“The days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.”
(cf. Matthew 9:15)
“The Holy and Great Forty Days surpass all other days, but greater still than the Holy Forty Days is the Holy and Great Week (Passion Week). … This week is called Great, not because its days or hours are longer than others, but because during this week mighty and supernatural miracles and extraordinary deeds of our Saviour were accomplished.”
(Synaxarion)
In the events of Holy Week, named for the salvific sufferings — the Passion — of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ Himself occupies the central place. With love and reverence, the Holy Church follows His every step with attentive eyes during these days and listens intently to every word of the God-man as He willingly walks towards His Passion. The King of Glory accomplishes the sacred mystery of the salvation of humankind through His sufferings and death on the Cross. He — the Great High Priest — offers Himself to God, becoming a sacrifice for us sinners, and opens the gates of Paradise to us.
The services of Passion Week draw us into the last days of the Lord Jesus Christ's earthly life. Together with the Holy Church, we trace the Saviour's path along the Way of the Cross, from Bethany to Golgotha, from His triumphant entry into Jerusalem to the final moment of His redemptive suffering on the Cross, where He alone drank the cup of God’s wrath, and further — to His glorious Resurrection. Everything in the Old Testament that prefigured or foretold the last days and hours of the God-man's earthly life — all of this the Holy Church, together with the Gospel witness, gathers into one majestic image, revealed to us little by little in the services of Passion Week.
Every day of Passion Week is great and holy. All the readings and hymns urge us to draw near to Christ, allowing us to behold the mystery of redemption, for which we have been preparing.
As the Synaxarion from the Lenten Triodion tells us, on this day “we commemorate blessed Joseph the Beautiful, and the withered fig tree.” In Sacred History, more than 3,600 years ago, a foreshadowing of Christ and His Passion was revealed. Joseph, the youngest son of the Old Testament patriarch Jacob, was cast by his envious brothers into a dry well and then sold to slave traders for thirty pieces of silver. By God’s providence, he became ruler of Egypt. Later, when famine struck the people of Israel, he fed his starving brothers with wheat. Like Joseph, the Lord Jesus Christ suffered from the envy of His own people, the Jews, and was betrayed by His disciple for thirty pieces of silver. Laid in a dark pit (the tomb), He rose from the dead by His own power and saved us from sin, nourishing us with His Most Pure Body and Precious Blood, given to the faithful in the form of bread and wine in the sacrament of Holy Communion.
“Joseph, prefiguring the Master's image, was cast into a pit, sold by his kin, enduring all, ever-memorable, truly in the image of Christ.”
(Troparion of the Triodion at Compline on Great and Holy Monday)
Righteous Joseph meets his brothers
On Great and Holy Monday, we also encounter the image of the barren fig tree. The Gospel reading (Matthew 21:18-43) and the entire day’s services are dedicated to this miracle: in the morning, the Lord was going to Jerusalem to preach and grew hungry along the way. Seeing a leafy fig tree by the roadside, He approached it, but found no fruit. “Let no fruit grow on you ever again!” declared the Son of God (cf. Matthew 21:19). That evening, returning by the same route, the disciples saw that the tree had withered.
The barren fig tree
The recurring theme of Great and Holy Monday is the Lord going to His suffering, which He takes upon Himself of His own free will: “The Lord is coming to His voluntary Passion for our salvation” (Dismissal prayer at the service). This thought moves the soul to deeper repentance:
“Brethren, fleeing the barrenness of the fig tree, let us understand the image, lest we wither like it when the Lover of Mankind, returning, came to it hungry.”
(Troparion of the Triodion at Compline on Great and Holy Monday)
The Lord often spoke in parables to His disciples privately. On Tuesday evening, three parables from the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel are read: the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), and the parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).
“Great and Holy Tuesday brings us the ten virgins, who heard the judgment from the incorruptible Master.” (Synaxarion)
The parable of the ten virgins
For our instruction, the Holy Fathers, recalling this Gospel parable, call us to be vigilant, lest we become like the five foolish virgins, whose lamps began to fail when the Bridegroom, Christ, drew near: “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming” (Matthew 25:13). This same warning also appears in the troparion “Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight,” sung on the first three days of Holy Week. In its hymns, the Church directs the faithful to prepare to meet the true Bridegroom of the soul with good deeds, especially almsgiving:
“Come, O faithful, let us work diligently for the Master: for He gives riches to His servants, and each, according to his ability, let us multiply the talent of grace. Let one bring wisdom through good deeds, let another perform the service of enlightenment: let the believer share the word with the unlearned, and let another distribute wealth to the poor.”
(Stichera of the 6th Tone at the Aposticha of Matins on Great Tuesday)
On the evening of Great and Holy Wednesday, we remember the sinful woman who, weeping and repenting of her wicked life, anointed the Saviour's head and feet with myrrh and wiped them with her hair. This took place in the house of Simon the Leper, who had invited the Teacher to dinner. Here, too, we hear about Judas. On the one hand, there is the woman who sacrifices greatly out of love for Christ, and the Lord tells her that wherever the Gospel is preached, her deed will be remembered. On the other hand, there is Judas, the betrayer, who plots treachery, goes to the Pharisees, and agrees to hand Christ over to them (cf. Matthew 26:6-16).
“The sinful woman approached You, pouring myrrh with tears upon Your feet, O Lover of Mankind, and is freed from the stench of evil by Your word! But Your ungrateful disciple, breathing in Your grace, casts it aside and is clothed in stench, selling You for the love of money. Glory to You, O Christ, for Your compassion!”
(Sedalen of the 3rd Tone, after the First Kathisma)
Great and Holy Wednesday of Passion Week is a turning point, the end of Lent. On this evening, the Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian is recited for the last time, the last prostrations are made, and the faithful ask forgiveness from one another for any transgressions during Lent before entering into the Paschal Triduum. The solemn and sorrowful services of Great and Holy Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are about to begin.
The sinful woman with an alabaster jar of myrrh at the Saviour's feet
This day commemorates the Mystical Supper — the Paschal meal that Christ shared with His disciples on the night from Thursday to Friday. The Lord spent the entire day preaching in the Temple in Jerusalem, and in the evening, the Paschal meal gathered His followers. The evangelist John provides the most detailed account.
The washing of the disciples’ feet
He records the long conversation between Christ and His disciples and describes the washing of the feet. Luke also includes parts of the conversation not found in the other Gospels, while Matthew and Mark focus on the main event: the institution of the Eucharist.
The Troparion for Great and Holy Thursday reflects on the gravest moment in human history: the betrayal of Christ:
“When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of the feet, then Judas, the wicked one, afflicted with the love of money, was darkened, and he betrayed You, the righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. Behold O lover of wealth how, for its sake he hanged himself! Flee the insatiable soul, which dared such things against the Master. O Lord, good to all, glory to You.”
(Troparion, Tone 8)
The Last Supper
After the Last Supper had ended, the Lord and His disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed about the cup He was soon to drink. The Synaxarion for Great and Holy Thursday calls this prayer of the Lord extraordinary — it was accompanied by the Saviour’s sweat of blood: “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:41-44).
This took place during the night. In general, for Holy Week, there is no clear separation between one day and the next, and the events flow continuously into one another.
The prayer in the garden
Great and Holy Friday is set aside for recounting the suffering, crucifixion, and death of our Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of the whole world. This is a day of strict fasting, and the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated.
The betrayal by Judas
In ancient Jerusalem, the service was a procession along the Way of the Cross, lasting all night. There were stops along the way: at the place where He was tried before Caiaphas, at the Praetorium where He was tried before Pilate, and finally at Golgotha.
The mocking of Christ
At each stop, passages from the Gospel were read, and hymns were sung. Golgotha was the final station. The first reading was the Lord’s farewell discourse to His disciples, comprising almost five chapters of John’s Gospel. The second reading recounted the prayer in Gethsemane and the Lord’s arrest, the third — the trial before Caiaphas, the fourth — the trial before Pilate. After these came Gospel passages about the crucifixion, the words the Lord spoke on the Cross, His death, and His burial in the tomb, sealed with a stone.
The path to Golgotha
Today, in our churches, the procession no longer takes place, and the entire service is read and sung in one location. Still, the structure of the Great Friday service follows this ancient practice: the service together is a spiritual walk with Christ along the Way of the Cross.
The crucifixion
The second service of Great and Holy Friday is called the Royal Hours, celebrated on Friday morning. It originates from the reading of Holy Scripture at Golgotha in Jerusalem. The third service is Great Vespers, which includes the solemn procession of the Epitaphios (the burial shroud of Christ).
The taking down of the Lord from the Cross and His burial
Great and Holy Saturday is the day of mourning for Christ. The service is partly shaped as a lament, yet it also carries a sense of anticipation for His Resurrection. This is reflected in the Church hymn:
"In the tomb with the body, in Hades with the soul as God, in Paradise with the thief, and on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, You were, O Christ, filling all things, You who are infinite."
(Troparion of Paschal Hours, Tone 8)
When the Lord Jesus Christ completed the work of redemption by His death on the Cross, He rested, lying in the tomb in perfect repose. The services of Great and Holy Saturday draw a parallel with the creation of the world, when God rested on the seventh day from all His work. The Lord’s body remained in the tomb, while His soul descended into Hades and brought out the souls of the righteous dead. By descending into Hades, the Lord abolished it. Christ the Saviour’s descent into Hades is also a theme of the Great and Holy Saturday services.
The descent into hell
In a homily on Great and Holy Saturday, St Gregory Palamas said: “Thus the deceiver was deceived: he attacked the flesh of Christ, viewing it as destined to suffer and die, and yet, unwillingly, he brought Light into the gloomy underworld, so desirable to him, and presented the Giver of Life to the souls tormented by him through spiritual death. Not only this, but he also mingled the Body, from which resurrection and immortality flowed, with the dead, hastening to consign it to death and the grave. Truly, the Lord could have thwarted even these wicked schemes, but He did not; rather, He wished even more to undergo the Passion for our sake, for this reason He became Man.” Hades expected only the humanity of Christ, who chose to become Man and took suffering upon Himself. Hades was deceived. In its depth, the Light shone brightly. Grant us, O Lord, to see the light of Your Resurrection.
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Photographs from the internet
Sources used:
1. St Innocent, Archbishop of Kherson and Taurida. The Last Days of the Earthly Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. - Moscow: Orthodox Pilgrim, 1998.
2. How is Holy Week structured? | Orthodox Magazine "Neskuchny Sad" (nsad.ru)
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4. Holy Week: Liturgy and Traditions (ruvera.ru)
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6. Holy Week - Pravoslavie.fm (pravoslavie.fm)
7. Holy Week | Church of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Brooklyn (brooklyn-church.org)
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