Passion Week: An Explanation

Passion Week: An Explanation

Forgiveness: The Heart and Repentance

The Ethos of Lent

Fasting and Great Lent

FASTING AND GREAT LENT

THE TRIODION

Great Lent is the 40-day season of spiritual preparation that comes before the most important Feast of the Christian year, Holy Pascha (which means “Passover” and is commonly called “Easter”,). It is the central part of a larger time of preparation called the Triodion season.

The Triodion begins ten weeks before Easter and is divided into three main parts: three Pre-Lenten weeks of preparing our hearts, the six weeks of Lent, and Holy Week. The main theme of the Triodion is repentance—mankind's return to God, our loving Father.

This annual season of repentance is a spiritual journey with our Savior. Our goal is to meet the risen Lord Jesus, Who reunites us with God the Father. The Father is always waiting to greet us with outstretched hands. We must ask ourselves the question, “Are we willing to turn to Him?”

During Great Lent, the Church teaches us how to re­ceive Him by using the two great means of repentance— prayer and fasting.

THE LENTEN FAST

The word “fast” means not eating all or certain foods. As Orthodox Faithful, we can fast completely at certain times of great importance, and especially each time before receiv­ing Holy Communion. Usually, fasting means limiting the number of meals and/or the type of food eaten.

The purpose of fasting is to remind us of the Scriptural teaching, “Man does not live by bread alone.” The needs of the body are nothing compared to the needs of the soul. Above all else, we need God, Who provides everything for both the body and the soul. Fasting teaches us to depend on God more fully.

The first sin of our parents, Adam and Eve, was eating from the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:1-19). We fast from food, or a food item, as a reminder that we are to fast from sin­ning and doing evil.

There are several benefits of fasting. Fasting helps us pray more easily. Our spirit is lighter when we are not weighed down by too much food or food that is too rich. Through fasting, we also learn to feel compassion for the poor and hungry and to save our own resources so that we can help those in need.

Fasting is more than not eating food. Saint John Chrysostom teaches that it is more important to fast from sin. For example, besides controlling what goes into our mouths, we must control what comes out of our mouths as well. Are our words pleasing to God, or do we curse God or our brother?

The other members of the body also need to fast: our eyes from seeing evil, our ears from hearing evil, our limbs from participating in anything that is not of God. Most important of all, we need to control our thoughts, for thoughts are the source of our actions, whether good or evil.

Fasting is not an end in itself. Our goal is an inner change of heart. The Lenten Fast is called “ascetic.” This refers to a ctions of self-denial and spiritual training which are central to fasting.

Fasting is a spiritual exercise. It is not imposed or forced upon us. In the same way that true repentance cannot be forced upon anyone, each of us makes the choice to turn away from our sinful ways and go toward our loving, for giving Father in Heaven.

THE PRELENTEN WEEKS

Before Great Lent begins, four Sunday lessons prepare us for the Fast. Humility is the theme of the first Sunday, called the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The Lord's parable in Luke 18:10-14 teaches that fasting with pride is rejected by God. For this reason, there is no fasting the week following this Sunday. This includes no fasting on Wednesday

and Friday that week. (Wednesdays and Fridays are usually fast days throughout the year—Wednesday's Fast recalls the betrayal of Christ by Judas; Friday's Fast commemorates the Lord's Crucifixion.)

Repentance is the theme of the second Pre-Lenten Sunday, called the Sunday of the Prodigal Son. Before we can return to God, we need to recognize that we are far from God because of sin. Like the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32), we are in a self-imposed exile. Will we come to our senses as did the Prodigal Son and return to our Father?

The next Sunday is called both Meatfare Sunday and the Sunday of the Last Judgment. The second name refers to the Gospel lesson (Matthew 25:31-4 6) read on this day. The Lord tells us we will be judged at the end according to the love we have shown for our brother. “I was hungry..thirsty..naked...a stranger...in prison...sick... What­ever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine you did for Me.” Almsgiving goes hand in hand with fast­ing. This Sunday is called Meatfare because it is the last day meat, fish or poultry is eaten before Easter, for those keep­ing the Lenten Fast.

The last Pre-Lenten Sunday is called both Cheesefare Sunday and the Sunday of Forgiveness. This is the last day dairy products are eaten before the Fast. The Gospel lesson (Matthew 6:14-21 ) read on this day tells us that our fast must not be hypocritical or “for show.” Our work and our appearance are to continue as usual and our extra efforts are to be known only by God. The Gospel reading also reminds us that God the Father will forgive us in the same manner as we forgive our brother. With this promise of forgiveness, Great Lent begins on the next day, which is called Clean Monday. Clean Monday is a total fast day, except for a little water. No other beverages or food are taken.

GENERAL RULES OF THE LENTEN FAST

The Lenten Fast rules that we observe today were established within the monasteries of the Orthodox Church during the sixth through eleventh centuries. These rules are intended for all Orthodox Christians, not just monks and nuns.

The first week of Lent is especially strict. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, a total fast is kept. In practice, very few people are able to do this. Some find it necessary to eat a little each day after sunset. Many Faithful do fast com­pletely on Monday and then eat only uncooked food (bread, fruit, nuts) on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the fast is kept until after the Presanctified Liturgy.

From the second through the sixth weeks of Lent, the general rules for fasting are practiced. Meat, animal prod­ucts (cheese, milk, butter, eggs, lard), fish (meaning fish with backbones), olive oil and wine (all alcoholic drinks) are not consumed during the weekdays of Great Lent. Octopus and shell-fish are allowed, as is vegetable oil. On weekends, ol­ive oil and wine are permitted.

According to what was done in the monasteries, one meal a day is eaten on weekdays and two meals on weekends of

Great Lent. No restriction is placed on the amount of food during the meal, though moderation is always encouraged in all areas of one's life at all times.

Fish, oil and wine are allowed on the Feast of the An­nunciation (March 25) and on Palm Sunday (one week before Easter). On other feast days, such as the First and Second Finding of the Head of Saint John the Baptist (February 24) , the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9), the Forefeast of the Annunciation (March 24) and the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (March 26), wine and oil are permitted.

HOLY WEEK

The week before Easter, Holy Week, is a special time of fasting separate from Great Lent. Like the first week, a strict fast is kept. Some Orthodox Christians try to keep a total fast on Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday. Most eat a simple Lenten meal at the end of each day before going to the evening Church services.

On Holy Thursday, wine is allowed in remembrance of the Last Supper. Holy Friday is kept as a strict fast day, as is Holy Saturday . Holy Saturday is the only Saturday in the entire year when oil is not permitted.

In short, these are the Lenten rules for fasting. Traditionally, the Church Fathers recommend that someone new to fasting begin by resolving to faithfully do as much as he or she is able during the Lenten period. Each year as one matures as a Christian, a fuller participation can be under­taken. However, it is not recommended that a person try to create their own rules for fasting, since this would not be obedient or wise. The Faithful are encouraged to consult with their priest or bishop regarding the Fast when possible.

Personal factors such as one's health and living situation need to be considered as well. For example, an isolated Or­thodox Christian required to eat meals at their place of employment, school or in prison may not be able to avoid certain foods. The Church understands this and extends leniency.

It is important to keep in mind that fasting is not a law for us—rather, a voluntary way of remembering to not sin and do evil, and to help keep our focus on prayer, repentance and doing acts of kindness, for we “are not under the law but under grace” (Romans 6:14).

EASTER, BRIGHT WEEK AND THE PASCHAL SEASON

The Lenten Fast is broken following the midnight Easter service. With the proclamation, “Christ is risen!” the time of feasting begins. The week after Easter is called Bright Week and there is no fasting. For the next 40 days, the Church celebrates the Paschal (Easter) season. Joy and thanksgiving are the fulfillment of our Lenten journey.

A PRAYER FOR LENT

The Prayer of Saint Ephraim the Syrian is traditionally said many times throughout each day during Great Lent, in addition to our daily prayers.

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. (+)

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant. (+)

Yes, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sin and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed from all ages to all ages. Amen. (+)

(The “(‘+)“ indicates that those praying make a deep bow or prostration at this point.)

Lenten Transformation

by Kerry Patrick San Chirico

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Lenten Transformation: Part 1 Part of St. Mary's Lenten Lecture Series 2003 Delivered at St. Mary Orthodox Church, Cambridge, MA Sunday, March 21, 2003

The title Lenten Transformation is rather broad. Perhaps when you read it, you naturally thought of a transformation within the person who maintains the disciplines of the season, those being prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Well, you are partially right. A couple weeks ago, in preparation for the Lenten Spring, we read the story of the Prodigal Son. Thinking about this parable, it dawned on me that our activities in Lent can be likened to the Prodigal’s journey back to the father. We take stock of who we are, we prepare in anticipation for the eventual encounter, we rehearse our words, we are filled with anxiety about how we will be received. Struggling along that path, we might wonder how we ever got into this mess. We experience moments of rebellion, then humility, then supplication, boredom, expectant joy, then trepidation. Lent, as we often hear, is our journey home. In this way, Great Lent is a condensed lifetime, and we may find ourselves facing in microcosm, what we face not only throughout the year, but throughout our lives. Moreover, because the time is so condensed, both our victories and even more our weaknesses are seen in striking relief. Our shadows become stark, dense, taking on lives of their own. This is interesting, because in nature, shadows are the darkest when the light is the closest. So in those dark times, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, the Son is actually the nearest. As we were reminded last week, there is no place where God is not.

“For I am convinced,” St Paul confesses, “that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

And we read from the Psalter,

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Psalm 139).

Now there is one significant difference between us and the Prodigal Son, of course. We know the father’s response to him when he arrived in those rags. Before the Prodigal even got those well-rehearsed words out of his mouth, the elder father was running out to greet him. And this is God’s fundamental disposition towards us, His children. Unlike the Prodigal, we can be assured of the Father’s embrace. We know that God hears the prayers of us sinners, that, as Fr. Antony reminds us over and over again, the love of God for us is as inexhaustible as God is Himself. This is good news.

The Lenten transformation is thus a coming to our senses, the realization of who we are in the Father. It is brought about by comparing our identity in Christ with the identity we consciously and subconsciously fashion out of the rags and refuse of the world. Of course, this is the meaning of that clichéd word spirituality. If you want a definition of it, consider this one: spirituality, in the Christian sense, is the process of growing into things as they are. It is the stripping away of all the illusions we attach to ourselves both inadvertently and willingly. This stripping away takes place by God’s grace through faith and by our participation in that grace.

Cloned pages are still being worked on

Cloned pages are still being worked on

Cloned pages are still being worked on

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Also read: Justice as Asceticism

KERRY PATRICK SAN CHIRICO holds a Master of Divinity Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University and a Master of Theology from St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He served with Habitat for Humanity in India from 1993-1996 and in the inner cities of New Jersey. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in the theology department at Boston College and lives with his wife Sheri in Arlington, MA.

The Date of Pascha

Editor’s Note:

This article was first written in 1994 and then appeared in the Word Magazine in 2000.

It should be noted that the article objectively examines the origin, history and methods for dating Pascha. In stating facts about methodology, it is not the author’s intent to propose a revision to the current dating methods. In fact, the author closes his article with a reaffirmation of the current Orthodox Unity in celebrating our most important Holy Day. The last paragraph clearly echoes the sentiment of the First Ecumenical Council that the dating of Pashca should be done, "With one accord and in the same manner".

Question

I’ve heard that the reason the Orthodox usually celebrate the Resurrection later than Protestants and Roman Catholics is because we wait until after the Jewish Passover. This year the Jews observed Passover on March 27. Western Christians celebrated Pascha† after that, on April 3, so why did we wait until May 1?

In brief

Our observance of the Resurrection is related to the “Passover of the Jews”† in a historical and theological way, but our calculation does not depend on when the modern-day Jews celebrate. The reason why Orthodox and Western Christians celebrate at different times is because we still go by the old Julian calendar in calculating the date of Pascha, even though we go by the new calendar for all the fixed feasts (like Christmas and so on). Protestants and Roman Catholics use the Gregorian Calendar for everything.

Pascha in the Old and New Testaments

The Old Testament specifies that the Passover/Pascha is to be observed on the 14 th day of the first month (alternately known as Abib or Nisan; see Deuteronomy 16.1-7). Being a fixed day on the old Hebrew calendar, it could fall on any day of the week.

According to the Gospel of John, Pascha just happened to fall on a Saturday† the year that Jesus was crucified. It is important to note that Christ died on the Cross at the very hour the paschal lambs were being slaughtered for the Feast; thus Christ is our Pascha, our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us. Strictly speaking, then, we must distinguish between the Feast of Pascha (on Holy Friday) and the Feast of the Resurrection (on Sunday); the two are inseparable though distinct.

The date of Pascha in the Early Church

The early Church in the East continued to observe Pascha on the eve of the 14 th of Nisan, according the Jewish Calendar, with the Resurrection on the third day, that is on the 15 th. That meant that the Resurrection could fall on any day of the week. In Rome and Alexandria, however, the early Christians always kept the Resurrection on a Sunday.

A Problem Situation

In the second century, St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, journeyed to Rome to confer with Pope Anicetus regarding the disagreement over the proper date for the celebration of Pascha. Neither was able to convince the other, and they decided that the two practices could coëxist.

The situation was actually messier yet. There existed in practice, because of the way the Hebrew calendar worked, not two but a multitude of dates for the celebration Pascha. Jews and others in the ancient Near East followed a lunar calendar in which each month averaged 29½ days in length. They had twelve months in most years, each month beginning with a new moon. This made the year too short, so an extra, thirteenth month was inserted every two or three years to keep the months in step with the seasons (which depend on the sun rather than the moon).

There were no printed calendars at that time, and no one ever knew exactly how many days there would be in a given month or year. The beginning of a new month was declared when the first sliver of a new moon was sighted in the sky. Of course, observation of the new moon depended on location and weather conditions, thus people in different places often did not start a new month at the same time. Since Pascha was observed on the 14 th of the month†—and that depended on local sighting of the new moon—there was no way for Christians (or Jews, for that matter) to plan a united observance of Pascha.

In the fourth century the Emperor Constantine espoused Christianity and made it not only legal but the favored religion of the Empire. The Church suddenly started growing by leaps and bounds, and he gave public buildings for the Church’s use, but he was perturbed to find out about the different practices regarding the date of Pascha.

The council of Nicæa

Constantine convened the First Ecumenical Council in the city of Nicæa in 325 to unify the date of the observance throughout the newly Christian Empire.† Unanimously, the bishops gathered at the Council decided to keep the feast on a Sunday. They wanted to retain the symbolism of the Resurrection falling on the day which is both the first day of the week and the eighth day, the Day of the Lord. They agreed that the most important thing was for the Church to demonstrate her unity by celebrating together, whenever she chose to celebrate, without regard to the Jews’ plans. The bishops saw the Christian observance of the Pascha of the Lord on Holy Friday as connected to and in continuity with the Passover of the Old Testament, and they understood that the Resurrection, by definition, follows the Passover. After all, the Church saw herself as the true heir of the Old Testament. She was comprised of both Jews and gentiles, all those who responded to the God of the Old Testament when He came in the flesh.

Following the Council, Constantine sent a letter to all the bishops who were absent to report to them the decisions of the council. The following excerpt of that letter explains some crucial points:

When the question relative to the sacred festival of Pascha arose, it was universally thought that all should keep the feast on one day; for what could be more beautiful and more desirable than to see this festival, through which we receive the hope of immortality, celebrated by all with one accord and in the same manner? It was declared to be particularly unworthy for this, the holiest of festivals, to follow the calculation of the Jews….

The Nicene Formula

The fathers gathered at the First Ecumenical Council decided that the Hebrew calendar had to go. They had to be able to plan ahead and not have to depend on when the local Jewish Rabbi would spot the new moon. They adopted, therefore, a solar calendar based upon the best scientific and astronomical data of the time. In fact they adopted the civil calendar of the Roman Empire which had been promulgated under Julius Cæsar (hence the name Julian Calendar), as refined under Augustus Cæsar.

The Council decreed that the Resurrection would be observed on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox (March 21).† Furthermore, since the best scientific observatories were located in Alexandria at that time, the Council assigned the bishop of Alexandria the responsibility of sending out a letter to all the Church, year by year, announcing in advance when the Resurrection would be celebrated that year. This way, the whole of Christendom was sure to celebrate together a glorious Pascha/Resurrection.

The Current Situation

After a while, it got tedious to send out letters year by year. Instead of making fresh astronomical observations, people just started calculating when the full moon would occur for many years into the future. This actually worked out rather well for a while; small errors in the calculation only showed up when extrapolating for hundreds or thousands of years out. In fact the ancients were aware of the imprecision, but they devised a nineteen-year cycle based on the Julian Calendar which they considered sufficiently accurate for their purposes, over the time period of 50-100 years with which they were concerned.

Unfortunately, we have been using the 19-year cycle in calculating the date of the Resurrection ever since the fourth century without actually checking to see what the sun and moon are doing. In fact, besides the imprecision of the 19-year cycle, the Julian calendar itself is off by one day in every 133 years. In 1582, therefore, under Pope Gregory of Rome, the Julian Calendar was revised to minimize† this error. His “Gregorian” calendar is now the standard civil calendar throughout the world, and this is the reason why those who follow the Julian Calendar are thirteen days behind.† Thus the first day of spring, a key element in calculating the date of Pascha, falls on April 3 instead of March 21.

So let’s do our own calculation for the date of the Resurrection for this year (1994) according to the rule of the First Ecumenical Council: the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the first day of spring.

The Orthodox Church held an important council in 1923. The Churches that were represented at the council, including Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch, decided to adopt the Gregorian Calendar for all fixed feasts and to continue to use the Julian Calendar for the date of the Resurrection.† Let us pray that, one day soon, we can rediscover the goal of the First Ecumenical Council, that the whole Orthodox Church might adopt the most precise calendar available, and—much more important—that we might demonstrate our unity by celebrating all our feasts together, “with one accord and in the same manner.”

† The term Pascha comes from the Hebrew pesah, a yearling lamb that was sacrificed at the Jews’ spring festival. The feast itself came to be called Pascha (or Passover; see Exodus 12.5f.). We should try to use the term Pascha instead of “Easter.” Easter was a spring festival in honor of Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and sunrise. Orthodox Christians should use the terms Pascha and Resurrection instead.

† John 11.55.

† Recall that a day starts at sunset in both Jewish and Orthodox reckoning, thus Saturday begins at Sunset Friday.

† By definition, the full moon was on the 14 th day of the month.

† As well as to deal with the heresy of Arius, a new controversy raging in the Church at the time. He did not like this confusion in the religion which he had just joined.

† Note that it is redundant to add “after the Passover,” because saying “after the full moon” already takes care of that requirement—since the 14 th of Nisan, according to the old reckoning, had meant at the full moon of the first month in the spring.

† The errors can be minimized but not eliminated because a year (the length of time it takes the earth to make one revolution about the sun) is not an even multiple of days (the length of time it takes the earth to make one revolution about its own axis). There remains a fraction for which leap years can only partially make up. The Gregorian reform did not invent a new calendar but just introduced the principle of leap centuries: meaning that there would be no February 29 in any year evenly divisible by 100 unless it is also evenly divisible by 400. Thus there will be February 29, 2000, but there will be no February 29 in 2100, 2200 or 2300.

† That is, when it’s December 25 on the Julian Calendar, it is already January 7 according to the Gregorian revision. The Julian calendar will continue to lose days as time goes on.

† The Orthodox Church of Finland, however, uses the Gregorian calendar for all its calculations; thus the Orthodox of Finland are celebrating on April 3 this year. The Churches of Jerusalem, Sinai and Eastern Europe, including Russia, Serbia, Romania, on the other hand, continue to use the Julian Calendar for everything.

The Historical Development of Holy Week Services In the Orthodox/Byzantine Rite

The Paschal fast of Holy Week¹ is the most ancient part of the Great Fast.² It is already well attested by the second century, in conjunction with the rites of Christian initiation through baptism. At first spanning one or two days, the fast lengthened to four and then to a full six already by the third century. With the conversion of Constantine, the ensuing flood of people desiring to enter the Faith and imperial interest in holy places, the fourth century witnessed tremendous development in ritual for Holy Week. This evolutionary process continued in the middle ages and shows itself even in our own time.

Within the New Testament, we see little indication of a preferred time for celebrating baptism. Baptism was understood primarily as a putting off of the old in order to become part of "a society of persons that was in marked contrast to all others."³ The original emphasis was on baptism for the remission of sins and a filling with the Spirit. The stress soon evolved into baptism as a death and resurrection of the individual, as a personal participation in Christ’s suffering and exaltation.⁴ As such, Pascha became the normative occasion for baptism. As the numbers of catechumens waned, however, Lent and Holy Week were transformed to a commemoration of past events and to a time of repentance. The attendant rites have, over this course, taken on dramatic elements and a growing sense of sentimentality.

The Beginnings: Second and Third Centuries

By the second century, the very ‘structure’ of initiation in the early Church included instruction in preparation for baptism. The length of this preparation varied and often spanned several years. Then, "As many as are persuaded and believe that these things which we teach are true, and undertake to live accordingly, are taught to pray and ask God, while fasting, for the forgiveness of their sins; and we pray and fast with them"⁵ for one or two days—Saturday only, or Friday and Saturday—a fast without any food or drink.

By the mid-third century, in many but not all places, the fast had lengthened to six days. Few could have kept a week of total fast. In some places, bread and salt were eaten Monday through Thursday after the ninth hour, then, those who could, kept a total fast Friday and Saturday.⁶ On Holy Saturday, those who had been elected as being ready for illumination would

meet together as catechumens for the last time. Here they are "catechized" by undergoing a final exorcism; they renounce Satan, are anointed with the "oil of exorcism" which has been blessed along with the chrism the preceding Holy Thursday, and recite the Creed which they have memorized since hearing it in the fourth scrutiny [on the preceding Sunday]. They kneel for prayer, and are then dismissed, being told to go home "and await the hour when the grace of God in baptism shall be able to enfold you."⁷

Dionysius of Alexandria, in writing his Letter to Basiliades around 260, provides us the earliest source for an incipient ritual of Holy Week. Dionysius takes great pains to link each day and hour of Holy Week to events in Christ’s passion, sojourn in the tomb and resurrection. The Syriac Didascalia do the same.⁸ Hippolytus’ Apostolic Tradition (ca. 215) and Cyprian (d. 258) both link the hours of prayer—for Holy Week and throughout the year—with specific events during Christ’s final week.

The Formative Age: Fourth Century

Cyril of Jerusalem, in the Catechetical Homilies he delivered ca. 350, makes no mention of daily commemorations and ritual. The Cross and the Resurrection, for example, were part of a single, united celebration on Saturday night, for which the six days of fasting were simply preparation. Friday did not yet specifically commemorate the crucifixion.⁹ But the "current of the times"¹⁰ in the fourth century was a historicizing one: eschatological notions were giving way to historical commemoration.

From Jerusalem comes innovation. By the time a pilgrim from Spain named Egeria visited, between 381-385, when this same Cyril was in his final years as bishop of the Holy City, there had evolved unmistakable correlation between passion events and the services for each day. Egeria was able to describe the rites in great detail in her diary. The close proximity of the actual sites where the events of our Lord’s passion took place, and the influx of pilgrims, no doubt suggested visiting and venerating at those locations. Dix condenses well Egeria’s diary, showing "a fully developed and designedly historical series of such celebrations in which the whole Jerusalem church takes part:"¹¹

It begins on Passion Sunday with a procession to Bethany where the gospel of the raising of Lazarus is read. On the afternoon of Palm Sunday the whole church goes out to the Mount of Olives and returns in solemn procession to the city bearing branches of palm. There are evening visits to the Mount of Olives on each of the first three days of Holy Week, in commemoration of our Lord’s nightly withdrawal for the city during that week. On Maundy Thursday morning the eucharist is celebrated (for the only time in the year) in the chapel of the Cross, and not in the Martyrium; and all make their communion. In the evening after another eucharist the whole church keeps vigil at Constantine’s church of Eleona on the Mount of Olives, visiting Gethsemane after midnight and returning to the city in the morning for the reading of the gospel of the trial of Jesus. In the course of the morning of Good Friday all venerate the relics of the Cross, and then from noon to three p.m. all keep watch on the actual site of Golgotha (still left by Constantine’s architects open to the sky in the midst of a great colonnaded courtyard behind the Martyrium) with lections and prayers amid deep emotion. In the evening there is a final visit by the whole church to the Holy Sepulchre, where the gospel of the entombment is read. On Holy Saturday evening the paschal vigil still takes place much as in other churches, with its lections and prayers and baptisms….

Visitors like Egeria carried back to their native lands the memory of what they had experienced in Jerusalem and tried to emulate it in their own liturgical practices. Thus historical commemorations and stational liturgies spread quickly throughout the Christian world, for both Holy Week and the rest of the year. For example, because of the unique situation in Jerusalem, where multitudes of pilgrims descended, they would occupy the church all night in order to have a place for matins, and similarly for the other hours of prayer. Thus, in order to keep the people occupied, services and hymns were celebrated continuously. Clearly it was impossible for the bishop to preside around the clock, so services would begin without the bishop, who would then make an entrance some time later. This practice was imitated in many places, such that ever since the latter part of the fourth century the entrance of the bishop/clergy for vespers, Liturgy, etc., has moved from the opening of the service to some point later, for Hly Week and throughout the year!

Also noteworthy is that in the fourth century there developed a consensus that the full celebration of the Eucharist, always a joyful event, was inconsistent with the austerity of the fast. Instead, vespers with Communion was instituted on Wednesdays, Fridays and saints’ days,¹² though Egeria declines to attest to the practice of presanctified Communion during Holy Week during the time of her visit.

The Studite Revisions: Ninth through Fifteenth Centuries

In the ninth century, two learned brothers at the Monastery of Studios in Constantinople—Theodore the Studite and Joseph the Studite, Archbishop of Thessalonica—created a work called the Triodion.¹³ Covering the period from three Sundays before the start of Lent through Pentecost, including, of course Holy Week, they compiled and composed original hymnography, seeking to bring a return to biblical roots, particularly the Psalms and the Old Testament.¹⁴ In doing so, the Studites furthered the earlier historicizing trends and nearly obliterated baptismal themes from Lent and Holy Week texts. Their emphasis was on commemorating salvation history and drawing out ethical and ascetical teachings.

Much of their material originated in Palestine in the sixth through eighth centuries, especially from the great Lavra of St. Sabas Monastery. They intended the Triodion for monastic communities. They had no catechumens. Even in the "world" by that time only infants remained to be baptized. Partly for this reason and partly because of the general influence monastics were gaining in the Church, especially in the area of spiritual direction, the monastic rites of the Triodion began replacing the cathedral rite in the twelfth century. By the fourteenth century, the process was complete.¹⁵

Within the basic structure of the Triodion, additional hymnography was inserted up until the fifteenth century—obviously an abrupt terminus at the fall of Constantinople. It is only at the end of the 14^th and beginning of the 15^th centuries, for example that the popular enkomia¹⁶ of Matins for Holy Saturday first appear.¹⁷

It must be noted that all printed editions of the Triodion are incomplete. They represent only a selection of the material in the manuscripts, "and many of the unpublished texts are of a high standard artistically and spiritually."¹⁸

Holy Week Services As Celebrated Today

Egeria testified to historicizing and emotional tendencies beginning in the fourth century. Not only has this trend continued within the Church from then up to the present, the Orthodox Church has also been influenced by humanistic movements in the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches, particularly leanings toward the dramatic, intended to elicit sentimental responses of "feeling" in the faithful.

Nevertheless, the Church has always been conservative and doubly so when it comes to her lenten and Holy Week services. Thus, as we examine, ever so briefly, the various Holy Week rites, it should be noted that many of the differences we encounter between structures of the services for Lent/Holy Week and their usual order arise from this tendency toward archaism. It is not so much that a service has a special structure in Holy Week; rather, in Holy Week "we do it the old way."¹⁹

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

On the first three days of Holy Week, the full cycle of offices is prescribed, with distribution of Presanctified Gifts after vespers. One indication of the ancient order of these services is the instruction to offer incense with a katzion, a hand censer, instead of the modern censers on chains.

After his entry into Jerusalem, Christ spoke to the disciples about signs that would precede the Last Day (Mt. 24-25). Eschatological themes show up in the troparion of the Bridegroom and the exaposteilarion "I see thy bridal chamber…" at matins. The parables of the Ten Virgins and of the Talents pervade these three days.²⁰ On Monday we also remember the innocent suffering of the Patriarch Joseph as a type of Christ’s. The barren fig tree which Jesus cursed serves as a reminder of coming judgment. Wednesday contrasts the agreement made by Judas with the Jewish authorities to repentance with tears of the sinful woman. The Triodion texts making it clear that Judas’ fall was not so much because of his betrayal as his despair of forgiveness.

Since we understand healing and forgiveness in a holistic manner, without a soul versus body dualism, the sacrament of Holy Unction is served in many parishes on Holy Wednesday evening. This practice provides an example of a continuing evolution, a practice which is not prescribed in the Triodion or typicon. In many parishes, this sacrament replaces celebration of Holy Thursday matins.

In parish churches today, in order to schedule the services to be more accessible to attendance by the faithful, they are often served "by anticipation." For example, the typicon prescribes matins to be served at 1 a.m. This is, therefore, anticipated and the service started the evening before. This then pushes the other hours forward, such that vespers and the Presanctified Liturgy are served in the morning.

Thursday

On this day we commemorate four historical events: 1) Jesus washing his disciples’ feet; 2) institution of the Eucharist; 3) the agony in Gethsemane; 4) betrayal by Judas. A full eucharistic Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served in combination with vespers. Repeated use of the hymn "Of thy mystical supper…" combines the themes of Holy Communion and Judas’ treachery. It is used even as the cheroubikon, the hymn that accompanies the transfer of the gifts.²¹ At this Liturgy the Holy Chrism is also consecrated in patriarchal cathedrals or their equivalents.

A foot-washing rite often follows the Divine Liturgy. Here the bishop or other proestamenos renders a dramatic re-enactment of Christ’s washing the feet of his disciples, usually twelve presbyters or deacons.

Friday

Three importants variants from the usual order of matins are found on Holy Friday, Holy Saturday and on the Feast itself. These exhibit a "particularly pronounced dramatic character in which the symbolic aspect of the liturgical action is greatly emphasized."²² This matins is a solemn service, with many extra hymns, in a variety of tones and twelve Gospel lessons, with lighted candles held by the faithful; yet it is interesting that the Great doxology is to be read rather than sung.²³ The matins of Holy Friday clearly harks back to the Jerusalem practice of passion services celebrated at the locations where the events took place, as described in the twelve Gospel lessons which we read at this service.

After the fifth Gospel lesson and during the last of the fifteen antiphons of the service, we find a recent development in the rite: a procession with the Cross is made in Greek/Mediterranean churches. Having originated in Antioch, it was adopted in Constantinople in 1824. After the Cross is placed in the middle of the church, a figure of Christ is transfixed thereto with nails, then all venerate it.

The sufferings of Christ form the theme of the Holy Friday services: mockery, crown of thorns, scourging, nails, thirst, vinegar and gall, crying out , plus the confession of the good thief. It is vital to note, however, that passion is never separated from Resurrection, even in the darkest moments: "We venerate thy Passion, O Christ: Show us also thy glorious Resurrection."²⁴

The Hours take on a special, fuller form on this day, called Royal Hours. First, Third, Sixth and Ninth hours of prayer each include a Prophecy, an Epistle and a Gospel Lesson.

We find more late, "dramatic" developments—not mentioned in the Triodion—in the vespers service. In the Greek/Mediterranean usage, at the conclusion of the Gospel lesson, the corpus of Christ on the Cross is taken down. In those churches which practice this custom, the vespers service itself has come to be known as "Un-nailing Vespers."

Another, slightly older—yet still recent—development of the fifteenth or sixteenth century²⁵ is a procession with the epitaphios²⁶ during the aposticha, where it is carried around the church and deposited on a decorated bier in the center of the church.

The vespers on this day may be combined with the Divine Liturgy if the Feast of the Annunciation fall on this day.²⁷ A Presanctified Liturgy was celebrated on Holy Friday up until at least the middle of the eleventh century. By 1200, however, it disappeared abruptly.²⁸ It is interesting to note that while in the Byzantine practice the Presanctified on Holy Friday has dropped out, this is the only day of the year in which the Latin rite has retained the Presanctified Liturgy.

Saturday

It is on the Sabbath, the "Day of Rest," that truly no Liturgy is properly prescribed (the vesperal Liturgy now commonly celebrated on Saturday morning or afternoon being the original vigil and Liturgy of the Feast). This is the one Saturday of the year where the Eastern Church prescribes and permits fasting.

The matins of Holy Saturday begins like any other daily matins, up through "God is the Lord…" and a set of troparia. Then the Triodion prescribes kathisma 17 (Ps. 118 LXX) in three stases, with each verse followed by a special megalynarion in praise of the buried Christ. Little litanies separate the stases. Next there follow the resurrectional troparia known as the evlogetaria. Daily matins then continues except that there is no magnificat on the ninth ode of the canon. At the Trisagion at the end of the Great Doxology, since the 15^th/16^th century introduction of a procession with the epitaphios at "Un-nailing Vespers," we process around the outside of the church with the epitaphios, passing under it as we re-enter the church. Then we have the troparion of Holy Saturday, a prokeimenon, and a reading from the Prophecy of Ezekiel. Then we sing another prokeimenon, followed by an Epistle lesson, Alleluia as at the Liturgy, and a Gospel lesson. Finally, we have litanies and a conclusion like that of Sunday matins.²⁹

At this unique matins service, we find a

constantly rising intensity of the musical tension curve: the service begins with the somber fifth tone, becoming somewhat more joyful in the second stasis, and still brighter during the third stasis, sung in the festive third tone. The first high point is reached with the resurrectional troparia, while the second high point occurs during the Great Doxology, especially in the solemn trisagion during the procession. The heightened mood continues through the Scripture readings and to the conclusion of the service.³⁰

The order of the service given above is that found in the Triodion. Evolution of this service continues, however, such that modern Greek/Mediterranean practice is to delay the kathisma with its megalynaria until later in the service, to after the canon. Instead of being up front in the service, this relocation follows a general trend in the Greek church of moving "high points" to later in the services, so that a greater number of the people who arrive habitually late to services will be able to be in attendance.³¹

While Christ has descended to Hades,³² the theme of the enkomia³³ "is watchful expectation rather than mourning. God observes a Sabbath rest in the tomb, while we await his Resurrection, "bringing new life and recreating the world."³⁴

Conclusion

Historicizing and dramatic elements have shaped our Holy Week observance into the majestic Byzantine rites which we know today. The process began in the first century and continues down to our own age. Regretfully, however, many of our people turn out for these beautiful services and are not seen the rest of the year. The services have become such that people want to observe them as they would a beautiful opera, in small doses, but they fail to connect the paschal events with their own lives. The celebration has become so much a commemoration of something so long ago, that it is time we begin sending the pendulum back on this trend and find ways to recover the eschatological dimensions of Pascha. People need to recover the sense of something happening to them, for which they need to prepare, something that sets them apart from the rest of mankind, something that affects the way they live and relate to one another.

Theodore and the Studites devised the Triodion precisely because the form of the celebration at the time, with its emphasis on baptism, failed to connect to a society where there were no adult catechumens. They, therefore, transformed Lent and Holy Week to a time of repentance and renewal of one’s baptismal commitment. Now, however, people are ignorant of the Triodion, and the fast is viewed as no more than a set of external dietary rules. Following the example of these ninth century saints, we, in our own time must strive to find ways to bring back a personal connection to the historical events.

A Selected Bibliography

Deiss, Lucien. Springtime of the Liturgy: Liturgical Texts of the First Four Centuries. Tr. Matthew J. O’Connell. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1979.

The Didache. Tr. and annotated by James A. Kleist. In Vol. 6 of Ancient Christian Writers. Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe, eds. New York: Newman Press, 1948.

Dix, Dom Gregory. The Shape of the Liturgy. 2^nd ed. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1945.

Egeria. Diary of a Pilgrimage. Tr. and annotated by George E. Gingras. Vol. 38 of Ancient Christian Writers. Johannes Quasten, Walter J. Burghardt and Thomas Comerford Lawler, eds. New York: Newman Press, 1970.

Kavanagh, Aidan. The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation. New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1978.

Mary, Mother and Kallistos Ware, trs. The Lenten Triodion. London: Faber and Faber, 1984.

Nassar, Seraphim. Divine Prayers and Services of the Catholic Orthodox Church of Christ. 3^rd ed. Englewood, New Jersey: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 1979.

Papadeas, George L. Greek Orthodox Holy Week and Easter Services. Greek and English. Published by the author, 1977 ed.

Schmemann, Alexander. Great Lent. Revised ed. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974.

________. Of Water and the Spirit: A Liturgical Study of Baptism. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974.

Schulz, Hans-Joachim. The Byzantine Liturgy. Tr. Matthew J. O’Connell. New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1986.

Taft, Robert. Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding. Washington D.C.: The Pastoral Press, 1984.

Triodion. Greek. New, expanded ed. Athens: Phos (no date).

Vaporis, Nomikos Michael. The Services for Holy Week and Easter. Brookline, Massachusetts: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1993.

Uspensky, Nicholas. Evening Worship in the Orthodox Church. Tr. and ed. Paul Lazor. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1985.

von Gardner, Johann. Orthodox Worship and Hymnography. Vol. 1 of Russian Church Singing. Tr. Vladimir Morosan. Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1980.

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¹ The term "Holy Week," attested in Rome and the West by the fourth century, is equivalent to the "Great Week" used in the East from the same time. Egeria makes note of the difference in terms, Diary of a Pilgrimage, 30.

² Known as "Lent" in the English-speaking world, from the Old English lencten, meaning spring.

³ Aidan Kavanagh, The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation (New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1978), pp. 23ff.

⁴ Cf. Rom. 6.1-14, where St. Paul interweaves both of these dimensions.

⁵ Justin, Aplology, quoted in Kavanagh, p. 43. See also: Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, who cites Irenaeus; Tertullian, On the Fasts, Hippolytus; Apostolic Tradition.

⁶ Kallistos Ware, "The Meaning of the Great Fast," The Lenten Triodion, tr. Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware (London: Faber and Faber, 1984), p. 29.

⁷ Kavanagh, p. 61, quoting from the Gelasian Sacramentary.

⁸ Robert Taft, Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding (Washington, D.C.: The Pastoral Press, 1984), pp. 23-24.

⁹ Ware, p. 30.

¹⁰ Dom Gregory Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, 2^nd ed. (London: Adam and Charles Black, 1945), p. 348.

¹¹ P. 348.

¹² Council of Laodicea, canon 49. Trullo, canon 52, made an exception for the Annunciation, however, when it came to be celebrated on March 25. Ware, p. 49, n. 58.

¹³ So called because they reduced the number of biblical odes used in canons for weekday matins to just three from the usual nine. Later manuscript copies and printed editions of the Triodion split the work into two volumes: the Lenten Triodion and the Pentecost Triodion, or even simply Triodion and Pentecostarion.

¹⁴ Ware, pp. 40f. In practice, though the new hymnography was scripturally based, it superseded and displaced actual scriptural texts from the services.

¹⁵ Ware, p. 43.

¹⁶ What are sometimes called "Lamentations" in English, in a flagrant mistranslation.

¹⁷ Ware, p. 42.

¹⁸ Ware, pp. 42f. Note further that the English edition of the Triodion published by Faber and Faber does not include any of the Pentecost volume. It gives full texts only for the first week of Lent and for Lazarus Saturday through Holy Week. Otherwise it gives little more than Sunday texts, and even there it includes neither the syanaxaria for the Sundays and for Holy Week nor the synodikon for the Sunday of Orthodoxy. Some of these additional texts are available in mimeograph form and paper bound from the Monastery of the Veil of the Mother of God, Bussy-en-Othe, France.

¹⁹ As we discuss the services for the six days of Holy Week, we face the question, "To which day does vespers belong? Given that the day begins at sunset, does the service which bridges two days belong to the day that is closing or to the one that is beginning?" Orthodox service books have not always been very consistent here. We will include vespers with the old day, to avoid difficulty with Divine Liturgies, which may be delayed and combined with vespers on fast days, so as not to break the fast early with the joy of the Bridegroom’s presence in the Eucharist. Besides the Presanctified Liturgies, the Liturgy on Holy Thursday and possibly for the Annunciation are cases in point.

²⁰ Ware, pp. 59f.

²¹ The cherubic hymn was introduced into the order of the Liturgy by the Emperor Justinian in 573 or 574. For the Liturgy of St. Basil, the proper, original cheroubikon is "Let all mortal flesh keep silence…", borrowed from the Liturgy of St. James and now retained only on Holy Saturday. See Hans-Joachim Schulz, The Byzantine Liturgy, tr. Matthew J. O’Connell (New York: Pueblo Publishing Company, 1986), pp. 35-37.

²² Johann von Gardner, Orthodox Worship and Hymnography, vol 1 of Russian Church Singing, tr. Vladimir Morosan (Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1980), p. 84.

²³ von Gardner, p. 87.

²⁴ Ware, p. 61.

²⁵ Ware, p. 62.

²⁶ A specially painted or embroidered shroud. At one point this was the antimension from the holy table.

²⁷ For those churches which observe fixed feasts according to the Gregorian calendar and Pascha according to the Julian calendar, the Annunciation will always fall before Lazarus Saturday. Despite directions in the typicon and Triodion that the Annunciation is always to be celebrated on the 25^th of March, Greek practice in this century has delayed observance of the Annunciation to Bright Monday if it should fall anywhere between Holy Thursday and Pascha.

²⁸ Ware, p. 62, n. 81.

²⁹ This is basically a resurrectional-type matins, and the Greek/Mediterranean custom calls for the clergy to be fully vested in bright, gold vestments.

³⁰ von Gardner, p. 88.

³¹ As in moving the matins Gospel for Sundays and feast days to between the 8^th and 9^th odes of the canon.

³² Not hell!

³³ Praises, not lamentations!

³⁴ Ware, pp. 61f.