The post – festive period of Easter lasts for forty days in memory of Christ’s forty days on earth after His resurrection. These forty days naturally include the days of Easter Week. The purpose of this post festive period is to represent Christ to us in His greatest glory and to make known to us the path which we must follow if we are to become partakers of that glory.
The Sunday of Saint Thomas the Apostle:
This is also called the Sunday of the “Anti – Pasch, “which means “instead of the Pasch,” because on this Sunday, Easter is being renewed for the first time. Another name for this Sunday is “the Sunday of Renewal” or “New Sunday.”
On the Sunday the church commemorates the risen Christ’s appearance to the Apostles and, among them, to doubting Thomas. Hearing of Christ’s resurrection, St. Thomas refused to believe unless he himself saw and touched Jesus. Our risen Lord granted his wish and came to him, changing his doubt into a magnificent profession of faith. St. Thomas is thus the great example for men of a worldly frame of mind, turned away from God. The Saviour lets His five wounds shine against the darkness and says to them, “Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” The Lord Jesus kept the five wounds in His glorified body that He might exercise the incomparable power over men’s hearts until the end of the world. This divine wisdom is praised in the prokimenon: Great is our Lord and mighty in power; to His wisdom there is no limit.” The kontakion gives a poetic resume of this Sunday: “O Christ our God, with an eager hand Thomas explored Your live – giving side. When You entered through the locked doors, he cried out with the other apostles: My Lord and my God. Also on this Sunday the “Artos,” a holy bread blessed on Easter Sunday, is distributed to the Apostles.
The Sunday of the Myrrh – Bearing Women
This Sunday is dedicated to the holy women know as the “myrrh – bearing” women. At the beginning of His public life, Jesus often came to Galilee. A group of holy women followed Him, ministering to the needs out of their own resources, and even accompanied Him to the foot of the cross. On the day of Christ’s resurrection, they went to the grave of Jesus to anoint His body for burial, thereby observing a contemporary Jewish custom for which there was no time on the previous Friday. Not knowing that Christ had already risen from the dead, they arrived at the tomb where they saw that the stone had been rolled back and an Angel clothed in white was sitting at the door. Seven of these women are known by name: Mary Magdalene, Mary, the wife of Cleophas; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, a steward to Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of James and John; and Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus.
We also remember on this day Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, two secret disciples of Christ. Joseph was a noble and rich man of the city of Ramah, also called Ariamathea; Nicodemus was a leader among the pharisees. After the death of Christ they had the courage to claim His body and lay it in Joseph’s own tomb, newly hewn out of the rock.
The Sunday of the Paralytic
In the temple near Jerusalem there was a certain pool called in Hebrew Bethsaida. Here the Jewish priests washed the animals designated for sacrifices. This pool, however, also had a miraculous quality. Once a year an angel was said to descend from heaven and move the waters. The first to enter the pool after this “troubling of waters” was healed of his infirmities. It happened that as Jesus was passing by this pool, He saw a man but unable to reach the pool in time. Instead, our Lord Himself made him well.
Every sinner can be spiritually healed if he turns with faith and confidence to the risen Christ. We cannot complain that we have no man who would carry us to the miraculous pool. Christ is our healer. It is He who helps us to rise, who heals us, who speaks the saving words and gives us strength. A man who wishes to rise need not wait for the “troubling of the waters” for new intellectual ideas, for moments of inspiration, or for some special burst of enthusiasm. The risen Christ is here, and with Him he can rise whenever he sincerely wishes to.
“The paralytic was not healed by the pool, but the Word renewed him” (stichera of matins). The Word of Christ can heal us also, for it is more powerful and more effective than any medicine, than any merely human idea, culture, or political movement. We have only to pray: “With Your divine protection, O Lord, as You once raised the paralytic, now life up my soul paralyzed with all kinds of sins and evil deeds of wickedness, so that as saved I many cry out to You: “Glory be to Your might, O merciful Christ” (kontakion).
The Wednesday after this Sunday is called “the Wednesday of Mid – Pentecost.” The time from Easter to Pentecost, is called Pentecostal, after the Greek word, “pentekonta” – fifty.” It lasts for exactly fifty days. This “middle Wednesday” marks the halfway point of the season.
The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
On this day the Church recalls the conversation of Christ with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:5 – 42).On His sway to Galilee Jesus stopped to rest at Jacob’s well, near Sichem. Here He met a Samaritan woman and began a conversation with her, explaining to her the profound truths of faith. The whole incident is vividly described in the stichera of matins: Our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, the Source of Life, came to the well of Jacob, the head of the patriarchs and was about to drink water at the hand of a Samaritan woman. But she refused to serve Him, telling Him that the Jews had no dealing with the Samaritans. And yet, through the sweetness of His words, the wise Creator so changed her heart that she sought to obtain from Him the water of ever lasting life and, having received it, proclaimed to all, saying: “Come and see the Knower of secrets, God Himself who has appeared in the flesh that mankind may be saved by Him” (stichera of vespers).
According to legend, this woman, once converted by Christ, left the world, and retired into the desert to lead such an austere and penitential life that she became a saint, known as St. Phontina.
The Sunday of the Man Born Blind
On His way to the temple of Jerusalem, Jesus met a man born blind and miraculously restored his sight. The Gospel of the Sunday (Jn 9:1 – 38) gives a detailed account of the whole incident. The Liturgy properly evaluates the various details of this great miracle. First here is the story itself: “Passing through the temple, Jesus saw a man who had been blind since birth. He had compassion on him and put clay on his eyes, then said to him: Go to the pool of Siloe, and wash! And he washed, his sight was restored, and he proclaimed the glory of God. But his relatives said unto him: Who opened thine eyes that no living creature can heal? And he answered them, saying: A man named Jesus. He told me to go and wash in the pool of Siloe, and now I see. He is truly Christ, the Messias, of whom Moses wrote in the Law. He is the Saviour of our souls” (stichera of vespers).
The Jews believed that his man’s blindness was God’s punishment for some sin. They forgot that man’s troubles are not always punishments. To see sin behind every trouble is superficial, even bad theology. Sufferings are sometimes sent to us in order that “the works of God should be made manifest”. The liturgy understands this, but it also speaks of the spiritual blindness which is an even greater tragedy, so we ask God in the words of the liturgy to be saved from this deeper blindness: “With eyes spiritually blind I come to You, O Christ, and like the man who was blind since birth I cry out to You with repentance: “To those who are in darkness, You are the shining light” (kontakion). And again, “Enlighten, O Lord, my spiritual eyes made blind by the gloom of sin. Anoint them, O compassionate one with humility. Wash them with the tears of repentance” (stichera of matins).
The Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Nicene Council
This Sunday recalls the victory of the true faith over its enemies and affirms the importance of the First Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea in 325 A.D. The council convened by the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, with the sanction of Pope Sylvester I, lasted two months and twelve days. About two hundred fifty bishops were present. Hosius, bishop of Cordova, attended as legate of the Pope. To this council, we owe the Nicene Creed, the defence of the divinity of the Son of God against the heresy of Arius, and the fixing of the date of Easter.
The Liturgy lauds the wisdom of the Fathers who “proclaimed You, preaching that You, Son of God, are equal to the Father on the throne and to the Spirit also.” One stichera of vespers gives a short resume of the council: “The foolish Arius divided the headship of the Most Holy Trinity into three dissimilar and alien substances. Wherefore, the God – mantled Fathers, having like Elias the Thesbite come together with energy and burning with zeal, did cut off with the sword of the Spirit him who is marked with shame because of his blasphemous teaching, they being inspired by the Spirit.”
The Sunday of all Saints
This Sunday closes the Pentecostal season. On this day the Church celebrates the memory of the saints of God, our shining models of virtue and the benefactors of the human race. Every saint has his own proper feast at some time in the course of the year; but since the number of saints is ever increasing and will increase continually to the end of the world, the Church designates one day a year in the year on which the memory of all the saints may be celebrated. The liturgy exhorts us to pay honour to these models of virtue, asking them to intercede with God to have mercy on us. “Come, O believers, let us today stand in order and rejoice with true worship. Let us extol praises the memory of the all – honoured, all – revered, saints, saying aloud: Rejoice, O glorious apostles, prophets, martyrs, and bishops! Rejoice, O company of the righteous and just! Rejoice, O rank of honoured women…! (stichera of vespers).
Ascension Period
The Feast of the Ascension
On the Thursday after the Sunday of the Man Born Blind, which is the fortieth day after Easter, we celebrated the feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ. The feast commemorates the return of our Redeemer to Heaven. It is a day of victory for our Lord, a day of triumph that He fully merited. Christ left the throne of His Father, humbled Himself in the womb of the Virgin, lay in Bethlehem in a rough stable, fled from His own people into Egypt and spent years in Nazareth as a common labourer. Tirelessly He searched for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His own brethren repaid Him with nothing but unkindness and misunderstanding. Then, beginning on the Mount of Olives and ending on Golgotha, He patiently paid the price of our redemption. All this He did because He loved us, because He sought to free us from Satan’s power. This work is now complete. He returns to heaven as a conqueror. The Son stands before the Father by whom He was sent and whose will He so perfectly performed.
The Ascension as a feast does not appear in the brief lists of Church festivals given by Tertullian and Origen. The first witness for it is Eusebius. He calls it a “high festival” in the treatise he composed on the discussion concerning the date of Easter at the first Ecumenical Council in 325 A.D. In earliest documents mentioning it, the feast of Ascension is called “the Taking up (into heaven)” after Luke 9:51. Numerous sermons among the works of the Fathers give additional evidence for the existence of this feat. St. Augustine in his letter to Januarius, is inclined to attribute the keeping of the feast to a decree of the apostles. One thing is certain: as soon as persecution ceased, the feast of the Ascension made its way into all parts of the Church. It was impossible that the concluding act of our Saviour’s earthly life should remain unnoticed among festivals and in the liturgy. The Empress Helena had already ordered to be built on the Mount Olives a splendid basilica which was unfortunately, destroyed by Saracens and has never been rebuilt.
The liturgy reflects the sombre mood of the apostles, who at first felt lonely and uncertain without the Lord. “When the Apostles saw You ascending the clouds, O life – giving Christ, they frowned deeply and mourned with tears, saying: Do not leave us orphans…” (stichera of vespers). But at the same time they were filled “with great joy” because they “were gladdened with the promise of the Holy Spirit”. The troparion, among many other hymns, describes this joy: “You ascended in glory, O Christ our God, and delighted the disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit; through this blessing they were assured that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world”.
For us too the Ascension is an occasion of deepest rejoicing. The glorification of Christ in this mystery is also our glorification. It is the elevation of our human nature. Our nature now shares divine honour as, in human form, Christ our brother enters heaven. The future is no longer cloudy. We will be with Christ. We will be at home, for He is our way. We amend the selfless words of Thomas who said, “Let us go to live with Him!”
The feast of the Ascension, with its post – festive periods, lasts nine days. The concluding of this feast’s cycle falls upon the Friday of the following week
Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy spirit upon the apostles. This happened fifty days after the resurrection. on an ancient Jewish festival called, in the Pentateuch, the Feast of Weeks (2 Mc. 12:32)) since, it was celebrated exactly seven weeks after the Passover. As it came approximately fifty days after Passover, it was also called, even in pre – Christian times, “Pentecost,” from the Greek word for fiftieth. The Feast of Weeks was to the Jews only the conclusion of the harvest, in thanksgiving for which bread made from the newly gathered wheat was presented to God as a sacrifice. It was also the annual memorial of the promulgation of the Law of Mt. Sinai. The Mosaic Church dated its beginning from the same day.
Pentecost can be considered as Easter’s twin. It brings the Easter season to a second climax. Christ’s wonderful work of redemption reached true completion with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost also marks the beginning of the work and activity of the Holy Spirit. Before His departure, Jesus promised that He would not leave us orphans. He would send the Paraclete, the comforter, who would teach us all things. Thus, Pentecost is, in a certain way, the feast of the Holy Spirit. In the Eastern Church, Pentecost is regarded as the final revelation of the dogma of the Holy Trinity. Most of the hymns of the liturgy glorify this mystery. At Vespers we sing, “Let us praise the consubstantial Trinity, the Father and the Son with the Holy Spirit, for thus did all the Prophets preach, and the apostles and martyrs also.” Another stichera of vespers reads: “Come, O nations, let us worship the three – personal God – head, which we all worship…”
Without doubt, this feast has been observed in the Church since apostolic times (Acts 2:1). From the writings of “tertullian it is evident that Pentecost, together with Easter, was already so well established that it must have been inexistence fro some time. The Apostolic Constitutions state that Pentecost is to be regarded as a high festival because on it the Lord Jesus sent down the Holy Spirit.
The Liturgy of Pentecost clearly affirms the divinity of the Holy Spirit beyond all doubt. It is almost paradoxical that in the East, where the “Filioque” was held up to question, the liturgical books profess the true doctrine of the Holy Spirit so clearly. The whole Pentecostal liturgy abounds with such description of the Holy Spirit as: “He is consubstantial with Father and Son and reigns together with them;” “He is our Lord;” “He is eternal who always was, and will be;” “The Holy Spirit is in union with the Father and the Son, known as Life and life – giver, Light and light – giver, good by nature and Fountain of goodness, through whom the Father is revealed, the Son is glorified.”
At the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, together with three is sung in honour of the Blessed Trinity, together with three rather lengthy prayers composed by St. Basil to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit.
On this day, churches and private homes are decked with green branches and green flowers; this is why Pentecost is also called the “Green Holy Day.” Other names for Pentecost are “Whitsunday,” “Holy Sunday,” or “Rusalia.”
Pentecost is the feast when the Holy Spirit goes forth to conquer, to shape, and to created, especially in the form of three great graces: Love, zeal, and the spirit of prayer. The first grace of love is the essence of the day, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love; Pentecost is the most sublime revelation of love. Love is born at Christmas, grown through suffering on Golgotha and becomes glowing, conquering and victorious at Pentecost. The second grace, zeal is what St. John the Baptist called the “baptism of fire.” Jesus Himself said that He came to “cast fire on earth” and wished it to burn. This is the fire that still burns in the veins of the Church, praying for and longing for sanctity. The third grace of Pentecost, the spirit of prayer, is the very bread of the Holy Spirit. We have to beg for this spirit of prayer and guard it zealously. When we have won it, we must give thanks for it. If we lack it, we must seek it. Grace and prayer go together.
The whole week after Pentecost is free from fast and the faithful are permitted to eat meat the whole week. The Monday following Pentecost is the Feast of the Holy Trinity
The Sundays After Pentecost
From Pentecost to the beginning of our preparation for the following Eastern Sundays are known as the ordinary Sundays. The first in this series of Sundays is the All Saints and the last, the one before Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, is the Sunday of Zacchaeus. There are usually 32 of these Sundays in all, but their number is subject to change according to the date of Easter.
These Sundays are either ordinary or festive. Ordinary Sundays have no special liturgical peculiarity, but merely follow one another in consecutive order: first, second,, third Sunday after Pentecost… There are, however, seven Sundays called festive ones, with a special liturgical significance and proper office. They do not coincide with the same ordinary Sundays every year because their position is determined by immovable feasts, where as ordinary Sundays are dependent on the movable feasts. The following are the seven festive Sundays:
(1) The second Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord called also the Sunday of the Patriarchs or the Fore fathers;
(2) The Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord, called the Sunday of the Holy Fathers;
(3) The Sunday after the Nativity of our Lord, called the Sunday of the Fathers or the Ancestors of our Lord;
(4) The Sunday before Epiphany;
(5) The Sunday after Epiphany;
(6) The Sunday before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross;
(7) The Sunday after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
The Typicon designates exactly 32 Gospels for the period between Pentecost and the Sunday of Zacchaeus. Consequently, if there are fewer than 32 Sundays after Pentecost in a given year there will more Gospels than needed. If, however, the number of Sundays should exceed 32, the additional Gospels will be taken from the festive Sundays. The festive Sundays have a Gospel of their own, which is read together with the ordinary Gospel of the Sunday. If one or several Gospels are needed at the end of an especially long post – Pentecostal period, then festive Gospels are used or the ordinary gospels are repeated.
Basil Shereghy