From now on, the right-to-glorious Ka-Len-Dar opens a succession of sad and solemn days, having -well-e-myh in Slavic “Passionate” O 1st week And this”, i.e. “Weeks of Passion” of Jesus Christ. For each of the days, the re-re-re-re-on-me and God-serving re-s-pro-of-ve-de-de-ce-responsibility -the current events of the Evangelical history. Readings and lengthy songs lead Christians in the footsteps of the Lord, who is coming to a free death.
Passionate about business
Close suffering and death Spa-si-te-la sim-in-li-zi-ru-ut-sya in-news-in-va-n-em about the life of the vet-ho-za -vet-no-go righteous-no-Joseph-precious, pro-given-by-his-for-whis-whether-you-mi-brothers to Egypt for twenty silver-re-ni-kov (ch.). In the Gospel parable about the barren fig, which did not bear fruit, but somehow O curse, depict the destruction of the path of spiritual laziness. Therefore, there continues to be a parable about evil vi-no-gra-da-ryahs, who should not pay for their service to -nie(). About this terrible punishment, which brings the end of the Biblical Iz-ra-i-lyu, without understanding the meaning of its his path in the Sacred Is-to-ry given to him by God, he says the sorrowful pro-ro-che-tvo of the State about near the raz-ru-she-nii Ieru-sa-li-ma ().
Holy Tuesday
G. Grönning. Parable about ta-lan-tah.Fragment (2nd half of the 16th century)
IN Holy Tuesday The Lord calls us to constant vigilance and to the increase of our gifts, clearly -nyaya is a parable about de-sya-ti maidens (wise and foolish) and about ta-lan-ts (in the literal and trans-nose sense- le), which were given to us not in order to bury them in the ground. Otherwise, there is no justification at the Last Judgment ().
Holy Wednesday
The tragic unraveling is coming, and the meaningful center Holy Wednesday one hundred two mutually-but pro-ti-false in the meaning of the co-existence: according to the sinful woman, bliss-gift-but he poured precious ointment upon the feet of Jesus, and the terrible thought of Judas, one of the Two -at-twenty apo-sto-lovs, before-the-living authorities to help secretly arrest their Teach-teacher for thirty-srub -re-ni-kov ().
Holy Thursday
Na-stu-pa-et Passionate, or Maundy Thursday. Having washed the feet of the students and thereby taught them a lesson in humility, the Lord tastes His last pass-hal in earthly life tra-pe-zu and usta-nav-li-va-et ta-in-stvo Ev-kha-ri-stii (literally “Bla-go-da-re-niya”) - ta-in- the essence of His eternal unity and communion with all of us. It continues to contain the miracle of Beth-le-e-ma, the miracle of the incarnation and the personhood of God, bliss. Somehow, a real union of two worlds took place - the Divine and the human what. Turning to the Father, Christ prays for us: “May they all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You, so may they also be one in Us” (). People, after eating Hell-ma, become “with-the-forest-ni-ka-mi” God-who-lo-ve-ka Jesus -sa Christ and through this - one blood-brother.
From-me-et-sya and ha-rak-ter of God's servant. I have not heard more than a night before, “Behold, they are coming...”, for He has already come and in the festively decorated mountain no such thing as the great Ve-che-ryu of Love. With a double feeling - joy and sadness - about God's service to the Great Thursday: pe- Cha-li about the beginning of the cross of the Lord to Gol-go-fu and rejoice about that great Ra-do-sti , which the Lord has pleased with all those who love Him. This “joy of the cross” is that genuine spiritual joy that is now given to us. As a sign of her sacred service on Li-tur-gy, they dress in light-colored clothes. What is it about this Thursday night? What awaits the Lord and all of us, His spiritual co-participants at the Secret Meeting, on Friday?
Night over Ieru-sa-li-mom. In the Si-on-mountain there is no light. In sad silence, Twelve-twenty lies beside him. “One of you will betray Me,” the chat sounds, confirming the words of the Lord for the moving tragedy. Whispering, frightened voices: “Isn’t it me?” Judas gets up and runs away into the darkness of the night. The members of Si-ned-ri-o-na do not sleep either. The ar-hi-heries give a secret order to us...
The Apo-tables divided the sacred Cup and Bread. The Lord speaks of the suffering that awaits Him. Peter ardently promises to go with Him to death. He doesn't even realize how close she is.
“For a new one I give you: yes l yu beat each other; just as I loved you, so you love And they are each other" ().
Tra-pe-za-za-kon-che-na. Quietly on the pas-hal-dog, they leave the house, go out of the city gates and go deeper going to the mas-personal garden of Geth-si-ma-nii. There is darkness there. The apostles are sleeping, only the three of them, the closest disciples, Christ asks to share prayers with Him. But their eyes are closed and through oblivion they hear His voice: “Father! If you want, don’t pass this cup past Me! However, not Mine, but Your will, may it be fulfilled” ().
The tragic ending is near. The guard is already crossing the ravine along the path. Next comes the welcoming kiss of Judas, pointing to the One who exactly should be the ares-to-van; Peter's inappropriate attempt with a sword in his hands to protect the teacher, soon replaced by the same is-spirited three -multiple from-re-anything; little spirit and flight of students; before-request from the arch-hi-heree for a hasty con-call for Si-ned-ri-one, false-for-the-for-the-for-the-de-va-tel-stva-of-the-la- di. Kai-a-fa’s last terrible question, which contains the meaning of the entire ancient story: “God Lives “I implore You, tell us: “Are you the Messiah (Christ), the Son of God?” Jesus says to him: “You [yourself] said- hall. More than this I say to you: from now on at behold the Son of Man, seated at the right hand of the Force and marching through the region to the heavenly ones." Then the first-priest tore off his clothes and said: “He uttered blasphemy!” Why do we need more information? Now, now you [yourself] have heard blasphemy. What do you think?’ They said to him in response: ‘He must die!’” ().
In memory of all these events, crowned by the death of the Cross, in our churches there are two Matins with the reading -on-the-twenty Gospels of the Holy Passion (Passion) of our Lord Jesus Christ. "Passionate s “Evangelia”, as they are usually called, are excerpts from all the four Gospels, races according to the chro-no-lo-gi-che-sko-go principle and covering-you-va-yu-s-beings from the Tai-noy Ve-che-ri to the gre-be- nia Spa-si-te-la. The number of two-twenty sim-in-li-zi-ru-is half of that Biblical night, consisting of one-hundred of two-twenty cha- owls The number of blows, the number of blows, appears in a row, the number of measures about Evan-ge-lia . Mo-la-shi-e-sya stand in a dark temple with lit candles; quiet and protracted voices sound: “Glory to Thy Passion, Lord,” “Glory to the long-lasting Your-e-go-o-spo-di.” According to the parish tradition, this service takes place on the eve of Good Friday, that is, in the evening It's a passionate Thursday.
Good Friday
Na-stu-pa-et Good Friday- the center of great fasting grief, the day of the death of the Cross and the burial of our Lord. In the right-glorious churches there are readings and songs about the last hours of His earthly life.
We imagine the early morning of the day on the eve of the Jewish Passover. Jesus Christ was brought to the pre-torium, and from Pontius Pi-la-ta they demanded confirmation of the death-priority . He is disdainful and dissatisfied. What does the Roman governor have to do with the Jewish re-li-gi-oz-disputes about the Mes-si-an-kingdom, especially since -Lee - about the kingdom “not of this world”?! He sincerely sympathizes with the courageous Man, who has clearly okled the enemy, and wants let-go Uz-no. For Pi-la-ta, Christ is a harmless, learned sword-ta-tel, similar to the countries of ancient ancient philosophers, to whom The “sound-minded” Romans were skeptical and funny, as if they were eternal children.
“Why did you come here,” the prefect asks Christ. - “I was born for this and came into the world to be a witness to is-ti-na,” he hears in response and sar-ka-sti -che-smiles-ha-et-sya: “ What is there is-ti-na?” Rude soldier, he doesn’t believe in her. He believes in the power of gold and Roman le-gi-o-novs. Preservation of the blessings of the gloomy im-per-ra-to-ra of T-ber-rius, giving him power over this ins-of-peace pro-vin-tsi-ey, for him it’s more important than anything. And Pi-lat, despite his wife’s advances (), has little soul, but washes his hands.
Al-brecht Du-rer.Crucifixion of Christ. (1508)
Around mid-day from Christ, they bring executions to the place and spread them out between two times. cov. The world is shaking. The sun hid its face and an incomprehensible darkness moved towards Gol-go-fu. Alone, from the height of the Cross, He meets the darkness. And below are people, stupid and met, equal-hearted and crying. He dies, separated from everyone, experiences torment and death, the horror of the last minutes... Jesus loudly resurrects click-null: “Father! Into Your hands I commend My spirit! “And with these words He took His last breath” ().
In the morning, in the temples there are the Royal Clocks, sacred to the sun-after-night and at-the-beer-time. the sixth day of death Spa-si-te-la. (The clock is the divine service of the su-exact cycle; “king-ski-mi” they are called in this case because once upon a time in Kon-stan-ti-no-po-le they were in the presence of them-per-ra-to-ry with the whole yard. ) Divine Li-tur-gia, on which the bloodless Ev-ha-ri-sti-che-sacrifice is based, not it is served, for “the sacrifice on this day is at Gol-go-fa” (prot.). (The only exception is in the case of the coincidence of Good Friday with the feast of the Good; then -where is the Li-tur-gia of St. John-on-the-Evil-mouth.)
At about two o'clock in the afternoon, sacredly, you serve from the altar of the Pla-scha-ni-tsu - a large icon, on which the dead Jesus Christ is depicted in full height, lying in the tomb. She is in the middle of the temple at a special height (ka-ta-fal-ke), and in the middle of the faith The flowers surround her on three sides. There is only a place left for those who come to worship the Savior of the world and kiss His most pure gi.
Evening is coming, and with it - “The rite of burial.” Believers will take part in the ballroom process and, with candles in their hands, co-pro- they lead me around the temple Pla-sha-ni-tsu with pen-ni-em “Holy s "Oh my god." It sounds mournful-but-for-that-re-ringing of bells and begs-when the Cloak-no-tsa is again for-no-ma- It has its place in the temple, among white flowers.
Yuri Ruban,
Ph.D. ist. na-uk, cand. bo-go-word-via
Crucifixion
The most mournful day of the year has arrived for the Orthodox - Good Friday. It was today, almost two millennia ago, that Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross, atonement for human sins.
Here is a brief chronology of events from Thursday night to Friday evening, as described by the Orthodox Encyclopedia.
On Thursday, after the Last Supper and Farewell Conversation, the Savior and his disciples went to Gethsemane (the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives), where they spent part of the night (the disciples in slumber, and Christ in prayer) until the arrival of Judas Iscariot with an armed crowd from the high priests and the elders of Israel. Jesus was arrested and his disciples fled. Christ was taken to the high priest Annas, and then appeared before Caiaphas (before dawn) and the court of the Sanhedrin (in the morning), which sentenced Him to death. At this time, the Apostle Peter, who was following the Teacher and awaiting the outcome of the matter in the courtyard, denied Him three times.
After the verdict was pronounced, Christ was taken to the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate (he was the plenipotentiary representative of the Roman authorities and, among other things, was in charge of capital punishment), who sent Him to the tetrarch Herod Antipas, who ruled in Galilee (for Jesus was from Galilee; thereby Pontius Pilate wanted to transfer Herod responsible for the death of Christ). After being interrogated, mocked and ridiculed by Herod, Jesus was again brought before Pilate. Despite his desire to release Christ and after several unsuccessful attempts to do so, Pontius Pilate, under pressure from the Jewish high priests and the crowd, handed Him over to be crucified.
Upon learning of the verdict, Judas, who repented of his betrayal, committed suicide. After scourging and humiliation in the praetorium, Jesus Christ was taken outside of Jerusalem and crucified by Roman soldiers, who divided His vestments among themselves, on Golgotha (the Place of Execution, where, according to legend, Adam’s skull was buried. Having endured several hours of suffering on the cross, witnessed by many people, Jesus Christ died on the Cross, “and the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the stones were split open;
Two of His secret disciples, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, took the Body of Jesus from the Cross, wrapped it in a shroud and buried it “in the tomb” - a small cave not far from Golgotha, covering it with a large stone. Women followers of Christ (myrrh-bearers) were present at the burial. The next day, at the request of the Israeli elders (who were afraid that Jesus’ disciples would steal His Body and announce the resurrection), Pontius Pilate ordered Roman soldiers to seal the cave and guard it.
And the next day the Resurrection of Christ took place. The belief that the Son of God, having suffered for people, was resurrected, is the basis and main gospel of Christianity. Therefore, Good Friday Holy Saturday and Easter (the so-called Easter Triduum) are central in church calendar. The Good Friday service is entirely devoted to the remembrance of events from the end of the Last Supper to the burial of the Most Pure Body of the Lord Jesus Christ (similar to other days Holy Week, Good Friday as a liturgical day opens not with Vespers, but with Matins and ends with Compline).
What is a crucifixion? What monstrous torments did Jesus Christ endure for people? This is how the famous Orthodox missionary Protodeacon Andrey Kuraev explains it:
“Cicero called this execution the most terrible of all executions that people have come up with. Its essence is that the human body hangs on the cross in such a way that the fulcrum is in the chest. When a person's arms are raised above shoulder level and he hangs without supporting his legs, the entire weight of the upper half of the body falls on the chest. As a result of this tension, blood begins to flow to the muscles of the pectoral girdle and stagnates there. The muscles gradually begin to stiffen. Then the phenomenon of asphyxia occurs: cramped pectoral muscles squeeze chest. The muscles do not allow the diaphragm to expand, the person cannot take air into the lungs and begins to die from suffocation. Such executions sometimes lasted several days. To speed it up, the person was not simply tied to the cross, as in most cases, but was nailed. Forged faceted nails were driven between the radial bones of the arm, next to the wrist. On its way, the nail met a nerve ganglion, through which the nerve endings go to the hand and control it. The nail interrupts this nerve node. In itself, touching an exposed nerve is a terrible pain, but here all these nerves are broken. But not only can he breathe in this position, he has only one way out - he must find some kind of support point in his own body in order to free his chest for breathing. A nailed person has only one possible support point - these are his legs, which are also pierced in the metatarsus. The nail goes between the small bones of the metatarsus. The person should lean on the nails that pierced his legs, straighten his knees and raise his body, thereby relieving the pressure on his chest. Then he can breathe. But since his hands are also nailed, his hand begins to rotate around the nail. To breathe, a person must turn his hand around a nail, which is by no means round and smooth, but completely covered with jagged edges and sharp edges. This movement is accompanied by pain on the verge of shock.
The Gospel says that Christ's suffering lasted about six hours. To speed up the execution, guards or executioners often broke the legs of the crucified person with a sword. The man lost his last point of support and quickly suffocated. The guards who guarded Golgotha on the day of Christ's crucifixion were in a hurry; they needed to finish their terrible task before sunset for the reason that after sunset, Jewish law forbade touching a dead body, and it was impossible to leave these bodies until tomorrow, because a great holiday was approaching - Jewish Passover, and three corpses should not have hung over the city. Therefore, the execution team is in a hurry. And so, St. John specifically notes that the soldiers broke the legs of two thieves crucified with Christ, but did not touch Christ himself, because they saw that He was dead. It is not difficult to notice this on the cross. As soon as a person stops moving up and down endlessly, it means he is not breathing, it means he is dead...
Evangelist Luke reports that when the Roman centurion pierced Jesus' chest with a spear, blood and water poured out of the wound. According to doctors, we are talking about fluid from the pericardial sac. The spear pierced the chest on the right side, reached the pericardial sac and the heart - this is a professional blow from a soldier who aims at the side of the body that is not blocked by a shield and hits in such a way as to immediately reach the heart. Blood will not flow from an already dead body. The fact that blood and water poured out means that the heart blood mixed with the fluid of the pericardial sac even earlier, even before the last wound. The heart could not stand the torment. Christ died of a broken heart earlier.”
It is worth recalling here that Russian Orthodox Christians are not Monophysites, like the Armenians. In our understanding, Jesus Christ is the God-man. Those. the one who is not only the Lord, but also, like all of us, feels any physical pain of the body. This is the torment Jesus Christ endured while saving us. As the Gospel of John says: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Here is what the outstanding pastor of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archimandrite John (Krestyankin), said about this event:
“The life of Christ, which continues in the world, has led us today to Golgotha, to the empty Cross of the Divine Sufferer, to His tomb. And twenty centuries ago, at this time, only the closest ones remained around His lifeless body, mourning their love and unfulfilled hopes.
The last exclamation of the Dying One on the Cross: “It is accomplished,” was heard by friends and foes. And no one yet understood the cause for which He died. Now, just as the sun is reflected and plays in a drop of dew with the joy of life, so in every Church throughout the entire earth the events of those tragic and saving days are reflected: the Cross of the Lord and the Shroud of Christ are lifted up, they speak of the greatest feat in the history of the world that took place on Calvary.
The Kingdom of God appeared on earth as the Savior and Redeemer and is called the Church of Christ. And today Golgotha would no longer accommodate everyone who brought their love to the Savior’s pierced feet. It is the Lord who fulfills His promise: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me.” (John 12:32).
We are now, standing at the shroud, already awaiting His Resurrection. Maybe that’s why we cannot feel the gracious bitterness of Christ’s passion, nor hold back the forty-day joy of the coming Easter. But today is Good Friday - a day of great sorrow and deep thought. “Let all human flesh be silent and think of nothing earthly within itself.”
On Good Friday, all humanity from Adam to the last earthly being must stand before the shroud with their heads bowed. It was through their sin that death entered the world, their crimes created the Calvary execution. It is scary to recognize oneself as a criminal, it is unbearable to see oneself as the culprit of death - a murderer. And this is a fact! All of us, without exception, are involved in this death...
Let us listen, dear ones, to what the silent Savior tells us: “For you, for your salvation, I died. And there is no greater love than that which laid down its life for its friends. The thought of you, sinner, the desire to save you gave Me the strength to endure the unbearable. You heard how, in My humanity, I grieved and grieved in the Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of suffering. The heart without words cried out to the Heavenly Father: “Let this cup pass by me.” But the memory of you, your eternal death, compassion and mercy for God’s perishing creation overcame the fear of temporary inhuman torment. And My will merged with the will of My Father and His love with My love for you, and with this power I overcame the unbearable. “The sins of the whole world are burdened upon Me.” I have taken upon myself your burden, which is beyond your strength...
The Lord dispelled the darkness of darkness that prevailed in the world before His coming, illuminated the path to the Kingdom of Heaven, but even today the enemy of God has his part in unbelievers, pagans, and sinners who do not know repentance. Just as during the ministry of Christ his fellow tribesmen replaced God’s Truths with lies and turned into hypocritical ritualists, so now are we not repeating their errors. In words, “Lord, Lord”! and in life: “have me renounced.”
Doesn't the bitter experience of human life clearly demonstrate its continued captivity to the atheist - the enemy of the human race? The Lord has given us the joy of eternal life, but we prefer the illusory joys of temporary existence. Christ the Savior, by his feat of self-sacrifice, “deprived of the power of him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,” and the meaning of His sacrifice is the restoration of the Kingdom of God, which is perishing on earth, stolen by the enemy from our ancestors. But it is in our power to choose the path of imaginary freedom, essentially obedience to the enemy of God, or the path of life following Christ. The grace of God is inexhaustible in the Church of God. Let us, dear ones, live by the Church and in the Church, and let us remember that Christian life is the life of the Holy Spirit. The meaning of our earthly life lies in the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit. And today, and every year, in the silence of Great Heel, the voice of God sounds to humanity: “Save yourself, save yourself, My people!”Passionate or Good Friday is a folk Christian holiday. It is celebrated on the Friday before Easter. In 2019 it falls on April 26. Orthodox Church on this day remembers the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.
History of the holiday
On April 3, 33, on the night from Thursday to Friday, the Pharisees decided to execute Jesus Christ. They arrested him and brought him to the high priest Annas. He sent the detainee to Caiaphas, with whose hands he wanted to do evil. There the Savior was humiliated and ridiculed. But He humbly endured all the spitting and slaps.
False witnesses, who were chosen in advance from the Jewish crowd, testified that Jesus promised to build a new temple in three days if they destroyed the existing one. The Savior tried to explain that His words were misunderstood and too literally, and the meaning was distorted. But He was rudely interrupted, and the crowd booed. When Jesus recognized himself as the True Son of God, Caiaphas tore his robe in protest against his blasphemous speeches. The Savior was sentenced to death by crucifixion.
On Friday morning, Jesus was brought to the court of the Roman prefect in Judea, Pontius Pilate. After communicating with the prisoner, he realized that this man was not a threat to the state and offered to release him. At that time there was a custom in honor of the Jewish Passover to have mercy on one of those sentenced to death. But the Pharisees chose the dangerous robber and murderer Barabbas. The procurator asked why they wanted to pardon the bandit instead of the harmless philosopher. He was told that Jesus of Nazareth should be executed because he considered himself the son of the Lord.
At three o'clock in the afternoon the Savior was crucified on Mount Golgotha. Three hours later, darkness fell over the city and the sun went dark. Many saw this, saw the light and repented.
Traditions and rituals of the holiday
On this day, the Orthodox Church remembers the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his removal from the cross and his subsequent burial. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the priests carry the shroud from the altar to the center of the temple - a canvas depicting the body of Jesus Christ in the tomb. The worshipers bow before her. In the evening, a service is held during which believers stand with lit candles in their hands. The shroud is carried around the temple. On this day, churches do not ring bells.
After the service, parishioners do not extinguish the lit candles. They bring them home and place them in front of the icons.
What can you eat on Good Friday?
Good Friday falls on the last week of Lent. On this day, it is customary to observe a particularly strict fast: you cannot eat food until the shroud is taken out in the temple. After this, according to church regulations, it is only allowed to eat bread and drink water.
What not to do on Good Friday
The church prohibits housework, singing, dancing, having fun, listening to music, swearing, blasphemy and cursing on this holiday. You cannot sew, wash, cut, knit. It is prohibited to pick up an ax or any agricultural tool.
Signs for Good Friday
- The night on Friday is starry, and in the morning there is a clear dawn - to good harvest wheat.
- If you plant parsley and cabbage on Good Friday, the harvest will be twice as large.
- Bread baked on this day is considered medicinal.
- If you wean your baby off the breast on Good Friday, the baby will grow up healthy and strong.
- Whoever has fun, sings and dances on this day will grieve all year.
The week preceding Easter is called Passion and it is considered the strictest in the entire Lent. Each day has its own meaning, and Good Friday is no exception, which can be learned not only from the Holy Scriptures.
This day has special significance, as Orthodox Christians remember the last moments of Christ’s life on earth, pray for their salvation and try to understand the sacrifice that he made for the good of human life.
On the night from Thursday to Friday, Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ for an insignificant amount and he was taken into custody. And on Friday the Pharisees sentenced him and he was crucified. Similar method execution was not chosen in vain. It was believed that it was not only the most difficult and humiliating, but also entailed a curse on the one who would be killed in this way.
Also read interesting materials on the topic:
Together with Christ, two thieves were crucified on Golgotha, one of whom, looking at the meekness of Christ, recognized God in him and repented. In response to this, Christ informed him that he would be with him in paradise. With this, the son of God confirmed that everyone has a chance to go to heaven, regardless of their lifestyle. It is only important to sincerely repent and this is the meaning of understanding Good Friday and what it is described in detail in the Gospels.
Interesting! This type of execution is designed for long time and increased torment for the condemned, but since the Passover holiday, significant for all Jews, came after Good Friday, the priests persuaded Pilate to allow the legs of the condemned to be broken so that death would occur faster. However, Christ died on the cross without waiting to be killed. During the latter, those sentenced to death were usually stabbed to death with a spear, which was what was done with the robbers.
Miracles on Good Friday
The events of this day were too long ago for their authenticity to be guaranteed, but Scripture indicates that while Christ was on the cross on Good Friday, darkness descended on the earth. And the light appeared only after his death.
At the same time, in the Jerusalem Temple, the curtain that separated the place of services from the place where once a year the high priest made sacrifices to God was torn in half by itself. It is believed that in this way Christ destroyed the veil between people and God.
The Savior was taken down from the cross and placed in a cave, in which the miracle of resurrection took place; he was close to his disciples. But these events occurred after the end of Good Friday. One of the miracles of this day includes the Shroud, preserved from those times, in which the myrrh-bearing women wrapped the body of Christ. The outline of his body is preserved on a fragment of fabric. The Shroud is kept in Jerusalem and is put on public display every year on Good Friday.
Visiting services
They are considered mandatory for any believer. It is on Friday that the Shroud is brought out, which must be touched in order to feel the full weight of Christ’s sacrifice.
In total, three services are attended per day, i.e. a person spends almost the entire day in church. The importance of visits is due to the fact that different parts of the Gospels are read at services, therefore the whole essence of Good Friday and the last hours of the Savior’s life are revealed throughout the whole day.
Good Friday Traditions
- On Good Friday, Orthodox Christians prayed for the salvation of their souls by attending a special service. 12 candles were brought from the temple, which were supposed to burn out in the house. It was believed that in this way the room was cleansed and grace descended on its residents.
- These candles were used to check how clean the house was spiritually. If the candles were heavily smoked and the smoke was black, it meant that the house was damaged.
- Because of the work ban, there was a superstition that you should never do laundry. Blood stains were expected to appear on such underwear
- They tried to stockpile Friday ash from the stoves; it was believed that it treated almost all diseases and also protected against the evil eye.
On Good Friday: what not to do
The main ban of the day is on any type of activity. It was believed that all preparations for Easter had to be completed in Maundy Thursday. On this day they cleaned the house, dealt with everything homework, and also baked Easter cakes and colored eggs. It was assumed that on Friday nothing should distract from prayers and mourning for the crucified Savior. After Easter comes.
The ban applied to all types of work, no matter whether they were required in the house or in the garden. The only exception was feeding livestock, although for some reason it was also impossible to transplant bees into hives. They believed that if planting was done on this day, nothing would grow from such a harvest.
Strict fasting on Good Friday For the same reason, it was not allowed to spit on the ground. This could lead to the loss of the entire crop. The relationship between lack of education, Good Friday and religion in general is difficult to discern, but people believed in all this not so long ago and tried to observe the rituals they themselves invented.
Any entertainment or carnal pleasures are unacceptable. Even laughter was prohibited. It was believed that if you laugh on this tragic day, you will experience bad luck for the entire next year.
Important! Deep believers try not to wash or shower on this day, and also not to eat anything, so that nothing distracts from spiritual food. Although in rhythm modern life It is somewhat difficult to imagine such an organization of the process, since there is no escape from solving everyday issues, as well as from attending work.
Signs for Good Friday
When figuring out what it is about Good Friday, it is not easy to describe it in one word, we should mention the signs. In Orthodoxy, religion and pagan relics are closely intertwined, thanks to which characteristic predictions of the future were sought in many things. In order to find out what to prepare for the coming year, you had to get up in the morning and go to the window without talking to anyone.
Depending on what was visible outside the window, we expected:
- new acquaintances if a bird was sitting on a branch;
- unpleasant news when looking at a running dog;
- material well-being if a cat passed by the house;
- health when a young man walked down the street;
- illness or death when looking at a disabled or crippled person.
Most interesting idea there was an idea that if you don’t eat anything on Good Friday for three years, that this kind of video dramatization can be found in many programs and even feature films, then a revelation will come to the person. And after that, he supposedly must see the moment of his death.
And this is another example of how closely religion and prejudice can be intertwined. Although most of these signs and traditions still remain in the past, they are still mentioned today, however, conflicting information about them can be found.
For example, most sources say that all preparations for Easter are completed on Thursday, also called Clean Thursday, but at the same time, you can sometimes see that the only exception to the rules prohibiting work concerns the preparation of Easter cakes. But if you consider that this task is long and troublesome, it is assumed that it will tear the hostess away from attending services, and this is not correct. Therefore, most of the prohibitions have a completely logical explanation.
Therefore, for a believer, Good Friday is still not a tradition or a sign, nor is it a prohibition. The content of the latter is already obvious, since it ends Holy Week. First of all, Friday is repentance, prayers and anticipation of the triumph of faith, which occurs at the moment when the day descends in the main temple of Jerusalem. holy fire and it becomes obvious that humanity has once again been forgiven all its sins and life goes on.
Discussion (1)
And two villains. And when they came to a place called Lobnoye, there they crucified Him and the villains, one on the right, and the other on the right. left side. Jesus said: Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided His garments by casting lots. And the people stood and watched. The leaders also mocked them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, God's chosen one. Likewise, the soldiers mocked Him, coming up and offering Him vinegar and saying: If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself. And there was an inscription over Him, written in Greek, Roman and Hebrew words: This is the King of the Jews.
One of the hanged villains slandered Him and said: if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. The other, on the contrary, calmed him down and said: Or are you not afraid of God, when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? and we are condemned justly, because we accepted what was worthy of our deeds, but He did nothing bad. And he said to Jesus: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Now it was about the sixth hour of the day, and there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour: and the sun was darkened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in the middle. Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said: Father! I commit My spirit into Your hands. And having said this, he gave up the ghost. The centurion, seeing what was happening, glorified God and said: Truly this man was a righteous man. And all the people who had gathered to see this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their chests. Yet those who knew Him, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood afar off and beheld this.
Father! forgive them
for they do not know what they are doing.
On Good Friday, the holy, saving and terrible suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, which He willingly endured for our sakes, took place and is remembered. Celebrating on Good Friday “following the holy and saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the Orthodox Church on this great day marked all moments of the sacred events of the salvation of the world with a divine service: the time of the capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His condemnation by the bishops and elders to suffering and death () - the service of Matins; the time of leading the Savior to trial before Pilate - the service of the first hour (); the time of the condemnation of the Lord at the trial of Pilate - by the completion of the third hour; the time of Christ's suffering on the cross - the sixth hour; time of death - ninth hour; and the removal of the body of Christ from the cross is vespers.
There is no liturgy on Good Friday, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed Himself, but 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, the clergy lift the Shroud (that is, the image of Christ lying in the tomb) from the throne, as if from Golgotha, and carry it out of the altar into the middle of the temple. The Shroud is placed on the tomb, a specially prepared table. Then the clergy and all worshipers bow before the Shroud and kiss the sores of the Lord depicted on it - His pierced ribs, arms and legs. 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.
At the morning service on Good Friday, the Church solemnly pronounces the gospel of the suffering and death of the God-Man, divided into 12 Gospel readings, called the Passion Gospels. The reading of the 12 Gospels on Good Friday originated from the apostolic tradition. About reading 12 Passion Gospels Saint John Chrysostom mentions Good Friday. He says: “The Jews attack Jesus Christ with fury and of themselves torture Him, bind Him, lead Him away, become the perpetrators of insults inflicted by soldiers, nail Him to the cross, reproach Him, mock Him. Pilate did not add anything here on his part: they do everything themselves. And this is read to us when we are all in assembly, so that the pagans do not say to us: you show the people only the brilliant and glorious, for example, signs and wonders, and hide the shameful. The grace of the Holy Spirit has arranged it in such a way that all this is read in our country on a national holiday, namely, on Maundy Thursday of Easter (that is, on Friday of Holy Week), when men and women stand in great numbers, when the whole universe flocks together, then it is preached this with a loud voice; and with such and such public reading and preaching, we believe that Christ is God.” “Now we all,” said Saint John of Damascus on Good Friday, “have gathered to listen to the Cross, we are filling the Church, crowding each other, sweating and exhausting ourselves.”
The readings of the Passion Gospels are preceded and accompanied by the singing: “Glory to Your long-suffering, O Lord.” Indeed, His long-suffering was extreme, His sufferings were terrible. According to the Church and St. John Chrysostom, during the terrible and saving suffering of the Lord, each member of His holy flesh “suffered dishonor for our sake: the head from the crown of thorns and the reed; face from blows and spitting; cheeks from strangulation; mouth from the offering of vinegar mixed with bile; ears from the blasphemies of the wicked; shoulders from beating; the right hand is from the reed that they gave Him to hold instead of a scepter; hands and feet from nails; ribs from copy; the whole body from nudity, scourging, robe, feigned worship and crucifixion.”
Each reading of the Gospel is heralded with good news, and at each reading those present light lamps: this significantly indicates the triumph and glory that accompanied the Son of God even during His extreme humiliation, amid reproach and suffering, and testifying to His highest holiness and Divinity. The Lord, going to voluntary suffering and death, Himself predicted: now is the Son of Man glorified, and glorified in Him. If God was glorified in Him, then God will glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him(, 31–32), that is, “together with the Cross,” says John Chrysostom. The Lord’s suffering for our sins was as painful as it was glorious for the Lord. Enemies go to take Him to suffering and death - and fall before His Divine omnipotence, and are healed of their wounds. They are angry against the Savior, but His innocence and highest holiness triumphs over their blinded malice. Those who, either out of fear or greed, have renounced the Lord, confess their sin against Him either with tears of repentance, or with the death of despair. The Apostle Peter washes his renunciation of Christ with bitter tears of sincere repentance. Judas the traitor, seeing that the Lord was condemned to death, gives in to despair and returns 30 pieces of silver to the high priests, saying: sinned by betraying innocent blood(). The high priests, instead of consoling the person who served them, only increase his despair and show their weakness and indecision before the truth, saying to Judas: what do we care about that? see for yourself(ibid.). “Are these not the words of those who themselves testify to their villainy and madness, covering themselves with a meaningless mask of feigned ignorance?” Desperate Judas threw the pieces of silver into the church and hanged himself. But the pieces of silver, as the price of blood, on the advice of the high priests, were not put into the church treasury. “Do you understand,” says St. John Chrysostom, “how they are condemned by their conscience? They themselves see that they bought the murder, and that’s why they didn’t put it in the corvan.”
God-Man on the Cross; one of the thieves crucified with Him, denouncing the other for blasphemous words, confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, confesses His innocence and Divinity. Finally, for the glory of the Crucified One, terrible signs follow one after another, announcing the redemptive suffering and death of the Holy One and admonishing the crucifiers (). In the Temple of Jerusalem, the curtain is torn in two, showing that with the universal Sacrifice on the Cross, the end of the ancient tabernacle came and the way to the sanctuary itself was opened for everyone (). Archpriest Gregory Debolsky.
"Days of worship of the Orthodox Church"
CHANTS FROM GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
Today he hangs on a tree, He who hung the earth on the waters: He is crowned with thorns, He who is the King of Angels: he dresses in a false scarlet, he clothes the sky with clouds: he who freed Adam in the Jordan was strangled: the Bridegroom of the Church was nailed with nails: the Son of the Virgin was pierced with a spear. We worship Your Passion, Christ: we worship Your Passion, Christ: we worship Your Passion, Christ, show us Your glorious Resurrection.
“Today He hangs on a tree, He who hung the earth on the waters; The King of Angels is covered with a crown of thorns; The one who dresses the sky with clouds dresses in clownish purple; He who freed (from sin) receives slaps in the Jordan; the Bridegroom of the Church is nailed; The Son of the Virgin is pierced by a spear. We worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, show us Your all-glorious Resurrection.” Antiphon 15, tone 6
SACRIFICE OF THE GOD And all the people
converging on this spectacle,
seeing what was happening, he returned,
beating yourself in the chest
What kind of spectacle was there that left the audience completely bewildered? What was that spectacle that captured the lips of the spectators with silence, and at the same time shook their souls? They came to the spectacle to satisfy their curiosity; they left the spectacle, hitting their chests and taking with them terrible bewilderment...
What was this spectacle like? Not only people looked at this spectacle: all the Angels of God looked at it with horror and deepest reverence; celestial objects no longer attracted their attention; their gazes were directed, riveted to the spectacle that opened on the ground. The sun saw something it had never seen and, unable to bear what it saw, hid its rays, like a man closes his eyes at a sight unbearable to him: it was clothed in deep darkness, expressing with darkness a sadness as deep as death is bitter. The earth shook and shook under the event that took place on it. The Old Testament tore its magnificent veil; This is how the most precious clothes are tormented and not spared in the face of an inevitable, decisive disaster. And all the people who had gathered to see this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their chests... What a spectacle was it?
There was a spectacle that we now contemplate in memory, in a church service performed, in a sacred image before our eyes. The spectacle was the Son of God, descending from heaven, becoming human to save men, cursed, killed by men.
What feeling, if not a feeling of horror, should completely embrace the heart at this sight? What state, if not a state of complete bewilderment, should be the state of mind? What word can be uttered at this sight? Will not every human word die in the mouth before it comes out of the mouth? And all the people who had gathered to see this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their chests.
Those who came to look at the Savior, who hung on the tree of the cross, like ripe and scarlet fruit, returned in bewilderment and horror, who came to look with a testing mind, out of pompous and false conceit. Faith was silent in them. The darkened sun cried out to them, the trembling earth called out to them, the stones called out to them, parting with a crash and rising above the graves of the dead, suddenly revived by the Savior. Those who were vainly curious returned in horror: in horror not from the perfect murder of God, but in horror from the menacing gaze and voice of the shuddering, insensitive nature, which expressed its knowledge of God before humanity that did not recognize Him. They returned, beating their chests in fear for themselves, for their flesh and blood, for the sake of which the blood was shed and the body of the God-Man was tormented.
While the Jews, who rested in the law, boasting of an extensive and accurate knowledge of the law, were perplexed, looking at the event predicted by the law and the prophets, looking at the spontaneous Sacrifice of which they were unconscious priests; while the Jews were perplexed and returned, agitated by fear and a gloomy premonition of their own disaster, a pagan centurion stood before the Cross and the Sacrifice, standing without retreat. It was impossible for him to leave, because he commanded the guard guarding the Sacrifice: this happy impossibility was given to him, because hidden in his heart was faith, obvious to the Knower of the Heart. When nature proclaimed her confession of God, the centurion gave an answer to the mysterious voice of nature, gave an answer to the mysterious confession with a confession open and public. Truly He was the Son of God,- he said about the executed wanderer hanging before his eyes, recognizing God in the executed wanderer. The Jews, proud of their knowledge of the letter of the law and their ritual outward righteousness, were perplexed before the Son of Man and the Son of God crucified on the tree. On the one hand, they were amazed by the signs - the earthquake, the tearing of the church veil, the deep darkness that came at noon; on the other hand, they were blinded and hardened by their carnal mind and proud self-delusion, which imagined the Messiah in the blaze of earthly glory, a magnificent king, conqueror of the universe, at the head of a large army, among a host of luxurious courtiers. At this time, the warrior, a pagan, confessed the executed wanderer to God; At this time, a criminal confessed Him as God. “Come down from the cross!”, the blind Jewish bishops and scribes mockingly said to the God-man, not understanding what an all-holy Sacrifice, what an all-holy and all-powerful burnt offering they offered to God, “let him come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe”; At this time, the rude, ignorant thief recognized Him as God, who ascended to the cross because of His Divine righteousness, and not because of His sin. With his bodily eyes he saw naked, crucified near him, subject to the same fate as himself, a helpless beggar, condemned by both spiritual and civil authorities, tormented, executed, and still tormented and executed by all expressions of hatred; with the eyes of a humble heart he saw God. The strong, the glorious, the intelligent, the righteous of the world showered God with curses and ridicule; the thief turned to Him with a well-intentioned and successful prayer: remember me, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom ().
The Ever-Virgin Mother of God stood at the Cross and the Lord crucified on it. Her heart was pierced like a sword with sadness: the prediction of the holy elder Simeon was fulfilled. But She knew that Her Son, the Son of God, deigned to ascend to the cross and offer Himself as a sacrifice of peace for rejected humanity; She knew that the Lord, having completed the redemption of men, would rise and co-resurrect humanity with Himself; She knew this - and was silent. She was silent before the greatness of the event; she was silent from the abundance of sorrow; was silent before the will of God that was taking place, against the definitions of which there is no voice.
The beloved disciple of the Lord stood at the Cross. He looked at the height of the cross - in the incomprehensible love of the voluntary Sacrifice he contemplated the Divine. Divine Love is the source of theology. She is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and theology is the gift of the Holy Spirit. She revealed to the apostles the mysterious meaning of atonement. For the love of Christ embraces us, the disciple and messenger of Christ preaches the gospel, reasoning like this: if one died for all, then all died(). Because of the infinite love that the Lord has for humanity and which the Lord alone is capable of having, all humanity suffered on the Cross in the person of the Lord and died in the person of the Lord. If humanity suffered in Him, then it was justified in Him; if it died in Him, it was also made alive in Him. The death of the Lord became the source of life.
Suddenly the voice of the crucified Lord came from the Cross to the Ever-Virgin: Wife! Behold, Thy Son; then a voice to the beloved disciple: Behold, your Mother. Destroying on the tree of the cross the sin of the forefathers, committed by them at the tree of paradise, giving birth to humanity in new life life-giving, the Lord enters into the rights of the Founder of man and declares His Mother according to humanity to be the mother of the disciple and all his disciples, the Christian tribe. The Old Adam is replaced by the New Adam, the fallen Eve is replaced by the immaculate Mary. Through the crime of one, the apostle said, many were put to death; how much more will the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one Man, Jesus Christ, abound for many?(). Through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, countless and ineffable blessings have been poured out on the human race: not only has the redemption of men been accomplished, but their adoption as sons to God has been accomplished.
Enlightened by the contemplation of the great event, let us return, beloved brothers, to our homes and take with us deep, saving thoughts, striking these thoughts into our hearts. We remembered, we vividly contemplated the act of Divine love, an act that exceeded words, exceeded comprehension. The martyrs responded to this love with streams of their blood, which they shed like water; The saints responded to this love by mortifying the flesh with passions and lusts; Many sinners responded to this love with streams of tears, heartfelt sighs, confession of their sins, and drew healing for their souls from it; Many oppressed by sorrows and illnesses responded to this love, and this love dissolved their sorrows with Divine consolation. Let us also respond to our Lord’s love for us with the sympathy of His love: by living according to His all-holy commandments. This is the sign of love He requires from us, and only this sign of love will He accept from us. He who loves Me will keep My word; he who does not love Me does not keep My words(). If we do not respond to the Lord’s love for us with love for Him, then the blood of the God-man was not shed for us in vain? Was it not in vain that His all-holy body was tormented for us? Is it not in vain that the great Sacrifice was placed on the altar of the cross and slain? Her intercession for us is omnipotent for salvation; Her complaint against those who neglect Her is omnipotent. The voice of the blood of righteous Abel ascended from earth to Heaven and appeared to God with an accusation against the one who shed this blood: the voice of the great Sacrifice is heard in the midst of Heaven itself, on the very Throne of the Divine, on which the great Sacrifice sits. The voice of Her complaint is at the same time God’s decree, pronouncing eternal punishment on the enemies and despisers of the Son of God. What is the use of My blood: should I never descend into decay? The all-holy Sacrifice speaks, accusing the Christians who were redeemed by Her, who took Her price into themselves, and cast Her along with them into the stench of sin. This terrible crime is committed by everyone who, having taken the hooks of Christ, their soul and body, redeemed by Christ and belonging to Christ, creates their hooks of a harlot by various copulations with sin. Do you not know, says the apostle, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him(). Amen.
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
