sought to placate the crowd, but with no success. Leading Him out through the soldiers, he first had Jesus scourged. Then clothing Him with a purple cloak, the soldiers forced a crown of thorns upon His most pure head and placed a reed in His right hand as though it were a royal scepter. All this time, the soldiers were mockingly sneering and shouting a parody of their salute to Caesar, "Hail, King of the Jews" (Matt. 27:29; Mark 15:18; John 19:3). Clearly, this public humiliation and torment was for the gratification of the mob, for Pilate showed that he was acting against his conscience by saying again, "I find no fault in this Man" (John 18:38; John 19:6; Luke 23:4). The Jewish leaders answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God" (John 19:7).

While these things were being said, Jesus was silent. But the crowd cried out to Pilate, "Crucify Him, crucify Him" (John 19:6). Thus they wished to destroy Him through an inglorious and shameful death, so that they might destroy the noble fame that Jesus possessed. Pilate incited their ethnic pride and said, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" (John 19:15). Since they could not get their way by any other means, they uttered this blasphemy because Jesus clearly called Himself the Son of God, and they wanted Caesar to stand in His place so that their madness would be satisfied. Therefore they said, "Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar" (John 19:12).

While these events were taking place, Pilate's wife - Procula Claudia (comm. Oct. 27), sent a message to him that she was troubled by a fearful dream, and she said, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him" (Matt. 27:19). Then Pilate washed his hands and clearly rejected the responsibility for the blood of the Righteous One. But the people cried out, "His blood be upon us and upon our children" (Matt. 27:25). If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend" (John 19:12). Even though Pilate surely knew that Jesus was not guilty, he feared Caesar and thus confirmed the Lord's condemnation to death on the Cross, and he released Barabbas. When Judas beheld this, he threw away the silver coins and went out and hanged himself from a tree.


The soldiers mocked Jesus, hitting His head with a reed, and they placed the Cross on Him to bear. Then they coerced Simon of Cyrene, obliging him to carry the Cross. About the third hour, they reached the Place of the Skull, and they crucified Him there. On the right and on the left they suspended two thieves so that Jesus would appear to be an evildoer. In a spirit of greed, the soldiers divided His garments, but they cast lots for His seamless tunic. They performed each deed with excessive animosity, as if they were drunk. They not only did these things, but they also feigned ignorance, saying ironically to Jesus on the Cross, "Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the Cross!" (Mark 15:29-30). And they continued, "Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the Cross, that we may see and believe" (Mark 15:32). However, if they had reflected and understood correctly, they would have wished to have recourse to Him without hesitation, because He proved Himself to be not only King of Israel, but even of all the world.

For what other meaning was there when the sun was darken during the Crucifixion of Christ at the third hour, in the middle of the day, but that the Lord's Passion would be revealed to all men? Likewise, when the earth shook and the rocks were rent asunder, did this not reprove the stony-heartedness of the chief priests? And when many bodies arose for the acknowledgment of the common resurrection, did it not provide the evidence that the power of the Suffering One might appear? Moreover, when the curtain of the temple was split in twain, did it not mean that the temple was certainly angered, because the One who was glorified in it was suffering, thereby revealing these things which were not apparent to the multitudes? Therefore, at the third hour, Christ was crucified, as says the divine Mark; from the sixth hour until the ninth there was darkness over the whole land (Mark 15:33). The Centurion Longinus (comm. Oct. 16), seeing these marvelous events and especially the darkening of the sun, cried out with a mighty voice, "Truly this Man was the Son of God" (Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39). Of the two thieves, one reviled Jesus, but the other reproached him, most profoundly reproving him, and confessed Christ to be the Son of God. Because of his confession, the Savior rewarded his faith and promised that he would be with Him in Paradise that very day. The "good thief" is commemorated on October 12.


When every sort of abuse had been hurled at the Lord Jesus, Pilate wrote out His title, which read, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS", and placed it on the Cross. (See John 19:19.) Therefore, the chief priests said to Pilate, "Do not write, The King of the Jews, but He said, 'I am the King of the Jews'." Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written" (John 19:21-22). And when the Savior said, "I thirst" (John 19:28), they put vinegar on hyssop and brought it to Him. After saying, "It is finished" (John 19:30), He inclined His head and gave up the spirit. He was crucified on the day when the moon was full and at the hour when, according to the old Law, the Passover lamb was to be slain (See Exod. 12). When all had fled away, His Mother alone kept vigil at the Holy Cross with her sister Mary, the wife of Cleopas (the one, some say, Joachim begot in accordance with the Mosaic Law since his brother Cleopas died childless, but this assertion is false), Mary Magdalene, and John, the Disciple beloved by Him. (See John 19:25.) Then the ungrateful people, not being able to tolerate seeing the bodies on the crosses, since it was the great day of the Passover, asked Pilate that the legs of the condemned might be broken so that death might come more quickly. They broke the legs of the thieves, since they were still alive and, coming upon Jesus, as soon as they saw that He was already dead, they refrained from breaking His legs. One of the soldiers, doing a favor for the ungrateful ones, took his spear and pierced the right side of Christ, and immediately there flowed forth blood and water. On the one hand, the outpouring was as from a man, and on the other hand on behalf of mankind; that is, the blood, for the sake of the Holy Communion of the divine sanctified elements, and the water, for the sake of Holy Baptism. In fact, this two-fold fountain constitutes the foundation of the Holy Mysteries for us.


Also, St. John the Theologian saw and bore witness to these events, and his witness is true, because he was present at all these happenings, and after he saw them he recorded them. For if they were false, clearly he would not have written them, for such things would have appeared as a dishonor to the Teacher. It is said that when he was present at that time, he collected in some kind of vessel the Divine and All-holy Blood from the Life-giving side. Moreover, while these extraordinary events were being accomplished, when night approached, Joseph of Arimathea arrived (he was a disciple from the beginning, as the others, but secretly). He then went to Pilate with boldness since he was clearly known by him, asked for the Body of Jesus, and was given permission to take It. Then he immediately took the divine Body down from the Holy Cross with all reverence. And when night came, Nicodemus arrived, bearing a certain mixture of myrrh and aloes, which had been prepared for the special purpose of anointing, and he wrapped the Holy Body in a winding cloth, as was the regular custom of the Jews. They then entombed the Body of the Lord nearby in the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, which had been cut into a rock, rolling a great stone over the entrance. In this tomb, no one had been buried before, so that when Christ arose the chief priests might not attribute the Resurrection to another person. The mixture of aloes and myrrh strongly cemented the winding cloth to the Body of Christ, so that when the winding cloth and the face cloth would be seen folded up in the Tomb, no one would suppose that His Body had been stolen away. How would it have been possible that anyone could have detached the linen so firmly glued to the flesh? However, those foolish men who shaped this falsehood did not know that in accordance with the economy of God, all these proofs remained inside the Tomb for the censuring of their slander. All these events marvelously happened on Friday. Accordingly, the God-bearing Fathers decreed that we should commemorate all these events with a compunctious and contrite heart. Furthermore, the Church, as received from the time of the Holy Apostles, has given the commandment that every Friday is to be observed as a fast day in remembrance of Christ's Holy Passion and Life-giving Death.


It is fitting to understand that on the sixth day of the week, Friday, the Lord was crucified because on the sixth day of the week during Creation, Adam, the first man, was formed. Furthermore, at the sixth hour of the day, He was suspended on the Holy Cross because at the sixth hour, tradition tells us, Adam stretched out his hands toward the forbidden tree to eat the fruit and inherited death. Therefore it was fitting that at the same shattering hour the Old Adam would be created anew. The Lord's Crucifixion was in a garden because Adam was deceived in a garden in Paradise. The bitter drink which the Lord tasted on the Cross healed the tasting of Adam. The Holy Cross replaced the tree in Paradise. The slap on the Face signified our awakening from the stupor of sin. The spitting and the dishonorable behavior toward the Lord makes manifest the value He places on us. The crown of thorns relieved us from the curse surrounding the head of Adam and Eve. The purple cloak replaced the garment of skin and symbolized the royal garment with which He covers us. The nails indicated our total immobility in our sins. The pierced Side of the Lord, from which our salvation came forth, represented the side of Adam, from which Eve came forth and out of whom the transgression occurred. The spear removed the fiery sword which guarded Paradise after the disobedience. The water from the Side was an image of Holy Baptism. The blood and the reed were the means through which the Savior, as though writing in imperial red ink, decreed, as a King from on high, the restoration of the ancient homeland.

It is said that the skull of Adam lay where Christ, as the Head of all, was Crucified, and Adam was "baptized" through the Blood of Christ, which flowed from Him and down onto Adam's skull. It is called the Place of the Skull because during the Flood the earth expelled the skull of Adam, which rolled around by itself in a circle, and this was viewed as a fearsome sign. The Holy Prophet and King Solomon, out of respect toward the Forefather, covered it up with many stones. Moreover, the eminent saints say, as is the tradition, that Adam was buried there by an angel. Therefore, where Adam's corpse lay, there Christ stood as the everlasting King, the New Adam, healing by the wood of the Holy Cross the Old Adam who had fallen by the wood of the tree.

It should be noted that on this day there is no celebration of the Divine Liturgy, nor of the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. On this day of the Holy Crucifixion we neither eat nor drink anything according to the words which the Lord spoke to the Pharisees: "But the days will come when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Matt. 9:15). Yet, if anyone is weak or old and cannot keep the fast, let him be given bread and water after sunset.

Wherefore, O Christ our God, through Your boundless compassion for our sakes,
have mercy on us and save us. Amen.


Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
When the glorious disciples at the supper were illumined by the washing of the feet, then was the impious Judas darkened by the disease of avarice. And he betrays Thee, the Righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. See, O lover of possessions, how for money's sake he hanged himself! Flee from that insatiate soul, which dared such things against His Master. O Lord, who art good towards all men, glory to Thee!

Antiphon Six in Plagal of the Third Tone
Coming to Thy voluntary Passion, O Lord, Thou didst cry out to Thy disciples, "If ye were not able to watch one hour with Me, how could ye promise to die for My sake? Behold how Judas does not sleep, but hastens to betray Me to lawless men. Arise and pray that no one deny Me when he sees Me on the Cross." O longsuffering Lord, glory to Thee!

Antiphon Fifteen in Plagal of the Second Tone
He who hung the earth upon the waters hangs today upon the Cross.
He who is King of the Angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who in the Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon His face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.
We worship Thy Passion, O Christ.
We worship Thy Passion, O Christ.
We worship Thy Passion, O Christ.
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Come, let us all praise Him who was crucified for us, for when Mary beheld Him on the Cross, she cried, "Though Thou sufferest on the Cross Thou art my Son and my God!"

Ikos
Seeing her own Lamb led to slaughter, Mary let down her hair in grief and followed Him with the other women, crying thus: "Where goest Thou, my Child? Why dost Thou run so swiftly? Perhaps there is another wedding in Cana of Galilee, and Thou dost make haste now to go there and change their water into wine? Shall I go with Thee, O my Child, or shall I wait for Thee? Grant me some word, O Word, and pass me not by in silence, O Thou who hast preserved me in virginity. For Thou art my Son and my God.

Exapostilarion
The wise thief at that same hour, O Lord, Thou didst deem worthy of Paradise. Enlighten me as well by Thy Cross, and save me.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thou hast redeemed us from the curse of the Law by Thy precious Blood. Nailed to the Cross and pierced by the spear, Thou hast poured forth immortality upon mankind. O our Saviour, glory to Thee!

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What the Church Teaches Us On Great Friday

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

The terrible night is recreated by the morning worship service of Great Friday. The darkness of nature, the darkness of the black rage of the Judeans who were seeking to kill the Savior, the mortal grief of the Redeemer in the darkness of the Garden of Gethsemane, then the extreme degree of His humiliation already betrayed by the disciple and seized by the enemies, -- all this aggravates the horror of this night. Before the mind's eye pictures in the temple were presented one after the other and replaced by another more sorrowful, by another more awful and by another more amazing.

On the one hand, the Creator and Savior of all is seen everywhere shining with heavenly light, immensely benefited everything and everyone through all His life, Who gave sight to the blind, Who healed the sick, Who raised the dead. Even now He is the one overcoming torture to grieve not only for Himself but also for His torturers, not only from His mortal wounds but also from the moral wounds of those who mock Him.

On the other hand, everywhere He now persistently improves them, they in their Hadean rage will in every possible way wound and torment Him who created them and up to the end had done much good for them: for manna they render Him bile, for water, vinegar, for all His love for them, the cross and death.

In its various hymns, the Holy Church, piercing the very heart it has embraced with its sorrow, as if cannot collect its thoughts, quietly pays attention to one or another. Where she will not pay attention in thought, she directs attention to the sight anywhere and everywhere of new and newer occasions to the wailing, to the tears, to new sources of sorrow and suffering.

That heart is indignant with the Judeans, who so recently enthusiastically shouted: "Hosanna to the Son of David"! But now with criminal perfidy franticly cry out: "Crucify, crucify Him"! That heart shudders from the memory of the black, Hadean action of one of the elite, beloved disciples of the Savior, criminally ungrateful, who despised everything, who forgot everything and sold everything for an insignificant "thirty pieces of silver". That will rise again before the mind's eye, the Divine Sufferer Himself tormented with scourging, in the shameful, ugly robe moistened with streams of immaculate blood, His head covered with wounds in a crown of thorns, unmercifully insulted, brutally beaten and, finally, tortured to death on the cross. That the prophesies of the Old Testament righteous men and the New Testament messengers of God, who prophesied or told about His suffering are remembered and by all the power of the believing heart who suffers with Him. That vision falls in the sky and on earth as witnesses of Golgotha's oblations, and they, always quiet and to all unimpassioned, could not bear: "The sky was darkened, the foundations of the earth quaked".

By this amazing display of all that was accomplished in these hours of unprecedented and most terrible sacrilege on earth, the Holy Church completely embraces the believing soul, concentrates it and directs it to the unique contemplation of the cross of Christ, trying to lead the Christian up to that beneficial estate where the divine apostle is found, who did not wish to know anything, "except Christ and Him crucified" (see 1 Cor. 2:2).

But the one, who with the living participation of his loving heart can in his mind reach such a condition, looks to the voluntary passion of the Savior of the world, lets go of everything that distracts attention from the suffering of the Lord, fills the imagination with impure images, excites the mind with vain thoughts, or pollutes the heart with evil lusts, - who truly "descends" to the suffering of the Savior, "will be pierced and destroyed for His sake by daily pleasures".

That is why the Holy Church right at the beginning of its majestic "Office of the Holy and Saving Passion" of Christ tenderly appeals to us: "Let us offer our pure senses to Christ and as His friends let us sacrifice our lives for His sake, and let us not be weighed down with earthly cares like Judas, but let us cry in the hidden chambers of our heart: Our Father, Who art in the heavens, deliver us from the evil one".

Darkened by unclean and vain thoughts the mind cannot behold the light of the divine glory revealed in the redemption of the human race through the suffering and death of the Son of God. Embroiled with passions and impure desires the spirit is not able to assume and reflect in itself the divine image of Golgotha's Sufferer. Being fattened on carnal lusts the heart will not feel again and will not embrace the majesty of the love of the Heavenly Father, who gave His Only-begotten Son over to death for our deliverance, - will not soften with dew the grace of God and will not exhale the fragrance of tearful tender prayers, connecting our soul in one spirit with the Lord. Not having sincerely turned away all that is sinful and impure the soul becomes dead and does not live with the Lord, will not be relieved from the fetters of gloom which Satan has attached to her. That is why, in order "to descend and be crucified" with Christ, it is necessary to cleanse "our senses", to expel from our hearts, from its memory and imagination, all that is evil, unclean and sinful.

If any one has enmity with his neighbor, he should expel it from his heart for the sake of Him Who taught "Let us reproach against reproaching, let us be vigilant not threatening”, - one should forgive from the whole heart any reviling, offence and animosity for the sake of Him Who did not name the betrayer as His friend at the moment of betrayal and prayed for those who crucified Him.

If the spirit of pride, conceit, exaltation of oneself and vanity possesses anyone, he should eradicate it from his heart, humble and abase himself as a useless servant, worthy of every dishonor and humiliation for the sake of Him, Who being in essence the Lord of glory, "belittled Himself, receiving the image of a servant", "humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death, the very death on the cross", humbly underwent all humiliations, spitting, ridicule and the most shameful death with evildoers.

If one torments any one with the spirit of cupidity, covetousness or usury, then one should extract it from his heart for the sake of the Lord, Who for our salvation was born in a manger and lived, "not having a place to lay His head", and died on the cross, of Whom they crucified they were not even ashamed to deprive Him of His last chiton (robe).

If one's mouth is accustomed to be opened for idle talk and malignant gossip, condemnation and slander, for murmur and indignation, then one should block this out with silence like the One Who "like a sheep that is led to the slaughter, and like a lamb that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Is. 54:7)".
If one confronts any one with the spirit of voluptuousness and sensuality, if one inflames any one with the fire of fleshly lusts and passions, then one should extinguish this unclean fire in view of the One Who for our sake hungered and thirsted, partook of vinegar and gall, Who turned over His immaculate body to suffering and crucifixion, to scourging and wounds, to torture and nailing to the cross.

If any one's soul is embraced with earthly cares, excessive and vain, unnecessary and useless, then one should be released from them in order to not profane the holy days only with business but also from profanity, in order to not distract the mind and heart from holy thoughts and reverent feelings, in order to not become like Judas who could not be parted from his money chest, who only thought about purchases and sales in the midst of the Mystical Supper.

For this reason our Lord took up his voluntary passion and death to cleanse us from all sin, to Himself create for us a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a renewed people. Vainly some wish that "the cross of Christ be emptied" (1 Cor. 1:17) and think that they may "comprehend the power of His resurrection" without "sharing His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10).

If Christ alone is both the "life" and the "way" (Jn. 14, 6) to the life, then how can they achieve the "life" of Christ by not going by His "way"? Can these members be knitted together in union with the body, whose "head" is crowned with thorns (Eph. 4:15, 16)? Is it possible for members to be in repose and without care when the Head is in labor, and in both wounds and animosity; to be immersed in noisy pleasures when He is grasped by illness; to revel in the full cup of temporal pleasures when He thirsts and partakes vinegar; to be praised when He is bowed; to not want to be ill even for a minute with one's own sins and iniquities when He guards the stranger and dies? Would it be offensive to our Redeemer if we were shown to be in old impure sins before His cross and tomb, in the sackcloth of passionate lusts and everyday pleasures: if all the deeds of His unexampled love and condescension to us as poor and condemned sinners; all His suffering and ills have remained barren in us?

Let us not be the cause of new suffering for our Savior and Lord, lest for His sake, being slaughtered for our sins, we should not want to slaughter and destroy any passion possessing us. What are we doing sinning after Baptism, after everything our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us and has revealed to us? According to the words of the Holy Apostle Paul: "we crucify the Son of God on our own account a second time" (Heb. 6:4-6). A second time we change before the Lord, we deny Him, we betray Him, we condemn Him every time when, knowing His Holy will, we break it, we reject His voice which calls to repentance, we trample on our conscience and we betray it in the offering of passions and carnal lusts. A second time we crown Him with thorns when we take great interest in criminal musings, when we are charmed by proud and vain, ambitious and covetous, mad and blasphemous thoughts. A second time we nail His hands to the cross when we extend our unclean hands for bribery and extortion, for plundering and unrighteousness. A second time we give Him vinegar and gall to drink, when our shameless tongue pours forth idle and rotten words; malevolent and carping, sarcastic and reproachful speech. A second time we sneer at the crucified Lord when we scoff and sneer, when we reproach and condemn, when we scold and revile our neighbor. A second time we pierce his heart when we defile our heart with impure cravings and lusts, covetous desires, stinking and shameful sensations. A second time we wound, torture and tear open His immaculate flesh, when we are insatiably turned to carnal pleasures and lusts. In a word: a second time changes for the Lord, we deny Him, we judge Him, we crucify Him every time when knowing His Holy will, we break and reject His holy commandments, we do not listen to His voice which called us to repentance, we trample on our conscience and we betray it in the oblation of passions and lusts.

What will be our sin? What will our stony (hard) heart feel when the Omniscient will judge our secret? Of what will our evil conscience be absolved before the all-scrutinizing Judge? Truly, "then many call to the mountains and the hills, fall on us: hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne!” (Rev. 6:16).

But then none and nothing will hide us from His omnipresent presence if we shall not now be covered in these very wounds, which through our sins we have imposed on our Lord. From His impartial judgment none and nothing will protect us if we do not now turn ourselves to the protection of this same cross on which we crucified the Lord through our unrighteousness. Bitter crying for our sins, sorrowful destruction of our ingratitude before our Redeemer and Lord, united by firm resolve to no more go the way of iniquity, to love cleanliness of conscience and to amend our life, - here is what is more becoming to us during the holy days of the Lord's passion when we stand before His cross and tomb! On this cross of the Only-begotten the Son of God have we uplifted our sins, but on this same cross is nailed the handwriting of all our sins in the presence of the truth of God. In this tomb the Son of God has minimized the condemnation of death laying upon us, but in the same tomb death was destroyed and from it a new life was sent up to us. The cross of Christ will judge us if we remain unrepentant and insensitive, but the cross of Christ will also absolve us if we resort to Him crucified on it with faith and repentance, with tears and compunction of heart. The tomb of the Lord will judge us if we remain dead in transgressions, but this tomb will both give life to and raise us if we begin to repent and renew our life. (See details in the Complete Collection of the Sermons of Demetrius, Archbishop of Chersonese, Vol.4, pp. 383-419).

St. Ephraim the Syrian teaches: "Come, all children of the Church, bought by the precious and holy blood of the All-pure Master. Come, let us reflect on His suffering with tears and lamentations, with fear and trembling, saying to ourselves: 'Christ our Savior is given over to death on the cross for us unrighteous ones'. Think deeply on this, brother, that you now hear that the sinless God, the Son of the Most High, was betrayed for you. Open your heart, consider His suffering, and tell yourself: ‘Today the sinless God is betrayed, today He is mocked, today He is insulted, today His ears are boxed, today He bore scourging, today He carried a crown of thorns, today the Heavenly Lamb is crucified. Let my heart tremble, let my soul be terrified! Every day I should shed tears with reflection on the Master's suffering. The soul is enlightened by these delightful tears by continually reflecting on the suffering of Christ’. So reflecting always, crying daily, and thanking the Lord who endured suffering for you so that in the day of His coming your tears will have turned into praise and glorification before His judgment seat. Guard against evil, reflecting on the suffering of the Good Master. Endure temptations, thanking God from the heart for them. Blessed is the man who has the heavenly Master and His suffering before him, who has crucified himself for all of the passions and for all earthly things, and became an imitator of his Lord. Here is prudence; here is the position of God-loving servants, if they always are imitators of the Master in good deeds".

The Holy Church appeals to us in its hymns: "Come therefore, let us go with cleansed thoughts" to the Lord, "having adorned our way of life with chastity and having preserved our faith with wisdom, let us seek moral truths that we may courageously follow and be crucified with Christ", and "let us destroy the life of pleasures in us for His sake that we may be made alive in Him"; "let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement and let us pray in purity: Arise, O Lord, save us; for Thou lovest mankind".

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The Hours of Great Friday

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

As the fulfillment of the liturgy is an image of Golgotha's sacrifice or the commemoration of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, so on the same day of the sacred commemoration of this worldwide event a full liturgy is not served, neither the Divine Liturgy nor the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, as a sign of the deep lamentation and fervent contrition of believers on this day.

The Royal Hours are served instead of the liturgy: the First, Third, Sixth and Ninth Hours together. Their structure includes psalms, paramoeas, readings from the Epistle and Gospel, troparia and stichera concerning the circumstances of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In these Hours not only the story of the Gospel events which occurred on this day is recreated but also the comparison of the Old Testament prophesies and the New Testament sacred reading of the Christian teachings about our redemption by the death of the Savior on the cross is opened in detail.

In the hymns of the Royal Hours the seizing of the Savior by the guards, the dispersal of the disciples, the attempt of zealous defense of the Teacher by the Apostle Peter, his denial of the Savior and then his bitter repenting of that deed, of the suffering on the cross and death of the Savior is represented. The pangs of the perfidious betrayer and the lawless Judeans are heard. The amazement of the whole world from the angelic and earthborn powers to the abased situation of God Incarnate, His thorny crown and desecrated robe is pictured. All this is transmitted so that in the presence of the Very Lord from His abased position, He wished to touch the hardening of human souls, that in the presence of the Apostles He accused the Elders, Jews and Pharisees, who so unmercifully, inhumanely and criminally tortured the Savior. And that, finally, in the presence of all believers whom the Holy Church invites to the horrifying, unprecedented sight, appealing:

O come Christ-bearing people, let us see what the traitor Judas and the lawless priests have plotted against our Savior: today they made the deathless Word subject to death, and delivered Him to Pilate, who crucified Him on the Place of the Skull.

The service of the Hours begins at the second hour of the day, at 8:00 o'clock in the morning according to our reckoning. For the Hours there are "two rings, one prolonged", i.e. first the long ringing of one bell, but then two, in such a way that the impact of the other bell is stronger and longer than the first. At the Hours the priest carries out the Gospel Book to the middle of the church and places it on the Analogion and having begun the reading of the Hours he censes the Gospel, the Iconostasis, the whole temple and the people. The Royal Doors remain open up to the time when the Gospel Book is brought back into the sanctuary after its reading during the Ninth Hour.

The Readings For the Hours

In the First Hour: Psalms 2 and 21 prophetically describe the vain rebellion of the earthly princes against the Savior and His suffering on the cross. In the Paramoea, the Prophet Zechariah announces beforehand the confirmation of the New Covenant sealed by the cross and the betrayal of Judas. The Epistle glorifies the cross of Christ as the greatest power, glory and blessing of the Christian.

In the Third Hour: Psalms 34 and 108 prophesy the unrighteous judgment over the Savior and the perditions of the betrayer. In the Paramoea the Prophet Isaiah prophetically describes the Righteous One of the Most High, Who incontestably goes to his voluntary death as a lamb to the slaughter and Who "gave his back for scourging, his cheeks for smiting, hiding not His face from shame and spitting". The Epistle opens the reason, aim and fruits of the death of the Son of God on the cross.

In the Sixth Hour: Psalms 53 and 139 prophesy the suffering on the cross and the prayer of the Savior. In the Paramoea the Prophet Isaiah prophetically pictures the extremely "despised One by the sons of men" Who "is wounded for our iniquities". The Epistle opens the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God.

In the Ninth Hour: Psalms 68 and 69 prophetically describe the actions of the crucified one and the prayer in agony of the Savior. The Paramoea is the same as in the First Hour of Great Thursday. The Epistle shows the renewed opened way "in the sanctuary" by the blood of Christ.

The First Hour: Apolytikion in the First Tone
The tyrant has been destroyed by Thy crucifixion, O Christ, the might of the enemy has been trampled down: for neither an angel, nor a man, but Thou Thyself hast saved us, O Lord, glory to Thee.

The Third Hour: Apolytikion in Plagal of the Second Tone
O Lord, the Jews delivered Thee over to death, Life of all, Thou didst lead them through the Red Sea by the rod (of Moses), yet they handed Thee over to be crucified: and Thou didst feed them honey from the rock, they repaid Thee with gall; but Thou didst willingly endure these things, to free us from bondage to the enemy, O Christ God, glory to Thee.

The Sixth Hour: Apolytikion in the Second Tone
Thou hast worked salvation in the midst of the earth, O Christ God, by stretching out thy most pure hands upon the cross, gathering together all the nations who cry out: O Lord, glory to Thee.

The Ninth Hour: Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
When the thief beheld the Author of Life hanging upon the cross, he said: If it were not God in the flesh crucified here with us, the sun would not have hidden its rays, nor would the earth have quaked and trembled; but remember me in Thy kingdom, O long-suffering Lord.

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Great Friday Message From Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

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2011 Paschal Messages of Orthodox Leaders

April 21, 2011
ANA

Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece issued an Easter message referring to the unfavourable situation and the ordeal the country is experiencing while underlining that "each time our nation was on the verge of becoming debilitated it was lifted up by the hope brought by the Resurrection."

He also urged the faithful to be fearless when faced with injustice, illness, daily hardships, the economic crisis or insecurity for the future and become "people of Resurrection".

The disaster in Japan, wars and terrorist acts, which in combination with the economic crisis create a nightmarish global picture, were underlined in Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's Easter message.

He referred to the "arrogant human mind" that attempts to harness the immensely stronger forces of nature, noting that this attitude is directly linked with the "spiritual deviation of the human race". Faith in the Risen Christ forms the only path modern man should follow, the Ecumenical Patriarch underlined.

Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem referred to the pastoral, philanthropic, social and peacekeeping work performed through the centuries by the Church in the Holy Land and wished to the faithful good health, prosperity and progress.

Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa highlighted the social problems of abused women in Africa, human trafficking and illegal migration. He also referred to the recent incidents in Egypt that have changed the course of the country's history.

Patriarch Irinej of Serbia wished Happy Easter to all Christians, underlining that relations between peoples and individual human beings are being threatened by egoism, envy, violence and hatred.

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A Cypriot Lamentation of the Panagia For Great Friday

Following Great Friday Matins on Holy Thursday evening, it is a tradition for women to sing lamentations of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the Cross displayed in churches in imitation of the Mother of God who stood by Her Son crucified. The song above is a Cypriot song sung by Nektaria Karantzi.

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Preview To "60 Minutes" Episode on Mount Athos

April 21, 2011
CBS News

After two years of negotiating, Bob Simon and a team from "60 Minutes" were given unprecedented access to document monastic life on Mt. Athos - which is also known as the Holy Mountain and The Garden of the Mother of God. The result is a portrait of a place and a Christian community that hasn't changed much in a thousand years that most people, other than Orthodox Christians, have ever seen.

Mt. Athos was created by ancient Byzantine emperors to be the spiritual capital of Orthodox Christianity. Millions of Orthodox Christians believe it is the most sacred place on Earth. The story of Mt. Athos will be broadcast on "60 Minutes" Sunday, April 24 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

There are 2,000 Anthonite monks living in what is the most unique monastery complex in the world; most pray all day. Some monks even told Simon that they pray while they sleep - and they only get about three hours of sleep a night. The monks divide their day into three parts: They spend about eight hours a day in church, and when they're not resting their time is dedicated to the work needed to keep the 20 monasteries running. Mt. Athos is also beautiful and has probably changed less than any other inhabited place on the planet. Some of the monasteries here are perched high on cliffs above the Aegean Sea, with sylvan hills as a backdrop and architecture that could have come out of a medieval fairytale. It was the architecture that first attracted a young boy from Winthrop, Mass.

"It was just so impressive and I turned around and I said to him, 'Dad, you know, I don't think I am going to believe that somebody lives in that building until I step on those balconies myself," says Fr. Iakovos, one of three monks originally from the U.S. who Simon speaks to, in addition to others from around the world. He came to Mt. Athos 25 years ago and he points out that it's not just the way of life that hasn't changed, neither has the Divine Liturgy that the monks celebrate every day. "You have to understand, the words that we are saying in today's liturgy are the same words Christ was saying, are the same words that saints from the first century, the second century, the third century, the fourth century," he tells Simon.

Over the last millennium, the 20 monasteries here have been a repository for sacred treasures and religious relics that date back to the days of the Byzantine Empire. Father Matthew, from Fond du Lac, Wis., was given special permission by the abbot of Vatopedi Monastery to show Simon just a few of the almost 4,000 religious icons stored there, the highlight, a restored icon of Christ dating from the 14th century.

These priceless artifacts are kept behind lock and key and are rarely seen by pilgrims or even the monks themselves. The lock system was ancient and extraordinary. It requires four separate keys to unlock the door to the inner sanctum, and normally takes at least two monks to unlock the door, because no one monk is allowed to have all four keys at the same time. Simon describes it as, "a medieval version of the nuclear launch control."

The rare treasures on Mt. Athos have attracted many invaders over the centuries. Fr Maximos, a former professor at the Harvard Divinity School who is from Long Island, N.Y., told Simon that in World War II in 1941, German forces were about to invade the peninsula. The monks met with German officers who told them the only way to save themselves was to make a direct appeal to Hitler. The monks wrote a letter and asked Hitler to place the Holy Mountain under his personal protection. Fr. Maximos tells Simon, "It seems that Hitler liked the idea and accepted the invitation to become the personal protector of the Holy Mountain."

Hitler's plan was to loot the sacred treasures though, and he sent an advance team of academics to photograph and catalogue almost everything on the Holy Mountain. In the end, not a thing was ever taken - no one really knows why - possibly divine intervention.

Most monks today consider the Nazi episode a small blip on the road - after all, the monks there have been devoting their lives to prayer for 1,000 years. They say they try to get as close to God as humanly possible.

Fr. Nikandros, from Melbourne, Australia, says their monastic life also serves another mission - as frontline warriors in the battle of good versus evil. "We fight against the angels of the dark side, you see - of the devil - Satan," he tells Simon.

Below, Elder Ephraim of Vatopaidi Monastery talks on the Cypriot program "60 Minutes" that was aired last night:

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St. Ephraim the Syrian: The Passion of the Savior

On the Passion of the Saviour

By Saint Ephraim the Syrian

I am afraid to speak
and touch with my tongue
this fearful narrative
concerning the Saviour.
For truly it is fearful
to narrate all this.

Our Lord
was given up today
into the hands of sinners!

For what reason then
was one who is holy
and without sin given up?

For having done no sin
He was given up today.

Come, let us examine closely
why Christ our Saviour
was given up.

For us, the ungodly,
the Master was given up.

Who would not marvel?
Who would not give glory?

When the slaves had sinned
the Master was given up.

The sons of perdition
and the children of darkness
went out in the darkness
to arrest the sun
who had the power
to consume them in an instant.

But the Master, knowing
their effrontery
and the force of their anger,
with gentleness,
by His own authority,
gave himself up
into the hands of the ungodly.

And lawless men, having bound
the most pure Master,
mocked the One
who had bound the strong one
with unbreakable bonds,
and set us free
from the bonds of sins.

They plaited a crown
of their own thorns,
the fruit borne
by the vine of the Jews.

In mockery
they called Him ‘King’.
The lawless spat
in the face of the Most Pure,
at Whose glance
all the Powers of heaven
and the ranks of Angels
quake with fear.

See, once again grief and tears
grip hold of my heart,
as I contemplate the Master
enduring outrage and insults,
scourgings, spitting
from slaves, and blows.

Come, observe well
the abundance of compassion,
the forbearance and mercy
of our sweet Master.

He had a useful slave
in the Paradise of delight,
and when he sinned
he was given to the torturers.

But when the Good One
saw his weakness of soul
he took compassion on the slave
and had mercy on him
and presented Himself
to be scourged by him.

I wished to remain silent
because my mind
was utterly amazed;
but then again I was afraid
lest I reject
by my silence
my Saviour’s grace.
For my bones tremble
when I think of it.

The fashioner of all things,
our Lord Himself,
was today arraigned
before Caiaphas,
like one of the condemned;
and one of the servants
struck Him a blow.

My heart trembles
as I think on these things:
the slave is seated,
the Master stands,
and one full of iniquities
passes sentence
on the One who is sinless.

The heavens trembled,
earth’s foundations shuddered;
Angels and Archangels
all quailed with terror.
Gabriel and Michael
covered their faces
with their wings.

The Cherubim at the throne
were hidden beneath the wheels;
The Seraphim struck their wings
one with the other
at that moment,
when a servant gave
a blow to the Master.

How did earth’s foundations
endure the earthquake
and the tremor
at that moment,
when the Master was outraged?

I observe and I tremble
and again I am stunned,
when I see the long-suffering
of the loving Master.

For see my inward parts
tremble as I speak,
because the Creator,
who by grace fashioned
humanity from dust,
He the Fashioner is struck.

Let us fear, my brethren
and not simply listen.
The Saviour endured
all these things for us.

Wretched servant,
tell us why
you struck the Master?

All servants,
when they are set free,
receive a blow,
that they may obtain
freedom that perishes;
but you, miserable wretch,
unjustly gave a blow
to the Liberator of all.

Did you perhaps expect
to receive from Caiaphas
a reward for your blow?

Had you perhaps not heard,
had you perhaps not learned
that Jesus is
the heavenly Master?

You gave a blow
to the Master of all things,
but became slave of slaves
to age on age,
a disgrace and abomination,
and condemned for ever
in unquenchable fire.

A great marvel, brethren,
it is to see the gentleness
of Christ the King!
Struck by a slave
He answered patiently,
with gentleness
and all reverence.

A servant is indignant,
the Master endures;
a servant is enraged,
the Master is kind.

At a time of anger,
who could endure
rage and disturbance?
But our Lord
submitted to all this
by His goodness.

Who can express
your long-suffering,
Master?

You that are longed for
and loved by Christ,
draw near, with compunction
and longing for the Saviour.

Come, let us learn
what took place today
in Sion, David’s city.

The longed-for and chosen
offspring of Abraham,
what did they do today?

They gave up to death
the most pure Master
on this day.

Christ our Saviour
was unjustly hanged
on the tree of the Cross
through lawless hands.

Come, let us all
wash our bodies
with tears and groans,
because our Lord,
the King of glory,
for us ungodly people
was given up to death.

If someone suddenly hears
of one truly beloved
having died,
or again, suddenly sees
the beloved himself
lying a dead corpse
before their eyes,
their appearance is altered,
and the brightness
of their sight is darkened.

So, in heaven’s height,
when it saw
the outrage to the Master
on the tree of the Cross,
the bright sun’s
appearance was altered;
it withdrew the rays
of its own brightness,
and unable to look on
the outrage to the Master,
clothed itself
in grief and darkness.

Likewise the Holy Spirit,
who is in the Father,
when he saw
the beloved Son
on the tree of the Cross,
rending the veil,
the temple’s adornment,
suddenly came forth
in the form of a dove.

All creation was
in fear and trembling
when the King of heaven,
the Saviour suffered;
while we sinners
for whom the only immortal
was given up
ever treat this with contempt.

We laugh each day
when we hear of the Saviour’s
sufferings and outrage.

We enjoy ourselves daily
filled with great zeal
to deck ourselves in fine clothing.

The sun in the sky
because of the outrage to its Master
changed its radiance
into darkness,
so that we, when we saw it,
might follow its example.

The Master on the Cross
was outraged for your sake,
while you, miserable wretch,
ever deck yourself
in splendid raiment.

Does your heart not tremble,
does your mind not quail,
when you hear such things?

The One who alone is sinless
was for you given over
to a shameful death,
to outrages and revilings,
while you hear all this
with lofty indifference.

The whole rational flock
should look intently
on its shepherd,
and ever long for Him
and respect Him,
because for its sake
He suffered, He
the dispassionate and all pure.

Nor should it deck itself
in corruptible garments,
nor yet indulge in pleasure
and worldly nourishment,
but should give its Maker pleasure
by ascesis and true reverence.

Let us not become
imitators of the Jews;
a people harsh and disobedient
and that ever rejects the blessings
and benefactions of God.

God Most High
for the sake of Abraham
and his covenant
from the beginning bore
the stubbornness of the people.

From heaven He gave
them Manna to eat;
but they, the unworthy,
longed for garlic,
evil-smelling foods.

Again, He gave them water
from the rock in the desert,
while they in place of these
gave Him vinegar
when they hanged Him on a Cross.

Let us be careful, brethren,
not to be found
as fellows of the Jews
who crucified the Master,
their own Creator.

Let us always be fearful,
keeping before our eyes
the Saviour’s sufferings.

Let us always keep in mind
His sufferings,
because it was for us He suffered,
the dispassionate Master;
for us He was crucified,
the only sinless One.

What return can we make
for all this, brethren?

Let us be attentive to ourselves
and not despise His sufferings.

Draw near all of you,
children of the Church,
bought with the precious
and holy blood
of the most pure Master.

Come, let us meditate
on His sufferings with tears,
thinking on fear,
meditating with trembling,
saying to ourselves,
‘Christ our Saviour
for us the impious
was given over to death’.

Learn well, brother,
what it is you hear:
'God who is without sin,
Son of the Most High,
for you was given up'.

Open your heart,
learn in detail
his sufferings
and say to yourself:
'God who is without sin
today was given up,
today was mocked,
today was abused,
today was struck,
today was scourged,
today wore
a crown of thorns,
today was crucified,
He, the heavenly Lamb'.

Your heart will tremble,
your soul will shudder.

Shed tears every day
by this meditation
on the Master’s sufferings.

Tears become sweet,
the soul is enlightened
that always meditates
on Christ’s sufferings.

Always meditating thus,
shedding tears every day,
giving thanks to the Master
for the sufferings
that He suffered for you,
so that in the day
of his Coming
your tears may become
your boast and exaltation
before the judgement seat.

Endure as you meditate
on the loving Master’s
sufferings,
endure temptations,
give thanks from your soul.

Blessed is the one
who has before his eyes
the heavenly Master
and his sufferings,
and has crucified himself
from all the passions
and earthly deeds,
who has become an imitator
of his own Master.

This is understanding,
this is the attitude
of servants who love God,
when they become ever
imitators of their Master
by good works.

Shameless man, do you watch
the most pure Master
hanging on the Cross,
while you pass the time
that you have to live on earth
in pleasure and laughter?

Don’t you know, miserable wretch,
that the crucified Lord
will demand an account
of all your disdainful deeds,
for which, when you hear of them, you show no concern,
and as you take your pleasure
you laugh
and enjoy yourself with indifference?

The day will come,
that fearful day,
for you to weep unceasingly
and cry out in the fire
from your pains,
and there will be no one at all
to answer
and have mercy on your soul.

I worship you, Master,
I bless you, O Good One,
I entreat you, O Holy One,
I fall down before you, Lover of mankind,
and I glorify you, O Christ,
because you, only-begotten
Master of all,
alone without sin,
for me the unworthy sinner
were given over to death,
death on a Cross,
that you might free
the sinner’s soul
from the bonds of sins.

And what shall I give you
in return for this, Master?

Glory to You, Lover of mankind!
Glory to You, O Merciful!
Glory to You, O Long-suffering!
Glory to You, who pardon
every fault!
Glory to You, who came down
to save our souls!
Glory to You, incarnate
in the Virgin’s womb!
Glory to You, who were bound!
Glory to You, who were scourged!
Glory to You, who were crucified!
Glory to You, who were buried!
Glory to You, who were raised!
Glory to You, who were proclaimed!
Glory to You, who were believed!
Glory to You, who were taken up!
Glory to You, who were enthroned
with great glory
at the Father’s right hand,
and are coming again
with the glory of the Father
and the holy Angels
to judge every soul
that has despised
Your holy sufferings
in that dread
and fearful hour,
when the powers of heaven
will be shaken;
when Angels, Archangels,
Cherubim and Seraphim
will come all together
with fear and trembling
before Your glory;
when all the foundations
of the earth will tremble,
and everything that has breath
will shudder at Your great
and unendurable glory.

In that hour
Your hand will hide me
under its wings
and my soul be delivered
from the fearful fire,
the gnashing of teeth,
the outer darkness
and unending weeping,
that blessing You, I may say,
‘Glory to the One, who wished
to save the sinner
through the many acts of pity
of His compassion'.

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Orthodox Bulgaria Marks Holy Thursday

April 21, 2011
Novinite

Bulgaria marks on April 21st Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries.

Maundy Thursday is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. The day is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

The Mass of the Lord's Supper initiates the Easter Triduum, the three days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday that commemorate the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Lenten character of the services is for the most part set aside, and they follow a format closer to normal. The liturgical colors are changed from the somber Lenten hues to more festive colors (red is common in the Slavic practice). The ceremony of the Washing of Feet will normally be performed in monasteries and cathedrals. Because of the joy of the Institution of the Eucharist, on this day alone during Holy Week wine and oil are permitted at meals. In the evening, after the Liturgy, all of the hangings and vestments are changed to black or some other Lenten color, to signify the beginning of the Passion.

In Bulgaria Maundy Thursday is called Veliki Chetvurtuk (Great Thursday), and is traditionally the day when people color their Easter eggs and perform other household chores geared toward preparing for Razpeti Petuk (Crucifixion Friday), Velika Subota (Great Saturday) and Velikden (Easter Day).

Easter eggs can also be colored on Great Saturday. According to the tradition, the first egg is always red and replaces the one from the previous year. The second egg is colored red as well and it is left in the church Saturday evening during the mass, which begins at midnight. The remaining eggs can be of any color.

On Veliki Chetvartak Bulgarians also prepare the dough for the Easter breads and for the traditional kozunak – a sweet bread that represents the body of Christ as the red eggs symbolize his blood.

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Video: "Porphyrios, the Saint of Omonia"

On Holy Thursday the Greek television station Mega had a short feature on Elder Porphyrios titled "Porphyrios, the Saint of Omonia".

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Video: A Dramatic Passion of Christ In Rhodes

For years a dramatic re-enactment of the Passion of Christ takes place at Saint Nicholas Church in Pastidas, Rhodes. It is put on by the Cultural Association of Pastida "Kammari" ("Pride").

This event takes place on Holy Thursday night during the service when 12 Gospel readings recall the Passion of Christ and there is a procession of Christ crucified within the church. Young men dress as Roman soldiers and stand at the foot of the Cross to dramatically represent the historical event as a living event remembered every Holy Thursday.

On Great Friday evening young women also stand near the tomb of Christ, the Epitaphion, to represent the myrrh-bearing women who first saw the risen Christ. During the Lamentations and Procession they throw rose petals. Other children will dress as 1st century Jews who were present at the Passion of Christ.









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Holy Thursday Message From Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

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Synaxarion For Holy and Great Thursday

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

GREAT THURSDAY

On Holy and Great Thursday, the Divine Fathers, who ordered all things aright, in succession to the Divine Apostles and the Sacred Gospels, have handed down to us the tradition of celebrating four events: the sacred Foot-washing, the Mystical Supper (that is, the bestowal of the dread Mysteries), the preternatural Prayer, and the Betrayal itself.

Verses to the Foot-washing

God, Whose feet trod in Eden long ago in the afternoon,
Washeth the feet of His Disciples in the evening.

Verses to the Mystical Supper

Twofold is the Supper: for it is the Passover of the Law
And the New Pascha, the Blood and Body of the Master.

Verses to the preternatural Prayer

In Thy Prayer, O Christ, Thou didst show fear,
And let great drops of blood fall from Thy face,
Ostensibly avoiding death, but thereby deceiving the Enemy.

Verses to the Betrayal

What need have ye of swords and staves, O deceivers of the people,
To put to death Him Who is zealous to redeem the world?


Synaxarion

Since the sacrifice of the Hebrew Passover, that is, the slaughter of the lamb reared for this purpose, was to take place on Friday, and it was fitting that the type should be succeeded by the truth, that is, that Christ, our Paschal Lamb, be sacrificed on that day, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Divine Fathers say, celebrated the Passover in anticipation with His Disciples on the evening of Thursday. This evening and the whole of Friday until the evening are reckoned by the Hebrews as a single day; for thus do they count, calling this period a night and a day. Christ celebrated the Passover at that time with the Disciples according to the Law, as some, including the Divine Chrysostomos, have said: first, standing upright, girt, wearing shoes, leaning on staffs, and everything else prescribed by the Law, lest He should seem to be transgressing the Law.

After this, showing the Disciples that which is more perfect, He entrusted to them the Mystery of our Pascha in the upper room, night having already fallen. For when the Supper took place, He sat down with the Twelve.

Note that this was not the Passover according to the Law; for it was a supper, they were sitting down, and there was bread and water, whereas at the Passover everything is cooked with fire and there is no leavened bread. Before they began to eat (this is what the Divine Chrysostomos says), He arose from the supper, placed His garments on the ground, and poured water into a basin, doing everything with His own hands; on the one hand, in order to put Judas to shame, and on the other hand, in order to remind the other Disciples not to seek primacy, as He exhorts them after the foot-washing, saying, “He who desireth to be first, let him be last of all” (cf. Luke 22:24-27) and making Himself an example. It appears that Christ washed the feet of Judas first of all, who had rather presumptuously sat down first, and subsequently came to Peter. He, being more ardent than the rest, restrained the Teacher, but then, after hearing from the Lord that unless He washed his feet, he had no part with Him, gave way still more vehemently.

After washing their feet and displaying an extraordinary exaltation through humility, He took up His garments again and reclined, exhorting them to love one another and not to seek primacy. While they were eating, He introduced the subject of His betrayal.

The Disciples being perturbed at these words, Jesus said quietly to John alone: “He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it” (John 13:26). He spoke in this way, for if Peter had known what He was saying, being more fervent than the others, he would have laid hands on Judas. Again, Christ says: “He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me” (Matthew 26:23).

Then, after a short time had elapsed, He took bread and said: “Take, eat”; (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22) and likewise the cup, saying: “Drink ye all of it; this is my blood, the blood of the new testament; this do in remembrance of me” (Matthew 26:27-28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:19). As He did this, He ate and drank with them.

Note that He calls His Body leavened bread, not unleavened bread. Let them be put to shame, therefore, who offer unleavened bread at the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

After Judas had tasted the sop, Satan entered into him, for, having previously tested him, he now completely dwelt in him. And he went and made an agreement with the chief priests, so that he might betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver.


After the supper, the Disciples went out to the Mount of Olives, to a place called Gethsemane. After much time had passed, Jesus said to them: “All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee. But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice” (Mark 14:27-30). He said, “before the cock crow twice,” because the cock typically does not crow once, but twice or thrice. This indeed happened, and Peter was seized by immeasurable fear, for God thereby revealed the infirmity of human nature. He also permitted this to occur because He had entrusted the inhabited earth to Peter. Knowing from his own case the fickleness of our nature, Peter might thereby provide forgiveness to sinners.

Aside from the foregoing, the threefold denial of Peter was an image of the sins of all men towards God: the first is the transgression of the commandment which God gave to Adam; the second is the transgression of the written law; and the third is the violation of the Gospel message. The Savior subsequently healed this denial through a threefold repentance on the part of Peter by asking him thrice: “Peter, lovest thou Me?”


After this, wishing to disclose His humanity, He told the Disciples how fearful death is to all: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:38-39).

He said these things, on the one hand, as a man, and on the other hand, in order to deceive the Devil in an artful manner into thinking that He, too, was a mere man because He supposedly feared death. He did this lest, knowing the truth, the Devil thwart the mystery of His death on the Cross.

After this first prayer, the Lord returned to the Disciples and found them sunk in sleep. Addressing Peter, He said: “What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:40-41). He spoke this to Peter as if to say to him: “You, who said that you wanted to struggle unto death, are you just as drowsy as the others?”

“He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy. And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me” (Matthew 26:42-46).

Then, after crossing the brook of Kedron, where there was a garden, He settled there with the Disciples.


Since the Lord was wont to go thither regularly, for this reason Judas knew the place. Thus, after procuring a band of soldiers, and with a crowd following him, he went up to Jesus, having previously given them a sign, saying, “Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast” (Matthew 26:48). He said this because oftentimes the Lord, when apprehended, would disappear from their midst and go on His way. However, in this instance Christ first went forth to them and asked: “Whom seek ye?” (John 18:4).

They still did not recognize Him. Now, the night was not an impediment, for they had come with light lanterns and torches. And yet, they fell to the ground in fear and drew back. When they returned, He gave the same answer.

After Judas had given the signal, Christ said, “Friend, wherefore art thou come?” (Matthew 26:50), as though to say: “It is now time to fulfill the purpose for which you have come, Judas.” And again, He said: “Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me?” (Matthew 26:55). They had, in fact, come by night so as to forestall any sedition on the part of the people.

Then Peter, who was so very ardent, drew his sword (for it was after supper, and they had come prepared) and smote the servant of the high priest, Malchos by name, cutting off his right ear. Christ rebuked Peter, saying that it is not good that a spiritual man should be known for resorting to the sword, and He healed Malchos’ ear.
Having arrested Jesus, they led Him bound to the palace of the high priest, Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas. The Pharisees and scribes, who thought ill of Christ, were all assembled there. It was here that the incident involving Peter and the maidservant and his denial of Christ took place. The night having passed in the meantime, “the cock crew, and Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:74-75).


Towards daybreak they took Christ from Annas to the high priest Caiaphas, where He endured being spat upon and buffeted, and false witnesses were summoned. When day dawned, Caiaphas sent Him to Pilate. Those who led him “went not into the prætorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the passover” (John 18:28). We may conclude, therefore, that the chief priests and the Pharisees did something unlawful at that time in postponing the Passover, as the Divine Chrysostomos says; for they ought to have eaten it during the night, but postponed it so that Christ could be put to death.

That they ought to have eaten it then is shown by what Christ said before the supper on Thursday evening, when He ate the passover of the Law and then initiated the Disciples into the more perfect Passover. For, as we have said, it was necessary that the shadow of the Law be succeeded by the truth. For John says that all of these things occurred before the feast of Passover on Thursday and during the ensuing night. For this reason we keep feast, commemorating with awe those dread and ineffable deeds and acts.

By Thine ineffable compassion, O Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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