Apr. 8, 2007 Paschal Reflections
I'm still a bit punchy from a long night and not much sleep. Once again I was completely wired when we got home and couldn't get right to sleep.
Here are my Paschal memories:
Dark church with just a few candles lit,. The only sounds are quiet whispers and the chanting of the psalms. I was so tired before church I thought I just wouldn't make it through the night. I actually had a little panic of "What am I doing?? Why didn't I just stay home this year." The services starts in almost complete darkness. Only one or two candles are lit... the only light is coming from up in the balcony for the choir. The Midnight office begins at 11:30pm:
"Isaiah saw the never-setting light of Thy
compassionate manifestation to us as God, O Christ.
Rising early from the night he cried out:
'The dead shall arise.
Those in the tombs shall awake.
All those on earth shall greatly rejoice!'"
The incense smells like myrrh. I wonder if they have changed it or if this the first time I've noticed it. Then one by one the candles are lit and we begin the procession outside the church and into the world. Timothy has fallen asleep and, again this year, he stays inside sleeping on the pew. It so cold outside my teeth chatter between solemn singing. When we get back to the doors of the church there's the long wait for everyone to catch up while we continue to sing the processional hymn. Finally, we begin.... Father first, then the Altar servers with him, and finally everyone:
Christ is Risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death
and among those in the tomb bestowing life!
The doors are pounded three times and opened. We enter the church which has been transformed into the brightest of days. All Lenten purple is gone and replaced with festive white, all the candles are lit, and all lights on.
"Now all is filled with light:
heaven and earth and the lower regions.
Let all creation celebrate the rising of Christ.
In Him we are established."
All sleepiness has vanished from me. The bells on the censor no longer sound lonely in the dark, but joy and celebration. Father cries out as he censes us:
Christ is Risen!
and we call back
Indeed! He is Risen!
He does this in several languages and it is done throughout the Paschal service by both him and the deacons. Timothy sleeps through it all, along with several other children, decked out in their Easter finery. Then comes the Paschal sermon of St. John Chrysostom which is read in every Orthodox church at the Paschal Matins service.
"If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord."
This year I am able to read along in my service booklet. It really is a lovely sermon, I commend it to anyone who has not read it in its entirety before. Between the Midnight office, Matins of Pascha and Divine Liturgy we wind up around 2:45. The sleepy children awakened in time to receive Eucharist and final blessings.
Downstairs we stand with our baskets (laden with non-fasting foods), awaiting a blessing and then we dig in, each table enjoying an Agape meal together. Ours is an odd mixture of fried chicken, kielbasa, chicken meatballs, Challah bread, port, and chocolate. Even at that hour, it taste good. Once again home close to 4am and I can't sleep. I am way too excited. I want to wake all the sleepers, knock on all the doors and proclaim.
Christ Is Risen
Indeed He is Risen!
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Apr. 7, 2007 Can these dry bones live?
Last night we held Holy Saturday matins service. The Resurrection themes are getting a bit louder.
"The angelic host was filled with awe,
when it saw Thee among the dead.
By destroying the power of death, O Savior,
Thou didst raise Adam,
and save all men from hell."
Resurrection Troparion
sung at Matins for Holy Saturday
Once again we process the Winding Sheet, but this time we go outside and around the Church building. As we enter the church again we go under the Shroud as a reminder that we are buried with Christ at our Baptism.
The old testament reading is from Ezekiel 37 and the dry bones. "Oh son of man, can these bones live?" I noted with interest that Jesus also refers to Himself as the Son of Man - especially when He speaks of His death and resurrection. The reading is done in the step method, which I think is a Russian tradition. The only way to describe it is that the reader begins at a very low tone and "steps" up the scale about a 1/2 note at a time. He did this scale twice and by the time he is reading "I am the Lord. I have spoken, and I will do it!" he's near the top of his range, singing out quite clearly. You can hear a pin drop. Very dramatic indeed.
This morning we have Saturday Vespers and Divine Liturgy and the Harrowing of Hell.
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Apr. 7, 2007 Great and Holy Friday Lamentations
Yesterday afternoon and evening were filled again with scripture and hymns. For the first time this week we had a service almost at its "normal" time (whatever that may be). Vespers for Holy Friday was held in the late afternoon remembering the death and burial of the Lord. Towards the end of the service a shroud with an icon of Christ in death, called a Winding Sheet, is brought out and carried above Father's head by four men. The funeral procession begins. Women follow the procession carrying icons of the Myrrh-Bearing Women while the choir sings:
"The noble Joseph, when he had taken down
Thy most pure Body from the tree,
wrapped it in fine linen, and anointed it with spices,
and placed it in a new tomb.
The angel came to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb and said,
'Myrrh is meet for the dead,
but Christ has shown Himself a stranger to corruption."
At the completion of the service our parish has the tradition of reading the Psalms in Vigil by the Tomb. This will done until the beginning of the Paschal services at 11:30 on Saturday night. I had considered signing up for one of these time slots but I now have 3 sick kids (one for the 2nd time).
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Apr. 6, 2007 Passion Gospels
Last night we had Matins for Holy Friday and the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels. Comfortable shoes are becoming a must at this point. My feet and legs were hurting on the way to church. We began again at the Last Supper and read to His burial. A cross has been placed in the church with an icon of Christ nailed to it along with an icon of the Epitaphios Thrinos. You can almost hear the wailing of Mary Magdalene. In some parishes this is brought out in the middle of the service and processed around the church before being placed in the center.
Its hard to stay focused for the entire time, and the Church, in its wisdom, knows this. Because we read the passion from all four Gospels, some incidents are repeated so if you zoned out during Jesus before Caiaphas in John 18, it is repeated again in Matt. 26. Interspersed with the readings are hymns of the Church interpreting or restating what has happened.
It was a slow methodical read. And shouldn't it really be so? This should not be rushed. No in and out of church in 60 minutes or less. There is time for reflection and tears. Letting the realization of what has happened sink in and the power of the Scriptures work on all of us.
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the tree (3x)
The King of the angels decked with a crown of thorns.
He who wrapped the heavens with clouds is wrapped in purple of mockery.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped in the face.
The Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the cross with nails.
The Son of the virgin is pierced with a spear.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ. (3x)
Show us also Thy glorious resurrection!
15th Antiphon for Passion Gospels
Listen to the 15th Antiphon. This is from the Greek tradition and is slightly different. Click on the first "Quicktime" link (15th Antiphon) under Great and Holy Friday.
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Apr. 5, 2007 Matins for Holy Thursday
Last evening my youngest dd and I went to Matins for Holy Thursday. When looking at the service booklet labeled "Matins for Holy Thursday", I stop short... "Hey Wait!", I thought to myself, "Is this really Thursday? I forgot to - -- oh yeah, its Wednesday. Wednesday." I'm already confused. My ears caught up the call to "Let us complete our morning prayers to the Lord...." You definitely take notice of those words. I'm beginning to feel like the unprepared Virgin in the parable. Rather unprepared and too late to go back and fix it now.
More Psalms were chanted: Psalm 3, 63 and of course 50 along with others I don't recall. We also heard Luke 22:1-39. Last night's hymns were centered most especially on the betrayal by Judas. He is not just a guy who mis-interprets Jesus' mission or tries to push Jesus to take His earthly kingdom. Judas is "filled with avarice", dickering his price with the Pharisees. He knowingly betrays his friend to "gain the purse". And we sing of the ironies of Christ's passion:
"The Judge of the living and the dead, they prepare for judgment.
The Healer of suffering, they prepare for sufferings"
Afterwards my dd went up to receive Holy Unction since she wasn't able to come with me in the morning.
This morning's Vespers and Divine Liturgy continued the theme of Judas' betrayal along with the institution of the Mystical Supper. Again, we sing the 10 verses concerning Judas' betrayal:
"He let the Master wash his feet,
yet he deceitfully kisses Him in betrayal to the lawless men."
Readings from the Four Gospels are read chronologically from the plot to kill Jesus in Matt. 26 to his meeting before the Caiaphas and the Chief Priests ending with "...and they bound Him and led Him away to be delivered to Pilate the governor."
**I wrote this mainly for myself because, as we were preparing to go, the other children (trying to figure out how long the service was and decide if they wanted to go) asked me what would be happening. Since I've only been to one other Holy Thursday service before AND it was a year ago, AND I'm now over 40 there was no way I could recollect a thing.... so this if for next year when the kids ask again :) |
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Apr. 4, 2007 Great and Holy Wednesday
I was able to make it to service of Holy Unction this morning. We had long readings: 7 Prokeimenons, 7 Epistles, 7 Gospel and 7 prayers. Beautiful passages and prayers about healing and restoration. One of my favorite stories read was of the Canaanite woman whose daughter is healed from demon possession. The readings remind us that in Christ healing is spiritual as well as physical.
Coming home the smell of myrrh on the 4 of us was intoxicating in the small car. |
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