Changes

The '''Service of the Bridegroom''' is an [[Orthros]] type service specific to the first three evenings of [[Holy Week]] and commemorates the last days in the earthly life of our Lord. They were sorrowful days because the purpose of the evil was to dispose of Jesus and rid His message for ever. The icon of Christ the Bridegroom is brought into the church wearing a crown of thorns and it remains in the church until Holy Thursday. In the services we read and chant hymns telling us about the beginning of the passion and anticipate His crucifixion and resurrection (or “Marriage” to the “Church”) – releasing of the passage from death to life. Each night, we sing the ''Hymn to the Bridegroom '' and the vestments of the Priest and the altar clothes are black or deep purple to symbolise and create the atmosphere of mourning and remembrance of the great shame of the Fall of Adam and Eve, the depths of hell, the lost Paradise and the absence of God. The main emphasis of the ''Bridegroom Serve'' is ''[[metanoia]]'' and each service has its own particular theme.