The Eucharist is not celebrated on Holy Friday, as Christ said: “When the Bridegroom has gone, then they will fast.” It is traditional to eat and drink nothing on this day. At the Royal Hours, we listen to selections from the Passion Gospels, together with reflective psalmody and hymns.
Tag: Services
Known as the “12 Gospels Service” or the “Passion Service.” In what is perhaps the most intense service of Holy Week, we read the twelve Gospel accounts of Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion. Interspersed with hymns that reach a climax with the procession of the Cross, we venerate the Wood on which the Lord suffered and purchased our salvation.
On Holy Thursday, we remember the institution of the Eucharist. Judas is also exposed as a “son of vipers” as he betrays the Lord. The lengthy Gospel reading at the Divine Liturgy brings us through the Mystical Supper, the arrest of Jesus, and the denial of Peter. During this service we repeatedly pray that we will not betray Christ with a kiss like Judas, but rather imitate the Good Thief.
This sacrament, instituted in the Epistle of St. James, is celebrated during Holy Week in some Orthodox traditions to strengthen the faithful as we enter into the day of Christ’s death. The oil of mercy, which is traditionally blessed by seven priests, is given to effect healing and forgiveness of sins.
Holy Unction is a sacrament of the Orthodox Church, and the same rules apply as with the Eucharist. Only members of the Orthodox Church may receive the anointing.
In this, the third “Bridegroom Service,” we make remembrance of the harlot who anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive ointment, and His rebuke of the greedy Judas, who was obsessed with money. Let us imitate the woman, who poured out fountains of tears and confessed her sins to the Master; let us run from the ways of Judas, who betrayed Christ for the sake of wealth.
This is the second of the “Bridegroom Services.” Holy Tuesday is dedicated to the parable of the ten virgins. Through this parable, we are reminded to imitate the wise virgins, who trimmed their lamps and were prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom, while the foolish virgins wasted their time and the door was shut in their faces. There is still time to repent and change our way of life.
This is the first of the “Bridegroom Services.” Having given up the Feast of Palms, we begin Holy Week with the first of three Bridegroom Matins services, in which we remember Christ as the Groom of His Bride, the Church, as He goes to His saving Passion. On Holy Monday, Christ is compared to the Old Testament patriarch Joseph, who was made to suffer at the hands of his brothers, but was ultimately glorified. The day is also dedicated to Christ’s cursing of the fig tree, which symbolized the fruitless council of the Jews.
On Lazarus Saturday, eight days before Pascha, we celebrate the resurrection of Lazarus the friend of Christ. In this, the Lord gave a sign of His own Resurrection as He demonstrated His power over death.