The time of Holy Week is a special time in the life of a Christian. This is the time when the question: How have you changed if Christ gave His Life for you?, - stands before us in all its strength and drama.

The services of this week are particularly touching; It’s as if we are walking with the Savior on His last earthly journey. The services are not simple, something in them may seem incomprehensible, but when this complexity and incomprehensibility is pointed out to me, I answer: Remember the words of Christ spoken to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane: Watch with Me…

Even if we understand only 10% (and we hardly understand less) of the Holy Day service, then this is enough for the soul to experience a shock, shock from realizing what happened. And where we don’t understand, let’s just be with Christ, let’s watch with Him...

I will talk about the services of Holy Days, about each of these six days, starting with Monday and ending with Saturday. I will tell you about the divine service that is performed on each day and about the topics that the Church offers us for reflection and worship.

Maundy Monday

Worship:

In the morning: Hours, Fine and Vespers with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

In the evening: Great Compline

Theology of the day:

The service of this day begins with Matins, at which a touching troparion is sung: Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant, whom the vigilant will find: but he is not worthy, but the despondent will find him. Take care therefore that my soul is not burdened with sleep, lest it be given over to death, and be shut out of the Kingdom, but rise up and cry: Holy, Holy, Holy art thou God, through the Mother of God have mercy on us.

The Bridegroom is coming, and we are following in His footsteps!

...A lectern is placed in the middle of the temple. Before the priests, the priest emerges from the altar. In his hands is the Holy Gospel, which rests on the lectern. During the Service of the Hours, the Gospel is read. Although the Charter prescribes reading the Gospel during the Hours only during Holy Week, in practice the Gospel is read throughout Lent, starting from the Second Week.

On Holy Monday we hear the Gospel story about the Lord’s curse on the barren fig tree and the parable about the evil vinedressers. A withered tree symbolizes a soul that does not bear spiritual fruits - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds. And the evil vinedressers are the Pharisees and scribes, who ultimately killed the Son of the Owner of the vineyard.

As we remember, the 3, 6 and 9 Hours are read.

At the 6th Hour we hear the Proverbs, which traditionally is in its place in the middle of the 9th Hour. But the themes of the proverbs of Holy Week are fundamentally different from those that we heard on ordinary days of Lent. Instead of the prophet Isaiah, at the 6th Hour, the prophecy of the prophet Ezekiel is read, filled with terrible, mysterious visions that he contemplated during the days of the Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel saw the radiance of the Glory of the Lord and, moving among the flames, winged and many-eyed images of Heavenly Angels.

And again, as in the days of Lent, in the first three days of Holy Week we bow down, praying in the words of the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian: Lord and Master of my life...

Then Vespers begins.

The Old Testament readings at Vespers also change. The reading of the book of Genesis, offered throughout Lent, has ended. The forefathers are already buried in the Promised Land; we read the book of Exodus, which talks about the exodus from the land of sin and slavery.

Instead of Solomon's parables- reading about long-suffering Job- a prototype of Christ.

Particular attention should be paid to the stichera of Vespers. They formulate what is the central idea of ​​Monday: the beginning of the way of the cross of Christ: The Lord is coming to free passion, the apostle said on the way: behold, we ascend to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed, as it is written about Him...

I will give fragments from these stichera in Russian translation:

The Lord, going to voluntary suffering, said to the apostles on the way: “Behold, we are ascending to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed, as it is written about Him!” Let us also, with purified thoughts, accompany Him, and let us crucify ourselves with Him, and let ourselves die for His sake for the pleasures of life, so that we may come to life with Him and hear Him proclaiming: “I no longer ascend to earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but to To My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God, and I will take you with Me to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the Kingdom of Heaven!”

The Lord, going to suffer and strengthening His disciples... spoke to them in private: “How come you do not remember My words, those that I told you before, that it is impossible for any Prophet, as it is written, to be killed outside of Jerusalem? Now the time has come about which I told you: for behold, I am giving Myself into the hands of sinners to be reproached; and they, having nailed Me to the Cross and given me over to burial, will consider me despicable, as if I were dead. However, take heart: for I will rise on the third day to the joy of the faithful and to eternal life!”

Not comprehending the unspeakable mystery of Your providence, O Lord, the mother of the sons of Zebedee asked You that the honors of the temporary kingdom be bestowed on her children; but instead You promised that Your friends would drink the cup of death, the cup about which You said that You Yourself would drink it before them to cleanse us from sins. Therefore we cry to You: “Salvation of our souls, glory to You!”

Vespers smoothly flows into the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. But this liturgy differs from the usual Lenten liturgy in that the Gospel is read at it.

And the theme that the Church offers us on this first day of Holy Week: the theme of the approaching Judgment. For now, the Savior and his disciples are sitting in the shade of old olive trees and nothing foretells the coming of the End. The apostles think that there will be many such calm and peaceful days ahead. But Christ knows what it is last days... And in the prospect of His departure from the disciples, He instructs them to be spiritually vigilant.

While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him separately from the others and asked Him: Tell us, when will this be, and what is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age? And Jesus answered them: Be careful that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will lead many astray... Then they will hand you over to suffer and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. And then many will be offended; and they will betray each other and hate each other; and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray; and from the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold. He who endures to the end will be saved... (Matthew 24:3-35).

How useful it is for us to remember to be spiritually vigilant so that we are not carried away by deceivers and false messiahs, and also that the path of discipleship is way of the cross: Then they will hand you over to torture and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.

On Monday evening Great Compline is celebrated. The Three Song of St. Andrew of Crete is sung, with whom we ascend with Christ to the Mount of Olives: Let us go with Christ to the Mount of Olives, secretly with the Apostles we will join Him. Trembling embraces the soul and the hymns become more and more touching: Understand, my humble heart... Prepare for yourself, about the soul mine, towards the end: the coming of the inexorable Judge is approaching.

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Orthodox calendar

St. Vasily Spanish (750). Sschmch. Arseny, Metropolitan Rostovsky (1772). St. Cassian the Roman (435) (memory moves from February 29).

Blzh. Nicholas, Christ for the Fool's Sake, Pskov (1576). Sschmch. Proterius, Patriarch of Alexandria (457). Sschmch. Nestor, bishop Magiddisky (250). Prpp. wives of Marina and Kira (c. 450). St. John, named Barsanuphius, bishop. Damascus (V); martyr Theoktirista (VIII) (memory moves from February 29).

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

At the 6th hour: Isa. II, 3–11. For eternity: Gen. I, 24 – II, 3. Proverbs. II, 1–22.

We congratulate the birthday people on Angel Day!

Icon of the day

Hieromartyr Arseny of Rostov (Matseevich), Metropolitan

Hieromartyr Arseny, Metropolitan of Rostov (in the world Alexander Matseevich) was the last opponent of the church reform of Peter I. He was born in 1697 (according to other sources, in 1696) in Vladimir-Volynsky in the family of an Orthodox priest who descended from the Polish gentry.

Having received his education at the Kiev Theological Academy, in 1733 he was already a hieromonk. Soon he traveled to Ustyug, Kholmogory and the Solovetsky Monastery, where he argued with the Old Believers imprisoned there; regarding this controversy, he wrote “Admonition to a schismatic”

In 1734–37, Father Arseny participated in the Kamchatka expedition. In 1737, he was seconded to a member of the Synod, Ambrose (Yushkevich), who at that time occupied a leading place in the church hierarchy. This appointment led to a rapprochement between the two hierarchs and determined the future fate of Father Arseny. Ordained in 1741 as Metropolitan of Tobolsk and All Siberia, Bishop Arseny defended the rights of newly baptized foreigners in Siberia from the oppression of the governor, and the clergy from the interference of the secular court.

The harsh Siberian climate had a detrimental effect on the bishop’s health, and soon after the accession of Elisaveta Petrovna he was transferred in 1742 to the department in Rostov with an appointment as a member of the Synod.

Strict towards his subordinates, the ruler becomes in sharp opposition to secular power. He insists to Empress Catherine II on the removal of secular ranks from the Synod, claims that the Synod has no canonical basis at all, and concludes that it is necessary to restore the patriarchate. The bishop’s note “On Church Deanery” was the first protest of the Russian hierarchy against the synodal system.

The relationship between the ruler and the secular authorities became even more strained when, at the end of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, then under Peter III and Catherine II, orders aimed at limiting monasteries in the management of their property caused strong indignation among the higher clergy.

On February 9, 1763, the Bishop in Rostov performed the “Rite of Excommunication” with some additions directed against “those who violate and offend God’s holy churches and monasteries”, “who accept the property given to them from the ancient God-lovers.”

In March, the Bishop submitted two reports to the Synod, which reported to the Empress that Saint Arseny was “an insult to Her Majesty.” Catherine brought him before the Synod, which lasted seven days; the bishop was convicted, demoted to the rank of a simple monk and imprisoned in the Nikolo-Korelsky monastery.

But even in exile, the saint did not cease to denounce the actions of the de-churched authorities in relation to church property, expressed doubt about the rights of Catherine II to the throne, and sympathy for Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. The bishop’s case was given a political character, and at the end of 1767 he was deprived of monasticism and sentenced to “eternal imprisonment.” Under the name “Andrey Vral” he was kept in the Revel casemate, where he died on February 28, 1772.

For his humble enduring of sorrows and non-covetousness, as well as for his martyrdom for the Church, the saint is revered by the Russian people.

Canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church for church-wide veneration at the Jubilee Council of Bishops in August 2000.

Prayer to Hieromartyr Arseny (Matseevich), Metropolitan of Rostov

Oh, great saint of Christ, long-suffering saint Arseny! Have mercy on me, a sinner, and hear my tearful prayer. Do not abhor my nasty sinful ulcers. Accept my unworthy praise, which I offer you from the bottom of my heart. And be merciful to my petitions to you, my many-powerful intercessor before the Lord. Pray to my All-Good God to grant the spirit of contrition for my sins, the spirit of humility, meekness and gentleness, and also to fulfill all His commandments without laziness, to show love and mercy to one’s neighbor Let me show you. Most of all, keep His sweetest name in your heart and mind and fearlessly confess it with your lips. May Christ our God, through your prayers, grant to all who call upon His holy name everything necessary for salvation, so that at all times and in all places the name of the All-Holy Trinity may be glorified with love Father and Son and Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

Reading the Gospel with the Church

Hello, dear brothers and sisters.

In the last program we talked about the gospel of Zechariah in the Jerusalem Temple about the birth of John the Baptist.

Today we will look at the text of the same evangelist Luke, which tells about the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary.

1.26. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee called Nazareth,

1.27. to a virgin betrothed to a husband named Joseph, from the house of David; The name of the Virgin is: Mary.

1.28. The angel, coming to Her, said: Rejoice, full of grace! The Lord is with You; Blessed are You among women.

1.29. She, seeing him, was embarrassed by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this would be.

1.30. And the Angel said to Her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for You have found favor with God;

1.31. and behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus.

1.32. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

1.33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.

1.34. Mary said to the Angel: How will this be when I don’t know my husband?

1.35. The angel answered Her: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

1.36. Behold your relative Elizabeth, who is called barren, and she conceived a son in her old age, and she is already in her sixth month,

1.37. for with God no word will be powerless.

1.38. Then Mary said: Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word. And the Angel departed from Her.

(Luke 1:26–38)

Both stories about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel are built according to the same scheme: the appearance of an angel, his prediction of the miraculous birth of a child, a story about future greatness, the name with which he should be given; the doubt of the angel's interlocutor and the granting of a sign confirming the words of the messenger of Heaven. But still, there are also many differences in these narratives.

If Zechariah meets the messenger of God at the most majestic moment of his life and this happens in the house of God, in Jerusalem, during a divine service, then the scene of the appearance of the same angel to a young girl is emphatically simple and devoid of any external solemnity. It takes place in Nazareth, a run-down provincial town in Galilee.

And if the righteousness of Zechariah and Elizabeth is emphasized from the very beginning and the news of the birth of a son is given in response to intense prayers, then practically nothing is said about young Mary: neither about her moral qualities, nor about any kind of religious zeal.

However, all human stereotypes are turned upside down, for the one whose birth was announced in the clouds of incense will turn out to be just a forerunner, a herald of the coming of the One about whom it was told so modestly.

Evangelist Luke indicates that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when an angel appeared in Nazareth with good news to the Virgin Mary. In the case of Elizabeth, the obstacles to birth were her infertility and old age, while for Mary it was her virginity.

We know that Mary was betrothed to Joseph. According to Jewish marriage law, girls were betrothed to their future husbands very early, usually at the age of twelve or thirteen. The betrothal lasted about a year, but the bride and groom were considered husband and wife from the moment of engagement. This year the bride remained in the house of her parents or guardians. In fact, the girl became a wife when her husband took her into his home.

Joseph, as we remember, came from the family of King David, which was extremely important, because through Joseph Jesus became legally a descendant of David. Indeed, in ancient times, legal kinship was considered more important than blood kinship.

With greetings: Rejoice, O Blessed One! The Lord is with you(Luke 1:28) - the angel addresses the Virgin Mary. The author writes in Greek. Quite possible, Greek word"Hayre" ("rejoice") in Hebrew could sound like "shalom", that is, a wish for peace.

Like Zechariah, Mary is confused and full of confusion caused by both the appearance of the angel and his words. The messenger tries to explain to Mary and calm her down with the words: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God(Luke 1:30). He then explains what is about to happen. And he does this through three main verbs: you will conceive, you will give birth, you will name.

Usually the father gave the child a name as a sign that he recognized him as his own, but here this honor belongs to the mother. Jesus is the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which most likely translates as “Yahweh is salvation.”

As Mary listens to how great her Son will be from the angel, she asks a natural question: How will this happen when I don’t know my husband?(Luke 1:34).

This question, dear brothers and sisters, is both simple and difficult to understand. Mary cannot understand the angel’s words, since she is not yet married (in the actual sense, although in the legal sense she already had a husband). But Mary will soon enter into marital intercourse, why is she so surprised?

There are several attempts to explain this question, and they are built on the words “I don’t know my husband.” Thus, some believe that the verb “to know” should be understood in the past tense, that is, “I have not yet known my husband.” From which it follows that Mary understood the angel's words as announcing to her her actual state of pregnancy.

According to another point of view, the verb “to know” comes from the word “to know,” that is, to enter into marital communication. The patristic tradition tells us that the Virgin Mary took a vow of eternal virginity and her words should be understood only as “I will not know a husband.” But some scholars argue that this was impossible, since in the Jewish tradition of that time, marriage and childbearing were not only honorable, but also obligatory. And if there were communities where people led a virgin life, then these were mostly men. And such statements seem logical. But let's not forget that God does not act according to human logic - He is above everything and can put a virtuous thought on the heart of a pure person and strengthen even a young girl in her godly desire to preserve her purity.

A clear confirmation that God does not act within the framework of the physical laws of nature is the answer of the angel to Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon You, and the power of the Most High will overshadow You; therefore the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God(Luke 1:35). We often hear a distorted understanding of this moment in gospel history. People try to explain the Virgin Mary's virgin birth of the Son of God as a literary device taken from Greek myths, where the gods descended from Olympus and entered into relationships with women, from whom the so-called “sons of God” were born. But in this text we see nothing of the kind. And in the Holy Spirit there is no masculinity, which is emphasized even by the grammatical gender: the Hebrew “ruach” (“spirit”) is feminine, and the Greek “pneuma” is neuter.

The Jewish Talmud also tries to challenge the purity of the Savior’s conception, claiming that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a fugitive soldier named Panther, hence the name of Christ in the Talmud - Ben Panther. But some scholars believe that “panther” is a corruption of the Greek word “parthenos,” which translates as “virgin,” and therefore the Talmudic expression should be understood as “Son of the Virgin.”

The Annunciation scene ends with Mary's response to Gabriel's message: Behold, the Servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word(Luke 1:38).

These words contain the great humility of a young girl, ready to fulfill any will of God. There is no slavish fear here, but only a sincere readiness to serve the Lord. No one has ever succeeded, and it is unlikely that anyone will be able to express their faith the way the Virgin Mary did. But we, dear brothers and sisters, need to strive for this.

Help us in this, Lord.

Hieromonk Pimen (Shevchenko),
monk of the Holy Trinity Alexander Nevsky Lavra

Cartoon calendar

Orthodox educational courses

OLD BUT NOT ALONE WITH CHRIST: Word for the Presentation of the Lord

WITH Imeon and Anna - two old people - did not see themselves as lonely, because they lived by God and for God. We do not know what kind of life sorrows and old age ailments they had, but for a person who loves God, who is grateful to God, such trials and temptations will never replace the most important thing - the joy of the Meeting of Christ....

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(MP3 file. Duration 9:07 min. Size 8.34 Mb)

Hieromonk Nikon (Parimanchuk)

Preparation for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism

IN section " Preparation for Baptism" site "Sunday school: on-line courses " Archpriest Andrei Fedosov, head of the department of education and catechesis of the Kinel Diocese, information has been collected that will be useful to those who are going to receive Baptism themselves, or want to baptize their child or become a godparent.

R section consists of five public conversations, which reveal the content of Orthodox dogma within the framework of the Creed, explain the sequence and meaning of the rites performed at Baptism and provide answers to common questions related to this Sacrament. Each conversation is accompanied additional materials, links to sources, recommended literature and Internet resources.

ABOUT course conversations are presented in the form of texts, audio files and videos.

Course topics:

• Conversation No. 1 Preliminary concepts
• Conversation No. 2 Sacred Bible story
• Conversation No. 3 Church of Christ
• Conversation No. 4 Christian morality
• Conversation No. 5 The Sacrament of Holy Baptism

Applications:

• FAQ
• Orthodox calendar

Reading the lives of saints by Dmitry of Rostov for every day

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• “Give me these crackers, I’ll eat them with tea.”

  God's help from communication with Fr. Tikhon was always noticeable, because the answers were supported by spiritual alms and prayer.

Holy Week represents the ancient Easter post, which grew out of the fast of Easter. In ancient times, many Christians celebrated not Sunday Easter, as we do, but the Cross; this day is now called Good Friday. One of the Holy Fathers of the third century says that we already celebrate the Resurrection every week, but Easter of the Cross, the remembrance of the Passion of Christ, only once a year. There were fierce disputes and disagreements on this issue, and only at the First Ecumenical Council, in 325, a single day for celebrating Easter was established for everyone - Bright Christ's Resurrection. How was Easter celebrated? It was celebrated with a very strict fast, and from this fast the entire Holy Week grew.

Gospel themes

But no matter what day we begin to count the fast of Holy Week, from Thursday or Monday, Holy Week is something completely separate and special. It should be noted that during Holy Week the Gospel is read at almost every service of the daily cycle. Not only at large ones: Vespers, Matins, Liturgy, but also at small ones - at the hours. Why? First of all, because the last days of the Savior’s earthly life are described in much more detail than other periods of His life. According to the text of the four Evangelists, one can trace literally every step of the Savior: everything he said, did, where he went, with whom he communicated in the last days. And the service of Holy Week gives us the opportunity to spend these days, as it were, together with Him, walking in His footsteps, listening to His words. This is how the Gospel readings are distributed.

Let's try to figure out how the Lord spent His last days. From the Gospel text it is obvious that on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday He preached in the Jerusalem Temple. Then, when the sun began to set, He left the city with the disciples. The Lord left the city, walked through the fields, stopped to rest and talk with his disciples. In the morning He returned back. This went on for four days.

Holy Monday, morning

The Gospel about the barren fig tree is read (Matthew 21: 18-43). The entire day of worship is dedicated to the miracle of the barren fig tree. The Lord went to Jerusalem in the morning to preach and saw this tree not far from the city wall. And not finding fruit on it, He cursed it, and in the evening of the same day, when they were returning along the same road, the disciples saw that the tree was completely dry. This reading is about the events that took place during these hours, but it is deeply symbolic. According to the interpretation of the Lenten Triodion, the Jewish people were likened to this barren fig tree, in which the Lord did not find the fruits that he expected to find. And in a broader sense, God's people are all those who believe in Him. And will the Lord find in us the fruits that He expects? This question is posed to everyone who hears these words.

Holy Monday evening

An excerpt is read about an event that took place outside the city, on the slope of the Mount of Olives - the eschatological conversation of the Lord with the disciples (Matthew 24: 3-35). As you know, the Mount of Olives is located opposite ancient Jerusalem and it offered an amazing view of the Jerusalem Temple. They sat on a slope, looked at the city, and the Lord, pointing them to the Temple, said that very soon there would not be left one stone left of this building. It was very difficult to imagine then, because the Temple had only recently been rebuilt by King Herod. The Lord had a long conversation with the disciples about the end of the world. This eschatological theme for Holy Week is extremely important. It runs through all the days of Holy Week. Why? Because before His departure, the Lord wanted the disciples to better remember what would happen when He came the second time. He repeatedly warns these days about the events of His second coming, therefore throughout Holy Week hymns are sung related to the second coming of the Lord. The troparion “Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight” is sung for the first three days. We can say that the Gospel reading on Monday evening provides this theme for the entire Holy Week.

Holy Tuesday morning

Sermon in the Jerusalem Temple (Matthew 22: 15 – 23: 39). The Lord denounces the Pharisees and lawyers: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites...” - and so on eight times. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you close the Kingdom of Heaven to men, for you yourselves do not enter and you do not allow those who want to enter.” The Lord rebukes the Pharisees. It is believed that this event took place on Tuesday. During the sermon, the Lord denounced His enemies.

Holy Tuesday evening

The Lord spoke most of the parables to His disciples in private. On Tuesday at Vespers three parables are read, which are set out in chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. This is the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) and the Last Judgment (Matt. 25:31-46). All three parables develop an eschatological theme.

Holy Wednesday morning

An excerpt is read about the events that took place on Wednesday morning in the Jerusalem temple, when some of the pagans were brought to Christ, and the Lord said: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” His glory went beyond the borders of Israel, chosen people. The glory of the Lord becomes worldwide. And at the same moment the glory of the Lord appears from Heaven - thunder roars, and in it the Lord Himself and his disciples hear the voice of God the Father: “And I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12: 17-50). But the people heard nothing; for him it was just thunder. Thus the Glory of the Lord was revealed from heaven and in the world. This is a passage about the heavenly, supramundane and at the same time universal glory of the Lord.

Holy Wednesday evening

On Wednesday evening a very significant passage is read about the anointing of the Lord with myrrh. About how the sinful wife anointed His head and His feet with ointment and wiped them with her hair. It also talks about Judas. Very briefly. But the comparison is obvious. On the one hand, there is a sinful woman who performs a feat for the sake of love for Christ, and the Lord tells her that wherever the Gospel is preached, it will be said about what she did. And on the other hand, Judas is a traitor who planned deceit, went to the Pharisees and agreed to betray Christ to them. These two characters are opposed to each other. (Matthew 26:6-16)

In the six readings of the first two days, we see that the events in the morning took place in the Jerusalem temple or on the way to it, and in the evening - in the house where the Savior spent the night or along the road - on the mountainside, where He and his disciples rested from the day's labors. But besides these readings from the Gospel, there are others. The Church has a very interesting custom of reading the Four Gospels on the clock. According to this order, almost the entire Four Gospels should be read during the services of the first three days. And this happens, this is how they read it. But this is a very long reading, so in some churches they begin to read the Four Gospels in advance. For example, from the sixth week of Great Lent or from the fourth, and sometimes from the second - a small passage every day. But the reading of the Four Gospels on the clock is symbolic precisely for the days of Holy Week, because the priest who stands in the middle of the temple and for a long time reads the Gospel, reveals the image of Christ. This is an example of symbolism in worship. Anyone who enters the temple at this time sees a priest reading the Gospel. Likewise, any Jew who entered the Jerusalem temple in those days saw Christ preaching.

So, during Holy Week the Gospel is read very often. But, in addition, there are other topics of these days. Monday, as already mentioned, is dedicated to the barren fig tree. But, on the other hand, Monday is also dedicated to the Old Testament image of Joseph the Beautiful, whom his brothers sold into slavery. During Holy Week they read not only the Gospel - they also read the books of the Old Testament. The image of Joseph is taken from the Old Testament reading. This ordinary reading fits surprisingly into the context of the remembered events. Joseph is a direct prototype of Christ, because his brothers sold him into slavery for money, and Christ is being sold for money these days. Joseph reached the very bottom, he had to die, lay in prison and was sentenced, but after that he was elevated to the very height of the hierarchical ladder: he becomes Pharaoh's closest adviser, the first minister. What is this if not a prototype of the death and resurrection of Christ? What did Joseph do after he became a minister? Saved his family from certain death. At that time there was a seven-year famine, and his brothers came to Egypt to ask for help. And the Lord, after His Resurrection, saves all believers, His Church.

The suffering of Christ is remembered by St. Orthodox Church the week before Easter. This week is called Passionate. Christians should spend this entire week in fasting and prayer.

Events before Holy Week: Lazarus Saturday

On Saturday in the 6th week At Matins and Liturgy, the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ is remembered. This Saturday is called Lazarus Saturday. At Matins on this day, the Sunday “troparions for the Immaculates” are sung: “Blessed art thou, Lord, teach me through Thy justification,” and at the Liturgy, instead of “Holy God,” “Those who were baptized into Christ, put on Christ. Alleluia” is sung.

Events before Holy Week: Palm Sunday

Sixth Sunday Great Lent is the great twelfth holiday, on which the solemn entry of the Lord into Jerusalem to free suffering. This holiday is called differently Palm Sunday, Week Vaiy and Tsvetonosnoy. At the All-Night Vigil, after reading the Gospel, “The Resurrection of Christ” is not sung..., but the 50th Psalm is read directly and consecrated with prayer and sprinkling of St. water, budding branches of willow (vaia) or other plants. Blessed branches are distributed to the worshipers, with whom, with lit candles, believers stand until the end of the service, signifying the victory of life over death (resurrection).

From Vespers to Palm Sunday the dismissal begins with the words: “The Lord is coming for our free passion for the sake of salvation, Christ our true God”... etc.

All four evangelists narrate the entry of Christ into Jerusalem a few days before the sufferings on the cross (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19). When, after the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, Christ went to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter, a multitude of people who had gathered from everywhere for the holiday, having heard about the miracles that Christ had performed, with jubilation and joy greeted the Lord entering the city on the donkey with the solemnity with which in ancient times times in the East accompanied the kings. The Jews had a custom: victorious kings rode into Jerusalem on horses or donkeys, and the people greeted them with solemn cries and palm branches in their hands. So in these days, the Jerusalemites took palm branches, came out to meet Christ and exclaimed: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” Many laid their clothes under His feet, cut branches from palm trees and threw them along the road. Having believed in the powerful and good Teacher, the simple-hearted people were ready to recognize Him as the King who had come to free them. But just a few days later, those who chanted “Hosanna!” they will shout “Crucify Him!” His blood be on us and on our children!”

Events of Holy Week

Great Lent consists of Great Pentecost and Holy Week. Divine services during Holy Week are given special significance.

IN Holy Week fasting is especially strict.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week are dedicated to the recollection of the last conversations of the Lord Jesus Christ with the people and disciples.

Maundy Monday

Great Monday, Holy Monday - Monday of Holy Week. On this day, the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph, sold by his brothers to Egypt, is remembered as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ, as well as the Gospel story about Jesus’ curse of the barren fig tree, symbolizing a soul that does not bear spiritual fruit - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds.

The Holy Monday service is permeated with memories of the Old Testament Joseph. In his suffering from the brothers who hated him, his chaste abstinence and undeserved imprisonment, the Church sees a prototype of the suffering of Christ. The final triumph of Joseph and his exaltation in Egypt foreshadows the resurrection of Christ and His victory over the world. Like Joseph, who forgave his brothers and fed them with earthly blessings, Christ reconciles fallen humanity to Himself and feeds the faithful with His Body and Blood. The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is symbolically contrasted with the fall of the first parents: Potiphar's wife, like Eve, became a vessel of the evil serpent, but Joseph, unlike Adam and like the coming Savior, was able to resist temptation and remain clean from sin; Adam, who sinned, was ashamed of his nakedness before God, and chaste Joseph chose to remain naked in order to preserve his moral purity. The tradition of seeing the story of Joseph as a type of gospel events can be traced back to apostolic times and can be found in Acts (Acts 7:9-16).

In the morning, returning to the city, he became hungry; and seeing a fig tree along the road, he approached it and, finding nothing on it except some leaves, said to it: Let there be no fruit from you henceforth forever.

(Matthew 21:18-19) Interpreters of the Gospel compare this barren fig tree with Israel contemporary to Christ. When the Lord approached the tree, only it, unlike other fig trees, was covered with leaves. So among all nations ancient world only the Israelis had a revealed religion, the Law and prophets - that is, they knew what fruit the Lord expected from them. And if for the rest of the nations the time of fruitfulness had not yet come, the news of salvation through the God-man Jesus Christ had not yet spread throughout the world, then Israel had to bear fruit, had to recognize in Jesus its long-awaited Messiah.

Approaching the fig tree, Christ did not find any fruit on it - it was simply misleading, deceiving the traveler with its beauty, but was absolutely useless because it could not satisfy his hunger. So Christ “came to his own, and his own did not receive him” (Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 11). Beautiful and magnificent services continued to be held in the Jerusalem Temple, and the blood of sacrificial animals flowed in streams. But after the coming to earth of the God-Man, after His sacrifice on the cross, these rituals became absolutely useless for those who thirsted to satisfy the hunger of God-forsakenness. Indeed, if Jesus is God, then no sacrificial rams are needed.

After this, Jesus came to the Jerusalem Temple where he told the parables of the two sons and the evil winegrowers.

The Parable of the Two Sons

Then, turning to them, he asked: “Will you answer Me another question? One man had two sons, and he sent them to his vineyard to work: one of them refused to go, but then he felt ashamed, he repented and went; the other said: “I’m going,” but did not go. Which of the two fulfilled the will of his father?

Not understanding what purpose Jesus pursued in speaking this parable, they answered: “Of course, the first (Matthew 21:31); can there be any doubt about this?

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus told them. - Listen to what this parable means. The Lord, through John, called you to repentance, necessary to enter the Kingdom of God, and demanded from you worthy fruits of repentance; in a word, he called you to work in His vineyard. He also called publicans and harlots. It seemed that you, proud of your knowledge of Scripture, would be more likely than obvious sinners to respond to His call; besides, with your outward piety you always tried to present yourself as exact executors of the will of God; you always said: “I’m coming, Lord!”, although you didn’t move. You didn’t follow John’s call either. And the publicans and harlots, who, indulging in sin, refused to do the will of God, heard John, came to their senses, repented and went to work in God’s vineyard. And you saw this, but still you did not repent, you did not believe John. So know that publicans and harlots are ahead of you on the way to the Kingdom of God; many of them will even enter it, but you will be rejected!”

The members of the Sanhedrin came to the temple as accusers, and now stood silently before Jesus and all the people as condemned.

Parable of the Evil Vinegrowers

“Listen to another parable,” Jesus told them. — One man planted a vineyard, surrounded it with a fence, set up a winery and built a watchtower; but since he needed to go to another place, he gave the vineyard to the management of winegrowers with the obligation to provide him with part of the fruit. When the time came to gather the fruit, he sent a servant to the vinedressers to receive the fruit from them; but the winegrowers beat him and gave him nothing. He sent another servant; but the winegrowers sent this one away empty-handed, breaking his head with stones. The owner of the vineyard sent a third servant, but the winegrowers killed him too. He sent many more servants, but all to no avail: the winegrowers did not produce fruit, and the servants he sent were either beaten or completely killed. It would seem that the time has come to take away the vineyard given to them for management from the evil winegrowers; but the owner was so kind that he decided to try one last resort: “I have,” he said, “a beloved son; I will send him; it cannot be that they will reject him too; they will probably be ashamed of him and give him his due.” The owner's son went to the winegrowers; but they, seeing him from afar, recognized him as their son and heir, and, fearing that he would take the vineyard away from them, they conspired to kill him. “Let’s kill him,” they said, “and then the vineyard will be ours forever.” Having decided so, they grabbed him, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.”

This parable made a strong impression on the people; When Jesus said that the vinedressers killed their son and threw him out of the vineyard, the people, indignant at the evil vinedressers, shouted with one voice: “Let this not happen!” (Luke 20:16).

The chief priests, scribes, Pharisees and elders of the people looked at everyone angrily, like exposed criminals. The final words of Jesus regarding the first parable left them no doubt that the second would also expose their iniquities; the content of this second parable was so transparent that the leaders and corrupters of the Jewish people should have recognized themselves in the evil winegrowers; they should have guessed that Jesus also knew their decision to kill Him. Yes, they undoubtedly understood that by the vineyard of the parable we mean the Jewish people chosen by God, the care of which was entrusted by the Owner of the vineyard, God, to the high priests and rulers of the people (vinedressers); they understood that God sent His servants, the prophets, to them to demand the fruits of their management of the people, to admonish them that this management was entrusted to them not for their personal gain, but so that they would take care of the fruiting of the vineyard and give its fruits to the Owner, then there is to educate the people in the spirit of exact fulfillment of the will of God; At the same time, they had to remember that these prophets were persecuted and even killed, that the last Prophet and Baptist John was rejected by them, and that they had already decided to kill the one who called Himself the Son of God, Jesus, but had not yet had time. In a word, the meaning of the parable was clear to them, as it is now to us; but if they had given even the slightest hint to the people the opportunity to understand that they recognized themselves in the person of the evil winegrowers, then these people would probably have grabbed stones and beaten them all. It was this fear of the people that doubled their shamelessness and insolence, and they, in order to show everyone that the parable had nothing to do with them, answered Jesus’ question - so, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do with these tenants? - They answered: “There is no doubt that these evildoers will be put to death, and the vineyard will be given to other winegrowers who will give him the fruit in a timely manner.”

These villains themselves pronounced a sentence on themselves, which was soon fulfilled: control of the Jewish people was taken away from them; The right to be conductors of the will of God among the Jews and pagans who came to the Jerusalem Temple was also taken away, since the temple was destroyed, and the people scattered throughout the earth ceased to exist as a people.

Maundy Tuesday

On Tuesday morning Jesus came from Bethany to Jerusalem and taught the people. On this day they told the disciples about the second coming (Matthew 24),

When it will be? (Matt. 24:3) - the disciples asked. But the Lord answered them that no one knows about that day and hour, not even the heavenly angels, but only My Father alone (Matthew 24:36). Thus Holy Bible keeps it in deep secret and does not definitely reveal to us the time of the Second Coming so that we always keep ourselves pure and immaculate and are ready to meet the Lord at all times.

That is why the Lord warns the disciples: Watch therefore, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. But as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: they ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. So it will be on the day when the Son of Man appears. So, stay awake (Matt. 24:42; cf. Luke 17:26 and 27:30; Matt. 25:13).

the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13), the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30). The chief priests and elders tempted him with questions (Mark 11:27-33), wanted to arrest him, but were afraid to do it openly because of the people who revered Jesus as a prophet (Matthew 21:46), admired his teaching (Mark 11 :18) and listened to him attentively (Mark 12:37).

From the Gospel instructions delivered by Jesus Christ on Tuesday, the Church chose for the edification of believers on this day mainly the parable of the ten virgins, as especially appropriate for the times Great Week, in which we most ought to watch and pray. With the parable of the ten virgins, the Church instills constant readiness to meet the Heavenly Bridegroom through chastity, almsgiving and the immediate performance of other good deeds, depicted under the name of oil prepared by the wise virgins.

Archpriest G.S. Debolsky,

"Days of worship of the Orthodox Church", vol. 2

parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30)

For He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his property: and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his strength; and immediately set off. He who received five talents went and put them to work and acquired another five talents; in the same way, the one who received two talents acquired the other two; He who received one talent went and buried it in the ground and hid his master’s money.

After a long time, the master of those slaves comes and demands an account from them. And the one who had received five talents came and brought another five talents and said: Master! you gave me five talents; Behold, I acquired another five talents with them. His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master.

The one who had received two talents also came up and said: Master! you have two talents

gave me; behold, I acquired the other two talents with them. His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful in small things, I will put you over many things; enter into the joy of your master.

The one who had received one talent came up and said: Master! I knew you that you were a cruel man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter, and, being afraid, I went and hid your talent in the ground; here's yours. His master answered him: “You wicked and lazy servant!” You knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; Therefore, you should have given my silver to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with profit; So, take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents, for to everyone who has it will be given and he will have an abundance, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; and throw the worthless slave into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Having said this, he exclaimed: whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!

Great Wednesday

On Great Wednesday of Holy Week, the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas Iscariot is remembered.

Jesus Christ spent the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in Bethany for the last time before his death. Here, in the house of Simon the leper, a supper was prepared for the Savior. The sinful wife, having learned that He was reclining in the house of the Pharisees, approached Him with an alabaster (alabaster) vessel of whole precious ointment and poured it on His head, as a sign of her love and reverence for Him (Luke 7:36-50). His disciples regretted the waste of the world: if it were possible, they said, it would be sold for more than three hundred pennies and given to the poor. But Jesus Christ forbade embarrassing his wife and praised her: “For she has done good deeds for Me,” He said. Always take the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good to them: but you don’t always take me. Having poured this ointment on My body, create it for My burial. Amen, I say to you: Wherever this Gospel is preached, throughout the whole world, it is said, and do this, in memory of it. Thus, according to the word of Christ, a good deed should be considered not only to do good to others in need, but also to express within one’s ability the love for God and one’s neighbors; not only charity to our neighbors whom we see, but also an offering to God Himself, Whom we do not see, who is graciously present in churches!

While Jesus Christ was reclining in the house of Simon, the high priests, scribes and elders of the Jews, constantly watching the Lord, gathered with the high priest Caiaphas, and consulted on how to take Jesus Christ by cunning and kill him. But they said: just not on a holiday, so that there is no indignation among the people. Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, comes to the lawless gathering and offers: what do you want to give me, and I will hand him over to you? The unrighteous judges joyfully accepted the insidious intent of Judas, infected with greed, and awarded him thirty pieces of silver. From then on, the ungrateful disciple, seeking a convenient time, would betray the Savior of the world (Matthew 26:3-16. Mark 14:1-11). Fulfilling the words of the Lord about the wife who, two days before His death, anointed Him with myrrh: throughout the world it is said and do this, in her memory, the Orthodox Church on Great Wednesday remembers mainly about the sinner wife who poured ointment on the head of the Savior, preaching to the world that do this in memory of her, and together denounces the betrayal of Judas. The Synaxarion for Great Wednesday begins with the following verses:

The woman who put the body of Christ in the myrrh of Nicodemus will undertake the myrrh.

“Behold, the evil council,” the Church mournfully sings on Great Wednesday, “has truly gathered together frantically: as a condemned judge, judge the mountain that sits, and God, the Judge of all. Flatterer Judas, zealous for the love of money, betray Thee, Lord, Treasure of the belly, flows to the Jews.” “The sinner brought her head to the feet of Christ,” as St. Chrysostom says, “Judas stretched out his hands to the lawless; she sought forgiveness of sins, and this one took silver. The sinner brought myrrh to anoint the Lord: the disciple agreed with the lawless, she rejoiced, spending a valuable myrrh: this one cared to sell the Inestimable; she knew the Lord, and this one moved away from the Lord; she was freed from sin, and this one became his captive.”

The Church has remembered the sinner wife and the betrayal by Judas on Great Wednesday since ancient times. In the 4th century, Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, and John Chrysostom spoke on Great Wednesday about the sinner wife who anointed Jesus Christ with chrism. Equally, Isidore Pelusiot mentions her in his writings and attributes her significant expression of faith and love for the Savior to the Great Wednesday. In the 8th century, Cosmas of Maium, in the 9th century, the Monk Cassia composed many stichera for worship on Great Wednesday, now performed on this day. Saint Chrysostom, in his 80th discourse on the Gospel of Matthew, speaks of a sinner wife: this wife, apparently, is the same for all the Evangelists: but no. The three evangelists, it seems to me, are talking about the same thing; but John is talking about another, some wonderful wife - the sister of Lazarus. The Evangelist did not just mention Simon’s leprosy, but in order to show the reason why the wife boldly approached Jesus. Since leprosy seemed to her an unclean and vile disease, and yet she saw that Jesus had healed the man and cleansed the leprosy - otherwise she would not have wanted to stay with the leper: then she had hope that Jesus would easily cleanse her spiritual uncleanness.

What Christ predicted about the sinner wife was fulfilled. Wherever you go in the universe, everywhere you hear what is said about this woman; although she is not famous and did not have many witnesses. Who announced and preached this? The power of the One who foretold this. So much time has passed, but the memory of this incident has not been destroyed; and the Persians, and the Indians, and the Scythians, and the Thracians, and the Sarmatians, and the generation of the Moors, and the inhabitants British Isles They tell about what the sinful wife did secretly in the house.

Judas was also indignant, seeing how expensive myrrh was poured onto the head of the Savior. This time, his behavior does not in any way stand out to the Evangelist Matthew from the background of other disciples, but earlier, in a similar situation, he was the first to begin to be indignant at the unreasonable, from his point of view, waste (John 12: 4-5). Evangelist John explains that this happened not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. He had a cash box with him and wore what was put there (John 12:6). Money became an idol, the focus of Judas’s life, and his selfish heart could not stand it: it simply physically hurt him to see such a generous, selfless waste of what he considered the main thing in his existence. Out of burning, all-consuming envy and resentment, the traitor immediately rushed to do his job. Selfishness, as both the Gospel testifies and church service this day was the main one driving force betrayal of Judas, but the deep motives of this monstrous act, if you look closely at them, were even more complex and terrible. The story itself cannot but cause surprise.

He was chosen by the Savior to be one of the twelve apostles, his closest disciples. And this election was not accidental or undeserved. Like all the apostles, Judas left everything he had: hometown, house, property, family - and followed Christ. He truly was one of the most the best people in Israel, ready to accept the gospel preaching. Judas then had undoubted faith and determination to serve the Lord with his whole life. Judas was not deprived of anything compared to the other apostles. Together with other disciples, he was sent to preach the word of God throughout the cities and villages of Judea, while he also performed miracles: he healed the sick and cast out demons. Judas heard the same words of the Savior as the other disciples; even before the Last Supper, Christ, along with the other apostles, washed the feet of Judas, who had already agreed to betray him.

Hear, all money lovers who suffer from the disease of Judas, hear and beware of the passion of the love of money. If the one who was with Christ, performed miracles, used such teaching, fell into such an abyss because he was not free from this disease: then how much more you, who have not even heard the Scriptures and are always attached to the present, can conveniently be caught by this passion, if you do not apply constant care.

How did Judas become a traitor, you ask, when he was called by Christ? God, calling people to Himself, does not impose necessity and does not force the will of those who do not want to choose virtues, but exhorts, gives advice, does everything, tries in every possible way to encourage them to become good: if some do not want to be good, He does not force!. The Lord chose Judas as an apostle because he was initially worthy of this election.

At Matins on Great Wednesday, the Orthodox Church preaches the prophetic words of the Lord about His prolific death; about His glorification by the voice of God the Father: a voice came from heaven: I will glorify and glorify again, and that he is the light of the world (John 12:17-50).

On the day of the Lord’s surrender to suffering and death for our sins, when He forgave the sins of his sinner wife, the Church, after completing the Hours, ends, according to ancient custom, reading the prayer: “Much-merciful Master, Lord Jesus Christ God,” with which she daily during Lent , at the service of Compline, with those present bowing their heads and knees, he intercedes with God to grant us forgiveness of our sins. For the last time, on Great Wednesday, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated, at which the Church preaches the gospel of the woman who anointed the Lord with chrism, and of Judas’s determination to betray the Lord (Matthew 26:6-16). On Great Wednesday, the great bows performed during the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “Lord and Master of my life” and so on. After Wednesday, it was decided to perform this prayer until Great Friday only for monks in their cells. Thus, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian begins on Wednesday of Cheese Week, and ends on Holy Wednesday. The custom of ending the rite of Lenten worship on Great Wednesday is ancient. Ambrose of Milan mentioned it in the 4th century.

Archpriest G. S. Debolsky

Maundy Thursday

On Maundy Thursday evening, during the all-night vigil (which is the Matins of Good Friday), twelve parts of the gospel about the suffering of Jesus Christ are read.

On Good Friday, during Vespers (which is served at 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon), the shroud, that is, the sacred image of the Savior lying in the tomb, is taken out of the altar and placed in the middle of the temple; this is done in remembrance of the taking down of the body of Christ from the cross and His burial.

On Holy Saturday at Matins, with the funeral bells ringing and with the singing of the song “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us,” the shroud is carried around the temple in memory of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, when His body was in the tomb, and victory Him above hell and death.

We are preparing ourselves for Holy Week and Easter fasting. This fast lasts forty days and is called the Holy Pentecost or Great Lent.

In addition, the Holy Orthodox Church establishes fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays of every week (except for some, very few, weeks of the year), on Wednesdays in remembrance of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas, and on Fridays in remembrance of the suffering of Jesus Christ.

We express our faith in the power of Jesus Christ’s suffering on the cross for us with the sign of the cross during our prayers.

Washing the feet- the washing of the feet of the apostles described in the Gospel, which Jesus Christ performed before the Last Supper, in the Zion Upper Room in Jerusalem. This rite has become part of the liturgical practice of a number of Christian churches.

The washing of the disciples' feet is described only in the Gospel of John. According to his story, at the beginning of the Last Supper:

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, stood up from the supper, took off His outer garment, and, taking a towel, girded Himself. Then he poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel with which he was girded. He approaches Simon Peter, and he says to Him: Lord! Should you wash my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not know now, but you will understand later.” Peter says to Him: You will never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Simon Peter says to Him: Lord! not only my feet, but also my hands and head. Jesus says to him: he who has been washed only needs to wash his feet, because he is all clean; and you are clean, but not all. For He knew His betrayer, and that is why He said: You are not all pure. When he had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he lay down again and said to them: Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you speak correctly, for I am exactly that. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know this, blessed are you when you do

On Thursday of Holy Week, the Church remembers the most important gospel event: last supper, on which Christ established the New Testament sacrament of Holy Communion (Eucharist).

This was the last Easter supper that the Lord could celebrate with His disciples in His earthly life: instead of this Old Testament Passover, celebrated in memory of the miraculous deliverance of Jewish babies from death during the days of the Egyptian plagues, He now intended to establish the true Passover - the sacrament of the Eucharist (Eucharist - means Thanksgiving).

According to the Gospel narrative, Jesus came for his prayers before his arrest in Garden of Gethsemane, located at the bottom of the Mount of Olives near the Kidron stream, east of the center of Jerusalem. For this reason, in Christianity, the Garden of Gethsemane is revered as one of the places associated with the Passion of Christ and is a place of Christian pilgrimage.

The place where Jesus Christ prayed is currently located inside the Catholic Church of All Nations, built between 1919 and 1924. In front of her altar there is a stone on which, according to legend, Christ prayed on the night of his arrest.

Kiss of Judas(The Kiss of Judas) - a plot from the gospel story, when Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, betrayed him, pointing him out to the guards, kissing him at night in the Garden of Gethsemane after praying for the cup. The Kiss of Judas is one of the Passion of Christ in Christianity and immediately follows the Gethsemane prayer of Jesus.

Good Friday

The Good Friday service is dedicated to the remembrance of the Savior's suffering on the cross, His death and burial.

At Matins (which is served in the evening on Maundy Thursday) the twelve Gospel readings, selected from all four Evangelists, telling about the sufferings of the Savior, beginning with His last conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper and ending with His burial in the garden of Joseph of Arimathea and the placing of military guards at His tomb. While reading the Gospel, believers stand with lit candles, showing on the one hand that glory and greatness did not leave the Lord even during His suffering, and on the other hand, ardent love for their Savior.

There is no Liturgy on Good Friday, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed Himself, and the Royal Hours are celebrated.

Vespers is celebrated at the third hour of the day, at the hour of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, in remembrance of the taking down of the body of Christ from the cross and His burial.

At Vespers, while singing the troparion:

The noble Joseph took down Your Most Pure Body from the tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud and covered it with fragrant fragrances, and laid it in a new tomb.

Glory: When you descended to death, Immortal Life, then you killed hell with the brilliance of the Divine: when you also raised those who died from the underworld, all the powers of heaven cried out: O Life-Giver Christ our God, glory to Thee.

And now: To the myrrh-bearing women, appearing at the tomb, an angel cried out: peace to the dead the essence is decent, but Christ of corruption appears alien

The priests lift the Shroud (i.e., the image of Christ lying in the tomb) from the Throne, as if from Golgotha, and carry it out of the altar to the middle of the temple in the presentation of lamps and with incense. The Shroud is placed on a specially prepared table (tomb). Then the clergy and all those praying bow before the Shroud and kiss the sores of the Lord depicted on it - His pierced ribs, arms and legs.

1) The Shroud is the linen with which the body of Jesus Christ was wrapped during burial.

2) A quadrangular board, usually made of velvet, with a painted or embroidered image of the body of Christ the Savior taken from the Cross. At the end of Vespers on Good Friday, the shroud is taken to the middle of the church for the worship of believers and remains there until the Easter Midnight Office, at which it is again taken to the altar.

The shroud is in the middle of the temple for three (incomplete) days, reminiscent of the three-day stay of Jesus Christ in the tomb.

Holy Saturday

Having taken it down from the cross and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with incense, according to the custom of the Jews, Joseph and Nicodemus laid the most pure Body of the Lord in a new stone tomb in Joseph’s garden, located not far from Golgotha. They rolled to the door of the coffin big Stone. Mary Magdalene, mother of James and Joseph, was present at the burial of Jesus Christ.

The high priests and Pharisees knew that Jesus Christ had predicted His resurrection, but not believing this prediction and fearing that the Apostles would steal the Body of Jesus Christ and tell the people: He has risen from the dead, on Saturday they asked Pilate for military guards, assigned them to the tomb and they sealed the tomb itself (Matthew 27:57-66; John 19:39-42) and thereby delivered new confirmation to the truth.

The service of Holy Saturday is dedicated to the remembrance of the sojourn of Jesus Christ “in the tomb carnally, in hell with the soul like God, in paradise with the thief and on the throne with the Father and the Spirit, fulfilling all the indescribable things” and, finally, the resurrection of the Savior from the tomb.

At Matins of Great Saturday, after the Great Doxology, the Shroud, while singing: “Holy God”... is carried out by the clergy from the temple on the head, with the participation of the people, and carried around the temple in memory of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell and His victory over hell and death. Then, after the Shroud is brought into the temple, it is brought to the open royal doors, as a sign that the Savior is inseparably with God the Father and that He, through His suffering and death, again opened the doors of heaven to us. The singers at this time sing: “Noble Joseph”...

When the Shroud is placed in its place in the middle of the temple, then the litany is pronounced and the following is read: a proverb from the book of the prophet. Ezekiel about the resurrection of the dead; An apostle who teaches believers that Jesus Christ is the true Passover for us all...; The Gospel tells how the high priests, with the permission of Pilate, placed a guard at the Holy Sepulcher and attached a seal to the stone. At the end of Matins, believers are invited to praise Joseph of Arimathea with a church song: “Come, let us bless Joseph of ever-memorable”...

The Divine Liturgy on this day occurs later than on all other days of the year and is combined with Vespers.

After the small entrance and the singing of “Quiet Light...” begins the reading of 15 proverbs, which contain the most important Old Testament prototypes and prophecies about the salvation of people through the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

After the proverbs and the Apostle, the feast of the Resurrection of Christ begins. On the choir they begin to sing drawn outly: “Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for You have inherited among all nations...”, and in the altar at this time the black vestments of the throne and the clergy are replaced by light ones, and in the same way in the temple itself, the black vestments are replaced by light ones. This is a depiction of the event that early in the morning, the myrrh-bearing women, “still in darkness,” saw an Angel in bright vestments at the tomb of Christ and heard from him the joyful news of the resurrection of Christ.

After this singing, the deacon in bright vestments, like an angel, goes to the middle of the church and in front of the Shroud, reading the Gospel, announces to the people about the Resurrection of Christ.

Then the Liturgy of Basil the Great continues in the usual manner. Instead of the Cherubic song, the song is sung: “Let all human flesh be silent”... Instead of “It is worthy to eat” it is sung: “Do not weep for Me, Mother, see in the tomb”... The sacramental verse: “Arise, as the Lord sleeps, and is risen to save us.”

At the end of the Liturgy, there is a blessing of bread and wine to strengthen the strength of those praying. After this, the reading of the book of the Acts of the Apostles begins and continues until the beginning of the Midnight Office.

At twelve o'clock at night, the Midnight Office is celebrated, at which the canon of Great Saturday is sung. At the end of the Midnight Office, the clergy silently carry the Shroud from the middle of the temple to the altar through the Royal Doors and place it on the throne, where it remains until the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, in memory of the forty-day stay of Jesus Christ on earth after His resurrection from the dead.

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Statutory symbolic integration

In mysterious contemplation, bringing together the events of the Old and New Testaments, the Church shows us the coming suffering of the Savior in the Old Testament prototype of the chaste Joseph, who, through the envy of his brothers, was innocently sold and humiliated, but then restored by God.

Joseph is a direct prototype of Christ. His brothers sold him into slavery for money, and Christ is being sold for money these days. Joseph reached the very bottom, he had to die, lay in prison and was sentenced, but after that he was elevated to the very height of the hierarchical ladder of Egyptian power: he becomes the closest adviser to the pharaoh, the first minister. This is a type of the death and resurrection of Christ. Joseph, after becoming a minister, saved his family from inevitable death. At that time there was a seven-year famine, and his brothers came to Egypt to ask for help. The Lord, after His Resurrection, saves all believers, His Church.

“Joseph,” says the Synaxarion, “is a prototype of Christ, because Christ also becomes an object of envy for His fellow tribesmen - the Jews, is sold by a disciple for thirty pieces of silver, is imprisoned in a dark and cramped ditch - a tomb and, having risen from it by my own strength, reigns over Egypt, that is, over all sin, and completely defeats it, rules over the whole world, humanely redeems us with the gift of mysterious wheat and feeds us with heavenly bread - His life-giving flesh.”

Gospel readings for Holy Week

During Holy Week, the Gospel is read at almost every service of the daily circle, for the last days of the Savior’s earthly life are described in much more detail than other periods of His life. According to the text of the four Evangelists, one can trace literally every step of the Savior: everything he said, did, where he went, with whom he communicated on the days before the cross. The service of Holy Week gives us the opportunity to spend these days walking in His footsteps, listening to His words.

So, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Christ preached in the Jerusalem Temple. Towards evening, when the sun began to set, He left the city with his disciples for rest and farewell conversations only with them. In the morning the son of God returned back to Jerusalem. This sequence of events continued for four days.

Gospel readings for Holy Monday

Morning Gospel

On the morning of Holy Monday, the Gospel about the barren fig tree is read: “In the morning, returning to the city, he became hungry. And, seeing a fig tree along the road, he approached it, and, finding nothing on it except some leaves, he said to it: Let there be no fruit from you henceforth forever. And the fig tree immediately withered. Seeing this, the disciples were surprised and said: How did the fig tree immediately wither? Jesus answered and said to them, “If you have faith and do not doubt; Not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but if you also say to this mountain, “Be taken up and be thrown into the sea,” it will happen; and whatever you ask in prayer with faith, you will receive” (Matthew 21:18-43).

Lenten edification

After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ spent the night with His disciples in Bethany. In the morning, going to the temple, He became hungry along the way. In the distance a fig tree appeared, covered with many green leaves. Coming closer, the Lord discovered that there were absolutely no fruits on it, and then He cursed the barren tree. Returning back, the apostles saw that the fig tree had dried up: “Lord, look, the fig tree that You cursed has dried up (Mark 11:21). To this Jesus said: Have faith in God; whoever does not doubt in his heart and says to the mountain: “Cast yourself into the sea,” his words will come true (Mark 11:23). This “moving of a mountain” is an example that for faith free from doubt, nothing is impossible. Christ's drying up of the fig tree was a symbolic act, a sign of His Divine power. According to the interpretation of the Lenten Triodion, the entire Jewish people were likened to this barren fig tree, in which the Lord did not find the fruits that he expected to find.

Why did the fig tree and fig tree become a curse tree?

According to the Old Testament, figs were attributed healing power, in particular, it was believed that a “layer of figs” heals abscesses (Isa. 38.21). The fig tree was one of the seven plants and products symbolizing the wealth of the promised land (Deut. 8.8). Fig trees were planted in vineyards (Luke 13:6) so that vine wrapped around a tree trunk. The expression “to live under the vineyard and fig tree” allegorically meant peace and prosperity.

But in addition to its natural properties, the fig tree also had symbolic meaning. For the teachers of Israel, the rabbis, she became a symbol of wisdom. One of the treatises of the Talmud recorded the following statement by Rabbi Yochanan: “Like a fig tree, whenever a person touches it, there is fruit on it; so are the words of the Torah - whenever a person pronounces them, there is meaning in them” (Eruvin 54). The Jewish sage promises fruits from the law of Moses - “at all times.” This is seen as religious maximalism, because in winter the fig tree does not bear fruit. When Christ came to a certain promising fig tree in April to look for fruit, He found nothing. Symbolically, He did not find that good fruit that the rabbis promised “at all times.” And in contrast to their claims to maximum wisdom, the Lord declared: “Let there be no fruit from you forever” (Matthew 21:19). So, the curse of the fig tree became a symbol of the rejection of those people who only have appearance performers of the law, but in reality do not bear good fruit.

Dooming the Jews to devastation, the Lord predicted that the Kingdom of God would be taken away from them and would be given to a people bearing its fruits (Matthew 21:43). This “new people” is now us Christians. We have been given the promises of the Kingdom of God, and fruit is now expected of us. The gospel story is not only the events of the historical past, but also a symbol, a prototype of what may happen in the future. Every, every, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. God does not need only the leaves of virtue - external empty piety. God needs real fruits of repentance (Matthew 3:8).

Evening Gospel

On the evening of Holy Monday, an excerpt is read about an event that took place outside the city, on the slope of the Mount of Olives - eschatological conversation of the Lord with the disciples: “When He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him alone and asked: Tell us, when will this be? and what is the sign of Your coming and the end of the age? Jesus answered and said to them: Beware that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and will deceive many. You will also hear about wars and war rumors. See, do not be horrified, for all this must happen, but this is not the end yet: for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in places; yet this is the beginning of diseases. Then they will hand you over to torture and kill you; and you will be hated by all nations because of my name; and then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another; and many false prophets will arise and deceive many; and, due to the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold; he who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come. So, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything from his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his clothes. Woe to them that are pregnant and to those who nurse at the breast in those days! Pray that your flight does not happen in winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then, if anyone tells you: behold, here is Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I told you in advance. So, if they say to you: “Behold, He is in the wilderness,” do not go out; “Behold, He is in the secret chambers,” - do not believe it; for just as lightning comes from the east and is visible even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man; for where the carcass is, there the eagles will gather.

And suddenly, after the sorrow of those days, the sun will darken, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn and see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and He will send His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Take the likeness of a fig tree: when its branches become soft and put out leaves, you know that summer is near; So, when you see all this, know that it is close, at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are done; heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24: 3-35).

Lenten edification

As you know, the Mount of Olives is located opposite ancient Jerusalem and it offered an amazing view of the Jerusalem Temple. They sat on a slope, looked at the city, and the Lord, pointing them to the Temple, said that very soon there would not be left one stone left of this building. It was very difficult to imagine then, because the Temple had only recently been rebuilt by King Herod. The Lord had a long conversation with the disciples about the end of the world. This eschatological theme for Holy Week is extremely important. It runs through all the days of Holy Week. Why? Because before His departure, the Lord wanted the disciples to remember well what would happen when He came the second time. He repeatedly warns these days about the events of His Second Glorious Coming, therefore, throughout Holy Week, hymns related to the Second Coming of the Lord are sung. The troparion “Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight” is sung on the first three days.