By Fr. Demetrios S. Kavadas
Word Magazine, May 1994
I was ready to begin this article and suddenly I noticed that I have eight different depictions of Christ on the walls of my office. Each one of them has a message for me. All of them have a strange illumination. Joy and sadness blend mysteriously. Majesty and humility are simultaneously expressed. Austerity and friendliness are combined miraculously, as if He wants to tell me constantly: “I will be with you always” (Matt. 28:20). Other times, when He sees me depressed, He lifts me up with His look: “The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world” (John 16:33). So often, when I fight various “wars,” His face assures me of what I need frequently on the battlefield against evil with a divine gift: “Peace be with you” (John 20:21).
Our eyes see His face so frequently during the traditional services of the Orthodox Holy Week. First we see His tears when His “dear friend” (John 11:3) died; but out of His tears, the Son of God offers life to Lazarus and He foretells to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25).
Look at His face closely when you kiss the Icon of Palm Sunday. Orthodox Iconographers have captured His Royal reaction as He enters triumphantly in Jerusalem. Yet His face is sad. He wants us to know how hypocritical we are. We offer Him glory and later ... we crucify Him.
For three nights (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) our Mother Church places Him in the middle of our worship as the “Bridegroom.” His head is covered with the crown of thorns. Blood covers part of His bitter facial appearance. His hands are tied and He looks upon us with a “heart full of trouble” (John 12:27). The interior of the Church is dark and His voice repeats what He said “to the crowd standing there” (John 12:29): “Continue on your way while you have THE LIGHT, so that darkness will not come upon you. Believe in THE LIGHT while you have it, so that you will be the people of the light” (John 12:35-36).
The LIGHT shines from His face, even when He hangs from the cross. We see it Holy Thursday night and even stronger on Good Friday night. The lights in Church are brilliant during the “Epitaphios” Service. We also hold candles. Their flames prove to us that the Light of His Face cannot be destroyed; for He has conquered death with His Death.
“Each flower blends with a candle flame that cover now
thy Catafalque’s nude frame,
and mixing wisdom with beauty’s price
becomes His Glory, His immortal prize.”
The Light of His Face can be seen even by blind men at the stroke of Midnight — the dawn of Easter Day. One single light out of His Sacred Altar illumines our spiritual lives. The unwaning light is the Risen Christ. The priest proclaims this truth through the words of the ancient Byzantine hymn: “Come and receive from the unwaning Light, and glorify Christ, who arose from the dead.” […]
* * *
Holy Martyr Paphnutius, April 19
Troparion Tone 4
As a priest thou didst offer the Holy Sacrifice, and as a Martyr thou was thyself a burnt offering. O Hieromartyr Paphnutius, God's steadfast Athlete and Treasury of grace, bestow grace on us who praise thee.
Kontakion Tone 2
Thou didst redden thy priestly vesture in the streams of thy blood and run joyfully to the heavenly tabernacle, O blessed Paphnutius, and cry out to the Saviour: Thou art the Fountain of Life, pouring compassion on us all.
