The eight days that compromise Holy Week in the Orthodox Church express the spiritual summit of the Church’s liturgical life. The focus on the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ proceeds in a physically, psychologically and spiritually moving series of services that defy the limitations of space and time to bring the Orthodox Christian into the moment of the events commemorated. The elegant beauty of the services so move the faithful that it is not uncommon to see tears flow as people feel themselves mystically participating in the events of the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Lazarus Saturday (the day before Palm Sunday) recalls the last public miracle of Jesus in raising Lazarus from the dead. This act serves as a reassurance that the Passion Jesus Himself will face in the week ahead will not end in death and corruption. The hymnody emphasizes that Christ is fully human and Divine.

Palm Sunday is a celebration of the Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The Vigil Service includes a blessing of palm branches, which are held by the faithful for the remainder of the Vigil and throughout the Divine Liturgy. The hymnody reflects both the raising of Lazarus and the humility of the King who enters Jerusalem on the foal of an ass.

The evenings of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday feature the Bridegroom Matins. (Essentially, all the services for the following week are pushed forward twelve hours to allow more active participation of the faithful. Thus the morning service for Monday is celebrated Sunday evening, etc.) These services focus on the End Times. There is an urgency in the tone of the services as, successively, the innocent suffering of the Patriarch Joseph in the Old Testament, the parable of the Ten Virgins, and the anointing by the sinful woman is brought to mind in anticipation of the events to follow. Of particular beauty is the “Hymn of Kassiani” on Tuesday night, in which the faithful identify themselves with the sinful woman, both repentant and grieving at the suffering Jesus will endure for our salvation.

On Holy Thursday morning the Vesperal Liturgy of the Last Supper is celebrated (moved from the evening to the morning as noted above). The Gospel Reading is a masterful combination of readings that recount the Last Supper, institution of the Holy Eucharist, and betrayal, arrest, and condemnation of Jesus. The hymnody centers on betrayal of Judas with allusions to the three Old Testament readings which each focus on the innocence of Jesus as a lamb led to the slaughter.

Thursday evening the Matins of the 12 Passion Gospels is served. The complete Passion narratives of each of the Gospels are read to dramatically tell the story of the Passion and Death of Jesus. During the service, the faithful are spiritually transported into the events being described by the carrying of the Cross. A priest exits the Sanctuary with a large cross, which he carries in procession through the Church. The Cross is placed in the center of the temple. An icon of “The Crucified One” corpus is suspended upon the cross. The sense of terror and despair becomes palpable, and it is not uncommon for people to weep at this point. The service continues with a growing sense of dread and grief as the Gospels recount the Death of Jesus.

Holy Friday is truly a day of mourning. In the morning the Royal Hours provide a meditation on the theme of Christ’s sacrifice for us on the Cross. In the afternoon, the Vespers of the Burial of our Lord Jesus Christ occurs. Prophecies, Readings and Hymns again bring the faithful into the midst of events as the story of the Crucifixion is recounted and death of Jesus is affirmed. At the point of the Gospel narrative wherein Jesus is taken down from the Cross, the priest or acolytes exist the Sanctuary and remove the Icon corpus from the cross, wrap it in a white shroud and slowly take it into the Sanctuary. Again, the silence of the moment can prove overwhelming and often tears are seen on the faces of many. As the service proceeds, the priest emerges again, this time carrying the Plaschanitsa or Epitaphios (a large stiff cloth with the icon image of Jesus being laid in the tomb). The procession ends at a Tomb in the midst of the temple — where the Plaschanitsa is laid out to be reverenced by the faithful. In the Evening, the faithful gather for the Matins of the Lamentations, or “Praises.” The Church joins with the Angelic Hosts in mourning the death of the Deathless One. The Plaschanitsa is carried in procession as everyone prostrates.

Holy Saturday begins with the Vesperal Liturgy of the First Proclamation of the Resurrection. The Resurrection is proclaimed with a strong association drawn to Passover and Baptism. Before the Gospel the priest scatters bay (laurel) leaves and/or rose petals throughout the whole church as a sign of Christ’s triumph and victory over death. Traditionally, converts to Orthodoxy are baptized either before or immediately after this service.

Holy Week in the Orthodox Church is more than attending a series of services, it is a week long experience of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The hymnody, readings, and overall arrangement of the services combine to powerfully witness to the central Truth of our Salvation. Those who faithfully participate in the services truly walk the way

The Thursday evening meal is ideally the last meal taken until Pascha. At this meal, wine and oil are permitted. The Fast of Great and Holy Friday is the strictest fast day of the year: even those who have not kept a strict Lenten fast are strongly urged not to eat at all on this day. After St. Basil’s Liturgy on Holy Saturday, wine, bread and fruit are blessed and may be taken for sustenance. The fast is broken after the Divine Liturgy on Pascha.

Exceptions: The Church has always exempted small children, the sick, the elderly, pregnant and nursing mothers, from strict fasting. Exceptions to the fast based on medical necessity (as with diabetes) are always allowed. In any case, always discuss your fasting with your spiritual father or father confessor for individual guidance.

The most ancient Christian writers unanimously testify that the Holy Forty Day Fast was established by the apostles in imitation of the forty-day fast of Moses (Exodus 34), Elijah (3 Kings 19), and mainly by the example of Jesus Christ fasting for forty days (Mt. 4: 2). Ancient Christians have observed the time of the Holy Forty Days as the season of the commemoration of the Suffering of the Savior on the Cross, anticipating the days of this commemoration, so that, strongly imitating His self-renunciation and His self-denial, these ascetical feats would show the living participation and love on the part of the Savior, who suffers for the world, and that before all this to be morally cleansed for the time of the solemn commemoration of the passion of Christ and His glorious resurrection. The very name of the Holy Forty Days is met rather frequently in the most ancient written monuments with the indication of the purpose of its establishment. “Do not neglect the Forty Days,” wrote St. Ignatius the God-bearer in his epistle to Philippians: “for it establishes the imitation of the life in Christ”. St. Ambrose of Milan spoke even more clearly: “The Lord has blessed us with the Forty Day Fast. He created it for our salvation to teach us to fast not in words only, but also by example”. Ss. Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa assert that the Holy Forty Day Fast existed everywhere during their time. According to the Apostolic Canons (Canon 69) the Holy Forty Day Fast is considered obligatory and its observance is protected by strict punishment. St. Hippolytus (3 century) serves as the indisputable witness of the antiquity of this fast and the paschal cycle traced to his See, containing the instruction from antiquity of the custom to stop the Holy Forty Days Fast on Sundays. On the basis of all traditions of the Holy Apostles, our Holy Church, through her holy fathers and teachers, always considered the Holy Forty Day Fast an apostolic establishment. As the Blessed Jerome, on behalf of all Christians of his time said: “we fast for the Forty Days according to the apostolic tradition.” St. Cyril of Alexandria repeatedly reminds us in his writings, that it is necessary to piously observe the Holy Forty Day Fast, according to the apostolic and gospel traditions…

“The more days of the fast,” teaches the blessed Augustine, “the better the healing. The longer the abstention, the more bountiful is the salvation. God, the Physician of our souls, established the proper time for the pious to give praise, for the sinners to pray; for some to seek rest, for others to ask forgiveness. The time of the Holy Forty Days is proper, neither too short for giving praise, nor too long for seeking mercy. Holy and saving is the course of the Holy Forty Days by which the sinner is led through repentance to charity, and through piety to rest. During its days God is supremely propitious, needs are met, piety is rewarded”. “The holy fathers”, teaches St. John Chrysostom, “appointed forty days of fast in order that during these days the people, having been carefully cleansed through prayer, fasting and confession of sins, will approach Holy Communion with a pure conscience “.

According to the teaching of the Venerable Dorotheos of Gaza, “God has given these holy days (the Forty Holy Days) so that those who struggle, with attention and wise humility, who tend to themselves and repent, will be cleansed of the sins which were committed during the whole year. Then their souls will be released from that burden, and being cleansed, will attain the holy day of the Resurrection and without condemnation, receive the Holy Mysteries, having become a new person through repentance in this holy fast”.

Sergius V. Bulgakov: “ Handbook for Church Servers,” Kharkov, 1900

Clean Monday -Καθαρή Δευτέρα in Greek- refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as “Clean Week,” and it is customary to go to Church Services every day during this week, and also to clean one’s house thoroughly.

Strictly observant Orthodox hold this day (and also Clean Tuesday and Wednesday) as a strict fast day, on which no solid food at all is eaten. Others will eat only in the evening, and then only xerophagy (lit. “dry eating”; i.e. eating uncooked foodstuffs such as fruit, nuts, halva, fasting bread and honey, etc.).

The theme of Clean Monday is set by the Old Testament readings appointed to be read at the Sixth Hour on this day. Isaiah 1:1-20 says in part: “Wash yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek righteousness, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool. If then ye be willing, and obedient unto Me, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye desire not, nor will obey Me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (v. 16-20). Genesis 1:1-13 is also read to imply that this is a time of renewal and new beginnings. The reading from Proverbs 1:1-20 instructs us towards clean and sober living through the use of wisdom, the beginning of which is “the fear of the Lord.” The clearest piece of advice given says: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.”

The Three Day Fast

For those who are able and willing, it is encouraged by the Church to keep a three day strict fast where neither food or water (if possible) is consumed until Clean Wednesday when one partakes of Holy Communion at the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy. This is an excellent way to mark the beginning of a holy struggle against one’s passions and weaknesses.

Abstaining from all food and drink for three days will help us approach the Lord on a deeper level than ever before. It will also help us to see and know ourselves on a deeper level. During these three days one will observe that they will be able to more clearly see their weaknesses, their passions, their spiritual poverty, and their nakedness of all the virtues, the dark abyss within, and the inner ugliness. Physically one will recognize how truly weak the flesh is even when the spirit is willing. This humbling attitude is a prerequisite to a successful fast. It is also a motivating factor for the rest of Great Lent as well as the entire spiritual life in general.

Commemorated on February 2

Today the Church commemorates an important event in the earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 2:22-40). Forty days after His birth the God-Infant was taken to the Jerusalem Temple, the center of the nation’s religious life. According to the Law of Moses (Lev. 12:2-8), a woman who gave birth to a male child was forbidden to enter the Temple of God for forty days. At the end of this time the mother came to the Temple with the child, to offer a young lamb or pigeon to the Lord as a purification sacrifice. The Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God, had no need of purification, since she had given birth to the Source of purity and sanctity without defilement. However, she humbly fulfilled the requirements of the Law.

At this time the righteous Elder Simeon (February 3) was living in Jerusalem. It had been revealed to him that he would not die until he should behold the promised Messiah. By inspiration from above, Saint Simeon went to the Temple at the very moment when the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint Joseph had brought the Infant Jesus to fulfill the Law.

The God-Receiver Simeon took the divine Child in his arms, and giving thanks to God, he spoke the words repeated by the Church each evening at Vespers: “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32). Saint Simeon said to the Most Holy Virgin: “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

At the Temple was the 84-year-old widow Anna the Prophetess, daughter of Phanuel (February 3), “who did not leave the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day. She arrived just when Saint Simeon met the divine Child. She also gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:37-38). In the icon of the Feast she holds a scroll which reads: “This Child has established Heaven and earth.”

Before Christ was born, righteous men and women lived by faith in the promised Messiah, and awaited His coming. The Righteous Simeon and the Prophetess Anna, the last righteous people of the Old Testament, were deemed worthy to meet the Savior in the Temple.

The Feast of the Meeting of the Lord is among the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. We have sermons on the Feast by the holy bishops Methodius of Patara (+ 312), Cyril of Jerusalem (+ 360), Gregory the Theologian (+ 389), Amphilocius of Iconium (+ 394), Gregory of Nyssa (+ 400), and John Chrysostom (+ 407).

The custom of blessing candles on the Feast of the Presentation has roots in venerable antiquity. As recorded in The Chronicle of St. Theophanes, Emperor Justinian I had issued an order in 541 A.D. that on the Feast of the Presentation, a candle-light procession be held throughout the city to implore Divine Protection against pestilence and the numerous earthquakes that plagued the city. And in answer to this holy gesture, God caused the pestilence and the earthquakes to subside. This gave rise to having similar processions on other occasions when the common welfare of the people was in danger.

These solemn processions later developed into the Litiya services held in the churches. The faithful, however, continued to light candles in their homes as a means of Divine protection. This prompted the blessing of candles on the Feast of the Presentation which then were distributed to the faithful.

In homes, the blessed candles are lighted and placed before a holy icon in time of serious sickness or the threat of a storm to implore Divine protection, as the family is gathered in prayer. In some places, a candle blessed on the Feast of the Presentation is used when the Last Rites of the Church are administered to a member of the family. It can also be placed into the hand of the dying as the priest recites “The Prayers for the Departure of the Soul,” sending him to God as a light-bearer and a ” champion of Faith” (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. on Hebr., IV, 7).

St. Hippolytus of Rome (+236) wrote:

“What more vital gift is there than the element of water? For with water all things are washed and nourished, and cleansed and bedewed… Nor is this the only thing that proves the dignity of the water. But there is also that which is more honourable than all—the fact that Christ, the Maker of all, came down as the rain, and was known as a spring, and diffused Himself as a river, and was baptized in the Jordan.”

The Holy Theophany of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ, is a commemoration of His great light, which manifested itself at the Jordan River, bringing light and life to all of us who were sitting in darkness.

“Theophany” literally means the “shining forth of God.” After Pascha and Pentecost, Theophany is considered the third greatest feast of our Orthodox Church. St. Cyril of Alexandria (+444) wrote that the beginning of the world, according to the Old Testament, was water. The beginning of the renewal or regeneration of the world, according to the Gospel, was also water, the water of the Jordan, when the Most Holy Trinity was revealed, and the Father spoke from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Then, the Holy Spirit appeared, in the form of a dove, hovering over the waters, just as the Spirit hovered over the waters in Genesis. St. John the Forerunner bore witness saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Christ our Lord took on our flesh, and the sin of the world, so that we, His children, might recognize our need for repentance, and so doing, behold the Lamb of God.

May all of us be blessed during this New Year to behold the Lamb of God, commending ourselves, and each other, and all our lives to Him. Being illumined by the Light of the Holy Theophany, let us eagerly embrace the warm and life-giving rays of the Lord’s Divine Dispensation for us unworthy ones.

A Blessed and spiritually rewarding New Year to all, and to all: Many Years!

Archpriest Basil Rhodes

Houses are traditionally blessed with “Theophany water” each year. A house can be blessed at any time, but the usual season for yearly blessings is from Theophany until the beginning of the Lenten Triodion, which begins four Sundays before Great Lent begins. This is not a hard and fast rule, but a good rule of thumb.

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When a home is blessed, the priest brings everything needed for the blessing:

• Holy water
• A “krupilla” (brush for dispersing the holy water),
• Bowl for the water
• Candles
• Theophany icon.

Many pious homes supply a bowl, candles and the family Theophany icon.

The family should provide the priest with a list of all family members, living and deceased.

The bowl and icon should be placed on a clean table with a cloth on it, preferably near the family icon corner. It is good for candles to be lit. The house should be clean, with all radios and televisions off.

The priest will bless all rooms of the house. Lights should be “on” and doors opened. The procession for the house blessing should be led by the eldest member of the house carrying the candle. In homes with children, it is always good for the little ones to carry a candle or a small cross and participate in the procession.

The basic order for a simple home blessing is as follows:

1. The bowl of water, icon and lit candles are placed on a clean table. IF there is a home censer, it may be lit.
2. The priest begins the service with a blessing and the Trisagion prayers (O heavenly King through the “Our Father”.)
3. After this the entire home is blessed, with the family walking with the priest holding candles and the Theophany icon while the Theophany Troparion is sung over and over:

Tone 1:
When Thou, O Lord wast baptized in the Jordan, / the worship of the Trinity
was made manifest; / for the voice of the Father bore witness to Thee, / and
called Thee His beloved Son. / And the Spirit in the form of a dove /
confirmed the truthfulness of His word. / O Christ our God, Who hast appeared
unto us // and hast enlightened the world, glory to Thee.

(It is a very good idea for the family to sing this troparion, and know it by heart.)

4. Upon finishing blessing the house, the family gathers again at the table, and a short litany is said for the welfare of the family. The priest should have been provided a list of all family members’ names, especially those who are ill. A list of Orthodox dead may also be included.
5. After this a short prayer is said, and the service is ended.

Note: When the priest visits, it is never required that the family gives him an “honorarium.” The scripture tells us “Freely you have received, freely give.” However, it is a pious custom among among Orthodox Christians to give the priest a donation at this time, but this should never be thought of as a requirement. The priest comes to the home because he wants God’s blessing to be upon it, and to know those in his flock better and to be available to them.

by Archpriest Basil Rhodes

The late and ever-memorable Mitred Archpriest George Benigsen, former Rector of our St Nicholas Church in Saratoga, once said in a Christmas sermon:

“When a child is born, people often say that he resembles his mother. Here, for the first and only time in history, one can say that the mother resembled the Child, in Whose image she was created.”

It only happened once in history, when there was no need to look up into the heavens to thank God for a newborn child. When THIS Child rested in her arms, the Virgin Mary gazed DOWN at heaven to give thanks. He was born next to fields where sheep were grazing. He was born in the filthiest place on earth, in a stable. Have you ever been in a stable? Have you ever mucked out a stall or visited a dairy farm? Flies, stench, filth. Present in the Bethlehem cave-stable were an ox, and a donkey, fulfilling the word of the Lord through the Prophet Isaiah “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know me, and these people have not regarded me.” That’s why we always see those animals in the icons of Christ’s Nativity. They’re cute, but they are still animals. They represent our fallen, animal-like nature which nature was brought about by sin. The ox represents brutishness, and the donkey stubbornness. Isn’t that us? Aren’t we slaves of our passions and lusts, guided by base instincts? And stubborn? Aren’t we stubborn? Christ was born there, in that place of animals, to show that He had come to save exactly us! He Who was perfect beauty, the One who will later be led like a sheep to the slaughter, was born among the sheep. The One who was, Himself, the Bread of Life came down from heaven to be born in a place where animals came to eat. St. John of Kronstadt asks:“Why, and for what reason, was there such humble self-abasement [shown] on the part of the Creator toward His transgressing creatures – toward humanity which, through an act of its own will had fallen away from God, its Creator? It was by reason of a supreme, inexpressible mercy toward His creation on the part of the Master, Who could not bear to see the entire race of mankind…enslaved by the devil and thus destined for eternal suffering and torment.”

Let’s look, for a moment, at this choice made by God for our salvation. The Gospel tells us that “there was no place at the inn.” But there was a place in the stable with the manger. The comfy “inn” represents a place where people of the world, people with money, congregate. It is a false home away from their true home. It is a place where secret sins abound. It represents the center of earthly moods, the meeting place for the popular ones, the achievers. The stable and the manger, in contrast, are the place for the despised, the rejected, the forgotten ones. If the world was truly expecting the Birth of Christ, it would have looked for Him at the Inn. The cave-stable and the manger would have been the last place they would look for Him. This is exactly why they don’t find Him. The Divine is always there, but only a few find Him.

The incarnate Son of God had to enter His own world not through the front entrance but from the back door, the servants’ door. He was born in a cave under the earth, and laid in a manger, that feeding trough for the animals. There, He shook the earth to its foundations. He was born in a cave; therefore, all who come to Him must stoop to enter in, thus signifying their own need to be humble. Have any of you been to Bethlehem? Have you been to the ancient Church of the Nativity? You still have to bow down, don’t you? Anyway, the proud ones would refuse to stoop down to enter the cave, and, therefore, they pass by and miss God. However, those who know how to humble their ego, DO stoop down and enter, and suddenly find themselves not in a cave but in a new world, where the Child-God sits in His mother’s lap and His frail Child’s fingers rule the universe.

And all of this, dear ones, He does for us. Perhaps St. Ambrose of Milan said it best:

“He was a baby, He was a child, so that you might grow into a mature, perfected human being; He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, That you might be loosed from the bonds of death; He was laid in a manger, so that you might stand before the altar; He came to dwell on earth, so that you might dwell in the stars. There was no place for Him in the inn, So that you might have many mansions in Heaven. He, being rich, became poor for your sakes, that through His poverty you might become rich. Therefore, His poverty is my inheritance, and the Lord’s weakness is my power. He chose to have nothing Himself, that He might give everything to all” (Saint Ambrose of Milan, 4th century).

Many Western customs and traditions are easily adaptable and adoptable by Orthodox Christians in our celebration of the Nativity of Christ. Many of these customs long predate the schism between East & West, so let’s look at a couple of these.

1. HOLLY

Long before holly was hung in houses to accompany Christmas trees, it was considered to be a sacred plant by our pre-Christian ancestors. While other plants wilted and died in the harsh winter weather, holly remained green and strong, its berries a brightly colored red in the harshest of conditions. Some of them even regarded holly as a symbol of eternal life and would hang it in their homes to ward off evil. In Druid lore, cutting down a holly tree would bring about terrible misfortune. In contrast, hanging the plant in homes was believed to bring good luck and protection.

Early Christian calendars mark Christmas Eve as the time for “templa exornatur,” meaning “churches are decked,” so many Christians “converted” the pre-Christian symbolism of holly to reflect Christian beliefs. Today, Christians consider holly symbolic of Jesus Christ in two ways. The red berries represent the blood that Jesus shed on the cross on the day he was crucified. Legend states that holly berries were originally white, but that the blood Christ shed for the sins of humankind stained the berries forever red. A holly’s pointed leaves symbolize the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’ head before he died on the cross.

2. IVY

Ivy is another evergreen plant that can survive even in winter’s cold. Symbolically, ivy has to cling to something to support itself in order to grow upwards towards heaven. This reminds us that we, too, need to cling to God for our own spiritual growth and ascent.