"Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching. But unworthy is he whom He shall find asleep. " (From Matins).
Great and Holy week is finally upon us! We have reached the last, but most intense, portion of our marathon. This is what we have trained for all of Lent! We now enter into the life, suffering, death and (SPOILER ALERT) Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On Palm,or Flowery Sunday, as it is known in many Eastern Churches, Fr. Tom said in his homily that this journey "is not our history it is our REALITY!". I couldn't agree with him more. St. Paul said in his letter to the Romans "Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?... If we have been united with him through likeness to his death, so shall we be through a like resurrection" (Rom. 6: 3-11).
In the Eastern Churches another name for Great and Holy Week is "The Week of the Bridegroom". Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is his Bride. On Great Friday Christ will bestow upon us the most profound gift of his love, he will lay down his life for us. That is why Monday-Thursday of this week we celebrate a morning prayer service called Bridegroom Matins. As I quoted above, we sing 'Behold the Bridegroom comes in the night and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching!". This comes from the parable of the ten virgins in the Gospel of Matthew. Five of the virgins were wise and had enough oil to light their lamps when the bridegroom came, but the five foolish virgins did not. When the bridegroom (Christ) came they had to go out of the home and buy oil late at night in order to light their lamps and when the bridegroom came he said to them " 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you'. Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Mt. 25: 12-13).
On Holy Wednesday the theme is our very human need for forgiveness and healing. This healing can be found when we enter into a relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. In an great description of Holy Week from the website lent.goarch.org it says this about Holy Wednesday and the service on Wednesday evening: The the Sacrament of Holy Unction, the faithful are anointed and thus, healed both physically and spiritually. They are also reconciled to God and one another so that they might receive the gift of the Holy Eucharist instituted by Christ at the Last Supper."
On Wednesday afternoon I will be traveling home to attend Holy Week services at my parish. I'm fortunate to attend a parish that really goes all out. Anointing Service on Wednesday Night, Bridegroom Matins on Thursday Morning, Divine Liturgy on Thursday night, weekend long retreat, Twelve Gospels Friday Morning, Royal Hours Friday Afternoon, Vespers Friday Night, Guarding the Grace, Jerusalem Matins on Saturday morning, Vespers with Divine Liturgy Saturday night, and Matins and Liturgy Sunday morning. If you are scratching you head saying "huh?!", don't worry, I will gradually be explaining all of this through posts and pictures. I'm not sure how much internet access I will have while at church (I don't think we have managed to get wireless internet yet) but just be patient and it will eventually show up!
Hey, Katie. Thanks for the SPOILER ALERT! Forutnately for me, I already knew how this one turns out. ;) It's cool that your church does all of that. I wish our church did, too, but we do what we can. Have a great rest of Great and Holy Week and a happy and blessed Pascha.
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