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The Pascal Period The Resurrection Period For a long time, by many prayers, liturgical services and ceremonies, the Church has been preparing us for the glorious day of Christ’s resurrection, Easter Sunday. Hoping that during Lent everybody had an opportunity to be cleansed from his personal sins, the Church now celebrates externally and with beautiful joyous ceremonies the final triumph and life-giving resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. After the long ages of darkness brought about by original sin, after the seemingly endless expectation of the prophets, after the thirty hidden years and the three years of public life, after the frightful passion which had seemed to be the end of all hope, after the three days in the depth of the tomb, behold: Christ is risen! The time of weeping is over now is the time for joy. Christ’s resurrection is the greatest miracle. It is the most divine and the least human, for it took place when the Man-Christ was in the grave. We now know that Christ is God and we rejoice. The festivities of Easter begin with the Resurrection Services. It takes place at midnight or early in the morning, while darkness still prevails. The priest, vested in full priestly vestments incenses the tomb and removes the plashchanitsia, placing it on the altar where it remains until Ascension. Soon after this, there is a procession around the church during which the people chant the troparion: “Your resurrection, O Christ our Saviour, the angels praise in Heaven. Grant us on earth with pure heart to glorify You.” Wherever it is not possible to have a procession outside of the church, it is held inside. This procession symbolizes the myrrh-bearing women who “very early in the morning, the first day of the week” came to the tomb to anoint the body of the Lord. Following the procession, Resurrection matins begin. Preceded by candle bearers and by bearers of the processional cross, church banners, a picture of the resurrection and the Gospel book, the priest goes to the main church doors and from the outside, after incensing the closed doors, he intones: “Glory be to the holy, consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, always now and ever, and forever and ever.” After the people answer with “Amen,” the priest sings the glorious troparion: “Christ has risen from the dead, by death, He conquered death, and to those in the graves, he granted life.” Whereupon the church bells peal for the first time since the previous Thursday night. After the celebration finishes, the whole congregation burst into a joyous, jubilant singing of the same troparion twice. But all this is only the beginning of the jubilation. The priest sings to the Risen Christ, “Let God arise and His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before Him.” The congregation replies spontaneously: Christ has risen from the dead-Christos voskrese…..” “As smoke is driven away so let them be driven away, as wax melts before the fire….,” the priest continues. Again a thundering Christos Voskrese … closes the priest’s intonation. “so let the wicked perish at the presence of God, but let the righteous rejoice,” proclaims the celebrant. Another Christos voskrese… Then, “This is the day which the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” Another Christos voskrese … In conclusion the celebrant again sings, Christos voskrese… As he reaches the words, “ … and to those in the graves He granted life,” he strikes the doors with the cross. They are then opened and he enters, followed by the entire congregation. The priest in front of the closed doors represents the angel announcing the joyful news of the resurrection. The people represent the myrrh-bearing women. The striking of the doors with the cross and their opening symbolizes the fact that Christ by His death on the cross opened for us the gates of Heaven. The priest comes to the altar and, after singing the Great Litany, begins the Easter Canon, the Canon of the Resurrection. This Canon, composed by St. John Damascene (675 -748 A.D.) is a series of hymns written according to certain rules, hence its name “canon (rule).” It is a type of liturgical poetry, especially interesting because of its specific form and content. Similar hymns appeared in the East already around the middle of the seventh century. It replaced the kontakion, a type of liturgical poetry composed of 24 short odes or strophes with the purpose of conveying to the people a certain religious message. The canon of the Resurrection, as any other canon, is composed of nine odes, with the exception of the second one, each containing three or four troparia, the first of which is called an “irmos.” The first troparion or “irmos” contains the chief theme of the ode and serves as a model for other troparia of that particular ode. The Canon of the Resurrections is a hymn of victory, both an expression and a description of the joy and fruits of Christ’s victory as crowned by His glorious resurrection. As the Jewish Passover was celebrated to commemorate the exodus of the Jews from Egyptian captivity, so also is the Christian Easter is an exodus “from death to life and from the earth to heaven.” A certain victorious atmosphere pervades the entire canon. Perhaps the third troparion of the first ode expression this mood best: “Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth exult. Let, moreover, the whole universe, both visible and invisible, celebrate: for Christ has risen, joy eternal.” The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has a slight deviation from its ordinary celebration… Immediately after the initial invocation, the celebrant sings the Easter troparion in order to emphasize the joy and solemn happiness brought by the glorious resurrection of Christ. The Gospels, taken from John 1:-17, is divided into twelve verses. After reading each verse, the celebrant pauses and all the bells are rung. The Gospel is read in various languages, signifying that the redemptive work of Christ applies to all peoples, to the whole world. During the Eucharistic commemorations, instead of usual hymn in honour of the Mother of God, “It is truly proper to glorify you…” the Angelic Salutation from the Resurrection Service with the irmos of the ninth ode is sung: “Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem…” After the Communion, all hymns are replaced by the Easter troparion. A special feature of Easter is the blessing of the Easter food. Cleansed in body and soul, it is only right that our food also should be blessed so that we may in every way enjoy our pasch - great, solemn and sanctified - the feast of Christ glorious and victorious resurrection. During vespers, instead of the usual introductory prayers and Psalm 103, we repeat many times the Easter troparion because the resurrection of Christ is the crowning point of all the prophecies of the Old Testament. During the procession around the altar the priest carries the Gospel book and after the prokimenon reads the section which describes the apparition of the first Easter Sunday and the doubting of St. Thomas the Apostle. At the end of vespers, the Easter sticheras are sung while the people kiss the cross. Easter is celebrated publicly as a solemn feast for three days. Liturgically, it is observed for the whole week, called “Bright Week”, and its post-festive period lasts until the Ascension, that is, for 39 days. The week following Easter Sunday is known as “Bright Week”, and is noted for the following liturgical particularities: (a) For every public service the priest must be vested in full priestly vestments. (b) Matins are the same every day, with the exception of the laudatory sticheras (na “chvalite…”). (c) Every day the hours are those of Easter Sunday. (d) At the beginning of every service, after the initial invocation, the Easter troparion is sung three times to indicate that the fact of resurrection inspires every spiritual act and every liturgical service. By singing the troparion three times the Church also indicates that, although only the times the Church also indicates that, although only the Second Person became incarnate, each Person of the Holy Trinity cooperated in our redemption. (e) During the Divine Liturgy the Trisagion is replaced by the verse from Galations: “All you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, alleluia.” (f) Throughout Easter Week, all blessings are given with the cross and not merely with the hand. (g) To indicate the Christ’s resurrection opened heaven for us the royal doors stand open. (h) There is no fast and meat may be eaten even on Friday. (i) All services are of equal solemnity and are noted for their brevity. (j) During the Divine Liturgy, the hymns after the Communion are replaced by the Easter Troparion. (k) Before the final blessing the priest greets the congregation with the Easter salutation, “Christ has risen” receives the answer, “He has truly risen.” From Easter to Ascension the faithful greet each other with this same salutation. There is no kneeling from Easter Sunday until Pentecost, a regulation already mentioned by the Nicean Council. St. Basil explains that this symbolizes our personal resurrection as well as our calling to higher, heavenly things. Today, however, the people do not observe this custom strictly. They either stand, kneel, or sit. If we have conformed our prayers and actions to the services of Holy Week and Easter, if we have suffered with Christ in His passion, if we have died with Him on the cross, if we have risen with Him on Easter morning, then we have lived the Easter liturgy and indeed found new spiritual life. Basil Shereghy |