Apostoliki Diakonia Holy Week and Pascha

PASSION AND RESURRECTION A JOURNEY INTO THE HOLY AND GREAT WEEK OF PASCHA
PASSION AND RESURRECTION:

A JOURNEY INTO
THE HOLY AND GREAT WEEK OF
PASCHA
Edited by Alexander Buterbaugh
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www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/eneaster
Saturday of Saint Lazarus

the Righteous
The Saturday
preceding Palm
Sunday - also
known as Palm
Saturday or
Saint Lazarus
Saturday is
the most
ancient of
feasts set down
by the Eastern
Church, in
honor of Saint
Lazarus. On this feast, we celebrate his resurrection by our Lord. The
roots of this feast go back to the 4th century, perhaps even earlier. As
apparent in the speech made by Titus, bishop of Vostrae (ca. 378) on
the Palms, this feast was initially dedicated to our Lords triumphant
entry into Jerusalem. At the time, both events were celebrated on the
same day, Palm Sunday; they were separated, from the 4th century
onwards. Remnants of the joint celebration of these two events are
apparent, in the text of the oldest written hymn for the occasion, The
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common resurrection.. Liturgical needs called for the separation of

the one feast from the other, and their partitioning into two
independent days. As we all know, the period of Great Lent finishes on
the Friday before Palm Sunday, thus leaving the Saturday before Palm
Sunday liturgically vacant. This vacancy was filled, by transferring
into it the celebration of Lazarus resurrection.
The feast of Lazarus resurrection is an offspring of the Church of
Jerusalem. The Aetheria Journal informs us that a grand litany proceeded
from the temple of Zion on the seventh hour of the day (about 13.00 hrs),
and headed in the direction of the Lazarium. The Lazarium was a temple
that was erected in Bethany at the end of the 4th century, in the name of the
saint. During the procession, the litany would pause at the place where
Martha came out to meet Jesus (John 11, 20), just before He resurrected
her brother. A temple had been erected in this spot. In the saints temple,
hymns and anthems were chanted, in honor of the day. Scriptural extracts
related to this event would also be recited. The people of God would
afterwards return to Jerusalem to the Temple of the Resurrection, for
Vespers. The placing of Lazarus resurrection eight days prior to the
resurrection of Christ has a symbolic and theological character; that is to
say, it was placed on this specific Saturday, as it is dependent on the
Sunday of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord. Just as in other instances
in the fixed cycle of feasts, where one feast-day is dependent on another
feast-day, so it is in this case. As we know from evangelical history, a
significant period of time transpired between the two miracles (Lazarus
resurrection and the Lords resurrection). Nevertheless, they are celebrated
with a space of only eight days between them. This is because Lazarus
resurrection is a harbinger and a model of the Resurrection of Christ. Jesus
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Christ had resurrected others, but it was soon after their deaths; Lazarus,
however, was the most accurate prefiguration of Christs three-day
entombment prior to the His Resurrection. For the first Church, the
Saturday of Lazarus was named harbinger of Pascha. Indeed, this
Saturday announces and predefines the profound light and the peace of the
following Saturday, the Holy and Great Sabbath which is the day of the
life-bearing Tomb.
In Lazarus tomb, God encounters Death: the reality of anti-life,
dissolution and despair. God faces the enemy who abducted His world
to become lord of this world. Thus, all we who follow Christ as He
approaches Lazarus tomb, enter with Him into His hour (behold,
the hour has come); the hour which He had frequently spoken of,
and had presented as the culmination, the fulfillment of His entire
mission. The joy that permeates this days church services, enhances a
central theme: the oncoming victory of Christ over Hades. And while
to this day we acknowledge that Saturdays are intended for the
remembrance of all departed souls, this Saturday of Lazarus is
celebrated as a day of resurrection. It prepares us, to comprehend
Christs victory over the eternal enemy, Hades. A victory that makes
Hades himself tremble and weep bitterly. Hades below, bitterly
wailed and trembled and groaned and with a sigh, disappeared in
fear.
Lazarus, Christs friend, is the personification of each one of us, and
Bethany, his home, symbolizes the entire world, and the place that each
person lives in. However, the detail which has a special significance in this
narration, is the one that was witnessed by John the Evangelist himself and
is repeated by many hymn-writers: Christ shed a tear (John, 11,35). He
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does not weep, He does not break into sobs and wails; He simply sheds a
tear. I wonder why? Would Christ shed a tear, knowing full well what was
to follow? Is it possible, that the Creator of all, would ask where is he laid,
the one whom you are grieving for? Where is Lazarus buried, whom I shall
presently bring back to life, from the dead,? (ode c) What is hidden
behind these marvelous words? Hymn-writers believe that those tears
belong to the human nature of Christ, and that they had the power to raise
even the dead. However, we all know that suggestions such as these, would
lead us to the heretic theory of a single-natured Christ, given that both His
natures according to the 4th Ecumenical Synod of Chalcedon are joint,
unalterably, inseparably, indivisibly, distinguishably. Then what could it
be? At this point, we could refer to a small excerpt from saint Damascenos,
who wrote on the matter: neither does human nature resurrect Lazarus, nor
does divine nature shed tears; tear shedding characterizes human nature,
whereas life-giving is a potential of godhood. Nevertheless, He does have
two natures, those of His divinity and His humanity; thus, the divine feats
are accomplished by godhood, but not separately from the flesh; and the
humble feats are accomplished by the flesh, but not without godhood. It
is therefore the human deity who sheds the tear and the same human deity
who will resurrect Lazarus. He sheds a tear. and it is a divine tear. He
sheds a tear, because He sees death becoming prince of the world. The
resurrection has an educational character. It is not an act of God for God; it
was meant to embrace all of humanity. God is Life and the spring of Life.
He invites man into this reality. Man, just as the cosmos, was forged from
the hands of the Creator, so that he may exalt the Creator and become a
participant in Gods works. This is also confirmed by the hymn-writer, who
says: You shed tears as a man, o merciful One; You raised him from
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within the grave, and, having been released from Hades, Lazarus cried out:
Blessed are You, o Lord God, throughout the ages (ode 9).
We follow Jesus into Jerusalem, and we have the unique privilege of
following Him to Lazarus grave, to hear His awesome command:
Lazarus, come out. We now comprehend the reason that Jesus shed a
tear. It was because he loved his friend Lazarus. This momentary act was
not meant to display His divine powers, but the power of love. Love, which
is transformed into power, and is capable of overcoming death. God is
Love, and Love is Life. It is Love that sheds a tear by the grave and it is the
same Love that brings Lazarus back to life.
"The joy of all mankind, Christ, the truth, the light and Life, the
resurrection of the world, is revealed on earth, by His benevolence and
the shape of resurrection has emerged, to give divine absolution to
everyone".
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Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
proclaims the
significance of
victory to be
the triumph of
the Kingdom
of God, and
the acceptance
by all the
world of only
one King,
Jesus Christ.
On Palm
Sunday, we remember and we honor this most significant event. By
holding palm fronds, we relate to the people of Jerusalem. Together with
them, we greet the humble Lord and King, chanting Hosannah, blessed is
He that comes in the name of the Lord.
When, during a certain moment of the service, we accept a palm frond
from the hands of the priest, we in fact are renewing our promise to our
Christ; we are confessing that His Kingdom gives a definitive meaning and
content to our life. We are confessing that every single thing in our life
belongs to Christ and that nothing can be taken away from our Creator,
because there is not a place in life where He does not reign, save, or
redeem. We are also proclaiming the universal, overall responsibility of the
Church for the history of humanity, and confirm its universal mission.
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The three first Great days

Our journey is approaching its end -its true destination. We are nearing
the Week of our Saviours Passion. The passage of the Triodion has
essentially reached its end, from the previous week. "Having completed the
soul-bracing period of Lent, and the Holy Week of your Passion, we
beseech you, o Manbefriending Lord, that we might behold...". Within
these words, our Church tells us that Lent is over. The Triodion is near its
end, and its final part is under way. We are nearing the Week of the
Passion. The Triodion speaks of festivities and of a Marriage whose
ceremony will last an entire week and its duration will be infinite. The
Holy and Great Week is thus named, (stresses the holy Chrysostom), not
merely for the reckoning of its days, but on account of the great salvific
events that took place within them, for the salvation of fallen mankind.
On Great Monday, we honor an important Prophet of the Old Testament,

Joseph the All Comely, who is similar to Christ in his unjustified
sufferings; we also honor our Lords withering of the fig tree.
On Great Tuesday, we are reminded of the parable of the Ten Virgins,

which is of utmost importance for our salvation.
On Great Wednesday, we honor the repentance of the sinful woman, who in

gratitude anointed our Lords feet with myrrh. This event occurred shortly
before His Passion.
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On Great Thursday, we celebrate the salvific events that were established

during the Last Supper, the washing of the Apostles feet, the initializing of
the Holy Eucharist, the Lords Prayer, and Judas betrayal.
On Great (Good) Friday, we worship the Holy and Awesome Passion of

our Lord.
On Great Saturday, we honor the divine-corporal Burial of our Lord, and

His descent into Hades.
The first three days of Holy Week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday,
play a decisive role within the liturgical cycle. Their divine services are
placed in a perspective that focuses on the End; they remind us of the
eschatological meaning of Pascha, and they prepare us, so that we may
understand this and accept it. The liturgical texts invite us to re-live the
events, and, as expressed by the words of the ode of Great Thursday, to
hearken all ye faithful, to the non-created, innate wisdom of God, which
has convened you, with its lofty sermon (Great Thursday, ode c) .
However, that which follows will not comprise an ordinary remembrance
of past events; they become TODAY. What do we mean by today? Do all
these events take place today, or are they simply repetitions? The liturgical
cycle of our Church may not be of special significance to us, knowing that
everything belongs to the past. But is it truly the past? Our present
condition has created a certain polarity around us, making it impossible to
see these events in their true dimension. Regrettably, we celebrate ideas,
whereas the proper celebration would have been nothing other than a
convening with our fellowman, to overcome isolation. One could say that
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the Churchs entire life is one continuous remembrance and reference.

Remembrance may be far more admirable, but of all human functions, it is
also the most tragic, because nothing else can so vividly reveal the
disintegrated nature of our lives, the incompetence of man to truly hold
onto something, and to truly possess it in this world. Memory exposes how
time and death reign on earth. Naturally, all this does not happen today,
but today we can remember all our acts, and our Church is basically the
gift and the power of this remembrance, which converts these acts from
past to actual eternal events. Time ceases to exist in the form of the present
and the future; we acknowledge it as a continuous present. We live as
though everything happens today. It is only within the Church, that a
historical event can and does become an outstanding event, for me, for you,
for each one of us individually. It becomes a strength in ones life, a
remembrance, and a joy. The Venerable Passion dawns as lights of rescue
upon the world today, the hymn writer again reassures us. This
eschatological challenge is revealed in the hymnological refrain common to
all three Days : Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night,
and blessed is the servant who He shall find watching; and again,
unworthy is he, who He shall find sleeping. Bewaret therefore, o my soul,
lest thou be born down with sleep, lest thou be given up unto death
and be shut out of the Kingdom; But rather rouse thyself and cry: Holy,
Holy, Holy art Thou o God; Through Theotokos, Have mercy on us. The
middle of the night is the point where the day reaches its end, and a new
day commences. This is exactly why the middle of the night becomes
symbolic of the time during which we live as Christians. The Church may
on the one hand live inside this world, participating in its weaknesses and
its tragedies; however, on the other hand, her true existence is not of this
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world, because she is the Bride of Christ and her mission is to proclaim
and to reveal the Kingdom of God and the new day. Her life is an eternal
anticipation, a continuous, vigilant expectation of this new Day. Our
incapacity to partake in advance of the joy of this new day, of the
second and glorious re-appearance of Christ, and to fully offer our love
to the only true Persona of love, is expressed perfectly in another, terminal
hymn of these three days: Thy bridal chamber o My Savior, do I behold all
adorned, And a garment I have not, That I may enter therein Illumine the
garment of my soul. O Light-bestower, and save me".
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Great Monday
On the first day of the
Holy Week, we honor
Joseph the AllComely, the son of
Jacob(Israel) who was
sold by his brothers,
on account of their
great envy, as a slave
in Egypt. His
countenance is
projected, because,
according to the
Fathers of our Church,
he is a prefiguration
and an image of
Christ. Just as the Lord suffered unjustly on account of human malice, he
too suffered in the same way on account of his brothers malice, and like
Christ, he also displayed infinite tolerance.
On this day, we also commemorate the parable of the fig tree that was
cursed and withered by the Lord, an event that took place on the day after
His triumphant entry into Jerusalem, according to the holy Gospels. Having
found no fruits on this tree, He cursed it, and it instantly dried up, in this
way teaching us that if we similarly produce no spiritual fruits, we are to
expect eternal death. The hymnology of Great Monday is truly superb; its
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aim is to introduce the faithful into the solemn mood of the week of the
Lords Passions. Matins begin with the superb, familiar anthem Behold,
the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night., followed by the
Venerable Passions., Invisible Judge. and the commencement
of our Lords Passions., all of which are introductory hymns for the
Divine Passion. After reading the Gospel, the renowned canon by saint
Kosmas the Melodist .the untrodden, wave-crested sea is sung.
The familiar refrain is inserted Jacob lamented his deprival of
Joseph followed by the very solemn hymn Thy Bridal o my Saviour,
do I behold all adorned.... During the Praises, we sing the renowned
hymns, also works of saint Kosmas the Melodian, Our Lord, on
approaching the voluntary passion.., Having reached, o faithful, the
salvific passion of Christ our God. In the superb refrains of other,
special hymns again belonging to saint Kosmas mention is made of the
episode with the sons of Zebedee, who were asking for first place in the
Kingdom of Christ. The glorification hymn Having found a second Eve in
the Egyptian woman, the dragon sought to supplant Joseph, with words of
flattery , refers to the Prophet Josephs torment. The holy hymnwriter of Great Monday invites us persistently: "Come along with us, with
cleansed minds, and let us walk alongside Him, and be crucified and
deaden our worldly pleasures for Him, so that we may live together with
Him..
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Great Tuesday
"On the Holy and
Great Tuesday, we
commemorate the
parable of the ten
Virgins states the
Synaxarion for Matins
on Great Tuesday,
which is read on the
evening of Great Monday. The Fathers of our Church appointed this day
for the commemoration of the parable of the ten Virgins, while the entire
series of hymns for this day is inspired by this parable as well as the
parable of the talents. The aim of this parable is to remind the faithful that
the Second and most Glorious Coming of the Lord will occur
unexpectedly; it will come "as a thief in the night". This is why the faithful
must always at every moment be prepared for this reception, otherwise,
they will be left out of the Kingdom of God and disappear altogether. Thus,
our divine Fathers considered it expedient, to dedicate one day of the Holy
and Great Week to the commemoration of this eschatological parable of the
ten Virgins. Furthermore, vigilance is intertwined with the Passion of our
Lord. On the dramatic evening of his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane,
the Lord Himself emphasized to his disciples Stay vigilant, and pray! Let
us pay attention to a small, characteristic excerpt by Saint John
Chrysostom, regarding the meaning of this parable: When I stop to
consider all the things of the world, and bring to mind all its good things,
riches, glory, temporary and perishable fantasies, as well as time - which
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revolves and flees like a shadow - and then remember the End, and the day
on which the world will end, and the fearsome, unwavering Judge, who
will fill us all with fear and dread; and how the Judge will descend as
lightning from the heavens, and how the celestial Powers will follow Him
in great turbulence; and how the dreaded throne will be prepared, and, after
all this, how the heavens will fold away like a paper scroll, and how the
elements of nature will dissipate, as though they never existed; and how the
earth will tremble and shake, beholding the arrival of the fearsome Judge.
And then, I remember how the trumpets will peal and the tombs will open
up at the sound of the trumpets, and how the souls will rush to reunite with
their bodies which have been sleeping for so many years in the soil; how
the Just Ones will hurry to meet with the Bridegroom, how they will have
the honor of accosting the Bridegroom; how the vigilant ones will be
bestowed the honor of entering the bridal chamber, while the indolent ones
are rejected outside. Well, when I put all these thoughts in my mind, I
realize how fortunate are those wise Virgins that the holy Gospel of Mark
the Evangelist mentions, because they combated the vice of slumbering,
because they kept firmly in mind the endless, eternal life, because they
stood guard for the hour of the coming, because they maintained the fear of
the Bridegroom who is to come, because they shunned the nocturnal
darkness and duly attended to the light in their lanterns.
The hymnology of the Holy and Great Tuesday is also as exciting as that of
the entire Holy Week. The Matins service is full of solemn anthems, and
other hymns by Romanos the Melodist."Let us become enamored of the
Bridegroom, my brothers...", "Deliberations, o Savior, of illegality against
You..." and the refrain: "Judas the adverse, who in thought profiteers
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against his master...". This is followed by the excerpt from the Gospel, in
which are found the terrible woes of the Lord, against the hypocritical
Pharisees. The hymn which says: The hour, o soul, of the end have I
acknowledged as well as the verse Why are you idle, my wretched
soul?.. are both related to the events of the day. The Praises works of
Kosmas the Melodist and John the monk How can I, the unworthy one,
enter into the splendors of Your saints?., The one whose soul
indolently allows him to slumber . And he that buried the talent..,
as well as the refrains Come, ye faithful, let us work willingly for the
Master, When You come in glory, along with the angelic hosts.
and The Bridegroom, fairest by far of all men. are all related to the
excerpt of the parable of the ten Virgins. Finally, the amazing glorification
hymn also by saint Kosmas - "Behold, my soul, the talent that the Master
has entrusted you; accept this gift with fear., refers to the other, equally
expressive parable of the Lord: that of the Talents.
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Great Wednesday
"On the Holy and Great
Wednesday, our divine fathers
appointed the commemoration
of the Lords anointing with
myrrh by the harlot, given that
this event took place shortly
before His Passion ". This is
the content of the Synaxarion
for Great Wednesday, which
is
read on the evening of Great

Tuesday. The holy Fathers,
having taken into account that
contrition is a basic
prerequisite for every persons
redemption, ordained that we should remember and honor on this day a
sinful woman who made the decision to repent sincerely, and, in her desire
to make this redeeming action more apparent, anointed the feet of merciful
Christ with priceless myrrh. Let us see how the great orator of our Church,
Saint John Chrysostom comments on this incident. "Observe, then, o
friends of Christ- the holy father stressed - so that you may understand
and appreciate the beneficial story of this good woman, and how she set
out and reached the place that she desired, without being called upon; how
she approached the spot where the Lord was seated and confessed to Him
from within her heart everything that she had done, and see how this brave
soul felt no shame, nor did she fear the disturbance that she caused to
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those serving in that house, nor the adverse comments of the others who
were present. She took none of this into consideration, but instead, thought
to herself: if I myself do not appear with a face of iron or copper, I shall
not be saved. Now is the time to make haste and turn everything upsidedown. Now is the opportunity to fight the one who fought me up to now, so
that I may earn the victory wreath from merciful God. All these years, I
was liked by people, therefore now, it is only fair that I should be liked by
God, so that, with a cleansed and sanctified soul, I may be purged by Him.
It was on account of despicable sinning, that the people liked me, so, from
now on, let me be liked by my benefactor, through my contrition. What,
therefore, could I bring to this meeting, so that I might draw His attention
and achieve my goal? It seemed proper that I should bring along this
expensive perfume, and offer it to Him as a small gift. I shall therefore hold
it in my hands, and run towards Him, and, if he should nonetheless drive
me away, it will be enough that my eyes looked upon Him, as I, the
miserable one, would not have been worthy of receiving His forgiveness for
the multitude of my unspeakable sins. Vivid pictures, dialogues and
contrasts characterize the hymns of Great Wednesday. In one hymn is
portrayed mans sinfulness. The divine poet speaks in place of the whore,
and beseeches the Master and Savior, Christ, to have mercy on him:
Having sinned, o benevolent One, even more than the whore, and having
brought to you no rain of tears (like her), I only kneel before you in silent
beseeching, and passionately kiss your immaculate feet, so that you, as
Master, might grant me absolution as I cry out to You o Savior: free me,
from the mire of my works. Exquisite poetic works that were created by
saint Kosmas the Melodian, are the refrains of the Praises. In them, we find
artful contrasts between the repenting woman and the future betrayal of the
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disciple Judas. The divine poet praises the whores repentance, and
stigmatizes the disciples betrayal. In other refrains, there are also amazing
poetic creations, works of Byzantius the Melodian. Towards the end, one of
the best known, superb poems not only of our Church, but of worldwide
literature in general is sung. It is the glorification hymn: O Lord, the
woman who has fallen into a multitude of sins., also known as the
hymn of Kassiane.
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Great Thursday
"On the
Holy and
Great
Thursday,
the wiselyorganizing,
divine
Fathers
delivered to
us
alternately
from the
divine apostles and the holy gospel, the celebration of the following four:
the sacred Ablution, the Last Supper (that is, the delivery of our most holy
sacraments), the sublime prayer, and the betrayal. This is the content of
the Book of Saints, which is read on the evening of Great Wednesday. The
services of this Great Day are marked by two events: the Last Supper of
our Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples, and Judas betrayal. The first act
of Jesus, before they commenced their supper in the loft, was to wash the
feet of His disciples. In ancient times, it was the custom for the servants to
wash the feet of their masters and their masters guests before the meal.
With this act, our Lord gave us the measure and the criterion of power,
that is, the attending to our fellow-man. The deeper meaning behind these
events is love .The Last Supper is the eschatological revelation of Gods
redeeming love for man; a love that is the heart of salvation. Judas
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betrayal reveals that sin, death and self-destruction will divide, dissolve and
lead us to places where anything else but love reigns. The content of the
hymn for this holy day is truly magnificent. The first verse When the
glorious disciples.", urges the faithful to avoid the ugly passions of
impious Judas. "When the glorious disciples during the Ablution of the
Supper were being enlightened, then Judas the impious one, blighted by
pecuniary desire, fell into darkness and delivered You, the just Judge, to
other, lawless judges. Observe, o lover of money, the one who resorted to
hanging, for what he had done. Away, o insatiable soul, that dared these
things against the Teacher. The canon, written by Kosmas the monk, is
another superb poem of our Church. In the verse "Having received the
bread in his hands, the betrayer.." , a poem by the renowned Romanos,
the cunning and wretched character of Judas is accurately portrayed. The
Oikos, a poem of Simeon the hymn-writer, invites the faithful to emulate
the Disciples of Christ and come to the spiritual dinner-table with clean
souls, in order to partake of the sacrament of redemption. The verses of
the Praises, written by John the monk, are a narration of the ungrateful
disciple. Equally magnificent is the glorification hymn The One whom
Isaiah proclaimed as the Lamb coming to voluntary slaughter.
Likewise amazing are the verses written by the Patriarch Methodios, where
he describes very poetically the arrest and the fake trial of the Lord. As is
the wonderful glorification hymn Having been initiated by You, o
Lord...", by which His disciples are called on by Him, to dedicate their
services to the people, just as He did. Christs death by crucifixion - the
Passover of the New Testament - does not have an exclusively moral
meaning, but also a mystic and liturgical meaning. The mystic meaning is
revealed during the Last Supper. It may seem strange, that the Eucharist
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comes before Calvary, and that the Savior Himself, while in the Loft, had
given His Body and His Blood to His disciples: This is the cup with my
blood, that of the New Testament, which is being shed for you (Luke, 22,
20). Christ delivers Himself to the Cross and to death, not in order to buy
off at this price a certain legal guilt of mankind, by satisfying the
wrath of a sadist God who demands to satisfy his personal sense of
justice. When Christ delivers Himself to death, He empties Himself of
every trace of self-sufficiency, thus fully assuming and participating in the
existential failure of mankind, namely, death. This delivery unto death is a
referral, an obedience and a giving of thanks to the Father; it is the Fathers
life-giving will that is being fulfilled, by the Sons sacrifice. In this way,
Christs crucified flesh becomes the life and the resurrection of all flesh,
given that this is the means by which the Triadic love acts, in order to
vivify creation. With Christs obedient, crucified flesh, the Eucharist body
of the Church is formed. This kind of a formation does not require in
advance any personal virtues or deservingness; we need only to bring
forward our personal death, our existential failure and sin. This bringing
forward means that we must abandon ourselves to the love of our
Bridegroom and lover, He Who doth resurrect the dead. We do not strive
for a self-life or self-existence; we only offer in thanks our mortal way of
surviving, to Him, the sole one who belongs to us. We offer ourselves to
the - unhindered by physical demands - freedom of a personal relationship
with our brethren, and we transfer our hopes and potentials of life to the
love which unifies the ecclesiastic body and gives life to its members. In
the Epistle to Hebrews, our Lords redeeming work is pictured as services
being rendered by the Head Priest. Christ comes into the world, to execute
the will of God. He offers Himself to God, in the Spirit; He offers His
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blood in absolution of sins; His entire mission takes place within the
Passion. By His blood, the blood of the New Testament, He enters the
heavens; He enters the Holy Sanctuary, behind the curtain. Following His
offering of death, He returns to seat Himself in glory, at the right hand of
the Father, for evermore. His sacrifice begins on earth, and is fulfilled in
heaven, where Christ was and still is - before God - the eternal Head Priest,
"Head Priest of all future treasures"; as the Apostle and the Head Priest of
our confession, and as Intermediator of the New Testament. Christs death
discovered eternal Life, it revealed the powers of the coming era. In
Christs blood, the new and living path was revealed to us, on that eternal
Saturday, when God rested after His great labors. Our Lords death saves
us, because it was the means by which our Lord met with our death, thus
making His death the cause of our immortality". On the Cross, our Lord
attached everything that was separate and connected earth with heaven.
The Church is constantly nurtured by Christs sacrifice. In each Divine
Liturgy, we do not observe an external re-enactment or repetition, because
the sacrifice on the Cross took place only once and therefore cannot be
repeated, but we do have a continuation of, and participation in, the one
and only sacrifice of Christ. It is not a new sacrifice; it is always the same
one: the one that Christ gave us, and the one in which we has included us.
This reality is apparent, in the Cherubic Hymn: "You are the offerer and
the offering, You receive unto Yourself, and You distribute Yourself...". The
reason therefore that we offer the Holy Eucharist, is not because God needs
it, but because Christs sacrifice is the essence and the prerequisite for our
own existence in Christ. This is the only way that the world can be
renovated. Because only a Eucharist community that is transformed during
the Divine Eucharist, is the one capable of truly transforming the world.
23
Great Friday (Good Friday)

From the brightness of
Great Thursday with
the Last Supper and
the delivery of the
Sacrament of the
Divine Eucharist we
enter the darkness, that
is, the day of our
Lords Passion and
His Death. "On the
Holy and Great
Friday, we re-enact
the Holy, Awesome
Passions of our Lord
God and Savior Jesus
Christ: the spittle, the
beating, the slapping,
the abuses, the jeering, the purple mantle, the reed, the sponge, the acrid
wine, the nails, the lance and above all, the cross and His Death, all of
which He voluntarily submitted Himself to, for our sake, We also
commemorate the grateful robber who was crucified beside Him, and his
redeeming confession while on the cross. The hymnology of this day is
truly magnificent. The service honoring the Holy Passions, with its fifteen
antiphonies, has preserved the palaeo-christian service, in the manner set
down by the Church of Jerusalem. The main characteristic of this service is
24
the reciting of the twelve evangelical excerpts, the first of which contains
Christs last bequests to His disciples and the Lords Prayer, while the
remaining eleven excerpts refer to the events of His arrest, His trial and His
crucifixion. Interspersed between these excerpts are many superb hymns.
Two such hymns stand out, during the 4th antiphony This day, Judas
counterfeits piety..."; they both give us unsurpassable, contrasting images
of the miserly and treacherous character of the ungrateful disciple, as does
the first refrain of the 6th antiphony: This day, Judas hurries to surrender
the Lord...". The first refrain of the 7th antiphony is also an amazing one:
"Those lawless ones, who seized You..." in which the Lords tolerance is
praised. The two first verses of the 9th antiphony are also superb: "Thus
said the Lord to the Judaeans...". The familiar verse of the 15th antiphony
is heart-rending: "This day, they suspend Him on a piece of wood...",
which is repeated, while a crucifix bearing Christ is carried through the
church in a solemn procession. The verses of the Praises written by
Byzantius the Hymn-writer are also remarkable, as is the glorification
hymn: They stripped me of my garments.. " and the Theotokion hymn
My back I have given them, to be whipped...". Other amazing verses
include the poem of Theophanes: "O Lord, on ascending the Cross, fear
and dread fell upon creation.... The first Church had named this day
Paschaof the Cross. Indeed, this day is the beginning of the Passage, the
Passover, whose deeper meaning will be revealed to us little by little, firstly
during the wondrous silence of the Great and Blessed Saturday, and then,
during the rejoicing on the Day of Resurrection. Good Friday is the only
day of the year in which no Divine Service takes place. Instead of the
Divine Liturgy in the morning, the Hours are recited, which basically
consist of Messianic Psalms from the Old Testament that prophesied
25
Christs passion, as well as other readings from the New Testament which
also refer to the Divine Passion, and are interspersed with many wonderful
hymns. After reading the Hours, Vespers follow. We can distinguish
renowned verses such as: An impious and strange people, Looking
upon You today.. and the glorification hymn by Theophanes O, how
this lawless synagogue,and the superb Theotokion hymn An
awesome and paradoxical mystery.. After reading from the
Gospel, the Lords Descent from the Cross and His entombment is reenacted. On this Great and Holy day, we deeply acknowledge the fact that
Christianity is the religion of the Cross. Behold, for it is by the Cross that
great joy is in the world. This is why the Apostle Paul could not see
anything else inside us, except for Jesus Christ, and Him, crucified..
(Corinthians, A 2, 21, 23). "For me, it is not possible to boast, except in
the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians, 6, 14). Thus, in order to
display our subordination to the Lord, we make the sign of the Cross. We
belong to the Crucified One. We chant and praise the blessed wood, the
new wood which bore Life, on which the King of Glory died, in order to
scatter eternal life to all creation. The Cross of Christ is the culmination
and the key to evangelical history. Our Church chants "the power of the
Cross-" o invincible and indestructible and divine power of the precious
and life-giving Cross, do not desert the sinner. Consequently, the death on
the Cross is a sacrificial offering. But the offering of a sacrifice does not
only imply self-surrender. Even if examined from an ethical point of view,
the overall significance of the sacrifice is not merely self-denial, but the
expression of love as being the dynamic content of the sacrifice. Sacrifice
is not simply an offering, but more likely a dedication and a consecration to
God. The effective impact of sacrifice is love (. Corinthians 13, 3). But
26
in this case, the sacrificial offering implies something more that the
element of love; it is also a mystic act, a liturgy, a mystery. The sacrifice of
the Cross comprises an undeniable sacrifice of love, as : our Christ loved
us and surrendered Himself for us as a sacrifice to God, like a fragrant
scent. (Ephesians, 5,2) But this love was not only compassion and mercy
towards the fallen. Christ gives Himself, not only in forgiveness of sins,
but also to glorify us; not only for the sake of sinning humanity, but for the
sake of the Church, so that He cleanse and sanctify it, and render it holy,
glorious and immaculate. (Ephesians, 5,25). The power of a sacrifice is
found in its potential to cleanse and sanctify. And the power of the
awesome sacrifice and passion is that the Cross is the path to glory. On the
Cross, the Son of man is glorified, and God is glorified through Him.
(John, 13,31). The request contained in the prayer of our Lord as Head
Priest, was for the glorification and the life of His disciples. " And the glory
which You gave me, I have given to them" (John. 17, 22). Here lies the
fullness of sacrifice ! The death on the Cross was effective, not because
someone innocent died, but because the one who died was the incarnated
Lord. We needed an incarnate God; God died, so that we could live - to
borrow a bold expression by Saint Gregory Nazianzos. This is the
awesome and overly-glorious mystery of the Cross. It was not a man that
died on the Cross. Because the one that suffered was not a common
mortal, but God Himself as a human, fighting the battle of patience, as
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem says. The essence of the redeeming mystery of the
Cross, is that the death on the Cross is a blood-baptism. Baptism is
cleansing. And the baptism of the Cross is the cleansing of human nature,
as it follows the path of restoration of the incarnate Logos. It is a cleansing
of human nature, in the flowing blood of the Divine Lamb. And first of all,
27
it is a purging of human weakness and mortality itself. It is the purging that

prepares the way for the oncoming resurrection of a new and secret
Firstborn, a Second Adam . This is the blood-baptism of the overall
Church. You bought back Your Church, by the power of the Cross and
therefore the entire Body of the Church is obliged to be baptized in the
baptism of the Cross. Indeed, you will drink from my cup and be baptized
in my baptism (Mark, 10,3, Matthew, 20,23). Furthermore, the death on the
Cross is the purging of the entire world; it is the blood-baptism of all
creation. "A purging not only of a small part of humanity, or a temporary
one, but for the entire Universe, and eternally, to refer to the words of
Saint Gregory Nazianzos. In this way, all of creation participates
mysteriously in the Passion of the death of the incarnated Lord. We now
are aware that this Great day is at its end; we know that we too are at the
end of the long story of salvation and redemption. The Seventh Day, the
Day of rest, the blessed Sabbath is approaching. With it, comes the
revelation of the Life-bearing Tomb.
28
The Funeral Dirge-Lamentations

"On the holy and
Great Saturday, we
celebrate the
divine-corporal
entombment and
the descent into
Hades of our Lord
and Savior Jesus
Christ, by which
the human race is
revoked from its
deterioration,
towards a
transition into
eternal life". The
God of spirits and
every flesh, having now left His flesh on the Cross, descends into the realm
of spirits and enters Hades as liberator, to give one last battle and free the
spirits in bondage. Whatever we re-enact today, is not funereal in nature. It
is a worshipping, full of admiration. It is not a belief in the power of death,
but in the truth of the Resurrection. This is why the Funeral Ceremony is
not a dirge, but the festive eve of the Resurrection. Today is the day of
prolonged silence, of extended expectation, a day of resting, the Sabbath
(because during the Funeral Service, the Matins of Great Saturday are
read). This Saturday, which is called Great Saturday, is the most blessed
Saturday, in which "Christ, having awoken, rose up, after three days".
29
"Life slumbers, and Hades trembles". This silence, is the dirge and the
lament for death and Hades. The Lord crushes the portals of death; He
releases from eternal bondage. With His death, He brings death to death.
Life descends into the realm of death; Divine light shines in its darkness; it
illuminates all those who are inside, because Christ is the life of all, and the
sole source of life. Hence, Christ dies for all of us, and whatever occurs in
His life, occurs in everyones life. Every hymn that is sung this day, from
the most solemn c" to the praises, and the other verses and hymns, is a
combination of sorrow from the crucifixion, and joy- from the
Resurrection. This is the Churchs greatest boast and glory: that it discerns
the Resurrection inside the Crucifixion, and the Crucifixion stands out
clearly, under the bright rays of the Matins of the Resurrection. When the
ceremonial bier is carried through the streets on the evening of Great
Friday, it is not the reenactment of a true funeral procession that is taking
place. No, it signifies the Son of God walking through the darkness of
Hades and announcing to all the generations of Adam the joy of the
oncoming Resurrection. This is why the prophecy of Ezekiel and the dry
bones is recited. In this prophecy is portrayed the victory of death over the
world; but then, God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel. He tells the prophet
that this sentence is not the final and irreversible destination of man. The
dried-out bones will heed the words of the Lord. The dead will live again.
"Thus says the Lord : Behold, I open up your tombs, and draw you out of
your tombs...". The divine services of Great Friday are embellished with
hymns of unsurpassable majesty and supreme theological meaning. They
commence during Vespers of the Descent from the Cross, immediately
after the Solemn Hours of Great Friday. Matins service is a sumptuous
array of poetry and music, to honor the funeral service for the dead Christ.
30
The renowned canon On the waves of the sea, a poem of unsurpassable

poetic and theological value, a creation of three composers of hymns:
Kosmas, Mark and Kassiane, truly delights the faithful. Within its
intricately woven hymns and verses, the major event of Christs victory
over Hades and death is praised. Deep emotions are stirred, on hearing
eulogies such as "Life within the tomb..", "Worthy it is..." and "All
generations ...", possibly works of Kassiane. In these hymns is exalted the
living slumber of Christ, which crushes the rule of the enemy". We also
hear the wonderful verses of the Praises, where the event of victory over
death is exalted. And finally, the magnificent verse that has hidden the
sun", written by Georgios Akropolites is sung, where Christ is
portrayed as the ultimate stranger within sinful humanity.
31
Great Saturday
"Be silent, all mortal
flesh, and stand in fear
and dread,...", we sing,
in place of the Cherubic
Hymn of the Divine
Service of this Great
Saturday. Little by little,
everything in the world
is pierced by the light,
which emanates from
where we anticipate. We
have already reached the
interim day, awaiting
the Lords Paschaand
preparing ourselves for
the never-setting day of
the Kingdom of God.
The death of Christ brings forth the resurrection of human nature, and the
Cross has become a life-bringer, the new wood of life, "the cause for
cessation of lamenting". The church bears witness most emphatically to
this event, during Great Saturday. While on the Cross, our Lord "restores
us to our former, blessed state" and "through His Cross, gives joy to all the
world. While on the Cross, our Lord suffers and endures, but in the end,
He rests: "Your death was nothing but slumber" (final verse from the
Matins of Pascha). He also reposes man, restores him and renovates him: "
32
Your repose on the Cross also gives repose to me, the one who is burdened
with sins". From the Cross, Christ grants immortality to mankind. With His
entombment, He opens the gates of Hades, and renovates the deteriorated
nature of man This descent into Hades firstly signifies entry and
penetration into the kingdom of Death, the kingdom of mortality and
deterioration. And in this context, the descent is synonymous to death
itself. The Lord descended into Hades as Victor, as the Lord of Life. He
descended in glory, and not in humility, although He did descend by means
of humiliation. "It was not because of a weakness of the inhabiting Logos
that the body died; it was in order that death be eliminated from within it,
through the power of the Savior. The Lord descended into Hades, to
announce the gospel and to preach to the souls that were imprisoned there
(. Peter 3, 19 and 4, 6); to liberate them and show them their rescue, with
the power of His presence and His preaching (saint Cyril of Alexandria). In
other words, the descent into Hades is the resurrection of entire Adam.
He destroys death itself. Thus, death is transformed into Resurrection: "I
am the first and the last, and the living; and I became dead, and behold, I
am alive, for ever and ever Amen. And I hold the keys of death and of
Hades" (Revelation.1, 17 -18).
33
PaschaSunday
The Lord rises from the
dead, like the
Bridegroom coming out
of the bridal chamber.
The Resurrection of
Christ is a victory, not
only over His own
death, but over death in
general. "We celebrate
the annihilation of
death, the deposition of
Hades, the eternal
outset of another life".
With His Resurrection,
all of mankind and all
human nature are coresurrected with Christ, the human species is enrobed imperishably.
Although we may be co-risen ( of course not in the sense of actually arising
from the grave ), people still continue to die, but the despair over death has
been eliminated. Death has become powerless, and the power of
resurrection has been bestowed on all human nature. The Apostle Paul
makes this absolutely clear: "If there were no Resurrection from the dead,
then Christ would not have risen; And if the dead cannot be risen, then
Christ could not have risen" ( Corinthians. 15, 13, 16). "If Christ is not
risen, then our faith is futile" (verse 17). Beyond the hope of the general
34
Resurrection, faith in Christ would have been futile and without purpose; it
would have been mere vainglory. "And now Christ has risen from the dead,
as the first fruit of the slumbering souls" ( Corinthians. 15,20) and this is
where the victory of life is found.
35
CHRIST HAS RISEN

At midnight, inside the totally dark temple, from inside the Sanctuary and
as far as the very Tomb of the Lord, in every cemetery, the ever-shining
light of the resurrected Christ comes forth and radiates everywhere: "Light
from light, the true God, by true God ", that "light of Christ", which
"shines upon everyone", which we are all invited to acquire, and ourselves
eventually also become the light of Christ. "Now everything is filled with
light, the heavens and the earth and the underworld...". All nature
celebrates; all of creation participates in the light of the Resurrection, and
the people with the flame of the Resurrection in hand, pour out into the
streets and the countryside, and carry the flame to their homes, their
domestic churches. The resurrected Christ becomes "the light of the world".
In this rejoicing, "enter, all of you; For He accepts the last one just as He
does the first and He is merciful to the latter one, and He also cares
about the former one. And He gives to that one, and grants to this one. And
He accepts our labour, and respects our opinion, and honors the act, and
praises the intention..." (Catechist Speech of saint John the Chrysostom).
Christ with His Resurrection intervenes in the world. "Yesterday, I was
buried with Thee, o Christ; and today, I arise with Thine Arising and this
co-resurrection is realized, with the transformation of man and the world.
Do not ask me to tell you what death and resurrection are; do not ask me
what death and life are, or deterioration and imperishability. I am not able
to. But if you insist on an infinitely small sample of the way and the means
to conquer death, you must allow me to borrow a small excerpt from
Dostoevskys masterpiece, the BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. The excerpt
that follows is titled The little onion. "Once upon a time, there lived a
36
wicked woman. She died, without ever doing anything kind, so the devils
threw her into the fiery lake. However, her guardian angel tried to
remember some kindness that she may have done in her life, so that he
might help her out, when she would stand before God. He remembered,
and told God, that she had once uprooted a green onion and had given it to
a beggarwoman. God then told the angel: Take the same onion, and stand
over the lake. Hold it from one end, and when she grabs hold of the other
end, pull her out. If she manages to get out, then she can enter Paradise.
But if the onion breaks, it will mean that she deserves to be where she is.
The angel ran to the woman, and said to her Hold on, hold on tightly to
this little onion, and I will pull you out. And he started to pull her out,
very carefully. He had drawn her out of the lake almost completely, but
then, the other sinners saw her being pulled out, and they grabbed hold of
her so that they too would be pulled out with her. But the woman was
mean; a proper hag. She started to kick them away, shouting: Its me, me
that they want to pull out, not you! The onion is mine, not yours! No
sooner had she said this, than the onion snapped. And she fell back into the
lake. And the angel broke into tears and went away. I read this narrative,
so that I may complete it, with a phrase by saint Gregory: "He died, so that
He might save, He arose, so that He might draw towards Him those bodies
who had fallen down in sin..." . In other words, Christ Himself rose up to
the heavens, so that He might pull us up with a simple little onion. All our
human sin is hung on Him, and during all this period of time, we are taught
that Christ Himself will submit Himself to death for all of us, to the end.
Participation, or rejection? In the Kingdom of God - a certainty which is
announced to us by the Resurrection you either share the little onion that
God gives you, with the others, or else you head down the path of oblivion.
37
"In this did we perceive love: that He lay down his life for us. Therefore it
is our debt, to lay down our lives for our brothers.. it is in this, that love
is found : not in our loving God, but in His loving us, and sending us His
son as ransom for our sins " (John, 3,16 and 4,10). TRULY, HE IS
RISEN!
38

Apostoliki Diakonia Holy Week and Pascha

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PASSION AND RESURRECTION A JOURNEY INTO THE HOLY AND GREAT WEEK OF PASCHA

PASSION AND RESURRECTION:

Edited by Alexander Buterbaugh

Saturday of Saint Lazarus

common resurrection.. Liturgical needs called for the separation of

The three first Great days

On Great Monday, we honor an important Prophet of the Old Testament,

On Great Tuesday, we are reminded of the parable of the Ten Virgins,

On Great Wednesday, we honor the repentance of the sinful woman, who in

On Great Thursday, we celebrate the salvific events that were established

On Great (Good) Friday, we worship the Holy and Awesome Passion of

On Great Saturday, we honor the divine-corporal Burial of our Lord, and

the Churchs entire life is one continuous remembrance and reference.

read on the evening of Great

Great Friday (Good Friday)

it is a purging of human weakness and mortality itself. It is the purging that

The Funeral Dirge-Lamentations

The renowned canon On the waves of the sea, a poem of unsurpassable

CHRIST HAS RISEN

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