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Holy Week

3,313 bytes added, 00:45, April 25, 2014
The phrase "reserved Eucharist" is ambiguous, and could lead people to erroneously believe the Holy Thursday liturgy is presanctified
For [[Image:Twelve gospels.jpg|right|thumb|350px|A worshiper prostrates before the cross at the Twelve Passion Gospels service at St. Mary Orthodox ChristianChurch in Cambridge, Massachusetts.]]'''Great and Holy Week''' is the week from the conclusion of [[Great Lent]] on the [[Lazarus Saturday|Saturday of Lazarus ]] to the celebration of [[Pascha]]. This week It is also often called emphasized that the '''Great and services of Holy Week'''follow the ecclesiastical day, that is from sundown to sundown. Thus Saturday of Lazarus ends at sundown on Saturday.
==History==
While little is recorded of the development of the celebrations of the Holy Week during the early years of the Church, it apparently had very early origins. By the fourth century the celebration of the week appears well -founded and to be similar to our celebrations today. The pilgrim Aetheria [[Egeria]] to Jerusalem in the latter part of the fourth century described the events of the week after the services of the Saturday of Lazarus, "...began the week of the Pasch, which they called here the '''Great Week'''", noting the procession commemorating Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first day of the week. It is during this week that we remember Christ's Passion and Crucifixion.
[[Image:raisingoflazarus.jpg|right|frame|The Raising of Lazarus]]
==The Holy Week==
As leave is taken from [[Lazarus Saturday]] concludes [[Great Lent with the ]]. This celebration of the Saturday of Lazarus, which remembers Christ's raising of Lazarus from the dead and the promise of universal [[resurrection ]] for all, . Lazarus Saturday provides a week is entered bridge to Holy Week during which the church Church services remember Christ's last week, the Holy Week, before his crucifixion and resurrection, his [[passion]]. During this week the [[Matins]] Services services for the upcoming day is are celebrated the evening before, and Vespers is celebrated in the morning. This anticipation of the Church's services gives the faithful a sense that the world is in travail, upside-down, because of the passion our Lord endured for our salvation. Although this practice is unusual, it is canonical in accordance with the ancient definition that the day is from sunset to sunset. [[Image:Palm_Sunday.jpg|left|thumb|Icon of Christ's entry into Jerusalem]][[Image:extremehumilityBridegroom.jpg|right|thumb|Christ the Bridegroom]]
===Palm Sunday===
The first day of Holy Week begins with [[Vespers]] of Saturday evening leading to the celebration of the services of '''Our Lord's Entry into Jerusalem''' the next morning, Sunday. In the western world this day is usually called ''[[Palm Sunday]]''. As Christ makes his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his divine kingdom on Earth is proclaimed under the branches of the palm tree. 
===Holy Monday===
The first three days of Holy Week remind us of Christ's last instructions with his disciples. These teachings are remembered in the celebration of the Great [[Compline]], Matins, [[Hours]], and [[Liturgy ]] during these days. The [[Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts]] celebrated these days includes readings from [[Exodus]], [[Book of Job|Job]], and [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]].  The Matins services of the evenings of Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, and Holy Tuesday, anticipating the events of the next day, share a common theme. These [[Christ The Bridegroom (O Nymphios)|Bridegroom]] Services are derived from the [[Parable]] of the Ten Virgins, which calls for preparedness at the Second Coming, for the "thief comes in the middle of the night." (Matt. 26:1-13)
The Matins services of the evenings of Palm Sunday, and '''Holy Monday''', and '''Holy Tuesday''', anticipating the events of the next day, share a common theme devoted to the [[Bridegroom]] Services derived from the Parable of the Ten Virgins that calls for preparedness at the Second Coming, for the "thief comes in the middle of the night." (Matt. 26:1-13)
===Holy Wednesday===
The Mysterion or Within the past two centuries, Byzantine practice has developed to include the [[Sacramentholy mysteries|mystery]] of [[Holy Unction]] , which is celebrated on '''Holy Wednesday''', commemorating Christ's anointing with myrrh. The service ends with the priest anointing the faithful with Holy Oilholy oil. Also Some [[jurisdiction]]s outside the Byzantine world also include this practice, remembered is such as in some parts of the [[OCA]]. The services appointed by the [[Typikon]] for the evening of Holy Wednesday recall that on this day Judas betrayed Christ, which led to the tradition from [[Apostle|Apostolic ]] times of [[fasting ]] on Wednesday throughout the year. It also focuses on the Mystical Supper, which is celebrated in the liturgy of the following day. [[Image:mysticalsupper.jpg|left|thumb|The Mystical Supper]]
===Holy Thursday===
'''Holy Thursday''' begins with the celebration of vespers and the [[Divine Liturgy]] of St. Basil with a Reserved [[Holy Communion]] , in representation of the earthly presence of Christ realized at the [[Last Supper]]. In the evening, anticipating the Matins of Friday morning, the Holy Passion service of the reading of the '''Twelve GospelGospels''' is conducted. In these readings Christ's last instructions to his disciples are presented, as well as the prophecy of the drama of the Cross, Christ's prayer, and his new commandment. The twelve readings are: [[Image:mysticalsupper.jpg|left|thumb|The Mystical Supper]][[Image:crucifixion.jpg|right|thumb|Crucifixion]] 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=St.%20John%2013:31%20-%2018:1;&version=9; John 13:31-18:1]
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2018:1%20-%2029;&version=9; John 18:1-29 ]
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=St.%20Matthew%2027:62%20-%2066;&version=9; Matthew 27:62-66]
[[Image:crucifixion.jpg|right|thumb|Crucifixion]]===Good Holy Friday==='''Great and Holy Friday''' begins with reading of the [[Royal Hours]] leading up to Vespers of Friday afternoon during , at which time the removal of the Body of Christ from the Cross is commemorated. The [[priest]] removes the Body of Christ, the [[Epitaphios]], from the Cross, wraps it in a white cloth and carries it into the [[altar]]. In an evening service, called the Lamentations at the Tomb, the priest carries the Epitaphios, the painted or embroidered cloth representation of Christ, from the altar around the [[church]] before placing it in the Sepulcher, a bier symbolizing the Tomb of Christ. This procession, with the faithful carrying lighted candles, represents Christ's descent into Hades. [[Image:epitaphios.jpg|left|frame|Epitaphios]] 
===Holy Saturday===
'''Great and [[Holy Saturday]]''' Vespers and a Divine Liturgy of St. Basil are served, marked with readings of [[Psalter|Psalms]] and Resurrection [[hymnshymn]] s that tell of Christ's descent into Hades, celebrated as the "First Resurrection" of Adam and the conquering of Death. It is appointed by the typikon to be celebrated in the afternoon, though it is served in the morning in many places. This service comes from the ancient liturgical tradition of the [[Church of Constantinople]] and was its primary Paschal service. The hymn "Arise O God" from the Psalms was the original primary Paschal hymn before "Christ is risen" came to take its place. Its place as the ancient Constantinopolitan Paschal celebration is what gives the service such a bright and resurrectional character. 
==Pascha==
[[Image:pascha.jpg|right|frame|The Resurrection of Christ]]
: ''Main article: [[Pascha]]'Easter''' or  '''[[Pascha]]''', the '''Feast of Feasts''', celebrations begins just before midnight with the singing of the Odes of Lamentation as the Resurrection Vespers begins with the church in complete darkness. As midnight approaches the priest taking a light from a vigil light within the altar passes the flame to the faithful for their candles while singing "Come ye and receive light from the unwaning life, and, glorify Christ, who arose from the dead." Then, the priest leads the faithful out of the church in procession. After circling the church either one or three times, as the procession nears the entrance door of the church, the priest leads in the singing of the hymn of Resurrection. "Christ has Risen risen from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and has bestowed life upon those in the tombs!" At this point the priest and faithful enter the well-lighted church for the remaining part of Vespers and the breaking of the [[fast]] with the [[Divine Liturgy]]. After conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, in many communities, the faithful retire to an ''agape'' meal to break the Fast together, and then return home as dawn arrives. Later in the day of Pascha the faithful again gather for prayer with lighted candles in a vespers service, singing the hymn "Christ is Risen from the Dead," and greeting each other joyously , "[[Paschal greeting|Christ is Risenrisen]]" and responding with , "Truly He is Risenrisen." ==Local customs=====Jerusalem===* The Orthodox Patriarch breaks the seal of the door of the tomb of Christ in the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem)|Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] and emerges with the [[Holy Fire]]. ===Greece===* Painting of the red eggs* Preparation of sweets ("Koulouria")* The Holy Fire is flown from Jerusalem on Olympic Airways, accompanied by high-ranking Greek Orthodox priests and government officials to the Athens airport. The Holy Flame is met with a reception of honour guards and is taken to the small church of Agioi Anargyroi in the Plaka square.* On Sunday, all over Greece, the Greek people will hold very festive celebrations. Traditionally, lambs are roasted (which symbolise Christ), and friends and family get together to eat, drink, talk and dance. In some towns, this tradition is a community celebration. For example:** In Arachova, rows of lambs are roasted in the village square.** On some islands, the town shoots "Judas"  
==External links==
*[http://churchmotherofgod.org/articleschurch/about-services-and-prayers/519-holy-week.html A Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week], by Fr. [[Alexander Schmemann]]*[http://www.antiochian.org/midwest/Articles/Development_of_Holy_Week_Services.htm The Historical Development of Holy Week Services In the Orthodox/Byzantine Rite], by Fr. Nabil L. Hanna* [http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8432.asp Holy Week GOARCH] *[http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8504.asp The Origins of Pascha and Great Week - Part I]*[http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8505.asp The Origins of Pascha and Great Week - Part II] * [http://www.holy-trinity.org/feasts/holyweek.html Holy Week and Pascha] * [http://holytrinity.ok.goarch.org/holy_week.html Holy Week]* [http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/holy_week2_e.htm Approach to Holy Week] 
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