Maundy Thursday traditions: what to do with the passion candle from the 12 Gospels 

It turns out that during Holy Week another rite of forgiveness is performed - for all the insults that we caused to each other during Lent, and the reading of the 12 Gospels used to be a procession around the city - they read at stops, sang at crossings. Ilya KRASOVITSKY, senior lecturer at the Department of Practical Theology at PSTGU, explains in more detail the structure of the Holy Week service:

Another rite of forgiveness

Holy Week is an ancient Easter fast that grew out of the Fast of the Cross . In ancient times, many Christians celebrated not Sunday Easter, as we do, but the Cross; this day is now called Good Friday. One of the Holy Fathers of the third century says that we already celebrate the Resurrection every week, but Easter of the Cross, the remembrance of the Passion of Christ, only once a year. There were fierce disputes and disagreements on this issue, and only at the First Ecumenical Council, in 326, a single day for celebrating Easter was established for everyone - the Holy Resurrection of Christ. How was Easter celebrated? It was celebrated with a very strict fast, and from this fast the entire Holy Week grew. This means that the fast of Holy Week is separated from Great Lent both in meaning and in liturgical structure. They usually say that Great Lent ends on the Friday before Lazarus Saturday, but it can also be considered differently: that Great Lent ends on Holy Wednesday, since Lenten worship continues as usual until Holy Wednesday, and in the evening on this day the rite of forgiveness is performed. Exactly the same as on Forgiveness Sunday. This is the rite of forgiveness specifically for the Holy Pentecost. In this rite of forgiveness, the words of the abbot addressed to the brethren are quoted: “Bless, holy fathers, and forgive me the sinner who has sinned throughout my entire life, and throughout the Holy Pentecostal ....” Thus, according to the Lenten Triodion, Holy Wednesday is the last day of Great Lent. That is why we can consider that the Easter fast - Holy Week - begins only on Holy Thursday.

Gospel themes

But no matter what day we begin to count the fast of Holy Week, from Thursday or Monday, Holy Week is something completely separate and special. It should be noted that during Holy Week the Gospel is read at almost every service of the daily cycle. Not only at large ones: Vespers, Matins, Liturgy, but also at small ones - at the hours. Why? First of all, because the last days of the Savior’s earthly life are described in much more detail than other periods of His life. According to the text of the four Evangelists, one can trace literally every step of the Savior: everything he said, did, where he went, with whom he communicated in the last days. And the service of Holy Week gives us the opportunity to spend these days, as it were, together with Him, walking in His footsteps, listening to His words. This is how the Gospel readings are distributed. Let's try to figure out how the Lord spent His last days. From the Gospel text it is obvious that on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday He preached in the Jerusalem Temple. Then, when the sun began to set, He left the city with the disciples. The Lord left the city, walked through the fields, stopped to rest and talk with his disciples. In the morning He returned back. This went on for four days.

Holy Monday morning

The Gospel about the barren fig tree is read (Matthew 21: 18-43). The entire day of worship is dedicated to the miracle of the barren fig tree. The Lord went to Jerusalem in the morning to preach and saw this tree not far from the city wall. And not finding fruit on it, He cursed it, and in the evening of the same day, when they were returning along the same road, the disciples saw that the tree was completely dry. This reading is about the events that took place during these hours, but it is deeply symbolic. According to the interpretation of the Lenten Triodion, the Jewish people were likened to this barren fig tree, in which the Lord did not find the fruits that he expected to find. And in a broader sense, God's people are all those who believe in Him. And will the Lord find in us the fruits that He expects? This question is posed to everyone who hears these words.

Holy Monday evening

An excerpt is read about an event that took place outside the city, on the slope of the Mount of Olives - the eschatological conversation of the Lord with the disciples (Matthew 24: 3-35). As you know, the Mount of Olives is located opposite ancient Jerusalem and it offered an amazing view of the Jerusalem Temple. They sat on a slope, looked at the city, and the Lord, pointing them to the Temple, said that very soon there would not be left one stone left of this building. It was very difficult to imagine then, because the Temple had only recently been rebuilt by King Herod. The Lord had a long conversation with the disciples about the end of the world. This eschatological theme for Holy Week is extremely important. It runs through all the days of Holy Week. Why? Because before His departure, the Lord wanted the disciples to better remember what would happen when He came the second time. He repeatedly warns these days about the events of His second coming, therefore throughout Holy Week hymns are sung related to the second coming of the Lord. The troparion “Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight” is sung for the first three days. We can say that the Gospel reading on Monday evening provides this theme for the entire Holy Week.

Holy Wednesday morning

An excerpt is read about the events that took place on Wednesday morning in the Jerusalem temple, when some of the pagans were brought to Christ, and the Lord said: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” His glory went beyond Israel, the chosen people. The glory of the Lord becomes worldwide. And at the same moment the glory of the Lord appears from Heaven - thunder roars, and in it the Lord Himself and his disciples hear the voice of God the Father: “And I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12: 17-50). But the people heard nothing; for him it was just thunder. Thus the Glory of the Lord was revealed from heaven and in the world. This is a passage about the heavenly, supramundane and at the same time universal glory of the Lord.

Gospel of John

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CHAPTER 12

1 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was dead, whom He raised from the dead. 2 There they prepared a supper for Him, and Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those who sat with Him. 3 And Mary took a pound of pure precious ointment, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the world. 4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Simon Iscariot, who wanted to betray Him, said: 5 Why not sell this ointment for three hundred denarii and give it to the poor? 6 He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He had money with him

box and carried that they put it there.
7 And Jesus said, Leave her alone; She saved it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but not always Me. 9 Many of the Jews knew that He was there, and they came not only for Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 And the chief priests decided to kill Lazarus also, 11 because for his sake many of the Jews came and believed in Jesus. 12 The next day, the multitude of people who had come to the feast, hearing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took palm branches and came out to meet Him and exclaimed: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! 14 Jesus found a colt and sat on it, as it is written: 15 Fear not, daughter of Zion! Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a colt. 16 His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus became glorified, then they remembered that it was written about Him, and they did it to Him. 17 The people who were with Him before testified that He called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead. 18 Therefore the people met Him, for they heard that He had performed this miracle. 19 But the Pharisees said to each other, “Do you see that you are not getting anything done? the whole world follows Him. 20 Of those who came to worship at the feast, there were some Greeks. 21 They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, saying: Master! we want to see Jesus. 22 Philip goes and tells Andrew about this; and then Andrew and Philip tell Jesus about this. 23 Jesus answered and said to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; and if it dies, it will bear much fruit. 25 He who loves his life will destroy it; But he who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. 26 Whoever serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant also be. And whoever serves Me, My Father will honor him. 27 My soul is now troubled; and what should I say? Father! deliver Me from this hour! But for this hour I have come. 28 Father! glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified it and will glorify it again. 29 The people standing and hearing it
said, “This is thunder; and others said: The angel spoke to him. 30 Jesus answered this, “This voice was not for me, but for the people.” 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me. 33 These things He spoke, making it clear by what kind of death He would die. 34 The people answered him: We have heard from the law that Christ abides forever; How then do You say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? 35 Then Jesus said to them, “For a little while yet the light is with you; walk while there is light, lest darkness overtake you: but he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 As long as the light is with you, believe in the light, that you may be children of light. Having said this, Jesus walked away and hid from them. 37 He performed so many miracles before them, and they did not believe in Him, 38 so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled: Lord! who believed what they heard from us? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? 39 Therefore they could not believe, because, as Isaiah also said, 40 this people have blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and convert, that I might heal them. 41 These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. 42 However, many of the rulers believed in Him; but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, 43 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. 44 Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me.” 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that whoever believes in Me will not remain in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me and does not accept My words has one who judges him: the word that I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I spoke not of Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what to say and what to say. 50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.

Holy Wednesday evening

On Wednesday evening a very significant passage is read about the anointing of the Lord with myrrh. About how the sinful wife anointed His head and His feet with ointment and wiped them with her hair. It also talks about Judas. Very briefly. But the comparison is obvious. On the one hand, there is a sinful woman who performs a feat for the sake of love for Christ, and the Lord tells her that wherever the Gospel is preached, it will be said about what she did. And on the other hand, Judas is a traitor who planned deceit, went to the Pharisees and agreed to betray Christ to them. These two characters are opposed to each other. (Matthew 26: 6-16) In the six readings of the first two days we see that the events in the morning took place in the Jerusalem temple or on the way to it, and in the evening - in the house where the Savior spent the night or on the road - on the mountainside where He and his students were taking a break from the day's work. But besides these readings from the Gospel, there are others. The Church has a very interesting custom of reading the Four Gospels on the clock. According to this order, almost the entire Four Gospels should be read during the services of the first three days. And this happens, this is how they read it. But this is a very long reading, so in some churches they begin to read the Four Gospels in advance. For example, from the sixth week of Great Lent or from the fourth, and sometimes from the second - a small passage every day. But the reading of the Four Gospels on the clock is symbolic specifically for the days of Holy Week, because the priest who stands in the middle of the church and reads the Gospel for a long time shows the image of Christ. This is an example of symbolism in worship. Anyone who enters the temple at this time sees a priest reading the Gospel. Likewise, any Jew who entered the Jerusalem temple in those days saw Christ preaching. So, during Holy Week the Gospel is read very often. But, in addition, there are other topics of these days. Monday, as already mentioned, is dedicated to the barren fig tree. But, on the other hand, Monday is also dedicated to the Old Testament image of Joseph the Beautiful, whom his brothers sold into slavery. During Holy Week they read not only the Gospel - they also read the books of the Old Testament. The image of Joseph is taken from the Old Testament reading. This ordinary reading fits surprisingly into the context of the remembered events. Joseph is a direct prototype of Christ, because his brothers sold him into slavery for money, and Christ is being sold for money these days. Joseph reached the very bottom, he had to die, lay in prison and was sentenced, but after that he was elevated to the very height of the hierarchical ladder: he becomes Pharaoh's closest adviser, the first minister. What is this if not a prototype of the death and resurrection of Christ? What did Joseph do after he became a minister? Saved his family from certain death. At that time there was a seven-year famine, and his brothers came to Egypt to ask for help. And the Lord, after His Resurrection, saves all believers, His Church.

Service of the Twelve Gospels

The Service of the Twelve Gospels is a Lenten service held on the evening of Holy Thursday. The reading of the Passion Gospels has some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: “Glory to your long-suffering, Lord,” announced by the gospel, listened to by believers with lit candles.

On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service. In it, the Church reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering , starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior.

Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Before showing Christ bloodied, naked, crucified and buried, the Holy Church shows us the image of the God-man in all His greatness and beauty. Believers must know Who is being sacrificed, Who will endure spitting, and beating, and strangulation, and the cross, and death”: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him... (John 13:31 ) . To comprehend the depth of Christ’s humiliation, one must understand, as far as this is possible for a mortal man, His height and His Divinity.

The First Gospel of the Holy Passion is therefore, as it were, a verbal icon of God the Word reclining at the “Easter of the Crucifixion” and ready to die. Seeing the immeasurable humiliation of her Lord and Savior, the Church at the same time beholds His glory. Already the first Gospel begins with the words of the Savior about His glorification: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. This glory, like a kind of light-like cloud, envelops the exalted Cross now standing before us. Like once Mount Sinai and the ancient tabernacle, it surrounds Golgotha. And the stronger the sorrow that the gospel story tells about, the stronger the glorification of Christ sounds in hymns.

The essence of God is love , therefore it is glorified even in the suffering of the Savior. The glory of love is its sacrifice . Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Christ lays down His soul for His friends and calls them: You are My friends (John 15:14 ). The Lord brought people complete knowledge. The fullness of the Divine dwelling in Him bodily through the unity of those who love in Him reveals knowledge about the most important and valuable thing - about God. Those who love one another in Christ receive a revelation of the essence of God. For, abiding in Christ's love, they thereby abide in the Trinitarian Godhead. He who loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23 ). With the coming of the Father, the Holy Spirit is sent down, who proceeds from the Father and bears witness to the Son (cf. John 15:26 ).

However, it is impossible to love when you are alone. Therefore, the image of God is reflected in human society - in the Church of Christ . The hymns call us to common prayer and to the general glorification of the Lord in order to perceive together “the Holy Passover, which is sacred in us”: “Let us hear all the faithful, convening with high preaching, the uncreated and natural wisdom of God, crying out: taste and understand, as Christ I, cry: gloriously glorified is Christ our God.” “Christ established the world, Heavenly and Divine Bread. Come, lovers of Christ, with mortal lips and pure hearts, let us faithfully celebrate Easter, which is celebrated in us.”

So, the unity of God is reflected in the unity of the Church, and vice versa. Jesus Christ prays about this in His hierarchal prayer: That they may all be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; and the world also has faith, because You sent Me. And I have given the glory to Me, I have given it to them, that they may be one, as We are one. I am in them, and You are in Me: that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may understand that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me (John 17 :21-23). What meaning does the Church give to the reading of this Gospel? This text leads us to recognize the internal connection of the teaching about the personality of Christ as the God-man, about the Church as the body of the God-man and about the nature of the Divinity as the consubstantial (omousia) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In addition, the above prayer is a prayer for salvation, for to abide in the Father and the Son means to be saved.

Emphasizing the importance of the read Gospels and the entire service of Holy Week, church hymns encourage us to be especially attentive and focused, leaving at least for a while the cares of everyday life: “Let us present our pure feelings to Christ, and as His friends, let us devour our souls for His sake, and not by the cares of everyday life.” We are oppressed like Judas, but in our cages we cry out: Our Father who is in heaven, deliver us from the evil one.”

Having prompted us to pay special attention, the Holy Church again in her hymns glorifies the wife who anointed the Lord with myrrh, and cites as an example the betrayal of the wicked money-lover Judas, reminding us that the root of all evil is the love of money (1 Tim. 6:10): “By the mercy of God let us serve , like Mary at the supper, and we will not acquire the love of money, like Judas: that we may always be with Christ our God. With thirty pieces of silver, Lord, and with a flattering kiss, I ask the Jews to kill Thee. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand.”

In the following antiphons, the lesson of humility is again heard, the washing of the Savior’s feet is again recalled: “In Thy washing, O Christ God, Thou hast commanded Thy disciples: do this very thing as thou seest. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand.” Further, the need to stay awake is again spoken of: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune, as you said to your disciple, Christ our God. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand,” since the next Gospel will read about the treacherous taking of the Savior into custody. The topic of spiritual wakefulness is very important. Directly these words of the Savior are addressed to His disciples, but through them - to all Christians.

Since Peter turned out to be too bold in his words, as well as the other disciples, Christ exposes their instability as people who spoke rashly, and especially turns his speech to Peter, saying that it will be difficult to remain faithful to the Lord for those who could not stay awake for even one hour . But, having denounced him, he again calms them down, because they dozed off not out of inattention to Him, but out of weakness. And if we see our weakness, we will pray so as not to fall into temptation. All Christians are called to this constant spiritual vigilance; without this constant carrying of our Cross there can be no salvation, for through many sorrows we must enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). That’s why we hear again: “Having laid down thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One Who was Priced, He was valued by the children of Israel. Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak: for this reason, watch” (TP. L. 439).

But the reading of the second Passion Gospel , which tells about the taking into custody of the Savior, is approaching. The solemn procession of ancient Christians spending Holy Week in the Holy Land was at that moment approaching the Garden of Gethsemane, where the betrayal took place. Therefore, in order to remind those praying that the Lord suffers for our sake and that everything happened according to God’s ineffable Providence, the Holy Church sings: “At the supper the disciples fed, and knew the pretense of tradition; at it you exposed Judas, for you knew that this was uncorrected: know that Although you have given yourself over to everyone by your will, you may snatch the world away from the alien: long-suffering, glory to You.”

Having thus prepared those praying for a correct understanding of what is being read, the Church brings to our attention the second Passion Gospel, which speaks of the capture of the Savior by the soldiers of the high priest under the leadership of Judas the traitor, the denial of Peter, the strangulation of Jesus in the courtyard of Caiaphas and His imprisonment in the praetorium of Pontius Pilate.

The antiphons following the reading of the Gospel again dwell on the fall of Judas: “Today Judas leaves the Teacher, and accepts the devil, is blinded by the passion of the love of money, the darkened Light falls away: how can you see, Selling the luminary for thirty pieces of silver; but to us the One who suffered for peace has risen. Let us cry out to the Unman: you who have suffered and have compassion, O Lord, glory to Thee.” It is obvious that it is no coincidence that so much attention is paid to the vice of the love of money and the act of Judas. The Holy Fathers speak very decisively on this matter. “Whoever began to serve mammon has already abandoned serving Christ.”

That is why this topic arises again and again: “Today Judas feigns piety, and his talents are alienated, this disciple becomes a traitor: flattery covers up in ordinary kisses, and he prefers the Master to love, it is senseless to work for the love of money, a teacher who was a teacher of a lawless congregation; But we who have the salvation of Christ, let us glorify him.”

In contrast to the act of Judas, Christ’s faithful followers are called to virtues that are opposite to his sinful illness: “Let us acquire brotherly love as brethren in Christ, and not as an unmerciful hedgehog towards our neighbors: lest we be condemned as an unmerciful servant, for the sake of penalties, and like Judas, having repented, we take advantage of nothing.” "

Turning the Savior's speech to His disciples, the Holy Church in the following antiphons again encourages and strengthens the followers of Christ in this difficult time; But we, separated from the events described in the Gospel for centuries, are moved to patience and perseverance in temptations: “Today the Creator of heaven and earth said to His disciple: The hour is approaching, and Judas will betray Me, so that no one will deny Me, seeing Me on the cross in the midst of two thiefs.” : For I suffer as a man, and I will save as a Lover of Mankind, those who believe in Me... Lord, having come to free passion, You cried out to Your disciple: Even if you were not able to watch with Me for a single hour, since you promised to die for My sake; See how Judas is not sleeping, but is trying to betray Me to the lawless. Arise, pray, so that no one will deny Me, in vain I am on the cross, long-suffering, glory to You.”

The third Passion Gospel is read, telling how the Savior in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas Himself testifies to Himself as the Son of God and accepts being strangled and spat on for this testimony. The renunciation of the Apostle Peter and his repentance are also depicted here. The antiphons that follow the Gospel emphasize that the Divine Sufferer endures these torments voluntarily - for the sake of saving His creation: “When you ate the lawless, while you endured thee, you cried out to the Lord: if you also smite the Shepherd, and scatter twelve sheep, my disciples, you can imagine greater things than twelve legions.” angels. But I will endure long, that what My prophets have revealed to you, unknown and secret, may be fulfilled: Lord, glory to Thee.”

The seventh antiphon says about the Apostle Peter: “Peter denied three times what was spoken to him in his mind, but bring to You tears of repentance: God, cleanse me and save me.” Here we briefly talk about events that have a very deep, enduring moral significance. Obsessed with fear, Peter forgot about his promises to the Teacher and submitted to human weakness. But there is also a higher meaning in this event: Peter is convicted of a servant, that is, of human weakness, this little slave. The rooster means the word of Jesus, which does not allow us to sleep. The awakened Peter came out of the bishop's courtyard, that is, from a state of blinded mind, and began to cry. While he was in the courtyard of the blinded mind, he did not cry because he had no feeling; but as soon as he came out of it, he came to his senses.

The theme of repentance is very important , and in the hymns of Holy Week it is revealed more clearly than anywhere else. According to the holy fathers, if even the evil Judas could fall before the Cross of Christ and bring sincere repentance for betrayal, he would hear from the most pure lips of the Lord: “Your sins are forgiven.” However, “lawless Judas did not want to understand” God’s mercy. He did not turn, like the Apostle Peter, to the good and merciful Lord. The traitor came to the Pharisees, but did not find sympathy from them. Throwing them pieces of silver, he went and hanged himself - a terrible end!

What lesson can an Orthodox Christian learn from the denial of the Apostle Peter? Many probably asked the question: how could he renounce the Savior? And how do we renounce every minute in word and deed?.. Love of sin keeps us from following Christ and makes our soul dead, not knowing Christ.

In the eighth antiphon, the stiff-necked Jews are reproached for not recognizing in Christ their Messiah and Lawgiver: “Cry out the iniquity that you hear from our Savior; shall not lay down the law, and the prophetic teaching; How could you think of betraying Pilate, who is from God, God the Word, and the deliverer of our souls.” Those to whom the Law and the Prophets were given, those who saw so many miracles, did not recognize their Savior and their Messiah: “Let those who continually enjoy the cry of Thy gifts be crucified, and let the evildoer instead of the benefactor be accepted to the benefactor, the murderers of the righteous: but Christ art thou who was silent, enduring their severity, to suffer even though they save us, as a Lover of Mankind.”

is coming to read the fourth Passion Gospel . It describes the dialogue between the Savior and Pilate, the scourging of the Lord, His clothing with a crown of thorns and scarlet robe, the mad cries of the crowd: “Crucify, crucify Him!” and handing Him over to be crucified. Once again, already at the threshold of death, He testifies of Himself as the Truth, to which unbelieving skepticism in the person of Pilate replies: “What is truth?” - and betrays Christ to torture and abuse.

What is striking in this Gospel passage is the cry of the crowd, thirsting for the death of their Creator: “Let those who continually enjoy the cry of Thy gifts be crucified, and let the evildoer be accepted instead of the benefactor, the murderers of the righteous.” The Lord performed so many miracles throughout the history of the Israeli people, and the majority of these people did not accept Him: “This says the Lord to the Jews: My people, what have I done to you? or why do you feel cold; I enlightened your blind, cleansed your lepers, raised your living husband on his bed. My people, what have I done to you, and what will you repay Me; for manna gall: for water tsets: for the hedgehog love Me, nail Me to the cross!..”

And if only he had not accepted... His blood is on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25 )... What terrible words!.. And with what insane frivolity the people pronounce them. The Blood of the Righteous One, which he accepted upon himself, burned the cities with fire, delivered the Israelites into the hands of enemies and finally scattered them across the face of the earth... But we accept this same Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, for us it is the source of immortality and Eternal Life... But His Blood will also be on us, and on our children, to condemnation and destruction, if even after we have been renewed by this most holy Blood, we continue to commit the same sins.

But then, in the midst of terrible sorrow, the words of church hymn are heard put into the mouth of the Savior: “To those who cannot endure anything else, I will call on My tongues, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit: and I will give them eternal life.” This speaks of the Holy Church of Christ, which will also be gathered from sheep that are not of this fold. But you too must be brought to Me, and My voice will be heard, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd (Jn. 10, 16).

The next, tenth and eleventh, antiphons mention the terrible natural phenomena that accompanied the suffering of Christ. If people turn out to be insensitive, then inanimate nature cannot help but sympathize with its Creator: “Clothe yourself with light like a robe, standing naked in judgment, and receive the emphasis on the cheek from the hands that created them: but the iniquity of people on the cross nailed the Lord of glory: then the veil of the church is torn , the sun is darker, unable to bear the sight of God, we are annoyed, He is the one who trembles in every way, let us worship Him.

Below is the earth as if it shook, below is the stone as if it became gray, admonishing the Jews, below is the church veil, below is the resurrection of the dead. But grant them, Lord, according to their deeds, for they have learned from You in vain.

Today the church veil for exposing the lawless is torn, and the sun hides its rays, the Lord is being crucified in vain.”

The Fifth Passion Gospel tells about the death of the traitor Judas, about the interrogation of the Lord in the praetorium of Pilate and about His condemnation to death. The thirteenth antiphon speaks of the robber-murderer Barabbas, whom the maddened crowd preferred to the Savior: “The assembly of the Jews asked Pilate to crucify You, O Lord: for You did not find guilt in You, who freed Barabbas to blame, and You righteously condemned the sin that inherited the foul murder.” And again the Church reminds us that the Savior suffers for us: “Everyone is terrified and trembles, and every tongue sings, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, struck the priests on the cheek, and gave Him gall: and you will suffer all, even if you save us from our iniquities by His Blood, as a Lover of Mankind.”

Suddenly, amid the sorrow and greatness of this day, a weak human cry is heard. This is the cry of the thief, crucified at the right hand of Christ and comprehending the Divinity of the God-Man crucified with him and compassionate with him. “The thief uttered a small voice on the cross, you gained great faith, you were saved in a single moment, and the first gates of heaven opened below, who accepted repentance, Lord, glory to You.”

Like a heartfelt sigh from the whole world, the Church takes it up, and in the hearts of its faithful it grows into a whole song about the prudent thief, sung three times before the 9th Gospel: “The prudent thief, in one hour you have made heaven worthy, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross, and save me."

The words of the last antiphon are imbued with special power: “Today the King like the angels, like the angels, hangs on a tree; he dresses himself in false scarlet, covering the sky with clouds; the strangulation was accepted, like the freed Adam in the Jordan; The Church Bridegroom is nailed down with nails; a copy of the Son of the Virgin. We worship Christ with Your passion; We worship Christ with Your passion; We worship Your passion, Christ, show us Your glorious resurrection.” And here, among the sufferings darkening the consciousness, like a thin ray of light, a mention appears of what all this suffering is for: “show us your glorious resurrection!”

Having thus strengthened those praying, the Church offers the reading of the sixth Passion Gospel , which speaks of the crucifixion itself. In the hymns that follow this Gospel and immediately precede it, the saving meaning of the suffering of the God-Man is revealed: “Your cross, O Lord, is life and intercession for your people, and in hope we sing to you of our crucified God, have mercy on us.”

In the hymns one can hear: “Thou hast redeemed us from the legal oath, with Thy venerable Blood, having been nailed to the cross, and pierced with a spear, Thou hast extinguished immortality as a man, Our Savior, glory to Thee.” The Lord redeemed us, did everything for our salvation, but this salvation can only be found in the Church of Christ. Therefore, immediately after reading the Gospel story about the crucifixion, we hear comforting words about the Church, filling the whole world with Divine grace: “Thy life-giving ribs, like a fountain flowing from Eden, Thy Church, O Christ, like a verbal one, waters paradise, from here dividing like into the beginning, into the four Gospels, watering the world, making the creation joyful, and faithfully teaching the tongues to worship Your Kingdom.” Only in the Church, as in the ark of salvation, can one find peace and salvation from eternal death.

But peace and salvation can only be obtained by following Christ: “Thou hast been crucified for my sake, that thou hast pierced my ribs, that thou hast emptied the drops of life: thou hast been nailed with nails, that by the depth of Thy passions we assure the height of Thy power , I call Ty: Life-giving Christ, glory to the Savior Cross and Thy passion.” Only those who fulfill the Gospel commandment are saved: If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and come after Me (Matthew 16:24 ).

What else can be added, what else can be usefully extracted from the proposed chants? “Thou hast torn to pieces our handwriting on the cross, O Lord, and having been counted among the dead, Thou hast bound the tormentor there, delivering all from the bonds of death by Thy resurrection, through which we have been enlightened, O Lord of mankind, and we cry unto Thee: remember us also, O Saviour, in Thy Kingdom.”

The seventh and eighth Passion Gospels repeat the events of the Savior's crucifixion, supplementing them with some details. After the eighth Gospel, the three-canticle of Cosmas of Maium is read, which, in particular, again speaks of the disciples of Christ. The eighth song of this three-song contains an important idea that to those who are stronger, a stronger temptation is sent: “From the disciples of all times now, shake off the sleep that thou hast said, O Christ, and watch in prayer, lest ye enter into adversity, and especially Simone: the strongest temptation. Understand Me Peter: He will bless all creation, glorifying Him forever.”

The ninth Passion Gospel is read , which speaks of the Savior's dying concerns for His Mother and His death. The Lord, hanging on the cross, adopts His Mother as a son to His beloved disciple. “This was a response to Her boundless sorrow, the spectacle of which was one of the sharpest thorns of the Savior’s martyr’s crown.”

And now - “it is finished.” The Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, hanging on the cross, gave up his ghost. “My cloaks fell on the wounds, but I did not turn away My face from the spitting, I stood before Pilate’s judgment, and endured the cross for the salvation of the world.” The work of redemption of the human race through His suffering on the cross was completed, in everything in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings. Even inanimate nature could not remain indifferent to the death of its Creator. In the midst of the darkness, a strong underground rumble was heard, and the earth began to shake: “All creation, changing with fear, beholding Thee hanging on the cross of Christ: the sun was darkened, and the foundations of the earth shook, all to the compassion of the Creator of all. You endured the will of us for our sake, O Lord, glory to Thee.”

The menacing natural phenomena have ceased. Golgotha ​​is empty. Terrible rumors began to spread throughout the city that the earthquake had damaged the temple, and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Sanctuary was torn from top to bottom. This event marked the completion of the Old Testament and the establishment of a new relationship between man and God.

Further, we are reminded that can never rely on ourselves , since only with the help of God can we do anything good: “You have not experienced all the depth of Divine wisdom and reason, but you have not comprehended the abyss of My destinies as a man, the Lord said . Do not boast in your poor flesh, for you have denied Me three times, Whom He will bless all creation, glorifying Him forever.” Moreover, Peter was afraid not of the soldiers, but of the maids: “You deny to Simone Peter that you will quickly do as you have said, and one young woman will come to You and frighten You, the Lord has spoken. The mountaineer shed tears, and found Me both merciful and blessed by all creation, glorifying Him forever.”

The Exapostilary of the Trisong, sung just before the reading of the ninth Gospel, depicts the prudent thief who came to the knowledge of the Truth at the eleventh hour. This teaches a lesson that it is never too late to repent and come to Christ the Savior: “ The prudent thief, in one hour you have made heaven worthy, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross, and save me .” Jesus receives everyone, giving the same denarius to those workers who came around the eleventh hour. Amen, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43 ).

The last Passion Gospel has been read, the Lord has been laid in the tomb, Christ’s disciples have dispersed... The continuation of the holy and saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ends, and with lighted candles Christians leave the church, grieving from what they have experienced, but in the depths of their souls already expecting the Resurrection.

Passion Gospels:

1. John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).
2. John 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).
3. Matthew 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).
4. John 18:28-40,19:1-16. (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial).
5. Matthew 27:3-32. (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion).
6. Mark 15:16-32. (Leading the Lord to Golgotha ​​and His Passion on the Cross).
7. Matthew 27:34-54. (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).
8. Luke 23:32-49. (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for enemies and repentance of a prudent thief).
9. John 19:25-37. (The Savior’s words from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and repetition of the legend about His death and perforation).
10. Mark 15:43-47. (Removal of the Lord's body from the Cross).
11. John 19:38-42. (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior).
12. Matthew 27:62-66. (Attaching guards to the tomb of the Savior and sealing the tomb).

April 25, 2022

Tags: Holy Week, Matins of Great Heel, Passion Gospels.

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Holy Thursday, the main Liturgy of the year

This is the memory of the Last Supper. The event that took place at night from Thursday to Friday. The Last Supper is the Easter meal of Christ with his disciples. The Lord preached all day in the Jerusalem Temple, and in the evening the Easter meal took place. The Gospel readings for Holy Thursday describe the events of the Last Supper. The Evangelist John writes in more detail about the Last Supper. He records the entire long conversation of Christ with his disciples and describes the washing of feet. Evangelist Luke also introduces elements of the conversation that are not found in other Evangelists. And as for the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, they describe in detail the main thing that happened, namely the establishment of the Eucharist. On Holy Thursday, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated at Vespers, so the reading of this composite Gospel actually occurs during the Liturgy. After the Last Supper ended, the Lord and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and there He prayed until he sweated blood. This is a night time event. It must be said that for Holy Week there is no clear separation of one day from another. Events flow into each other in a continuous stream. There are many customs in the Church associated with Maundy Thursday. For example, the consecration of the world, the preparation of reserve Gifts; previously, the washing of the throne was also performed. Why are so many traditions associated with this Liturgy? Because this is the main Liturgy of the year, the remembrance of the very establishment of the Sacrament.

Great Thursday. Service of the 12 Passion Gospels.

The Service of the Twelve Gospels is a Lenten service held on the evening of Holy Thursday.
Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane. The reading of the Passion Gospels has some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: “Glory to your long-suffering, Lord,” announced by the gospel, listened to by believers with lit candles. John Chrysostom already mentions the reading of the Passion Gospels on this day. *** On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Matins of Good Friday is celebrated, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service. In it, the Church reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly. In between the Gospels, antiphons are sung that express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. – Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic presence? Or did he deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, he did not allow you to join the meal? Or did he wash the feet of others and despise yours? Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with.” And then, as if on behalf of the Lord, the choir addresses the ancient Jews: “My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? He opened the sight of your blind, you cleansed your lepers, you raised a man from his bed. My people, what did I do to you and what did you repay Me: for manna - gall, for water [in the desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, you nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you any longer, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life.” After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the “blessed” with troparia, the canon of the three songs follows, conveying in a condensed form the last hours of the Savior’s stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord, and the thrice luminary is sung. Passion Gospels:

1) John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them). 2) John 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna). 3) Matthew 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter). 4) John 18:28-40,19:1-16. (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial). 5) Matthew 27:3-32. (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion). 6) Mark 15:16-32. (Leading the Lord to Golgotha ​​and His Passion on the Cross). 7) Matthew 27:34-54. (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death). Luke 23:32-49. (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for enemies and repentance of a prudent thief). 9) John 19:25-37. (Words of the Savior from the Cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and repetition of the legend about His death and perforation)>. 10) Mark 15:43-47. (Removal of the Lord's body from the Cross). 11) John 19:38-42. (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior). 12) Matthew 27:62-66. (Attaching guards to the tomb of the Savior and sealing the tomb).

S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for clergy

Word from Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh on Maundy Thursday and the service of the twelve Gospels

In the evening or late at night on Holy Thursday, a story is read about the last meeting of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples around the Easter table and about the terrible night He spent alone in the Garden of Gethsemane awaiting death, the story about His crucifixion and His death...

Before us is a picture of what happened to the Savior out of love for us; He could have avoided all this if only he had retreated, if only he had wanted to save Himself and not complete the work for which He came!.. Of course, then He would not have been Who He really was; He would not be Divine love incarnate, He would not be our Savior; but at what price does love cost!

Christ spends one terrible night face to face with coming death; and He fights this death, which comes at Him inexorably, just as a man fights before death. But usually a person simply dies helplessly; something more tragic was happening here.

Christ had previously said to his disciples: No one takes life from me - I give it freely... And so He freely, but with what horror, gave it away... The first time He prayed to the Father: Father! If this can pass me by, yes, a blowjob!.. and I struggled. And the second time He prayed: Father! If this cup cannot pass Me by, let it be... And only the third time, after a new struggle, He could say: Thy will be done...

We must think about this: it always - or often - seems to us that it was easy for Him to give His life, being God who became man: but He, our Savior, Christ, dies as a Man: not by His immortal Divinity, but by His humanity , a living, truly human body...

And then we see the crucifixion: how He was killed with a slow death and how He, without one word of reproach, surrendered to torment. The only words He addressed to the Father about the tormentors were: Father, forgive them - they do not know what they are doing... This is what we must learn: in the face of persecution, in the face of humiliation, in the face of insults - in the face of a thousand things that are far, far away distanced from the very thought of death, we must look at the person who offends us, humiliates us, wants to destroy us, and turn our souls to God and say: Father, forgive them: they do not know what they are doing, they do not understand the meaning of things...

Based on materials from the site https://azbyka.ru

The rite of washing the feet

This rite is performed, as a rule, during the bishop's service. For example, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill performs it annually in Moscow. This happens after the Liturgy of Maundy Thursday. According to the rules, this Liturgy should be celebrated in the evening, but in practice it is celebrated in the first half of the day, and this is incorrect, since it is a symbolic representation of the Last Supper itself, which took place in the late evening. The rite of washing the feet occurs at the same time. According to the Studite Rule, this rite must take place before the Liturgy. According to the Jerusalem Rule, according to which our Church lives, it is performed after the Liturgy. In this action, Christ is portrayed by the bishop himself, and the apostles are portrayed by 12 priests, among whom, of course, is Judas, because the Lord also washed his feet. And the bishop washes the feet of the priests sitting in front of him. At the same time, the Gospel text from John is read: the Gospel text is read by the protodeacon, and all remarks are spoken by the bishop and priests.

Good Friday, Twelve Gospels

Good Friday is dedicated to the events of the suffering and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. All services of Holy Week are of Jerusalem origin, and this is very important for understanding them. What was worship like in ancient Jerusalem? It was a procession through holy places, along the Way of the Cross. The entire Good Friday service is a spiritual procession along the Way of the Cross with Christ. In ancient Jerusalem, this procession lasted the whole night. This type of service was called stationary worship, that is, a procession with stops. A station is a stop. Such worship was extremely typical for Jerusalem and, by the way, for Constantinople too. During the service, believers walked around the city and its environs, many sources note this. On Good Friday, the procession began on the Mount of Olives, then moved to the suburbs of Jerusalem, then to the city itself. During the procession there were stops: at the place where Caiaphas had his trial, in the praetorium, where Pilate had his trial, then the procession gradually came to Golgotha. Golgotha ​​is the last stop, where all further chants and readings are heard. Over the centuries, the number of gospel readings increased. Now in our Church, of course, no procession is taking place. The entire service is read and sung in one church. But this ancient stationary service was reflected directly in the structure of the Good Friday service. Later, the rite of the Twelve Passion Gospels was combined with the usual Matins, which resulted in our service, which is called “The Consequence of the Holy and Saving Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” In practice, the service of the Twelve Gospels is celebrated on Thursday evening, but was intended as a night vigil. Because in Jerusalem this procession took place at night, immediately after the events of the Last Supper. And the first reading (by the way, the longest reading in the entire Orthodox service) is the farewell conversation of the Lord with the disciples. This is almost five chapters of the Gospel of John. The second reading is prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the taking of the Lord into custody, the third is the trial of Caiaphas, the fourth is the trial of Pilate, and so on: about the crucifixion, about the words that the Lord spoke on the Cross, about how He dies and how He is buried in cave and roll a stone to the cave. This is where the follow-up ends. It leads before our eyes the entire Way of the Cross from the Last Supper to the burial of the Lord in the cave. All chants that are sung between readings comment on the readings themselves. For example, before the seventh Gospel reading, which tells about the crucifixion, the luminaries of Holy Thursday are sung - “I divided my robe for myself and cast lots for my clothes,” and after the eighth Gospel reading, which tells about the thieves who were crucified on the right and left hand of the Lord , the famous chant is sung - the luminaries of Good Friday, “The prudent thief in one hour of heaven hast been vouchsafed.”

Passion Gospels:

1. John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).
2. John 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).
3. Matthew 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).
4. John 18:28-40,19:1-16. (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial).
5. Matthew 27:3-32. (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion).
6. Mark 15:16-32. (Leading the Lord to Golgotha ​​and His Passion on the Cross).
7. Matthew 27:34-54. (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).
8. Luke 23:32-49. (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for enemies and repentance of a prudent thief).
9. John 19:25-37. (The Savior’s words from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and repetition of the legend about His death and perforation).
10. Mark 15:43-47. (Removal of the Lord's body from the Cross).
11. John 19:38-42. (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior).
12. Matthew 27:62-66. (Attaching guards to the tomb of the Savior and sealing the tomb).

S.V. Bulgakov, Handbook for clergy

Royal watch

Good Friday is a day of strict fasting; Liturgy is not celebrated on this day. The second service of Good Friday is called the Royal Hours. It takes place on Friday morning. The tradition of this service has its roots in the readings of the Holy Scriptures at Golgotha ​​in Jerusalem. And in the Constantinople tradition, it was combined with the service of ordinary hours. It received the name “Royal Clock” in Constantinople, because the emperor was always present at this service. The clock continues the same theme that was at night during the reading of the Twelve Gospels. The same Gospels are read, only there are no longer twelve of them, but four (according to the number of hours). We return again to those events, only now they are set out according to the four Evangelists.

The power of the passion candle from the 12 Gospels

Maundy Thursday falls on the last Thursday before the Resurrection of Christ. Many centuries ago, it was on this day that Jesus gathered his disciples - the 12 apostles - for the Last Supper. He washed the feet of each disciple. This is how Jesus wanted to show them his humility and respect. This is exactly how Maundy Thursday appeared in the Orthodox Church.

On this day, believers must visit the temple and attend the evening service. At the end, the clergy begin to read the 12th Gospel. After this, the candle is lit. According to the church, this fire is considered a symbol of people's ardent love for God. This candle is placed in the middle of the Temple, and all Orthodox Christians light theirs from it. Believers do not extinguish the candle until it burns out to the very end. Everyone wants to bring this fire home.

Orthodox people believe that this fire is holy. They bring it home and light lamps with it near the icons. Thus, believers believe that the Savior’s grace in the home will never fade away. Many years ago, believers used this fire to burn a cross on the wall of a house or gate. It was believed that he would not allow evil spirits to pass through.

Orthodox people try to bring a lit candle home for a reason. There is a sign - if the candle goes out before the house, then the person should beware of problems.

Shroud

The third service of Good Friday is Great Vespers with the removal of the Shroud. It takes place in practice exactly at the time when it should be - in the afternoon, after noon. Vespers on Good Friday is clearly divided into two halves. The first half is another recollection of the Passion, the composite Gospel of the Passion is read again. And the second half of the service tells about the burial of the Lord’s Body in the tomb, exactly corresponding to the text of the Gospel in time: the Lord was buried on Friday evening. But in church life there is one very annoying mistake that has firmly become a tradition. For some reason it is believed that the day of burial is Saturday. And the Matins of Holy Saturday is called burial. But there was no way any burial could take place on Saturday. Because on Saturday, according to Jewish laws, any funeral activity was strictly prohibited, and this is mentioned many times in the Gospel. In the service there is a sequence dedicated to burial - this is the second half of Good Friday Vespers. This event is depicted as the removal of the shroud. The Shroud is an embroidered or written horizontal icon of Christ lying in the Tomb. It is carried out at Friday Vespers. They are taken out and placed in the center of the temple for the worship of believers. The removal of the shroud is a symbolic burial. This takes place in the afternoon on Friday, i.e. exactly at the time when this happened according to the Gospel, before sunset, because after sunset the Sabbath already began for the Jews. This explains the haste with which Christ was buried: they did not even have time to perform all the rituals, they did not have time to properly anoint His body with incense. Why did the myrrh-bearing women run to the tomb with the first rays of the sun on Sunday? They had to finish what was unfinished. Matins of Great Saturday, which, due to an unfortunate misunderstanding, is called burial, has a completely different meaning and has a different origin. In parish practice, it is served on Friday evening, although it was intended as a night service, but in some monasteries it is celebrated at night. As we have already mentioned, worship in ancient times was of a stationary nature. That is, in ancient times, believers almost every time came to the temple from somewhere. That’s why all entrances are always so solemn: the community was returning to the temple after a long procession through the city. The ceremonial entrance at the end of Matins was characteristic of Byzantine worship, but in Russian practice it ceased to be performed over time. And on Holy Saturday it just happens. It is performed by the entire community, and the priest carries the Gospel over him, and the shroud over the Gospel. The Shroud is in origin the Eucharistic air, the cloth with which the Chalice and Paten are covered during the Eucharist. When they went to a religious procession, out of reverence they wrapped the Gospel in this cloth. Later this plate became the Shroud, which is used in the service of Good Friday and Holy Saturday. But the main object at this entrance is still not the Shroud, but the Gospel. This is the entrance with the Gospel.

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW chapter 12

Listen to THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW chapter 12 online

1 At that time Jesus passed through the sown fields on the Sabbath; His disciples became hungry and began to pick the ears of corn and eat.

2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, Behold, Your disciples are doing what ought not to be done on the Sabbath.

3 And he said to them, Have you not read what David did when he and those with him were hungry?

4 How did he enter into the house of God and eat the showbread, which neither he nor those with him were to eat, but only the priests?

5 Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath, but are innocent?

6 But I tell you, here is He who is greater than the temple;

7 If you knew what it means: I want mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent,

8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

9 And he departed from there and entered their synagogue.

10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Jesus to accuse Him: is it possible to heal on the Sabbath?

11 And he said to them, Which of you, having one sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take it and pull it out?

12 How much better is a man than a sheep! So you can do good on Saturdays.

13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he held out, and she became healthy, like anyone else.

14 And the Pharisees went out and took counsel against Him, how to destroy Him. But Jesus, having learned, withdrew from there.

15 And many people followed him, and he healed them all

16 and forbade them to declare Him,

17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, who said:

18 Behold, My Servant, whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My spirit on Him, and He will proclaim judgment to the nations;

19 He will not contradict, he will not cry, and no one will hear his voice in the streets;

20 He will not break a bruised reed, nor will he quench the smoking flax, until he brings victory to the judgment;

21 And the nations will trust in His name.

22 Then they brought to Him a demon-possessed man, blind and dumb; and he healed him, so that the blind and dumb man began to speak and see.

23 And all the people marveled and said, Is this not the Christ the son of David?

24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons.”

25 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolate; and every city or house divided against itself cannot stand.

26 And if Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided with himself: how can his kingdom stand?

27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

Healing the blind and deaf-mute. Artist G. Dore

28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has certainly come upon you.

29 Or how can anyone enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? and then he will plunder his house.

30 He who is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.

31 Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men;

32 If anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either in this age or in the future.

33 Or judge the tree to be good and its fruit to be good; or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

34 Generations of vipers! how can you say good things when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 A good man brings good things out of a good treasure, and an evil man brings evil things out of an evil treasure.

36 But I tell you that for every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment:

37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said: Teacher! We would like to see a sign from You.

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign; and no sign will be given to him except the sign of the prophet Jonah;

40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

41 The Ninevites will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented from the preaching of Jonah; and behold, there is more Jonah here.

42 The queen of the south will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, there is more Solomon here.

43 When the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and does not find it;

44 Then he says: I will return to my house from whence I came. And, having arrived, he finds it unoccupied, swept and put away;

45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and live there; and for that person the last thing is worse than the first. So it will be with this evil generation.

46 While He was still speaking to the people, His mother and brothers stood outside the house, wanting to speak with Him.

47 And someone said to Him: Behold, Your Mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak with You.

48 And he answered and said unto him that spake, Who is my mother? and who are my brothers?

49 And pointing his hand to his disciples, he said, “Behold my mother and my brothers;

50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother.

Themes of Holy Saturday

This is the day between Holy Easter and Easter Sunday.
In theology there is such a term - the Easter Triduum. This is Good Friday, Holy Saturday and the Bright Resurrection of Christ, so Easter in the broad sense is not one day, but three days. Cross and Sunday Easter combined. And Holy Saturday, which is located between one Easter and another, is called the most important day of the year in Triodion. Holy Saturday is the day of mourning for Christ. The Holy Saturday service is partly structured as a lament. At the same time, Holy Saturday is the day of anticipation of the Resurrection of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ spent His body in the tomb on Holy Saturday. And this provides the basis for the most interesting and deepest theological theme - the theme of Divine peace. And it is present in the texts of the Holy Saturday service. This is a parallel to the events of the creation of the world. The Lord created the world in 6 days, and He spent the 7th day - Saturday - in peace. At rest from the works of creation. He no longer performed any creative acts. The world had already been created, and God “rested from His works.” The seventh day of creation, in the theological sense, is still ongoing. God participates in the life of the world only through His Providence. Then the eighth day will come - this is the life of the next century, after the general resurrection. And Christ is called the new Adam. What Christ did was a “new creation.” And when Christ completed the work of redemption, completed it by His death on the Cross, He rested. I spent this Saturday in the Cave of the Sepulcher, in complete peace. This parallel with the creation of the world is clearly drawn in the service of Holy Saturday. The Lord remained in the Tomb with His Body, but with His Soul He descended into hell. The Lord descended into hell and brought out the souls of the dead righteous. That is, He “broke down the doors of hell.” After all, hell is a place where there is no God. Having descended into hell, the Lord destroyed this place. The descent of Christ into hell is also the theme of the Holy Saturday service. In addition, Holy Saturday is also Epiphany. The very thing that the catechumens had been waiting for throughout Lent. In ancient times it took place on Holy Saturday. Baptism was followed by the Baptismal Liturgy: the Liturgy of Holy Saturday. It was supposed to take place late in the evening (the latest in the year) and soon followed by the second Liturgy: Easter - early in the morning (the earliest in the year). In our practice, unfortunately, the Liturgy of Great Saturday is celebrated too early: in the first half of the day. The fact that this Liturgy was baptismal is indicated by the reading of fifteen proverbs at Vespers on Holy Saturday. Why was such a long reading of passages from the Old Testament necessary at this service? So that the Patriarch has time to perform the baptism of the catechumens. And all the faithful at that time stood in the temple and listened to the Scriptures, awaiting the return of the newly baptized. The first chant that those being baptized heard upon returning to the temple: “Be baptized in Christ, put on Christ” - this is still sung in their honor. Dressing in white clothes on Holy Saturday also happens for the sake of those being baptized: they return to the temple in white clothes, and the whole Church, along with them, dresses in white. Holy Saturday is filled with Sunday joy. As the service progresses, this joy dynamically increases. A whole series of Sunday hymns are sung. There are more and more of them as the service progresses, and at the end they develop into Easter itself. This is understandable. After all, in fact, no one knows at what moment Christ was resurrected. None of the Christians saw this moment. When the myrrh-bearing wives ran to the cave of the Sepulcher with the first rays of the sun, they saw that the Sepulcher was empty. The Church does not know when this happened, but it is waiting for it every minute. The moment of the beginning of Easter, when the Royal Doors in churches open and the sound of “Christ is Risen from the Dead” sounds - this is not the moment of the Resurrection, this is the moment when they saw the empty Tomb, the moment when the Church learned about the Resurrection. Easter joy grows from the depths of the Holy Saturday service, and this is perhaps the most impressive of the many themes of this day. Recorded by Ekaterina Stepanova

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Church holidays Divine services Orthodox fasts Holy Week Procession of the Cross Great Lent

Reading the 12 Passion Gospels

The Service of the Twelve Gospels is a Lenten service held on the evening of Holy Thursday.

Reading the Gospel

The reading of the Passion Gospels has some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: “Glory to your long-suffering, Lord,” announced by the gospel, listened to by believers with lit candles.

On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service. In it, the Church reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering , starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior.

Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Service of the “Twelve Gospels” (Passion Gospels) ▼

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Before showing Christ bloodied, naked, crucified and buried, the Holy Church shows us the image of the God-man in all His greatness and beauty. Believers must know Who is being sacrificed, Who will endure “spitting, and beating, and strangulation, and the cross, and death”: Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him... (John 13:31). To comprehend the depth of Christ’s humiliation, one must understand, as far as this is possible for a mortal man, His height and His Divinity.

Cross of Christ

The First Gospel of the Holy Passion is therefore, as it were, a verbal icon of God the Word reclining at the “Easter of the Crucifixion” and ready to die. Seeing the immeasurable humiliation of her Lord and Savior, the Church at the same time beholds His glory. Already the first Gospel begins with the words of the Savior about His glorification: Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. This glory, like a kind of light-like cloud, envelops the exalted Cross now standing before us. Like once Mount Sinai and the ancient tabernacle, it surrounds Golgotha. And the stronger the sorrow that the gospel story tells about, the stronger the glorification of Christ sounds in hymns.

The essence of God is love , therefore it is glorified even in the suffering of the Savior. The glory of love is its sacrifice . Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Christ lays down His life for His friends and calls them: You are My friends (John 15:14). The Lord brought people complete knowledge. The fullness of the Divine dwelling in Him bodily through the unity of those who love in Him reveals knowledge about the most important and valuable thing - about God. Those who love one another in Christ receive a revelation of the essence of God. For, abiding in Christ's love, they thereby abide in the Trinitarian Godhead. He who loves Me will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). With the coming of the Father, the Holy Spirit is sent down, who proceeds from the Father and bears witness to the Son (cf. John 15:26).

However, it is impossible to love when you are alone. Therefore, the image of God is reflected in human society - in the Church of Christ . The hymns call us to common prayer and to the general glorification of the Lord in order to perceive together “the Holy Passover, which is sacred in us”: “Let us hear all the faithful, convening with high preaching, the uncreated and natural wisdom of God, crying out: taste and understand, as Christ I, cry: gloriously glorified is Christ our God.” “Christ established the world, Heavenly and Divine Bread. Come, lovers of Christ, with mortal lips and pure hearts, let us faithfully celebrate Easter, which is celebrated in us.”

So, the unity of God is reflected in the unity of the Church, and vice versa. Jesus Christ prays about this in His hierarchal prayer: That they may all be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; and the world also has faith, because You sent Me. And I have given the glory to Me, I have given it to them, that they may be one, as We are one. I am in them, and You are in Me: that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may understand that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me (John 17:21-23). What meaning does the Church give to the reading of this Gospel? This text leads us to recognize the internal connection of the teaching about the personality of Christ as the God-man, about the Church as the body of the God-man and about the nature of the Divinity as the consubstantial (omousia) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In addition, the above prayer is a prayer for salvation, for to abide in the Father and the Son means to be saved.

Emphasizing the importance of the read Gospels and the entire service of Holy Week, church hymns encourage us to be especially attentive and focused, leaving at least for a while the cares of everyday life: “Let us present our pure feelings to Christ, and as His friends, let us devour our souls for His sake, and not by the cares of everyday life.” We are oppressed like Judas, but in our cages we cry out: Our Father who is in heaven, deliver us from the evil one.”

Having prompted us to pay special attention, the Holy Church again in her hymns glorifies the wife who anointed the Lord with myrrh, and cites as an example the betrayal of the wicked money-lover Judas, reminding us that the root of all evil is the love of money (1 Tim. 6:10): “By the mercy of God let us serve , like Mary at the supper, and we will not acquire the love of money, like Judas: that we may always be with Christ our God. With thirty pieces of silver, Lord, and with a flattering kiss, I ask the Jews to kill Thee. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand.”

In the following antiphons, the lesson of humility is again heard, the washing of the Savior’s feet is again recalled: “In Thy washing, O Christ God, Thou hast commanded Thy disciples: do this very thing as thou seest. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand.” Further, the need to stay awake is again spoken of: “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into misfortune, as you said to your disciple, Christ our God. But the lawless Judas did not want to understand,” since the next Gospel will read about the treacherous taking of the Savior into custody. The topic of spiritual wakefulness is very important. Directly these words of the Savior are addressed to His disciples, but through them - to all Christians.

Since Peter turned out to be too bold in his words, as well as the other disciples, Christ exposes their instability as people who spoke rashly, and especially turns his speech to Peter, saying that it will be difficult to remain faithful to the Lord for those who could not stay awake for even one hour . But, having denounced him, he again calms them down, because they dozed off not out of inattention to Him, but out of weakness. And if we see our weakness, we will pray so as not to fall into temptation. All Christians are called to this constant spiritual vigilance; without this constant carrying of our Cross there can be no salvation, for through many sorrows we must enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). That’s why we hear again: “Having laid down thirty pieces of silver, the price of the One Who was Priced, He was valued by the children of Israel. Watch and pray, so that you do not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak: for this reason, watch” (TP. L. 439).

But the reading of the second Passion Gospel , which tells about the taking into custody of the Savior, is approaching. The solemn procession of ancient Christians spending Holy Week in the Holy Land was at that moment approaching the Garden of Gethsemane, where the betrayal took place. Therefore, in order to remind those praying that the Lord suffers for our sake and that everything happened according to God’s ineffable Providence, the Holy Church sings: “At the supper the disciples fed, and knew the pretense of tradition; at it you exposed Judas, for you knew that this was uncorrected: know that Although you have given yourself over to everyone by your will, you may snatch the world away from the alien: long-suffering, glory to You.”

Having thus prepared those praying for a correct understanding of what is being read, the Church brings to our attention the second Passion Gospel, which speaks of the capture of the Savior by the soldiers of the high priest under the leadership of Judas the traitor, the denial of Peter, the strangulation of Jesus in the courtyard of Caiaphas and His imprisonment in the praetorium of Pontius Pilate.

The antiphons following the reading of the Gospel again dwell on the fall of Judas: “Today Judas leaves the Teacher, and accepts the devil, is blinded by the passion of the love of money, the darkened Light falls away: how can you see, Selling the luminary for thirty pieces of silver; but to us the One who suffered for peace has risen. Let us cry out to the Unman: you who have suffered and have compassion, O Lord, glory to Thee.” It is obvious that it is no coincidence that so much attention is paid to the vice of the love of money and the act of Judas. The Holy Fathers speak very decisively on this matter. “Whoever began to serve mammon has already abandoned serving Christ.”

That is why this topic arises again and again: “Today Judas feigns piety, and his talents are alienated, this disciple becomes a traitor: flattery covers up in ordinary kisses, and he prefers the Master to love, it is senseless to work for the love of money, a teacher who was a teacher of a lawless congregation; But we who have the salvation of Christ, let us glorify him.”

In contrast to the act of Judas, Christ’s faithful followers are called to virtues that are opposite to his sinful illness: “Let us acquire brotherly love as brethren in Christ, and not as an unmerciful hedgehog towards our neighbors: lest we be condemned as an unmerciful servant, for the sake of penalties, and like Judas, having repented, we take advantage of nothing.” "

Turning the Savior's speech to His disciples, the Holy Church in the following antiphons again encourages and strengthens the followers of Christ in this difficult time; But we, separated from the events described in the Gospel for centuries, are moved to patience and perseverance in temptations: “Today the Creator of heaven and earth said to His disciple: The hour is approaching, and Judas will betray Me, so that no one will deny Me, seeing Me on the cross in the midst of two thiefs.” : For I suffer as a man, and I will save as a Lover of Mankind, those who believe in Me... Lord, having come to free passion, You cried out to Your disciple: Even if you were not able to watch with Me for a single hour, since you promised to die for My sake; See how Judas is not sleeping, but is trying to betray Me to the lawless. Arise, pray, so that no one will deny Me, in vain I am on the cross, long-suffering, glory to You.”

The third Passion Gospel is read, telling how the Savior in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas Himself testifies to Himself as the Son of God and accepts being strangled and spat on for this testimony. The renunciation of the Apostle Peter and his repentance are also depicted here. The antiphons that follow the Gospel emphasize that the Divine Sufferer endures these torments voluntarily - for the sake of saving His creation: “When you ate the lawless, while you endured thee, you cried out to the Lord: if you also smite the Shepherd, and scatter twelve sheep, my disciples, you can imagine greater things than twelve legions.” angels. But I will endure long, that what My prophets have revealed to you, unknown and secret, may be fulfilled: Lord, glory to Thee.”

The seventh antiphon says about the Apostle Peter: “Peter denied three times what was spoken to him in his mind, but bring to You tears of repentance: God, cleanse me and save me.” Here we briefly talk about events that have a very deep, enduring moral significance. Obsessed with fear, Peter forgot about his promises to the Teacher and submitted to human weakness. But there is also a higher meaning in this event: Peter is convicted of a servant, that is, of human weakness, this little slave. The rooster means the word of Jesus, which does not allow us to sleep. The awakened Peter came out of the bishop's courtyard, that is, from a state of blinded mind, and began to cry. While he was in the courtyard of the blinded mind, he did not cry because he had no feeling; but as soon as he came out of it, he came to his senses.

The theme of repentance is very important , and in the hymns of Holy Week it is revealed more clearly than anywhere else. According to the holy fathers, if even the evil Judas could fall before the Cross of Christ and bring sincere repentance for betrayal, he would hear from the most pure lips of the Lord: “Your sins are forgiven.” However, “lawless Judas did not want to understand” God’s mercy. He did not turn, like the Apostle Peter, to the good and merciful Lord. The traitor came to the Pharisees, but did not find sympathy from them. Throwing them pieces of silver, he went and hanged himself - a terrible end!

What lesson can an Orthodox Christian learn from the denial of the Apostle Peter? Many probably asked the question: how could he renounce the Savior? And how do we renounce every minute in word and deed?.. Love of sin keeps us from following Christ and makes our soul dead, not knowing Christ.

In the eighth antiphon, the stiff-necked Jews are reproached for not recognizing in Christ their Messiah and Lawgiver: “Cry out the iniquity that you hear from our Savior; shall not lay down the law, and the prophetic teaching; How could you think of betraying Pilate, who is from God, God the Word, and the deliverer of our souls.” Those to whom the Law and the Prophets were given, those who saw so many miracles, did not recognize their Savior and their Messiah: “Let those who continually enjoy the cry of Thy gifts be crucified, and let the evildoer instead of the benefactor be accepted to the benefactor, the murderers of the righteous: but Christ art thou who was silent, enduring their severity, to suffer even though they save us, as a Lover of Mankind.”

Betrayal of Judas. Peter's denial. Interrogation and reproach of Christ

is coming to read the fourth Passion Gospel . It describes the dialogue between the Savior and Pilate, the scourging of the Lord, His clothing with a crown of thorns and scarlet robe, the mad cries of the crowd: “Crucify, crucify Him!” and handing Him over to be crucified. Once again, already at the threshold of death, He testifies of Himself as the Truth, to which unbelieving skepticism in the person of Pilate replies: “What is truth?” - and betrays Christ to torture and abuse.

What is striking in this Gospel passage is the cry of the crowd, thirsting for the death of their Creator: “Let those who continually enjoy the cry of Thy gifts be crucified, and let the evildoer be accepted instead of the benefactor, the murderers of the righteous.” The Lord performed so many miracles throughout the history of the Israeli people, and the majority of these people did not accept Him: “This says the Lord to the Jews: My people, what have I done to you? or why do you feel cold; I enlightened your blind, cleansed your lepers, raised your living husband on his bed. My people, what have I done to you, and what will you repay Me; for manna gall: for water tsets: for the hedgehog love Me, nail Me to the cross!..”

And if only he had not accepted... His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25)... What terrible words!.. And with what insane frivolity the people pronounce them. The Blood of the Righteous One, which he accepted upon himself, burned the cities with fire, delivered the Israelites into the hands of enemies and finally scattered them across the face of the earth... But we accept this same Blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion, for us it is the source of immortality and Eternal Life... But His Blood will also be on us, and on our children, to condemnation and destruction, if even after we have been renewed by this most holy Blood, we continue to commit the same sins.

But then, in the midst of terrible sorrow, the words of church hymn are heard put into the mouth of the Savior: “To those who cannot endure anything else, I will call on My tongues, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit: and I will give them eternal life.” This speaks of the Holy Church of Christ, which will also be gathered from sheep that are not of this fold. But you too must be brought to Me, and My voice will be heard, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd (John 10:16).

The next, tenth and eleventh, antiphons mention the terrible natural phenomena that accompanied the suffering of Christ. If people turn out to be insensitive, then inanimate nature cannot help but sympathize with its Creator: “Clothe yourself with light like a robe, standing naked in judgment, and receive the emphasis on the cheek from the hands that created them: but the iniquity of people on the cross nailed the Lord of glory: then the veil of the church is torn , the sun is darker, unable to bear the sight of God, we are annoyed, He is the one who trembles in every way, let us worship Him.

Below is the earth as if it shook, below is the stone as if it became gray, admonishing the Jews, below is the church veil, below is the resurrection of the dead. But grant them, Lord, according to their deeds, for they have learned from You in vain.

Today the church veil for exposing the lawless is torn, and the sun hides its rays, the Lord is being crucified in vain.”

The Fifth Passion Gospel tells about the death of the traitor Judas, about the interrogation of the Lord in the praetorium of Pilate and about His condemnation to death. The thirteenth antiphon speaks of the robber-murderer Barabbas, whom the maddened crowd preferred to the Savior: “The assembly of the Jews asked Pilate to crucify You, O Lord: for You did not find guilt in You, who freed Barabbas to blame, and You righteously condemned the sin that inherited the foul murder.” And again the Church reminds us that the Savior suffers for us: “Everyone is terrified and trembles, and every tongue sings, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, struck the priests on the cheek, and gave Him gall: and you will suffer all, even if you save us from our iniquities by His Blood, as a Lover of Mankind.”

Place of imprisonment of Jesus Christ

Suddenly, amid the sorrow and greatness of this day, a weak human cry is heard. This is the cry of the thief, crucified at the right hand of Christ and comprehending the Divinity of the God-Man crucified with him and compassionate with him. “The thief uttered a small voice on the cross, you gained great faith, you were saved in a single moment, and the first gates of heaven opened below, who accepted repentance, Lord, glory to You.”

Like a heartfelt sigh from the whole world, the Church takes it up, and in the hearts of its faithful it grows into a whole song about the prudent thief, sung three times before the 9th Gospel: “The prudent thief, in one hour you have made heaven worthy, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross, and save me."

The words of the last antiphon are imbued with special power: “Today the King like the angels, like the angels, hangs on a tree; he dresses himself in false scarlet, covering the sky with clouds; the strangulation was accepted, like the freed Adam in the Jordan; The Church Bridegroom is nailed down with nails; a copy of the Son of the Virgin. We worship Christ with Your passion; We worship Christ with Your passion; We worship Your passion, Christ, show us Your glorious resurrection.” And here, among the sufferings darkening the consciousness, like a thin ray of light, a mention appears of what all this suffering is for: “show us your glorious resurrection!”

Having thus strengthened those praying, the Church offers the reading of the sixth Passion Gospel , which speaks of the crucifixion itself. In the hymns that follow this Gospel and immediately precede it, the saving meaning of the suffering of the God-Man is revealed: “Your cross, O Lord, is life and intercession for your people, and in hope we sing to you of our crucified God, have mercy on us.”

In the hymns one can hear: “Thou hast redeemed us from the legal oath, with Thy venerable Blood, having been nailed to the cross, and pierced with a spear, Thou hast extinguished immortality as a man, Our Savior, glory to Thee.” The Lord redeemed us, did everything for our salvation, but this salvation can only be found in the Church of Christ. Therefore, immediately after reading the Gospel story about the crucifixion, we hear comforting words about the Church, filling the whole world with Divine grace: “Thy life-giving ribs, like a fountain flowing from Eden, Thy Church, O Christ, like a verbal one, waters paradise, from here dividing like into the beginning, into the four Gospels, watering the world, making the creation joyful, and faithfully teaching the tongues to worship Your Kingdom.” Only in the Church, as in the ark of salvation, can one find peace and salvation from eternal death.

But peace and salvation can only be obtained by following Christ: “Thou hast been crucified for my sake, that thou hast pierced my ribs, that thou hast emptied the drops of life: thou hast been nailed with nails, that by the depth of Thy passions we assure the height of Thy power , I call Ty: Life-giving Christ, glory to the Savior Cross and Thy passion.” Only those who fulfill the Gospel commandment are saved: If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and come after Me (Matthew 16:24).

What else can be added, what else can be usefully extracted from the proposed chants? “Thou hast torn to pieces our handwriting on the cross, O Lord, and having been counted among the dead, Thou hast bound the tormentor there, delivering all from the bonds of death by Thy resurrection, through which we have been enlightened, O Lord of mankind, and we cry unto Thee: remember us also, O Saviour, in Thy Kingdom.”

The seventh and eighth Passion Gospels repeat the events of the Savior's crucifixion, supplementing them with some details. After the eighth Gospel, the three-canticle of Cosmas of Maium is read, which, in particular, again speaks of the disciples of Christ. The eighth song of this three-song contains an important idea that to those who are stronger, a stronger temptation is sent: “From the disciples of all times now, shake off the sleep that thou hast said, O Christ, and watch in prayer, lest ye enter into adversity, and especially Simone: the strongest temptation. Understand Me Peter: He will bless all creation, glorifying Him forever.”

The ninth Passion Gospel is read , which speaks of the Savior's dying concerns for His Mother and His death. The Lord, hanging on the cross, adopts His Mother as a son to His beloved disciple. “This was a response to Her boundless sorrow, the spectacle of which was one of the sharpest thorns of the Savior’s martyr’s crown.”

And now - “it is finished.” The Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, hanging on the cross, gave up his ghost. “My cloaks fell on the wounds, but I did not turn away My face from the spitting, I stood before Pilate’s judgment, and endured the cross for the salvation of the world.” The work of redemption of the human race through His suffering on the cross was completed, in everything in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings. Even inanimate nature could not remain indifferent to the death of its Creator. In the midst of the darkness, a strong underground rumble was heard, and the earth began to shake: “All creation, changing with fear, beholding Thee hanging on the cross of Christ: the sun was darkened, and the foundations of the earth shook, all to the compassion of the Creator of all. You endured the will of us for our sake, O Lord, glory to Thee.”

Crucifixion. Sinai Monastery, XIII century

The menacing natural phenomena have ceased. Golgotha ​​is empty. Terrible rumors began to spread throughout the city that the earthquake had damaged the temple, and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Sanctuary was torn from top to bottom. This event marked the completion of the Old Testament and the establishment of a new relationship between man and God.

Further, we are reminded that can never rely on ourselves , since only with the help of God can we do anything good: “You have not experienced all the depth of Divine wisdom and reason, but you have not comprehended the abyss of My destinies as a man, the Lord said . Do not boast in your poor flesh, for you have denied Me three times, Whom He will bless all creation, glorifying Him forever.” Moreover, Peter was afraid not of the soldiers, but of the maids: “You deny to Simone Peter that you will quickly do as you have said, and one young woman will come to You and frighten You, the Lord has spoken. The mountaineer shed tears, and found Me both merciful and blessed by all creation, glorifying Him forever.”

The Exapostilary of the Trisong, sung just before the reading of the ninth Gospel, depicts the prudent thief who came to the knowledge of the Truth at the eleventh hour. This teaches a lesson that it is never too late to repent and come to Christ the Savior: “ The prudent thief, in one hour you have made heaven worthy, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross, and save me .” Jesus receives everyone, giving the same denarius to those workers who came around the eleventh hour. Amen, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43).

The last Passion Gospel has been read, the Lord has been laid in the tomb, Christ’s disciples have dispersed... The continuation of the holy and saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ ends, and with lighted candles Christians leave the church, grieving from what they have experienced, but in the depths of their souls already expecting the Resurrection.

Passion Gospels:

1. John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).
2. John 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).
3. Matthew 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).
4. John 18:28-40,19:1-16. (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial).
5. Matthew 27:3-32. (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion).
6. Mark 15:16-32. (Leading the Lord to Golgotha ​​and His Passion on the Cross).
7. Matthew 27:34-54. (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).
8. Luke 23:32-49. (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for enemies and repentance of a prudent thief).
9. John 19:25-37. (The Savior’s words from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and repetition of the legend about His death and perforation).
10. Mark 15:43-47. (Removal of the Lord's body from the Cross).
11. John 19:38-42. (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior).
12. Matthew 27:62-66. (Attaching guards to the tomb of the Savior and sealing the tomb).

The ninth Passion Gospel is read , which speaks of the Savior's dying concerns for His Mother and His death. The Lord, hanging on the cross, adopts His Mother as a son to His beloved disciple. “This was a response to Her boundless sorrow, the spectacle of which was one of the sharpest thorns of the Savior’s martyr’s crown.”

And now - “it is finished.” The Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, hanging on the cross, gave up his ghost. “My cloaks fell on the wounds, but I did not turn away My face from the spitting, I stood before Pilate’s judgment, and endured the cross for the salvation of the world.” The work of redemption of the human race through His suffering on the cross was completed, in everything in accordance with the Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings. Even inanimate nature could not remain indifferent to the death of its Creator. In the midst of the darkness, a strong underground rumble was heard, and the earth began to shake: “All creation, changing with fear, beholding Thee hanging on the cross of Christ: the sun was darkened, and the foundations of the earth shook, all to the compassion of the Creator of all. You endured the will of us for our sake, O Lord, glory to Thee.”

The menacing natural phenomena have ceased. Golgotha ​​is empty. Terrible rumors began to spread throughout the city that the earthquake had damaged the temple, and the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Sanctuary was torn from top to bottom. This event marked the completion of the Old Testament and the establishment of a new relationship between man and God.

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