April 20, 2020

Bright Week According to Canon 66 of the Fifth-Sixth Ecumenical Synod


Since early Christian times the solemn commemoration of Christian Pascha, similar to the Old Covenant, lasts for the whole week, which is known as Bright Week or Renewal Week.

Canon 66 of the Fifth-Sixth Ecumenical Synod

"From the holy day of the Resurrection of Christ our God until the next Lord's day, for a whole week, in the holy churches the faithful ought to be free from labor, rejoicing in Christ with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; and celebrating the feast, and applying their minds to the reading of the holy Scriptures, and delighting in the Holy Mysteries; for thus shall we be exalted with Christ and together with him be raised up. Therefore, on the aforesaid days there must not be any horse races or any public spectacle."

Leviticus 23:4-8 (The Feast of Unleavened Bread)

"The Passover to the Lord begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any ordinary work. For seven days you are to present an offering made by fire to the Lord. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any ordinary work."