2011-02-08
To our beloved Antiochian Sons and Daughters
In Western and Central Europe,
Great
and Holy Week is the liturgical period which brings us into the life of
the Lord Jesus, who approaches the Passion and undergoes the cross and
death for our sake, then rises glorious and triumphantly, trampling down
death. The rites and prayers of Great Week represent for us the events
of the Passion of the Lord Jesus, and bring us into the sacrament of the
Cross and the Resurrection.
On Palm Sunday, we see the Lord
Jesus entering Jerusalem, riding on a donkey. The Gospel says: When the
Lord mounted the donkey and entered Jerusalem with the apostles were
around Him, the crowds and the children welcomed Him with joy, and they
carried palm branches as the welcome for conquerors. On this day we
sing:
“O Christ God, When Thou raised Lazarus from the dead
before Thy passion, Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection;
therefore like the children, (and we apply here the theological meaning)
we bear the symbols of victory and triumph, crying out to Thee, O
Conqueror of Death, Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he that comes in
the name of the Lord!”
The crowds and the children welcomed Him
with hymns and palm branches because the victorious in war were welcomed
in that manner, and they were foretelling thereby that He whom they
welcome is the King who will be victorious on the day of the
Resurrection and who will be triumphant. This is a revelation in advance
of the victory and triumph of Christ.
On Sunday evening we perform the Bridegroom Prayer and we call it the Bridegroom Prayer in reference to the hymn:
“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and unworthy is he whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, lest thou be overcome with sleep, lest thou be given up to death, and be shut out from the Kingdom. But rather rouse thyself and cry: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, O God, through the Theotokos and all the saints have mercy on us.”
On
Monday the Church commemorates the blessed Joseph, about whom we know
that in ancient times he was sold by his brothers into Egypt, and there
became a governor and was charitable to the brothers who had sold him.
The wife of the king wanted to seduce him, but he did not agree, tore
off his shirt and fled, in order to preserve his chastity. We also
commemorate the fig tree which the Lord cursed because it bore no fruit.
Thus from the beginning of Passion Week we remember the commandment of
the Lord that we be arrayed in chastity and virtue so that we are ranked
on the right-hand side and not the left, and that we be fruitful
branches on the tree of life and not branches on which there are no
fruit.
On Tuesday we commemorate the foolish and the wise
virgins. By means of this parable the Lord calls upon us to be like the
wise virgins, always ready to welcome the bridegroom, the true groom,
with good works and arrayed with watchfulness and vigilance.
- On
Wednesday, we commemorate the harlot who anointed the feet of the Lord
with ointment in the house of Simon the Leper before the Passover. This
woman broke a jar of perfume and poured the perfume over the head and
feet of the Lord. Some people complained because this perfume was very
expensive, and they said that it would be better for it to have been
sold and the price given to the poor. Thereupon the Lord told them to
leave her alone, because “the poor are always with you, but I shall not
always be with you, she did this for the sake of preparing me for the
grave.” Thus we commemorate this woman who poured perfume on the head
and feet of the Lord on this day, and also on which Judas conspired with
the Jews to hand over the Lord, agreeing with them that they would give
him thirty pieces of silver as the price for delivering Him to them.
- After this we reach the climax of Passion Week, Great Thursday, when we proceed to commemorate:
- The washing of feet, that is when the Lord washed the feet of His disciples.
- The
Last Supper, that is when the Lord Jesus ate the Passover meal with His
disciples, and established the sacrament of the Eucharist (“Take, eat
and drink of it, all of you”, and “This you have done in commemoration
of Me.”)
- The prayer of the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane (“O
Father, take this cup from Me”, and His direction to His disciples that
they stay awake and pray).
- The handing over, where
Judas comes, with the police and a large group of the Jews in order to
arrest the Lord and deliver Him for trial. Judas gave them the sign:
“The one whom I kiss is He.” He kisses the Lord, and the Lord says to
him: “Is it with a kiss that you hand over the Teacher?”
- Thus
on Thursday evening we perform the Passion Service (the Cross), where
we commemorate the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. We would mention here
the well-known hymn:
- “Today is hung upon the Tree, He
Who hung the land upon the waters. A crown of thorns is placed upon Him
the head of the King of Angels. Wrapped about with the purple of mockery
is He Who wrapped the Heavens with clouds. He received buffetings Who
freed Adam in Paradise. 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 unto us thy glorious
Resurrection.”
- It is worthy of mention here that we use the
word “today”, despite the fact that the crucifixion happened two
thousand years ago in history, and that the feast of the Passover is
changeable and not fixed, and now we say: “Today He is hung!” The
liturgy transcends time and place, which truly brings the event before
our eyes. We are carried through time, and brought into the events of
the redeeming cross, so that henceforth it does not remain merely a
symbol or a story in history, but a redeeming sacrament which bestows
life upon us.
- Christ, who was crucified on Thursday
evening, is taken down from the cross on Friday morning, so we hold the
funeral and burial service on Friday evening. Joseph of Arimathea went
to Pilate and requested the body of the Lord from him. Joseph went with
the women and they took Lord Jesus down from the cross, wrapped him in
linen and placed him in a new tomb. This what we do on Friday morning
where we take Christ down from the cross, and then in the evening we
perform the funeral service of the Lord, and therefore we sing on Friday
morning:
- “O He who is clothed with light like a garment, when Joseph with Nicodemus took you down from the tree, and saw you dead, naked and unburied, he began to weep and lament, saying, ‘Great is my sorrow, O sweet Jesus!’ A little while and the sun saw you hanging on the cross it was clothed in darkness, the earth quaked in fear and the curtain of the temple was torn asunder, but behold, I now see you as accepting death for my sake. How, O my God, shall I prepare you for burial? With what type of shroud shall I wrap you? With what hands shall I touch your pure body? With what laments shall I sing for your burial? ...”
The Lord who had borne the cross and burial descended
to Hades to release those who were there, and therefore Saturday is
called “Great Saturday” and “Saturday of Light” due to the descent of
the Lord into Hades. Since all this is linked to the resurrection so we
scatter bay leaves in the church in the service of the divine liturgy of
St Basil the Great before the reading of the gospel, as a sign of
triumph, and we sing: “Arise O Lord and judge the earth, for you shall
have an inheritance among the nations.”
Christ, Who suffered for
our sake, breaks down the gates of Hades and arises triumphant. This is
what the Lord shows us on Sunday, and therefore we shout aloud: “Christ
is risen!”. One person calls to another “Christ is risen!” and he
replies “He is risen indeed!”. This is the victory after that long
bitterness. Christ obeyed God the Father unto death, death on the cross,
and He raised Him on the third day, and revealed Him life and
resurrection for us. These rites are nothing but our participation in
this sacrament. It is the sacrament of the Lord Jesus Who was hung upon
the cross, but trampled down death and arose victorious to open the
gates of paradise to us once again. This sacrament was performed once in
history, but we live it in the liturgy, and especially in Great Week,
in our hearts when we accompany the Lord on His way to the Passion and
the Cross, and we see Him triumphant and victorious, and therefore we
sing on the day of Pascha (as on every Sunday throughout the year):
- Since we have seen the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the most Holy Lord Jesus who is alone without sin, We bow to your Cross, O Christ, and we praise and glorify your holy resurrection.”
I wish you a Glorious Pascha
† John
Metropolitan of Western and Central Europe
Author: Metropolitan John (Yazigi)