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Passion Week or Holy Week The Liturgical theme of Passion Week is the suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. The services therefore reflect the terrible tragedy of Calvary. During the first three days, the Church invites us to pray in the words of the Troparion: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight and blessed is the servant whom He shall fined awake.” Then, step by step, she leads us to every place which our Lord blessed by His presence at the end of His earthly life. The triumphal entrances of our Lord to Jerusalem provoked the anger of the Jewish leaders to a point where they decided to put Him to death. This is why the liturgy on the evening of Palm Sunday asks us to hasten “from palm and branches to the fulfilment of the august and saving passion of Christ.” On Holy Monday the Church calls us to meet “the beginning of Christ’s suffering,” and to go with Christ to Jerusalem and “accompany Him with spotless conscience and be crucified with Him to kill the pleasures of life” (stichera of Monday). The sufferings of Christ are prefigured by those of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob; but because his father loved him exceedingly, his brothers envied him and threw him into a pit, and then they sold him to strangers who took him into Egypt. There he was slandered for his chastity and thrown into prison. But finally he was taken out of prison, attained a high rank, and received honour worthy of kings-becoming governor of the whole of Egypt, whose people he supported. Thus he symbolized in himself the passion of our Lord and His following glory (gen. 40 and 41). On this Monday the liturgy also recalls the story of the fig tree which the Lord so cursed for its barrenness that it dried up altogether. (Mt. 21:18-19). The fig tree is a symbol of the Synagogue of the Jews which did not show the necessary fruits of virtue and righteousness so that Christ stripped it of every spiritual grace. The church admonishes us in the words of the Liturgy to do penance in order to be worthy of the suffering of Christ: “Let us, O brethren, be awed by the rebuking of the fig tree which dried up for its lack of fruit. Let us offer fruits worthy of repentance to Christ, who grants us great mercy” (stichera of vespers). On Holy Tuesday, the liturgy commemorates the parable of the ten virgins, which teaches us to be ready at all times to meet our heavenly Bridegroom and to live such a virtuous life that we will be worthy to enter “the heavenly chamber.” It teaches us further to be ready for our end, just as the wise virgins were ready to meet their bridegroom, least death overtake us and close the door of the heavenly chamber in our face; and we hear the terrible judgement which the foolish virgins heard: “I know you not.” (Mt. 25:1-13). The liturgy on this day displays a note of repentance and sorrow for past sins. “O Christ the bridegroom, I who negligently slept and, like the foolish virgins, procrastinated in the time of work was not in possession of a lamp of virtues. But, O Master, close not against me the doors of your compassion” (stichera). On Holy Wednesday, the Church retells the story of the anointing of our Lord at Bethany. This event happened on the Wednesday before Passover in the house of Simon the Leper. “A woman came up to Him with an alabaster jar of precious ointment and poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But when the disciples saw this, they were indignant and said: To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much and given to the poor.” (Mt. 24:6-9). Jesus rebuked them for this uncharitable remark. Judas became angry and went to the high priests and agreed to deliver the Master for thirty pieces of silver. The Church wants us to teach us to take seriously the graces we have been given and to establish at all costs the kingdom of God in our souls. Judas received love, knowledge, grace, just as the other apostles; but instead of developing them for his soul’s benefit, he changed these gifts into a caricature of the divine. The liturgy expresses this thought poetically: “The evil Judas appeared disloyal and zealous for evil, having consented to sell the gifts worthy of God through whom the debts of sin were undone, adulterating the God-given grace” (irmos of vespers). But in contrast to this: “The sinful woman hastened to the spice maker to buy from him spices of great price with which to anoint the Benefactor, crying to him: Give me spices with which I may anoint Him who has forgiven all my sins (stichera of vespers). On Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the Liturgy if the Presanctified is prescribed. On Holy Thursday three events are recalled in the liturgy: the institution of the Eucharist, the washing of the feet of the disciples, and the betrayal of Judas. Throughout the liturgy the following idea is repeated over and over again, as expressed in the troparion: “Receive me today, O Son of God, as a partake of your mystical supper, for I will not reveal the mystery to your enemies nor give you a kiss as did Judas, but like a repentant thief I will confess to you: Remember me, O Lord, in your kingdom.” “Let no one, O believers, fail to join in the Lord’s Supper, let no one whatsoever approach the table like Judas, with deceit.” The wickedness of Judas is expressed very realistically. Judas is called “Law-breaker,” son of vipers, and the “murderer” who sets up for Himself the gallows of wealth and loses both temporal and divine life. During the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, the bishop blesses the chrism and the antimensia. Then before the dismissal, he washes the feet of twelve persons, usually clerics or persons with minor orders, symbolizing Christ’s washing the feet of the twelve apostles. The particular ceremony is a very old one and is already mentioned by St. Augustine (430 A.D.). In the evening the Office of the Sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ is performed. The characteristic feature of this service is the reading of twelve Gospel passages selected from the four evangelists. These twelve readings describe in detail the passion of our Lord, beginning at the Last Supper where he conducted the holy and touching discourse with His apostles prior to His departure from Gethsemane. The entire service has its aim on stirring up in the hearts of the faithful sympathy and love for Jesus, who willingly laid down His life to reconcile man with His heavenly Father and thus to ensure eternal salvation for us all. After each Gospel, the bells are rung to proclaim to the entire world the significance and the power of Christ’s suffering. After the last reading, all the bells of the Church remain silent until the Resurrection Service. Until then, a rattle of wood is used instead of the bells. Basil Sereghy |