Holy Week, in the Eastern Orthodox Christian Tradition

The tradition and imagery found in an Eastern Orthodox Christian church throughout the ecclesiastical year are second to none. A major contributor to this is that the services, through the centuries since Christ, have been kept exactly the same as they were originally practiced (except for the vernacular language of course). At no other point in the year is this beauty clearer than during Holy Week leading up to, as the church hymns say, “the feast of all feasts and the festival of all festivals”. And this is appropriate since, as St. Paul says to the Corinthians, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain”. I hope, through the following synopsis of the week’s main services, to capture the feeling of the week from an Orthodox viewpoint in the words of those services, my own words being useless in comparison.

Immediately following Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday, the first three nights of the week are marked by the Bridegroom Service, aptly depicted in the classic icon of Jesus, the Bridegroom.

The concept of these services is that Christ is a loving bridegroom and that the collective church is the bride, for whom Christ is willing to suffer and die. With this imagery is also a realization that we, members of that same church (and bride), are unworthy even to be a celebrant at the wedding feast. One of the main hymns of the service is as follows:

“I see Thy bridal chamber, oh my Savior, all adorned, and I have no

wedding garment that I may enter therein. Illuminate the garment of

my soul, oh Giver of Life, and save me.”

Despite our best (or lesser) attempts to achieve theosis (oneness with God, and our ultimate goal as Orthodox Christians), this service is a stark reminder that we will always fall short and be in need of God’s love and mercy. This reminder is especially important coming to the end of Lent, where many have been fasting and putting more effort into their faith. Even with these extra efforts, we can never be content, and we are still never worthy of salvation. It is a reminder of the importance of humility, one of the trickiest virtues to achieve since, once one realizes they have attained it, they no longer have.

After these Bridegroom services and the sacrament of Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday evening, the remembrance of the events leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion begin. Holy Thursday morning’s liturgy (the Orthodox equivalent of Catholic Mass) remembers Jesus’s washing of the disciples’ feet, as well as the Last Supper. Christ’s words, “Take, eat, all of you, this is My body which is broken for you for the remission of sins” and, “Drink of this all of you, this is My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” is a reminder that—--as Christ puts it-—-“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I am found in him”. Truly, this communion with Him is a critical part in our mission of theosis.

On the night of Holy Thursday, the services become long and—to be frank, tedious—but all the more beautiful at the same time. The service of the crucifixion on Thursday night features the reading of 12 passages from the Gospels by the priest, some of them 10-15 minutes long by themselves. These passages recount the details from the prayers of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (where He sweated blood in anticipation of the death He knew He would soon endure) to His burial by Joseph of Arimathea. In the middle of the service, there is also the imagery----through a procession----of the crucifixion and Christ’s death with His words, “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” Immediately following one of the readings, the priest leads the procession around the inside of the church during which a wooden depiction of Christ on a cross is carried by the priest and placed in the center of the church for all to venerate. The haunting hymn sung during this procession encapsulates the feeling of the moment:

“Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on the tree, The King of the angels is decked with a crown of thorns. He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery. He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped on the face. The Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the Cross with nails. The Son of the virgin is pierced by a spear. We worship Thy passion, O Christ. We worship Thy passion, O Christ. We worship Thy passion, O Christ. Show us also Thy glorious resurrection.”

The amazing part of this hymnology is that, despite its inherent sadness in its recounting of the mockery that God suffered at the hands of His creation, the hymn is not by itself ‘sad’, as it ends with a plea to show us “Thy glorious resurrection,” the most joyful of moments in the history of Christianity.

Great and Holy Friday (as it is called in Orthodoxy, as compared to Good Friday in Catholicism) is a day of quiet and contemplation for Orthodox Christians----as it is for all Christian people----with services in the morning, afternoon, and evening. The evening service includes the removal of the wooden depiction of Jesus from the cross and the placing of the enshrouded body in the tomb (behind the altar, out of view of the congregation). Friday evening’s service is known as the Lamentations as it is a set of hymns sung as though the congregation were at Christ’s tomb keeping watch. Two of these verses are shared below:

“In the tomb they laid Thee, oh my Life and my Christ, yet the armies

of the angels were sore amazed, when they sang the praise of

Thy submissive love.”

“Every generation offers, my Christ, for your entombment in hymns and songs its praises.”

There is a mixed attitude here. First, there is wonder that God could die for His unworthy servants. But there is also the peace that Christ is----though sleeping in body----shattering the kingdom of Hades and saving those who formerly lacked salvation, all the way back to Adam and Eve. The service includes a procession with the tomb of Christ, adorned with flowers, around the outside of the church. At the end of the procession, the carriers of the tomb lift it up above the door of the church and allow the congregation to walk back inside underneath the symbol of both temporary death, yet ultimate life.

Saturday morning, interestingly, is typically one of the least-attended services of the year, as people sleep in from Friday night’s vigil and prepare for the midnight service of the Resurrection on Sunday morning. However, this service is the first proclamation of the Resurrection as the priest proclaims, “Who is so great a God as our God. Thou art the God who alone works wonders!” while joyously proceeding around the church spreading bay leaves. This is in remembrance of the words spoken to the myrrh-bearing women who went to the tomb on the Sabbath to anoint Jesus’s body. They were told by the angel who met them there, “Do not be afraid. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. Go, tell his disciples that He goes before you to Galilee; there you will see Him as He told you.” Those who attend this Saturday morning service go home joyful to rest and prepare for the Resurrection Service at midnight.

All these services lead up to the Orthodox celebration of Pascha (or Easter). They prepare the faithful for the priest’s joyful proclamation of, “Come receive the light, the unwaning light, and glorify Christ, who has arisen from the grave!” and also for the hymn of the Resurrection (sung for 40 days following the feast), “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life!”

It is my belief that one must immerse themselves in as many of these services as they can in order to fully appreciate the sacrifice that our loving God has made for us, and that the result will be joy on Pascha Sunday. I hope that I have shown, to a small point, just how beautiful and iconic the services of Orthodox Holy Week are, and I encourage any student at Cal Poly to attend a service of two, whether you are Orthodox or not. It is truly a perspective that is becoming less and less prevalent in the United States today as non-denominationalism and a de-centralization stray from tradition and ritual. This is not to say that other services from other Christians are less important or prepare one less to celebrate the Resurrection; I simply want to offer a perspective on my faith that I know I could not be ready for the biggest celebration of the year without. Also, for any interested in coming to the services, they will be the week following Western Easter as Eastern Orthodox Easter (Pascha) is scheduled on the old, Julian calendar, and this year happens to follow a week afterwards. I hope to be able to provide a schedule of these services for any interested in joining in, but at least I will offer my email below where I can answer any questions. For now, I will conclude with a Lenten prayer by Saint Ephraim the Syrian, by which we all can prepare to receive a risen and victorious Christ, however you celebrate Easter.

“Lord and Master of my lift, take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-

heartedness, lust for power, and idle talk. But grant rather to me, your

servant, the spirit of chastity, patience, virtue, and love. Yes, Lord and

King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge my brother and

sister, for blessed are You to the ages of ages. Amen."