Holy Week. Matins of Great Saturday. Burial of the Shroud

On Good Friday, a special service is held in the church - the Rite of Burial of the Shroud. Easter (this year - April 24, 2022) is a bright holiday, which is preceded by very sad, tragic events associated with the death of the Savior on the cross.

This happened on Friday, which is also called Passionate, emphasizing the suffering of Christ, and Great, meaning the importance of this day. How the ceremony of removing the Shroud on Good Friday takes place is described in detail below.

Why is Friday called Good Friday?

The events of Good Friday will become clear if we rewind time just one day back and plunge into the atmosphere of Thursday (the same Thursday that people called Clean Thursday).

Let us mentally imagine the Lord's Supper - a kind of farewell evening, which became the last for Christ and his disciples. Of course, none of the 12 apostles had any idea that Jesus would be taken into custody a few hours later.

And only Judas Iscariot was aware of what was happening, because the traitor had already begun his vile game. Having reached an agreement with the Savior’s enemies, he literally sold his teacher for 30 pieces of silver.

By the way, today scientists have made simple calculations that have revealed an amazing fact. Those 30 pieces of silver are today's 6 thousand dollars. This is the amount Judas valued the Lord’s life at.

Of course, Christ knew about the upcoming torment, because he came to earth in order to die and then be resurrected. Through his atoning sacrifice, the Lord was to save all mankind. But did he know in detail what would happen in a few hours? Hardly.

Therefore, immediately after the supper, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to retire and mentally prepare for the most difficult test. This is what this place looks like today (Jerusalem, Israel).

Meanwhile, Judas was already with his accomplices. The remaining 11 disciples settled down not far from the Savior. Thursday turned out to be a very busy day, so they fell asleep very quickly: clean air, sweet silence and sentimental moonlight did their job.

But Christ had no time for sleep. The moment of his suffering and passion is described in great detail in the Bible.

The Savior turned his gaze to heaven and simply prayed to God.

Perhaps everyone has heard the expression “the passion of Christ.” This is not only the name of a famous film, but also part of the true biography of the Savior - the events of the last days of his earthly life. Of course, at that moment he was experiencing not carnal, but spiritual passions.

This is what we sometimes call the words “the soul hurts.” Painful thoughts, a feeling of the inevitability of suffering and a terrible, unjust death. Needless to say, in this mental struggle a person especially needs the support of his loved ones - at least a warm word and a kind look.

Obviously, this is exactly what the Lord wanted when he approached his disciples. But they were already fast asleep. Christ did not wake them up, did not ask for help, although, of course, he had every right to do so. It’s just that this was not part of his mission - the Savior does not share his suffering, but bears his cross to the end.

A few hours later he will literally carry a huge wooden cross. Together with a raging crowd, representatives of the authorities and a small number of sympathizing people, the Lord reached a place called Golgotha... (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27).

This is what it looks like today (Jerusalem, Israel).

Screaming enemies, laughing soldiers, whispering conspirators - their discordant cries turned into disgusting chaos, which reverberated with a dull, sad noise in the ears of all those gathered. No one thought about what would happen in just a few minutes. The Lord dies in torment and struggle.

At that very second, the unexpected happened. The sky became dark as if night had suddenly fallen or a total solar eclipse. The stones at the foot of the cross cracked, and the curtain in the local temple was torn exactly in half.

The crowd was seriously scared. Those who just recently shouted and mocked the defenseless man hurried to go home.

And many soldiers, timid people, felt not only trembling fear, but also deep respect for the deceased. They believed that Christ was truly the Son of God.

A few more hours later, when Golgotha ​​was deserted, one rich man, whose name was Joseph, came to the cross with the body of Jesus (whether it’s a coincidence or not, but the same name was given to the Savior’s earthly father, Mary’s husband). He removed the body, embalmed it, swaddled it and performed the burial ceremony (placed it in a stone tomb).

The next day, the traitors were afraid of the already dead Christ, because they remembered his promise that in three days he would rise again. Therefore, they decided to move a heavy stone to the entrance to the tomb, put a seal on it, and in addition set up a guard who should stand at his post around the clock.

No, those people did not know that no security could disrupt God’s plans, because Christ’s mission would be completed only when he was resurrected. So, all that remains is to wait for the fulfillment of this promise. And this was exactly the case when the promised one waits not for three years, but for three days.

After all, on Sunday a great miracle will happen, which a good half of humanity still remembers today. We call it Bright Easter - a holiday of hope and good changes, the victory of life over death, spring over winter, the forces of light over the forces of darkness.

But the other hero of this story faced real death, without the prospect of resurrection. Judas Iscariot never got to enjoy his $6,000. After the death of Christ, he was terribly afraid for his transgression, realizing that he had done something terrible.

Taking a wallet with 30 ill-fated pieces of silver, the traitor went to the conspirators to return the money to them. But the life of the innocently murdered man could not be returned. And the attackers had nothing to do with these bloody coins.

Judas became confused and threw the money right in the temple. The silver coins rolled across the floor, jingling and bouncing alarmingly. This ominous sound seemed to foreshadow an imminent tragedy. Iscariot ran from the city and hanged himself on the first tree he came across.

The legend says that at first he wanted to hang himself on a birch tree, but it got scared and turned white with fear. Then the traitor committed suicide on an aspen tree. Since then, the aspen bush has been trembling in the wind more than others - apparently, it never recovered from what happened...

From this short story it becomes clear that such an event is a real dramatic story, and Good Friday is called so for a reason. By the way, all the days of the last week before Easter are called passionate (just like the week itself), for example: Holy Thursday (aka Maundy), Good Friday, Holy Saturday, etc.

It is also customary to call days great, because they are the most significant and revered in Christianity. Thus, Good Friday is, without exaggeration, a great, dramatic day, which even today requires a special attitude and respect from us.

Vespers and removal of the Shroud

In the first centuries of Christianity, Holy and Great Friday was called Easter of the Crucifixion or Easter of the Cross, according to the words of the Apostle Paul: “Our Easter is Christ sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). Only from the 2nd century did the Easter of the Resurrection, the Easter of common triumph and joy, begin to separate from this Easter.

Good Friday has always been a day of the strictest fasting and sadness, “a day of sorrow on which we fast.” The Apostolic Epistles command those who are able to spend this day in perfect fasting without food. Therefore, on Good Friday, after hours, as a sign of sadness, the Liturgy is not served, but solemn Vespers is celebrated. The beginning of Vespers is timed between 12 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon (that is, between 6 and 9 o'clock, when the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ took place). In the middle of the church there is a cross - a crucifix, to which those praying come to venerate. The very first hymns of Vespers take us to the great and terrible moments that took place at Golgotha. What the succession of the Passion was leading to on Friday night is now being fulfilled: “We see a terrible and extraordinary mystery now happening: the Intangible is held; He who freed Adam from the curse is contacted; He who examines (sees through) the hearts and wombs (innermost thoughts) is subjected to an unrighteous test (interrogation); He who closed the abyss shuts himself in prison; Pilate faces the One Who stands before the Heavenly powers with trembling; by the hand of creation the Creator receives a slap in the face; He who judges the living and the dead is condemned to the tree (to death on the cross); in the tomb lies the Destroyer (Conqueror) of hell” (the last stichera on the Lord I cried).

The last dying cry of the Son of God, dying on the cross, pierces our hearts with unbearable pain: My God, be aware of Me, the one you have forsaken Me. The betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, the humiliation before Caiaphas, the trial by Pilate and the abandonment of the disciples did not end the suffering of the Son of God. Nailed to the cross, crucified and dying a painful death, He was abandoned by His Heavenly Father. No human word can express this thought: the abandonment of the Only Begotten of the Father by the Son of God. “Without being separated from humanity, the Divine was so hidden in the soul of the Crucified God-Man that His humanity was given over to all the horrors of helpless sorrow” (Archbishop Innocent). True, remaining omnipresent, He was in the grave carnally (flesh), in hell with the soul like God, in paradise with the thief and on the Throne you were, Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, filling everything (filling everything) Indescribable (Unlimited, Ubiquitous). But, despite His omnipresence, His abandonment by God is full of great tragedy, for He, the One of the Holy Trinity, was given the opportunity to experience to the end the entire depth of the underworld and the severity of hellish torment.

The day is approaching evening, and the earthly life of the God-Man is approaching sunset. The entrance is made with the Gospel and somehow the quiet evening song of the Quiet Light (lit. from Greek - pleasant, joyful) is heard in these moments in a particularly comforting way. This Quiet Light, which illuminated the world during Its short earthly life, is now setting. This Quiet Light is the same ineffable light of the Divine that the prophet Moses was privileged to see at Sinai; that unbearable light, after which he had to put a veil over his face, for it shone with rays of glory because God spoke to him. The reading of Exodus speaks of this vision of glory, and the reading of Job that follows again shows the image of Christ in the long-suffering Job, glorified by the Lord for his patience. In the 3rd proverb, the prophet Isaiah prophesies about Christ and gives an image of Him as “a Youth who had neither form nor greatness. His appearance is diminished more than all the sons of men. This one bears our sins and suffers for us. He was wounded for our sins and tortured for our iniquities, the punishment for (the whole) our world was upon Him, and through His suffering we were healed. He is brought to the slaughter like a sheep and like a silent lamb before the shearer, so He does not open His mouth.” Moses and Isaiah enter, as it were, into a spiritual debate, contrasting one with the unspeakable glory, the other with the unspeakable humiliation of the Lord. Both of these extremes are lost in the immensity of the infinite being of God, for the limited human mind is equally incomprehensible as the state of the Lord’s humiliation and His glory.

The Apostle's Prokeimenon proclaims David's prophecy about the death of the Lord and the abandonment of Him by the Father: I have laid Me in the pit of the grave, in the dark places and the shadow of death. And the message of the Apostle Paul is read, resolving the mysterious bewilderment of both prophets and reconciling the glory and dishonor of the Lord with his word about the cross, which is foolishness for those who are perishing, but for... those who are being saved, it is the power of God... because the foolish things of God are wiser than men, and the weak things of God are stronger than men .

Before reading the Gospel, candles are lit and remain lit until the end of the service. The Gospel tells us about the death and burial of the Savior, and the stichera that follows tells about Joseph of Arimathea, who came to wrap a shroud around His most pure Body. And immediately after this, as if news brought from the heavenly world, the verse is heard: The Lord reigns, clothed in beauty. The Lord reigns, although he dies; The Lord reigns, although he descends into hell; The Lord reigns and all-mocking hell (mocking everything) (the next stichera) is horrified at the sight of Him: its shutters are broken, its gates are broken, the tombs are opened and the dead rise, rejoicing. The 2nd and 3rd stichera are dedicated to this mysterious descent of the Lord into hell and His glorification. The last stichera from the highest heights and from the hellish underworld leads us again to the tomb of our Savior. Joseph took him down from the tree with Nicodemus, dressed in light like a robe, and, seeing the dead naked woman unburied, we will accept the compassionate cry, sobbing with the words: Alas for me, sweetest Jesus, Whom the sun, seeing hanging on the cross, was covered with darkness, and the earth shook with fear, and the veil of the church was torn. And now I see You, willingly accepting death for my sake. How will I bury You, my God, and with what shroud will I wrap my arms? With what hands will I touch Your incorruptible body, what songs will I sing to Your exodus, O Generous One? I magnify Your Passion, I will sing songs and Your burial with the Resurrection, crying out: Lord, glory to You; After this song, the clergyman, accompanied by the laity (depicting Joseph with Nicodemus), lifts the Shroud from the Throne and carries it to the middle of the church. During the carrying out of the Shroud, the choir sings the troparion: The noble Joseph took down Your Most Pure Body from the tree, entwining the Shroud with a clean one; and cover the coffin with stinks. At the end of this chant, the Shroud is kissed, around which the breath of angelic wings can already be seen: an Angel appeared to the myrrh-bearing women standing at the tomb, warning them about the incorruption of the Most Pure Body of Christ.

At Compline on Good Friday, which immediately follows Vespers and the Removal of the Shroud, the canon for the Lamentation of the Virgin Mary is read or sung. In it, the Church illuminates the hidden, inner meaning of what the people expressed in the famous folk tale “The Virgin’s Walk through Torment.” In wondrous words, the Church reveals to us that the abandonment of the Son of God by the Father and His descent into hell was shared with Him by His Most Pure Mother. And if history was silent about this and people passed by the Lamb of God, who was ripening the slaughter of Her Lamb, then church poetry today brings to the One whose heart was now pierced by a sharp weapon, the wondrous gift of her songs, a pearl necklace of tears. Troparion of Song 7 says, as if on behalf of the Mother of God: “Take Me now with You, My Son and My God, so that I too may go with You into hell, Master, do not leave Me alone.” “Joy will never touch Me from now on” (troparia of the 9th canto), the Immaculate One said sobbingly. “My light and my joy went into the grave; but not

I’ll leave Him alone, I’ll die here and be buried with Him.” “Heal my spiritual ulcer now, My Child,” the Most Pure One cried with tears. “Resurrect and quench My sorrow - you can do whatever you want, Lord, and do, although you were buried voluntarily.” The Mother of God, who was present with her Son at the wedding in Cana of Galilee and begged Him to turn water into wine, even then believed that Her Divine could create everything

Son, for she said to the servants: “Whatever He tells you, do it.” And now, seeing Him already dead, She knew about the Resurrection of the One about Whom the Archangel Gabriel announced to Her on the day of the Bright Annunciation. And in response to Her faith, “The Lord secretly said to the Mother: “Desiring to save My creation, I wanted to die, but I will rise again and glorify You as the God of heaven and earth.” The canon ends with this mysterious conversation between the Son and Mother.

Holy and Great Saturday

Vespers of Good Friday is the eve of Matins of Great Saturday, during which the Church performs the rite of the Burial of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matins usually begins late on Saturday night. After the Six Psalms and the Great Litany, the three troparions with which the Vespers Heel ended are repeated again: Most Blessed Joseph, When Thou Descended to Death, the Immortal Belly, the Myrrh-Bearing Women, and the singing of the Immaculate Ones begins. These Immaculate Ones represent a special verse of the 119th Psalm. The Jews had a custom during the Passover Supper and at the end of it to sing psalms and mainly Psalm 118, dedicated to their exodus from Egypt. According to the Gospel story, Christ and his disciples left the house where the supper was being celebrated, while singing a psalm, in all likelihood, precisely the 118th: And having chanted, they went to the Mount of Olives. With the verse Blessed art thou, Lord, teach me by Thy justification the Lord, Who is coming to suffering and death, buried Himself; This verse, from now on, is always sung by the Church at the burial of the dead. In the Immaculates, divided into three articles or divisions, the Old and New Testaments mysteriously echo each other; There is, as it were, some kind of dialogue between Christ and the Church. How are you dying, asks the Church, and Christ answers with the words of the 118th Psalm, which is a prophecy about Himself. He is the One Who did not violate a single note of the Law of the Lord, Who completely fulfilled everything that was predicted about Him, Who loved the Commandments of God with all his heart, loved them more than gold and all the treasures of the world. The Church responds to each verse of the psalm with “praises” to Christ God and the magnification of His suffering and burial. The verses of the psalm - Immaculate - are usually sung, and the Praise is proclaimed by the priest or reader. The praise ends with an appeal to the Holy Trinity for mercy on the world and a petition to the Mother of God: To see Your Son's resurrection, O Virgin, grant Thy servants. In these words, the Sunday motif appears for the first time and the rising dawn of the resurrection is already visible. The choir joyfully sings the Sunday troparia (the Council of Angels was surprised in vain by imputing You as the dead, etc.) with the chorus Blessed art thou, Lord, announcing that the time of weeping is over, for a shining Angel is already flying to the tomb of the Life-Giver to announce to the myrrh-bearers about the Resurrection of the Savior. But the stone has not yet been rolled away from the tomb, and the Gospel, usually read at Matins about the Resurrection, is not read on this Matins of Holy Saturday and, at the end of the “Praises,” omitting the Gospel reading, the canon, exceptional in its beauty, is sung by the Wave of the Sea. The Irmos of the first song of this canon says that the descendants of the Jews who were once saved while crossing the Red Sea are hiding underground (burying) the One who once hid with a wave of the sea their persecutor and tormentor - Pharaoh. This canon is a funeral hymn to Him who opened the “gates of life” for us through His burial. Numerous images of the prophecies of Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jonah about the resurrection of the dead and the uprising of those in the tombs and the joy of all earthly ones appear in this canon as inspired insights of the faith of ancient people who saw from the darkness of the centuries of the Old Testament the non-evening light of the Epiphany and the Resurrection of Christ.

Adam’s sin was “homicide, but not deicide”... Therefore, Christ the God, having clothed himself in human flesh, gave the earthly being of the flesh to suffering and death, in order by His Divinity to transform the corruptible into the incorruptible and thereby save the human race from death and give people eternal resurrection. This is the last act of God’s love - placing Himself in the grave, in fulfillment of the words of Christ about a grain of wheat that, having fallen into the ground, must die in order to come to life, is the final act of the Incarnation of God and, as it were, a new creation of the world. The Old Adam is buried and the New Adam rises. “This Saturday is most blessed, on it the Lord rested from all His works,” says the canon. In the first peacemaking, the Lord, having completed all His works, and on the 6th day created man, rested on the 7th day from all His works and called it “Saturday” (which means the day of rest). Having completed the “clever work of peace,” and on the 6th day, restoring human nature, which had been corrupted by sin, and renewing it with His saving cross and death, the Lord, on the present 7th day, rested in the sleep of repose. “The Word of God descends with the flesh into the grave, and descends into hell with His incorruptible and divine soul, separated by death from the body.” “But His soul is not retained in hell”: “Hell reigns, but not forever... for You laid Yourself in the tomb, O Sovereign, and with Your life-giving hand you dissolved the keys of death and preached true deliverance there to those sleeping from eternity, Having Himself become the firstborn from the dead.” The canon ends with a wondrous song: Do not weep for Me, Mother, seeing in the tomb, Who in your womb without seed conceived the Son: for I will rise and be glorified and exalt with glory, unceasingly (endlessly) like God, magnifying You with faith and love. The church hymn then answers for this promise with grateful love:

Let every breath praise the Lord. The words of the stichera sound with joyful hope: “Rise up, O God, who judges the earth, for You reign forever.” But the day of the Sabbath has not yet ended and the words of the last stichera, full of dogmatic meaning, remind us of this: Moses typified the secretly great day, saying: and God bless the seventh day, for this is the blessed Saturday, this is the day of rest, from all His works the Only Begotten has rested. The Son of God, looking at death (predestined for death), became a sabbath in the flesh: and in the hedgehog returned by resurrection, he gave us eternal life, for he is the only one who is good and loves mankind. After this, the Church glorifies the One to whom we owe our salvation: Most blessed art thou, O Virgin Mother of God... Glory to Thee, who showed us the light, - the priest proclaims, and the Great Doxology is sung. This song - Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, good will towards men - once sung by the Angels at the cave of the Savior born into the world, here, at His tomb, sounds especially solemn. While singing, the Holy God, the priest, dressed in all sacred clothes, censes the Shroud three times and carries It around the temple to the funeral ringing of bells. This rite is the Burial of Christ. Upon the return of the procession, the troparion Noble Joseph is sung, and then, full of deep and reverent meaning, the paremia, Ezekiel’s reading, preceded by the prokeme: Rise, Lord, help us, and deliver us for Thy name’s sake.

And the hand of the Lord was upon me... and he set me in the midst of a field full of human bones, and they were very dry. And the Lord said to me: Son of man, will these bones live? And I said: Lord God, You weigh this. And the Lord commanded the prophet to prophesy to the bones: “Thus says the Lord: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Behold, I will bring the spirit of life into you, and I will give you sinews, and I will bring flesh upon you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will give My spirit to you, and you will live and know that I am the Lord.” And when the prophet spoke, there was noise and movement, and the bones began to come closer together: bone to bone, each to its own composition. And flesh grew on them, and skin covered them, but there was no spirit in them. And the Lord commanded: “Prophesy about the Spirit, son of man, and say to the Spirit: Come the Spirit from the four winds and blow into these dead, that they may live.” And the prophet uttered a prophecy, and the spirit entered into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet - the council was very happy. And the Lord said through the prophet, as if addressing the entire human race: “Behold, I will open your graves and bring you out of your graves, My people, and I will give My Spirit to you, and you will live, and I will establish you in your land, and you will know that I am the Lord: I have spoken and will do.” In this full of strength and power, description of the general resurrection in the flesh of the human race, the trumpet of the Archangel can already be heard, heralding the onset of a new life of the next century. Old Testament aspirations and premonitions are being fulfilled. Sighs were heard. And the word of the Apostle sounds solemnly: Christ redeemed us from the curse (curse) of the law, having become himself a curse in our place (as it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), so that the blessing given to Abraham, through Christ Jesus, might spread to the Gentiles (to all nations). ), so that we may receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The subsequent Gospel again reminds us of the tomb standing before us, of the seal attached to the stone and the guards guarding it. The kissing of the Shroud is performed again, and the Church blesses Joseph of blessed memory, who came to Pilate at night and asked to give him this Wanderer, Who has no place to lay his head. Together with Joseph, who gave his final earthly rest to the Lord, believers worship the Passion of Christ, and with this worship the Matins of Great Saturday ends.

Based on materials from azbyka.ru

Holy Friday service

The Good Friday service of Holy Week has several differences from traditional church services.

First of all, the Liturgy is not celebrated on this day, since it was on this day that Christ was crucified, who himself became a sacrifice for the salvation of all sinners. In addition, the main service pays attention only to the suffering and death of the Lord, who lay in the tomb for two full days and rose again on the third (Easter).

The main icon of the service is the shroud. It is a fabric on which is embroidered the image of the body of the deceased Christ.

As a rule, the shroud is a rather dense material of a dark (black) or dark red color (priests also dress in clothes of mourning shades). Around the image are embroidered letters with a phrase about how Joseph took the body of the Lord from the cross and buried him in the tomb.

The entire service is a reverent vigil before the tomb of Christ, which the shroud represents. In essence, this is an expression of grief for the deceased - a kind of memorial service in memory of the Savior, who fell victim to an unjust earthly court.

The course of the service is as follows:

1. The vigil begins at lunchtime; First, the funeral troparia are sung, then Psalm 118. This reading contains its own sacred meaning: reverence for the Lord, participation in his suffering, as well as glorification of the Holy Trinity.
2. Then the consecration of the temple takes place, after which the news about the women who came to the tomb is proclaimed.
3. After this, at approximately 15:00 local time, the rite of removing the Shroud is carried out. After all, it was at this time of Good Friday that Christ died, uttering his last words: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
4. The clergy take the Shroud, approaching it from each side with three people, after which the icon is carried around the temple in a solemn procession of the cross. The priests are followed by the faithful. They sing the chant “Holy God.”
5. The shroud is brought into the temple and placed in the middle of the temple on a small elevation decorated with flowers. Thus, the icon resembles a coffin in which the deceased Savior lies. She will stay like this until the evening of the next day.
6. Now every believer can come up and bow to the icon, and also kiss the pierced places - hands and feet. This is how the rite of burial of the Shroud is performed on Friday before Easter (the text of the service is the same, read in Old Church Slavonic).
7. The next day, on Saturday evening, the Shroud is taken to the altar, where it will remain until Easter, i.e. until the next day.

Matins of Holy Saturday

The service of Holy Saturday is a reverent vigil before the Holy Sepulcher . Remembering on this day all the events related to the burial of Christ, the Church at Matins of Great Saturday performs the rite of burial of the Savior. In the middle of the temple stands the Shroud, depicting the God-Man lying in the tomb, all the worshipers light candles, and the singing of the “immaculate” begins - stichera, alternating with verses from the 118th Psalm. This order occurred as follows.

The Jews had a custom during the Passover Supper and at the end of it to sing psalms and mainly Psalm 118, dedicated to the exodus from Egypt. According to the Gospel narrative, Christ and his disciples left the house where the Supper was being celebrated, while singing a psalm, in all likelihood, precisely the 118th: And having sung, they went to the Mount of Olives (Mark 14:26). With the verse “Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me by thy justification,” the Lord buried Himself; This verse is always sung by the Church at the burial of the dead.

In “immaculate” the Old and New Testaments mysteriously echo each other; There is, as it were, some kind of dialogue between Christ and the Church. The Church responds to each verse of the psalm with “praises” to Christ God and the magnification of His suffering and burial.

Article one.

Blessed are You, Lord, teach me by Your justification. 1. Blessed are the blameless ones on their way, / walking in the law of the Lord. You are destined to live in the tomb, O Christ, / and the angelic hosts are terrified, / Your descent is glorifying. 2. Blessed are those who experience His testimonies, / will seek Him with all their hearts. Believe me, how are you dying? / How do you dwell in the tomb, / but destroy the kingdom of death, / and raise the dead from hell? . .

Choir of the Danilovsky Monastery

Glory: We sing praises to the Word, You, all God, / with the Father and Your Holy Spirit, / and we glorify Your Divine burial. And now, the Mother of God: We bless You, Pure Mother of God, / and we honor the three-day burial / of Your Son and our God truly. You are destined to live in the tomb, O Christ, / and the angelic hosts are terrified, / Your descent is glorifying.

They also express the angels’ surprise at such a deep condescension of the Life-Giver Christ to the human race: “Thou hast laid down life in the tomb, O Christ, and the angelic hosts were terrified at Thy glorifying condescension”; and the bitter cry of the Virgin Mother over the tomb of Her Son and God: “Alas for Me, My Light, My longed-for Jesus, the Virgin cried out bitterly.” They also express an appeal “to the mountains, hills and multitudes of people” so that they “weep and weep with the Matter of their God”; and a word of reproof to “proud Israel, the murderous people who freed Barabbas and betrayed the Savior to the cross,” and to “the vile murderer disciple, so that he reveals his disposition of malice, which was the traitor of Christ, and does not pretend to be philanthropic, selling myrrh at a price!” .

But besides these sad motives, others are also heard: “Hell is a fierce trembling, when you see the Sun of Immortal glory, and the enemies carefully publish.” “A great and terrible vision is now being seen: He is the guilty one, death has been lifted, although he can revive everyone.”

We hear again that the Lord suffered for the sake of people: “You pierced the ribs, and nailed them with your hands, the Lord, you healed the ulcer from the ribs, and the intemperance of the hands of the forefather.” “With Thy songs, O Christ, now crucifixion and burial, we celebrate all the faithful, having been delivered from death by Thy burial.”

We hear the appeal to the Mother of God: “O life-bearer, Immaculate Pure Virgin, quench the temptations of the church, and grant peace as the Good One.” The praises end with an appeal to the Holy Trinity for mercy on the world and a petition to the Mother of God: “O Virgin, grant Thy servants the privilege of seeing Thy Son’s resurrection.” In these words, the Sunday motif appears for the first time and the rising dawn of the resurrection is already visible.

The choir joyfully sings the Sunday troparia “The Council of Angels was surprised in vain to be imputed to You as the dead,” with the chorus “Blessed art thou, Lord,” announcing that a shining angel is already flying to the tomb of the Life-Giver to announce to the myrrh-bearers about the Resurrection of the Savior. Sunday Troparia: Blessed art thou, O Lord, / teach me by Thy justification. The council of angels was surprised, / in vain it was imputed to You as the dead, / but the mortal fortress, O Savior, was destroyed, / and raised Adam with Himself, / and all was freed from hell. Blessed art thou, O Lord, / teach me by thy justification. Why do you dissolve the world with merciful tears, O disciples? / The angel shining in the tomb spoke to the myrrh-bearers: / you see the tomb and understand, / For the Savior is risen from the tomb. Blessed art thou, O Lord, / teach me by thy justification. Early the myrrh-bearing women flowed to Thy grave, weeping, / but an Angel appeared to them and said: / The time of weeping has ceased, do not weep, / But the Resurrection of the Apostle roars. Blessed art thou, O Lord, / teach me by thy justification. Myrrh-bearing women, who came from the world / to Your tomb, O Savior, weeping, / The angel spoke to them, saying: / What do you think about the living dead? / For God has risen from the grave. Glory, Trinity: Let us worship the Father, / and His Sons, and the Holy Spirit, / the Holy Trinity in One Being, / calling from the Seraphim: / Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, Lord. And now, the Mother of God: Having given birth to the Life-Giver, / You saved the sin of the Virgin Adam, / You gave joy to Eve / in sorrow, / who fell from life / to this direction, / from You, God incarnate and Who catcher Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, glory to you, God. Three times.

Choir of the Danilovsky Monastery

But the stone has not yet been rolled away from the tomb, and the Gospel, usually read at Matins about the Resurrection, is not read on this Matins of Holy Saturday, and at the end of the “praises” the canon “By the Wave of the Sea”, . Song 1. Irmos: The wave of the sea / hid the one of old, / the persecutor of the tormentor, under the earth hid / the saved youths; / but we, like maidens, / will sing to the Lord, / be gloriously glorified. Choir of Danilov Monastery

The Irmos of the first song of this canon says that the descendants of the Jews who were once saved while crossing the Red Sea are hiding underground (burying) the One who once hid with a wave of the sea their persecutor and tormentor - Pharaoh.

This canon is a funeral hymn to Him who opened the “gates of life” for us through His burial. Numerous images of the prophecies of Habakkuk, Isaiah, Jonah about the resurrection of the dead and the rising of those in the tombs and about the joy of all earthly ones appear in this canon as inspired insights of the faith of ancient people who ripened from the darkness of the centuries of the Old Testament into the non-evening light of the Epiphany and the Resurrection of Christ. The Word of God descends with the flesh into the grave, and descends into hell with His incorruptible and Divine soul, separated by death from the body. But hell cannot restrain His soul: “Hell reigns, but does not reign eternally over the human race: You have been placed in the tomb of the Power, the life-giving hand, you have opened the keys of death, and you have preached from time immemorial to those sleeping there, having been a true deliverance, Savior, the Firstborn of the dead. "

If the canon begins with sadness, it ends with the undisguised joy of the Resurrection: “Let creation rejoice, let all earthly beings rejoice, for the enemy has been taken captive by hell: let the wives be taken from the world, I will deliver Adam and Eve among all the people, and on the third day I will rise again!” Song 9. Irmos: Do not weep for Me, O Mother, / seeing in the tomb, / Who conceived a Son in her womb without seed. / I will arise and be glorified, / and exalt with glory, unceasingly, like God, / magnifying Thee through faith and love.

Choir of the Danilovsky Monastery

The verses on “praises”, together with the image of the Savior lying in the tomb, again glorify His incomprehensible view of us: “Come, we see our Life lying in the tomb, that it may revive those who lie in the tombs. Come this day, whoever from Judah sleeps with sight, let us cry out to Him prophetically: You lie down and sleep like a lion, who will raise up You, O King; but arise autocratically, giving Yourself Your will for us, Lord, glory to Thee!”

The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud in the church: video

The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud on Good Friday is a truly special service, which is performed only once a year, and is unlike any other service. Every believer should see this with his own eyes.

The ceremony of removing and burying the Shroud on Good Friday has not only symbolic, but also spiritual significance.

This is how clergy and believers remember the suffering and passion of Christ that he experienced in the last days of his life on earth. The Shroud in this sense acts as a material image, with the help of which one can clearly feel the atmosphere of that tragic day.

Funeral rite. Good Friday: how to spend this day

Matins of Great Saturday with the Rite of Burial is served on Friday evening. The shroud in this service is given the role that in other cases the icon of the holiday has. Matins begins as a funeral service. Funeral troparia are sung and incense is performed. After the singing of the 118th Psalm and the glorification of the Holy Trinity, the temple is illuminated, then the news of the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb is proclaimed. This is the first, still quiet (since the Savior is still in the tomb), good news about the Resurrection of Christ.

During the service, believers make a procession of the cross - lifting it above their heads and holding it by the four ends, priests and altar servers carry the Shroud around the temple, singing “Holy God, Mighty Holy, Immortal Holy, have mercy on us.” During this procession, funeral bells sound.

According to established tradition, after the Shroud has been carried around the temple, the servants stop at the entrance to the church, allowing believers to enter the temple under the Shroud, as if venerating the shrine and receiving grace.

At the end of the burial ceremony, the Shroud is brought to the royal doors, and then returned to its place in the middle of the temple so that all the clergy and parishioners can bow to it. There she remains until the late evening of Holy Saturday.

Only before Easter Matins, during the Midnight Office, is the Shroud taken to the altar and placed on the throne, where it remains until Easter is celebrated.

These days before Easter, you especially feel the anguish in the air from the unbearable suffering that Christ endured, starting from the Prayer for the Cup in the Garden of Gethsemane, when bloody sweat flowed from His forehead, and ending with the shameful and painful death on Calvary.

Good Friday is called this way for a reason (like the whole week), for this is the period of the Passion of the Lord, that is, suffering. And the realization that He, the innocent one, suffered for us, sacrificing Himself for our salvation, our deliverance, our liberation. What are we called to free ourselves from? Why was such an immeasurably huge price paid? Standing before the shroud on Good Friday, as before the tomb of the Lord, we must realize that the Lord thus gave us the opportunity to free ourselves not from slavery or bad authorities, not from poverty or even from bodily illnesses, but to free ourselves from the slavery of our own sins and enter the Kingdom Heavenly. And starting from the moment how respectful or disrespectful we are towards this Sacrifice, how reverently and respectfully we remember the suffering of Christ, His death on the cross and the placement of His Body in the tomb, depends on how ready we are to accept this priceless gift from the Lord.

Indeed, this is a special day of the year. Therefore, in connection with the events that happened 2000 years ago, it would be useful for any person not only to do nothing or not to work, but to pay tribute to the Lord on this day. And if not everyone is able to attend the service, then everyone can find time to reflect on the feat of Christ and read this story described by all 4 evangelists.

You can visit a loved one with whom you have not communicated for a long time, reconcile, forgive grievances that have accumulated for a long time and are making themselves felt.

For a long time in our Orthodox land, on such a day they tried to follow very strict rules, for example: do nothing around the house, do not light a fire; do not sew or cut fabric; do not cook anything, do nothing around the house; do not work on the ground, do not dig. However, the lifestyle of a modern person has changed, and now you need to go to work, feed the children, help the family, cook dinner, so everyone acts in accordance with the circumstances.

At the same time, it is intuitively clear what exactly one should not do on Good Friday before Easter: indulge in any carnal pleasures; spend the day having fun; drink alcohol; watch entertainment programs, performances, etc.

Such behavior in itself is not reprehensible - every person strives for pleasure. But on such a mournful day, a believer cannot rejoice fully, because in these hours, almost two thousand years ago, one of the most tragic events in the history of mankind took place. And having fun on Good Friday is almost the same as having a party on the day of the funeral of a loved one or at a wake.

Believers should not eat anything or even drink water until the end of the service and the removal of the shroud. And then, in the evening, you can drink water and eat bread. There is no need to prepare any dishes - all this time the mourning for the crucified Lord continues.

Quite strict rules continue to apply on Saturday. All the better will be the holiday itself - the Holy Resurrection of Christ, when you are allowed to eat any food, and a few glasses of good red wine are also not forbidden. At the same time, church representatives say that each person should act according to his own feelings. For example, if someone has a stomach illness or we are talking about a pregnant or nursing mother, you should not refuse food and water, because we are talking about health.

History of the rites of the Dormition and Burial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Historical reference

The Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the main Mother of God feasts of the Church.
Some data indicate a connection between this holiday and the most ancient celebration of the Mother of God - the “Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos”, which to this day takes place on the day after the Nativity of Christ. So, in the Coptic calendar of the 7th century. On January 16, that is, shortly after the Epiphany, the “birth of the Lady Mary” is celebrated, and in the 9th century calendar. on the same date - “the death and resurrection of the Mother of God” (in the monuments of the Coptic and Abyssinian Churches of the 14th–15th centuries, which, due to their isolation, preserved the ancient liturgical practice, January 16 commemorates the Assumption, and August 16 - the Ascension of the Mother of God into heaven).

In the Greek Churches, reliable evidence of this holiday has been known since the 6th century, when, according to the testimony of the late Byzantine historian Nicephorus Callistus (14th century), Emperor Mauritius (592–602) ordered the celebration of the Dormition on August 15 (for the Western Church we have no evidence 6th and 5th century - sacramentary of Pope Gelasius I). Nevertheless, we can talk about the earlier existence of the Feast of the Assumption, for example, in Constantinople, where already in the 4th century. there were many churches dedicated to the Mother of God. One of them is Blachernae, built by Empress Pulcheria. Here she laid the funeral shrouds (robe) of the Mother of God. Archbishop Sergius (Spassky) in his “Complete month-book of the East” points out that, according to the testimony of the Verse Prologue (an ancient month-book in verse), the Dormition was celebrated in Blachernae on August 15 and that the testimony of Nicephorus should be understood in a special way: Mauritius only made the holiday more solemn. Since the 8th century. we have numerous testimonies about the holiday that allow us to trace its history up to the present time.

The oldest known rite of service for the holiday is contained in the Georgian translation of the Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th-7th centuries. (published by Archpriests K. Kekelidze and M. Tarkhnishvili). It took place in the Basilica of the Assumption in Gethsemane and included: troparion for chapter 6. “When you passed away...”; prokeimenon ch. 3 “My soul magnifies the Lord”; readings (Proverbs 31:30–32, Ezekiel 44:1–4, Gal 3:24–29); alleluary “Hear and see”; the same as now, Gospel reading (Luke 1.39–50, 56).

Typikon (charter) of the Great Church (i.e., the Church of St. Sophia of Constantinople; published by A. A. Dmitrievsky and H. Mateos) IX-XI centuries. contains a detailed description of the charter for the service for the Feast of the Assumption. The celebration begins early in the morning with a procession from the martyrium of St. Euphemia to the Blachernae Church, where the Divine Liturgy is then celebrated. At Vespers there are three paremias (Old Testament readings), as at the Nativity of the Theotokos (the same as now), the troparion of the 1st tone “At Christmas you preserved your virginity” (this troparion is still sung in the Orthodox Church on the Feast of the Dormition), the litany of supplication, the reading and pannikhis (special service on the evening before the holidays). At the liturgy - the same as now, the prokeimenon, the Apostle and the Gospel.

The considered Charter of the Great Church appoints only one day for the celebration. The oldest monastic post-iconoclastic charter is the Studian Hypotiposisis of the 9th century. - also suggests a post-feast for the holiday (along with the Transfiguration, Exaltation, Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Nativity of Christ, Epiphany and Presentation). The typicon of the Constantinople Evergetid Monastery (XII century, reflects the practice of the XI century) already has a pre-celebration and a post-celebration of the current duration (until August 23), but they are distinguished by less solemnity compared to today's practice. Difference with the current monastic pannikhis; number and order of kathismas; way of singing the canon; composition of the liturgy of the catechumens before the Gospel. According to the Studian-Alexievsky Typikon, adopted in the Russian Church until the end. XIV century, the celebration of the holiday takes place on August 18, i.e. on the third day.

In the studio Typicons of the Athos-Italic edition, as on other holidays, kathismas were replaced by special antiphons (which over time will affect the formation of holiday selected psalms). Thus, in the Athonite Typikon, St. George Mtatsmindeli XI century. at matins, instead of the usual kathisma, antiphons from the psalms “Praise the name of the Lord...” (Ps. 135), “Lord remember David...” (Ps. 131) and “Praise the Lord from heaven...” (Ps. 148). The troparion of the holiday, according to this Typikon, is “Blessed are you, all of you” (nowadays this is the hypakoi of the holiday; the chant is also contained in some copies of the Typikon of the Great Church).

Rite of Burial of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In modern practice, the celebration of the Dormition is often in one way or another associated with the rite of Burial, also inscribed as “Praises, or sacred observance of the Holy Repose of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.” The Rite of Burial is of Jerusalem (Gethsemane) origin and is an imitation of the Rite of Matins on Holy Saturday. This rank is very late; it is based on festive choruses for the 17th kathisma (such choruses in the 14th-16th centuries were performed on many holidays, and later went out of practice); by the 19th century in Jerusalem these choruses were supplemented with many elements taken from the Holy Saturday service and slightly modified.

In Gethsemane (the sacred place where the event of the Assumption took place), the rite of Burial is served on August 14 according to the old style, on the eve of the Assumption, but preparations for it begin long before that. We provide a description of the festivities according to the articles: A. A. Dmitrievsky “Festivities in Gethsemane in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God” and “On the rite of litany and the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Holy Land” // ZhMP. No. 3. 1979.

In the courtyard of the Gethsemane Monastery in Jerusalem, located opposite the doors of the Church of the Resurrection, there is kept a shroud depicting the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, used at the Assumption service. The Shroud lies surrounded by candlesticks. Ever since the Feast of the Transfiguration, prayers, akathists and vespers have been served before this shroud every day, until August 12. On August 12 at 2 a.m., the rector of the Gethsemane Metochion celebrates the Divine Liturgy. At the end of the liturgy at 4 o'clock in the morning, the rector, in full vestments, performs a short prayer service before the shroud. Then the shroud is solemnly transferred to Gethsemane in memory of the transfer of the body of the Mother of God there from Zion by the apostles. Many representatives of the clergy with candles take part in the procession (nowadays in the pre-holiday canon it is sung: “Zionians, light candles”). The shroud is carried in front of the clergy by the rector on a wide silk sling over his shoulder with a velvet pillow. The religious procession is usually accompanied by a gathering of a large number of pilgrims. In Gethsemane, where the procession arrives at sunrise, the shroud is placed in a stone cave on the bed of the Mother of God. Here she remains until the holiday for worship.

On the morning of August 14, at about 9–10 o’clock, the service of the Burial of the Mother of God itself is performed, consisting of the singing of the 17th kathisma with refrains - praises similar to those of Great Saturday. The service is performed by the Patriarch. By the time of service in Gethsemane during the Ottoman Porte, according to the description of A.A. Dmitrievsky, the troops of the Turkish garrison arrived, who, positioned on trellises along the path from Jerusalem, met the arriving Patriarch with a military march. After the Patriarch has censed the bed with the shroud of the Mother of God in the burial cave, after the usual start of the service (Trisagion:; Holy Trinity:; Our Father:), the bed with the shroud is carried to the middle of the temple under the chandelier. The Patriarch stands behind the bed, and on the sides of him and right up to the royal doors are bishops, archimandrites and hieromonks.

The Patriarch enters the cave again to begin from there the censing of the entire temple, which is performed during the singing of the first article of funeral praise: “Life is laid down in the tomb.” The article, as on Holy Saturday, concludes with a litany with an exclamation from the Patriarch. In the second article, “It is worthy to magnify Thee,” the Primate of the Church of the Holy City censes only the cave and the bed, and the cry is uttered by the oldest bishop. On the third article: “Bear all the songs of Thy burial, O Virgin,” the second bishop censes. The third article, as on Holy Saturday, transitions into the singing of paraphrased Sunday troparions “The Council of Angels.” After the litany there is the exapostilary of the holiday (“Apostles from the ends of the earth”), laudatory stichera and a great doxology. During the prolonged singing of the Trisagion, the priests carry the bed with the shroud to the upper platform of the basilica, where a litany is pronounced with a commemoration of the names of the participating clergy and for the Holy Sepulcher brotherhood. The bed is again placed in the middle of the church while the exapostilary and stichera “With thunder on the clouds, the Savior sends the apostles to the One who gave birth” is sung. Then the Patriarch grants dismissal.

The service on the day of the Assumption itself is no different from the usual holiday service.
Vespers on the eve of the holiday is performed separately, without Matins, but at the end there is a blessing of the loaves, which are then distributed to the people. On the feast day of the Dormition, it is customary to kiss the aforementioned shroud every day. At the celebration of the holiday at the end of the liturgy, the shroud is taken back to the Gethsemane courtyard in Jerusalem with the same religious procession with which it was brought. In Rus', the rite of burial became widespread already in the 16th century. and in the form of commendable articles has long been performed along with the festive service in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and in the Kostroma Epiphany Monastery. Let us note here the instructions of the Old Believer charter according to the 6th song of the canon: “if the abbot wills”, “funeral singing” is performed in the middle of the temple with candles for everyone - such as in the Kyiv Lavra, without litanies; “If there is a temple (of the Dormition), there must immediately be funeral singing.” The edition of the Typikon currently in force in the Russian Church does not contain the rite itself and the necessary statutory instructions.

At St. Philaret (Drozdov) in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in addition to the Assumption, also established the feast of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Mother of God - August 17. On the eve of the 17th, the Jerusalem procession took place, and on the 17th, after the liturgy, a procession with the icon of the Ascension of the Mother of God took place.

In 1845, the translation of the Jerusalem Sequence of the Burial from Greek into Church Slavonic was carried out by M. S. Kholmogorov for the Gethsemane skete from sent by Hierotheus, Metropolitan. Taborsky (later Patriarch of Antioch). The translation was revised and edited by St. Philareta, Metropolitan Moscow. “I wanted to combine the Slovenian type of speech with clarity, so I sometimes changed the order of words and used a few words that were somewhat new, instead of more ancient, obscure or mutual for the current concept,” wrote Archim. Saint Anthony (Medvedev) on October 28, 1846. In 1872, the Jerusalem rite for the celebration of the Dormition was printed by the Synodal Printing House under the title we have already mentioned: “Praises, or sacred observance of the Holy Repose of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, sung on the seventh and tenth day of the month August, every year, in the monastery of Gethsemane, and in the Lavra it is sent on the fifteenth of August.” In 1913, the 2nd edition was published. Nowadays the rite is printed as part of the Appendix to the August volume of the Menaion.

In parish practice (if there is a shroud of the Mother of God), at present the rite of burial can be performed either on the eve of the Feast of the Dormition, on August 14, old style, at Matins, which corresponds to the Jerusalem tradition, or at a festive all-night vigil, or on one of the next days of the period after-feasts (usually in the evening of August 16 or 17 according to the old style; August 17 is preferable both symbolically (as the third day after the Dormition) and historically (this was the practice in the Gethsemane monastery)).

Matins with the rite of burial.

Russian text: 1The hand of the Lord was upon me, and the Lord brought me out in the spirit and set me in the middle of a field, and it was full of bones, 2and he led me around around them, and behold, there were very many of them on the surface of the field, and behold, they were very dry.

3 And he said to me: Son of man! will these bones live? I said: Lord God! You know it.

4 And he said to me: Prophesy against these bones and say to them: “Dry bones! listen to the word of the Lord!”

5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, and you will live.

6 And I will cover you with sinews, and I will make flesh grow on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will bring breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord.

7 I prophesied as I was commanded; and when I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a movement, and bones began to come together, bone to bone.

8 And I saw: and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them above, but there was no spirit in them.

9 Then He said to me, Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they will live.

10 And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and they lived and stood on their feet—a very, very great army.

11 And He said to me: Son of man! these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, we are cut off from the root.”

12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves, 14 and put My spirit into you, and you will live, and place you in your land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken these things. - and he did, says the Lord.

After this, another prokeimenon is read and an excerpt from the Apostolic Epistle is read - an excerpt from the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: 1 There is a true rumor that fornication has appeared among you, and, moreover, such fornication as is not heard even among the pagans, that someone has a wife instead of a wife. his father.

2And you became proud, instead of weeping, so that he who had done such a thing might be taken out from among you.

3 But I, being absent in body, but present with you in spirit, have already decided, as if I were with you: he who has done such a deed, 4 in your assembly in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with my spirit, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 to hand over to Satan for destruction. flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6 You have nothing to boast about. || Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

7 Purge therefore the old leaven, that ye may be new lump, for ye are unleavened: for our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us.

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of purity and truth.

9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with fornicators; 10However, not in general with the fornicators of this world, or the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, for otherwise you would have to come out of this world. 11But I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who, while calling himself a brother, is a fornicator, or a covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a thief; You can’t even eat with someone like that.

12For why should I judge those who are outside? Are you not judging the internal ones?

13 But God judges those who are outside. Therefore, cast out the wicked from among you.

The apostle exhorts the flock to reject their former sinful way of life, uprooting old worldly habits, which he compares to leaven. Alas, it is more difficult to do this than to talk about it, but with God everything is possible, and therefore the one who walks will master the road...

An excerpt from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians is also read, forming, as it were, one passage with the previous passage, so that it is not noticeable by ear that two different epistles are being read: 1O, foolish Galatians! Who deceived you not to submit to the truth, you, who had before your eyes Jesus Christ as if he were crucified?

2This only I want to know from you: Did you receive the Spirit through the works of the law, or through the training of faith?

3Are you so foolish that, having begun in the spirit, you are now being finished in the flesh?

4Have you really suffered so much without benefit? Oh, if only there was no benefit!

5Does he who gives you the Spirit and performs miracles among you by the works of the law, or by the teaching of faith?

6 So Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

7 Know then that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.

8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, foreshadowed to Abraham: In you all nations will be blessed.

9 Therefore those who believe are blessed with faithful Abraham, 10 but as many as are established in the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continually do all that is written in the book of the law.

11But that by the law no one is justified before God, this is clear, for the righteous shall live by faith.

12But the law is not of faith; but whoever does it will live by it.

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), 14 so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

15Brothers! I speak from human reasoning: even a will approved by a person cannot be canceled or added to by anyone. 16But the promises were given to Abraham and to his seed. It is not said: and to descendants, as if about many, but as about one: and to your seed, which is Christ.

17I say this, that the law which came after four hundred and thirty years did not nullify the covenant concerning Christ, which was first established by God, so that the promise became void.

18For if the inheritance is by law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham according to promise.

19What is the law for? It was given after the transgressions, until the time of the coming of the seed to which the promise relates, and was given through Angels, by the hand of a mediator.

20But there is no mediator with one, but God is one.

21So is the law contrary to the promises of God? No way! For if a law had been given that could give life, then true righteousness would have come from the law; 22But the Scripture has concluded all under sin, so that the promise might be given to those who believe through faith in Jesus Christ.

23And before the coming of faith, we were confined under the guards of the law, until the time when it was necessary to open ourselves to faith.

24Therefore the law was our guide to Christ, that we might be justified by faith; 25But after faith has come, we are no longer under the guidance of a teacher.

26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus; 27All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

28There is no longer Jew nor Gentile; there is neither slave nor free; there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

29If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Man was unable to keep the Law given to Moses, so he was unable to save man. That is why it was necessary for Christ to come in order to save man...

Gospel (Matthew): 1When the morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel concerning Jesus, to put Him to death; 2 And having bound Him, they took Him away and handed Him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor.

3Then Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned and, repenting, returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said to him: What is that to us? take a look yourself.

5 And throwing away the pieces of silver in the temple, he went out, went and hanged himself.

6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not permissible to put them in the church treasury, because it is the price of blood.”

7 Having taken counsel, they bought a potter's land with them for the burying of strangers; 8 That's why it's called

that land has been a “land of blood” to this day.

9Then was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, who said, “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him who was valued, whom the children of Israel valued, 10and gave them for the potter’s land, as the Lord told me.”

11Jesus stood before the governor. And the ruler asked Him: Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him: You speak.

12And when the chief priests and elders accused Him, He answered nothing.

13Then Pilate said to Him: Do you not hear how many are testifying against You?

14And he did not answer a single word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

15On the feast of Passover, it was the custom of the governor to release to the people one prisoner whom they wanted.

16At that time they had a famous prisoner called Barabbas; 17So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ?

18For he knew that they had betrayed Him out of envy.

19 While he was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent him to say: Do not do anything to the Righteous One, because today in a dream I suffered a lot for Him.

20But the chief priests and elders stirred up the people to ask Barabbas and to destroy Jesus.

21Then the governor asked them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They said: Barabbas.

22Pilate said to them, “What will I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?” Everyone tells him: let him be crucified.

23The ruler said, “What evil has He done?” But they shouted even more loudly: let him be crucified.

24Pilate, seeing that nothing helped, but the confusion was increasing, took water and washed his hands before the people, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this righteous one; look you.

25And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

26Then he released Barabbas to them, and beat Jesus and handed him over to be crucified.

27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium* and gathered the whole army against Him, 28and having undressed Him, they put a purple robe on Him; 29And having woven a crown of thorns, they placed it on His head and put a reed in His right hand; and, kneeling before Him, they mocked Him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews!

30And they spat on Him and took a reed and beat Him on the head.

31And when they had mocked Him, they took off His scarlet robe, and clothed Him with His own garments, and led Him away to be crucified.

32As they went out, they met a certain Cyrene man named Simon; this one was forced to bear His cross.

33And coming to a place called Golgotha, which means: Place of the Skull, 34they gave Him vinegar mixed with gall to drink; and, having tasted it, did not want to drink.

35And those who crucified Him divided His garments, casting lots; 36And they sat and watched over Him there; 37And they put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

38Then two thieves were crucified with Him: one on the right side, and the other on the left.

39 But those passing by cursed Him, nodding their heads 40 and saying: He who destroys the temple and builds it in three days! save yourself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.

41Likewise the high priests, with the scribes and elders and Pharisees, mockingly said, 42He saved others, but cannot save himself; if He is the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him; 43I trusted in God; Let him deliver Him now, if He pleases Him. For He said: I am the Son of God.

44The thieves who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.

45From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour; 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: Or, Or! lama sabachthani? that is: My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?

47 Some of those standing there, hearing this, said, “He is calling Elijah.”

48And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, gave Him to drink; 49 But others said, “Wait, let’s see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

50And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up the ghost.

51And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; 52and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

54 But the centurion and those who were with him guarding Jesus, seeing the earthquake and everything that happened, were greatly afraid and said: Truly this was the Son of God.

55There were also many women there, watching from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, serving Him; 56Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

57When evening came, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also studied with Jesus; 58He came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered the body to be given up; 59And Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud**60and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock; and, having rolled a large stone to the door of the tomb, he left.

61And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

62 On the next day, which followed Friday, the high priests and Pharisees gathered to Pilate 63 and said: Master! We remembered that the deceiver, while still alive, said: after three days I will rise again; 64 So give orders that the tomb be guarded until the third day, so that His disciples, coming at night, do not steal Him and say to the people: He has risen from the dead; and the last deception will be worse than the first.

65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go and protect it as best you can.

66 They went and set a guard at the tomb, and put a seal on the stone.

In ancient times, after the singing of the Great Doxology, there was an entrance, as in a liturgy, and then the reading of the Holy Scriptures, so here we seem to be returning to ancient times... As always, two litanies follow, and then the usual end of Matins. At this time, the bishop anoints the remaining believers. He pronounced the dismissal from the bishop's pulpit, after which, under the singing of many years, he moved to the regular pulpit. For some time he urged believers approaching the shroud to maintain order and not push each other. Then he began to talk about the topic of the day. On this day we experience Christ's presence in the tomb. At the request of the Mother of God, two members of the Sanhedrin, Joseph and Nicodemus, who had previously come to Christ secretly “for fear of the Jews,” now came to Pilate to ask for the opportunity to take the body of Christ, and having received it, they buried Him. Having suffered for us and our salvation, He descended into hell, giving man the way of salvation and cleansing of sin. For our sake, He endured terrible torment: beatings, spitting, strangling, beating with a stick, scourging, mockery, when the Roman soldiers, dressing Him in purple and placing a crown of thorns on His head, mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” Finally, He underwent the crucifixion itself, in which a person, hanging on the Cross, cannot breathe. To breathe, he must lean on something, and he can only lean on the nails that pierce his legs, and at the same time they tear his body. This is a terrible, painful execution, invented in Persia, and then improved by the Romans. And the Lord endured all this voluntarily, for the sake of saving man, for the sake of healing the consequences of Adam’s fall. Adam once sinned, violating the only commandment of God. There is no mysticism in the fact that he ate the forbidden fruit. The mysticism is that he violated the command of God. It’s the same in the relationship between children and parents - if parents force the child to make the bed, then there is no mysticism in the bed. Mysticism is in obedience to parents. If the first people had not violated God’s command, then the tragedy of the fall of humanity would not have happened. They, having completed one obedience, would receive something more complex. And so, their disobedience gave rise to sin, the consequences of which fell on all of humanity, so that the sacrifice of Christ was needed to again return to man the opportunity to enter the Kingdom of God. Who can imagine the torment He endured for us? We, sinful people, cannot even imagine what the righteous feel. Can we then feel what the incarnate Lord himself felt? And having descended into hell, He rescued the righteous languishing there. And from then on, the Cross of Christ, on which he suffered terrible torment, became the banner of victory. So, contemplating the Shroud of the Lord, let us understand the price at which salvation was given to us...

Having blessed the people, he went to the altar. 1 hour was also read at the shroud. After it ended, Father Anthony noticed that the Holy Saturday service would begin not at 8.30, as written in the schedule, but at 8.00, since a bishop’s service was expected.

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