Good Friday. What not to do on the day of Christ's death. What Friday comes after Maundy Thursday? Night from Thursday to Friday Orthodoxy
Friday of Holy Week, Good Friday, is the remembrance of the Saints and Saviors. On this day the Lord Himself offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world.
All evangelists tell in detail about the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, so the divine services of this day are full of relevant readings.
Liturgical Features of Good Friday
Removal of the Shroud
The texts of the Good Friday services are masterpieces of Byzantine spiritual poetry, accompanied by heartfelt melodies.
Good Friday. Antiphon 5:
The disciple of the Teacher agreed the price, / and sold the Lord on thirty pieces of silver, / betraying Him with a flattering kiss / to death by the lawless one.
The disciple negotiates the price of the Teacher / and sold the Lord for thirty pieces of silver, / betraying Him with an insidious kiss / to the wicked to death.
Good Friday. Antiphon 15:
Today it hangs on a tree, Who hung the earth on the waters: He wears a crown of thorns, Who is the King of angels: He will put on a false scarlet, clothe the sky with clouds: he is pleasant, Who frees Adam in the Jordan: the Bridegroom of the Church is nailed with nails: the Son of the Virgin is pierced with a copy. We bow down to Your Passion, O Christ. We worship Your Passion, Christ. We bow down to Your Passion, O Christ. Show us your glorious Resurrection.
Today He who hung the earth on the waters is hung on a tree, the King of angels is crowned with a crown of thorns, He who dresses the sky with clouds is dressed in a false purple (royal clothes), He who liberates Adam in the Jordan receives slaps, The Bridegroom of the Church is nailed with nails, he breaks through with a spear Son of the Virgin. We worship Your Passion, Christ. We worship Your Passion, Christ. We worship Your Passion, Christ. Show us your glorious Resurrection.
Good Friday. Prokimen, tone 4:
Divide My garments for yourself and about My clothes, metasha lots.
Verse: O God, my God, take me away, have you left me?
Good Friday.Exapostilary:
The prudent robber one hour thou hast vouchsafed to heaven, O Lord, and enlighten me with the wood of the cross and save me.
The prudent thief vouchsafed paradise at a time, O Lord, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross and save me.
Good Friday.Stichira:
Create two evil ones, O my first-born son Israel: / Leave me the Fountain of animal water, / and a broken hoarder for yourself: / Crucify me on a tree, / ask Barabbas, and let him go. / The sky was terrified about this, and the sun's rays were hidden: / you, Israel, were not ashamed, / but you betrayed me to death. / Leave them, Holy Father, / they do not know for what you have done.
My first-begotten son, Israel, did two evil deeds: / he left me, the Fountain of living water, / and dug himself a broken well; / He crucified me on the Tree, / and begged Barabbas and freed me. / The sky was amazed at this / and the sun hid its rays. / But you, Israel, were not ashamed, but you delivered Me to death. / Forgive them, Holy Father, / for they do not know what they have done.
Today hangs on the Tree
Today it hangs on a tree, Who hung the earth on the waters: He wears a crown of thorns, Who is the King of Angels: He dresses in a false purple, clothes the sky with clouds: the suffocation is pleasant, Who frees Adam in the Jordan: the Bridegroom of the Church was nailed with nails: the Son of the Virgin was pierced with a copy. We bow down to Thy Passion, Christ: we bow down to Thy Passion, Christ: we bow down to Thy Passion, Christ, show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.
“Now hangs on the tree the One who hung (established) the earth on the waters; the King of Angels is covered with a crown of thorns; He who dresses the sky with clouds is dressed in jester's purple; he who freed (from sin) Adam in the Jordan accepts stupefaction (slapped); the Bridegroom of the Church is nailed; the Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear. We worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, show us also Your all-glorious Resurrection.
Don't cry for me, Mother(Women's choir. Disc “Time of fasting and prayer”)
Do not weep for Me, Mati, Mati, seeing in the tomb, You conceived the Son in the womb without a seed: I will rise and be glorified, and I will exalt with glory unceasingly like God, by faith and love You magnifying
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Robber Prudent(Women's choir. Disc “Time of fasting and prayer”)
Thou, O Lord, vouchsafed the prudent thief in a single hour of paradise, and enlighten me with the wood of the cross and save me
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Great Saturday:
Good-looking Joseph(Stichera for kissing the Shroud) Choir of Valaam
“Noble-looking Joseph, from the tree we will take down Your Most Pure Body, wrapping it around with a clean shroud, and with stench(incense) lay it in a new tomb" Gloriously be glorified (Chorus of St. John's Monastery)
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Resurrect God(Women's choir. Disc "Time of fasting and prayer") 2
Resurrect, O God, judge the earth, as You inherit in all the nations
Good Friday video
Sermons for Good Friday
Saint Luke Voyno-Yasenetsky on Good Friday
St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)
It was not for this that a sacrifice was needed so that God would have mercy, but a terrible sacrifice was brought by Christ because God had mercy, had mercy on us.
Come, blessed Peter the Apostle, and add your holy word to what we have just heard from the great Apostle John. “He also came, and we hear his holy word: “You were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from the vain life that was delivered to you from the fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a spotless and pure Lamb” (1 Peter 1, 18-19).
You explained to us, Saint Peter, from what exactly we were redeemed by the Blood of Christ - from the vain life that we inherited from our fathers, from life in the vanity of the world, the life of the soul, and not the spiritual, in oblivion of the greatest tasks of our life.
Let us now dare to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and hear from Him words that are incomprehensible to the world and hidden: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; but the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world... Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you. Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:51, 53-56).
Here is the deepest holy meaning the sacrifice of Christ: He gave His flesh to put to death and shed His Blood so that in the great sacrament we would eat His Flesh and drink His Blood; so that the molecules of His Body become the molecules of our flesh and His holy Blood, together with our blood, flows in our veins; so that in this way we become involved in God-manhood and He resurrected us on the last day as His children.
With what shall we, poor ones, repay Him for His immeasurable love and His terrible sacrifice - with what? He Himself answered this question for us: "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Let us pour out our love and our tears on His dead body, lying before us on the Holy Shroud, and let us direct all the strength of our soul, first of all and most of all, to the observance of His commandments.
Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh on Good Friday
Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh
How difficult it is to connect what is happening now and what was once: this glory of the removal of the Shroud and that horror, human horror that gripped all of creation: the burial of Christ on that one, great, unique Friday.
But today is Good Friday - a day of great sorrow and deep thoughts. “Let all human flesh be silent, and let nothing earthly in itself think.” On Good Friday, all mankind, 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, it was their transgressions that created the Calvary execution. It is terrible to recognize oneself as a criminal, it is unbearable to see in oneself the culprit of death - the murderer. And this is a fact! All of us, without exception, are involved in this death. For our salvation Christ the Son of man died by death. The death on the cross of the Son of God trampled death and God's mercy is bestowed on people. Death speaks of an unparalleled deed, even if God created it -. The coffin, containing the source of life, became life-giving and carries a silent sermon, and humanity is called to hear it in order to live. The word about the Creator's love for His creation sounds in this sermon, love for a sinful and ungrateful person. Let us listen, dear ones, to what the silent Savior tells us: “For you, for your salvation, I died. And there is no longer that love that laid down her life for her 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 mourned in the garden of Gethsemane on the eve of suffering. The heart without words cried out to the Heavenly Father: “Let this cup pass me by. But the remembrance of you, your eternal death, compassion and mercy for the perishing creation of God overcame the fear of temporary inhuman torments. 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 have weighed heavily on Me." Your burden, which is unbearable for you, I have taken upon myself.
Words and deeds of love we hear and see from the tomb of the Savior. God's Love is unchanging, and Its Sun shines on the good and the evil, and salvation is prepared for all who desire salvation. She does not stop now, but always hopes, endures everything in anticipation of our conversion. But do we all respond with love to this boundless Love? Doesn't there live in our time among some people the desire to spit, trample and even kill her, and among others simply to forget about her? The Lord dispelled the gloom of darkness that ruled before His coming in the world, illuminated the path to the Kingdom of Heaven, but even until now the enemy of God has his part in non-believers, pagans, and sinners who do not know repentance. As during the ministry of Christ, his fellow tribesmen replaced God's Truths with a lie and turned into hypocritical ceremonial believers, so now do not our delusions repeat themselves. In words, "Lord, Lord"! and in life: "Have me renounced." Doesn't the bitter experience of the life of mankind clearly show its continued captivity to the theomachist - the enemy of the human race. The Lord gave 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 him of power, having the power of death, that is, the devil,” and the meaning of His sacrifice is the restoration of the Kingdom of God, perishing on earth, stolen by the enemy from our forefathers. 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 the Christian life is the life of the Holy Spirit. In the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit lies the meaning of our earthly life. And today, and every year, in the silence of the Great Heel, the voice of God sounds to mankind: "Save yourself, be saved, my people!" The Creator recreates His creation into a new life of grace, let us recognize God as our Father, let us feel the need for salvation and mercy, and the Lord, the Source of grace, will have mercy and save us.
Prot. Valentin Amfiteatrov about Good Friday
Archpriest Valentin Amfiteatrov
Mysterious, incomprehensible hour! The Son of God is filled with inner and outer sorrows to the last degree, to the last breath. And do not comfort, and do not grieve. The joy of Israel, the friend and patron of all the oppressed, the forgotten, the unfortunate and the outcast, has been abandoned by all. He, the Savior, called out to God the Father: My God! My God! Thou hast forsaken Me (Matt. 27:46). The healer of contrite hearts experienced the pain of beating, thorn-bearing, scourging. He cried out with a strong cry, with tears, for he saw that it was impossible to remove suffering. But what does this pain mean in comparison with the spiritual suffering experienced by Jesus Christ at the sight of the heartlessness of his environment? The Divine soul was incurably ill with these sorrows until the moment when it gave Himself into the hands of God the Father. The betrayal of Judas, the sleep and flight of the disciples, the denial of the beloved, most sincere Peter, the mockery of the servants of the high priest, the senseless cries of the ungrateful mob, ridicule from Herod, mockery from the soldiers, comparison with the robber, unrighteous condemnation, cross-bearing through the streets of the crowded capital, the shame of being exposed among the self-satisfied ignorant spectators, gloating, scolding of the crucified villain ... Oh, our truly beloved Savior bore the punishment and sins of the whole world. But can eternal torment be equal to the incurable disease that the heart of the Lover of Humanity has experienced.
The head of life, the Wonderworker, who brought others back to life, is doomed to death. He is dying. Died. He died for our sins!
The eternal Word of the Father, which created everything and proclaimed to the world boundless mercy for sinners, fell silent.
The sun of truth, which shone upon the world in order to dispel the deep, dead darkness of perverted deeds and to reveal to everyone the truth of God, bright as light ... and like noon, set in the impenetrable darkness of slander, even with reproaches of blasphemy. Terrible, incomprehensible this hour! Our mortal eyes see one image of the Divine and life-giving body of our Lord Jesus Christ, a silent and lifeless body. He has no appearance, no glory, no kindness, belittled, disgusted, desecrated.
Listen and watch! Behold, the King of kings and the Lord of lords has on his head a crown, not adorned with precious stones, but woven of thorns. Who wove this painful crown for the Giver of Life? Human pride, insane vanity. Oh, if we really love our Savior, then in meekness, humility and patience let us keep the law of faith and obedience to His word all the days of our life, as long as the life of the heart beats in us. If we love our Christ the Savior, if it seems terrible to us the day of remembrance of Good Friday, the suffering of Jesus, then do not add to His painful crown of thorns the thorns of your sins and iniquities.
Saint Elijah Minyatiy on Good Friday
Mournful is my soul unto death (Matthew 26:38).
St. Ilya Minyatiy
Mankind had to see two great and glorious miracles on earth: first, this is God descending to earth to take on human nature; the second miracle is the God-man who ascended to the cross to die on it.
The first was a matter of the highest wisdom and strength, the second - extreme philanthropy. Therefore, both of them took place under different circumstances. In the first miracle, when God took on the nature of man, all creation triumphed in general: the angels in heaven sang joyful praise, the shepherds on earth rejoiced about the saving gospel and the great joy that had taken place, and the kings from the east came to worship the newborn Lord with gifts.
In the second miracle, when the God-Man died on the cross, as a condemned man in the midst of two thieves, then the world above and below wept, the sky was covered with the deepest darkness, the earth shook from its foundation with trembling, the stones cracked. That night was a bright night, bringing universal joy and joy, but this day was gloomy, like a day of sorrow and sorrow. On that night, God showed man the best deed he could, and on this day, man showed all his iniquity, which he could do before God.
You have the right to say, O God-Man and sad Jesus: My soul is mournful unto death, for Thy passions are many, Thy sorrow is great. Sufferings so great that human patience has never endured; sadness is so unbearable, which has not yet experienced human heart. And truly, listeners, the more I try to find another similar example in human life, the more I am convinced that His illness in passions and sorrow in illness are incomparable to anything. Great was the envy in Cain against his brother, but much greater envy among the bishops and scribes against the Savior; and the unrighteous murder of Abel is not comparable with the death of Jesus on the cross.
Great was Isaac's patience as he prepared to be sacrificed by Abraham his father; but incomparably more patience is in Jesus, who indeed was betrayed by His Heavenly Father as a sacrifice of the hatred of His enemies. Great were the misfortunes of Joseph, when he was sold by his brothers, slandered by the wife of Potiphar, and, as guilty, was thrown into prison; but much more numerous is the suffering of Jesus, when He is sold by His disciple, accused by the whole assembly, dragged from court to court, like a criminal. Great was the humiliation of David when he was overthrown from the royal throne by his son, when his subjects abandoned him; when his own servants pursued him, when he ran barefoot to the Mount of Olives, when they threw stones at him and showered him with abusive words.
But what happened to Jesus, when the apostles left Him, the soldiers tied him up, crowned him with thorns, burdened him with the cross, when the inhabitants of the whole city saw him off with vile blasphemy, when he ascended Golgotha to accept a shameful death between two thieves - isn’t all this more mournful sight?!
It must be admitted that the illness in Job was great when, having lost his children and possessions, he sat on the dung, in wounds from head to toe; however, this must be recognized only as a prototype and, as it were, a shadow of those grievous sufferings and wounds with which the long-suffering Son of the Ever-Virgin was afflicted. Not small were the sufferings of those who suffered after Christ and the sufferings of His holy martyrs who imitated Him; however, those sufferings were only bodily - in the midst of suffering, the soul of the martyrs rejoiced; there was death, but there was honor, there was torment, but there was also a crown. And the passion of Jesus Christ was suffering both in body and soul, suffering without the slightest consolation; His death was one disgrace, His torment was one sorrow, and the sorrow of death. Mournful is my soul unto death.
Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)
Metropolitan Filaret (Voznesensky) on Good Friday
Remember, beloved, when you and I think about what the Lord has done for us, we should never forget that it was for our sins that He ended up in the tomb. On the Cross and in the tomb. We nailed Him to the Cross with our stubborn and unrepentant sins, and because of our sins He now lies, mute and motionless, dead in the tomb. And when you worship Him, kiss His Ulcers, do it as unrequitedly guilty of the fact that He is ulcerated, that He is wounded, that He is tormented, spat upon, covered with shame and now lies in the tomb.
Remember that we did it: both I and everyone else with our stubborn sins and our uncorrected. It was not for nothing that the Lord himself once, when he felt somehow very painfully the unfaithfulness of the human race, even exclaimed (in the Gospel it is recorded): “O unfaithful and depraved generation, as long as I will be with you, as long as I will endure you!” * *** That's how hard it was for Him in general with us, and here we are, I repeat, with our sins nailed to the Cross and laid in a coffin.
So remember, Christian soul, when you worship the Divine Dead in the Shroud lying, when you kiss His Ulcers, how unrequitedly guilty do it, because no one but us is to blame for the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Apostle said, instead of the one who is set before Him glory suffered this shame and disgrace, and this terrible, shameful and humiliating death on the cross. You and I know that now, after His death, the Cross has become our treasure and relic, but I repeat, it was not the soldiers who nailed Him to the Cross, but you and I, because if our sins were not on Him, there would be no What should he take upon Himself, then there would be none of this. But He - went to this terrible superhuman Feat. Remember how the Gospel says that He fought to the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane, at this terrible prayer.
Why was he covered in bloody terrible sweat? Once St. Demetrius of Rostov, in his inspired sermon, said, as if addressing the Savior: “Lord! Why are you covered in blood? Who hurt you? There was no Cross, no scourging - none of this was yet; why are you covered in blood? And he himself answers: “Who hurt? “Love hurt!” Because the God-Man, who loved us sinners so much, knew that if He did not accomplish this terrible Feat, then our fate would be forever! - in fiery hell, in terrible, endless and most terrible torments, which we cannot even imagine. But, He took upon Himself all this terrible burden, this heavy burden sinful, and, thanks to His holy and great Feat, we have the opportunity to hope that we will receive the forgiveness of our sins, washed by Him. And then we can hope that He will accept us into the Kingdom of Heaven, just as He accepted the prudent thief.
Literature about Good Friday
An excerpt from the novel "Lord Golovlevs" (M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin) about Good Friday
M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin
Judas and Anninka were sitting together in the dining-room. Not more than an hour ago the vigil, accompanied by the reading of the twelve Gospels, had ended, and a strong smell of incense was still in the room. The clock struck ten, the household went to the corners, and a deep, concentrated silence settled in the house. Anninka, taking her head in both hands, leaned her elbows on the table and fell into thought; Porfiry Vladimirych sat opposite, silent and sad.
This service always made a profoundly amazing impression on Anninka. While still a child, she wept bitterly when the priest said: “And he wove a crown of thorns, placing it on His head, and a reed in His right hand,” and she sang along with the deacon in a sobbing discant: “Glory to Thy long-suffering, Lord! glory to Thee!” And after the vigil, all agitated, she ran to the girls' room and there, in the thickening twilight (Arina Petrovna did not give candles in the girls' room when there was no work), she told the slaves "The Passion of the Lord."
Quiet slave tears flowed, deep slave sighs were heard. The slave women sensed in their hearts their Lord and Redeemer, they believed that He would rise again, truly rise again. And Anninka also sensed and believed. Behind the deep night of torture, vile mockery and nodding, for all these poor in spirit, the kingdom of rays and freedom was visible. The old lady herself, Arina Petrovna, usually formidable, became quiet these days, did not grumble, did not reproach Anninka for being an orphan, but stroked her head and persuaded her not to worry. But Anninka, even in bed, could not calm down for a long time, shuddered, tossed about, several times during the night she jumped up and talked to herself.
Then came the years of study, and then the years of wandering. The first were empty, the second painfully vulgar. But even here, among the ugliness of the acting camp, Anninka jealously singled out “holy days” and searched for echoes of the past in her soul, which helped her to be touched and sigh like a child.
But now, when all life has become clear, to the last detail, when the past has cursed itself, and in the future neither repentance nor forgiveness was foreseen, when the source of tenderness has dried up, and with it the tears have dried up — the impression produced by the story just heard about the mournful path, was truly overwhelming. And then, in childhood, the deep night weighed heavily on her, but behind the darkness, beams were still felt. Now - nothing was foreseen, nothing was foreseen: night, eternal, unchanging night - and nothing more. Anninka did not sigh, was not agitated, and, it seems, did not even think about anything, but only fell into a deep stupor.
For his part, Porfiry Vladimirovich, with no less accuracy, honored the “holy days” from his young nails, but he honored them exclusively from the ritual side, like a true idolater. Every year, on the eve of Good Friday, he invited the priest, listened to the gospel tale, sighed, raised his hands, banged his forehead on the ground, marked on the candle with wax pellets the number of gospels he had read, and yet he understood absolutely nothing. And only now, when Anninka awakened in him the consciousness of the “dead”, he realized for the first time that this legend was talking about some unheard-of untruth that had committed a bloody judgment on the Truth ...
Of course, it would be an exaggeration to say that in connection with this discovery, any life comparisons arose in his soul, but there is no doubt that some kind of turmoil occurred in it, almost bordering on despair. This turmoil was all the more painful, the more unconsciously lived the past that served as its source. There was something terrible in this past, and what exactly - in the mass it is impossible to remember. But you can't forget either. Something huge, which until now had stood motionless, covered by an impenetrable veil, and only now moved towards, every moment threatening to crush.
If it really crushed it, that would be the best; but he is tenacious - perhaps he will crawl out. No, waiting for a denouement from the natural course of things is too guessing; you yourself must create a denouement in order to put an end to unbearable turmoil. There is such a denouement, there is. He has been looking at her for a month now, and now it seems he will not pass. “On Saturday we will join - we need to go to the grave to the deceased mother!” suddenly popped into his head.
-Let's go, shall we? he turned to Anninka, informing her aloud of his assumption.
“Perhaps… let’s go…”
"No, don't go, but..." began Porfiry Vladimirych, and suddenly broke off, as if realizing that Anninka might interfere.
“But I’m in front of the deceased mother ... after all, I tortured her ... I!” - meanwhile, wandered in his thoughts, and the thirst for "saying goodbye" with every minute flared up stronger and stronger in his heart. But "to say goodbye" is not the way one usually says goodbye, but to fall on the grave and freeze in the cries of death agony.
"So you're saying that Lyubinka died of herself?" he suddenly asked, apparently to cheer himself up.
At first Anninka didn't seem to hear her uncle's question, but obviously he got to her, because after two or three minutes she herself felt an irresistible need to return to this death, to torture herself with it.
- So she said: drink ... vile?! he asked as she repeated her story in detail.
- Yes ... she said.
- Did you stay? didn't you drink?
- Yes ... here I live ...
He got up and paced up and down the room several times in visible agitation. At last he went up to Anninka and stroked her head.
- Poor you! my poor you! he said softly.
Something unexpected happened to her at that touch. At first she was amazed. but gradually her face began to distort, distort, and suddenly a whole stream of hysterical, terrible sobs burst from her chest.
- Uncle! you are kind? tell me are you kind? she almost screamed.
In a broken voice, amidst tears and sobs, she repeated her question, the same one that she had proposed on the day when, after the “wandering”, she finally returned to settle in Golovlev, and to which he then gave such an absurd answer.
- You are kind? tell! answer! you are kind?
“Did you hear what they were reading during the Vespers today?” he asked when she finally quieted down. “Oh, what suffering it was! After all, only such suffering is possible ... And I forgave! Forgive everyone forever!
He again began to walk around the room with long strides, hurting himself, suffering and not feeling how his face was covered with drops of sweat.
- Forgive everyone! - he said aloud to himself, - not only those who then gave him otset to drink with bile, but also those who later, now, and henceforth, forever and ever, will bring to His lips otset mixed with bile ... Terrible ! ah, that's terrible!
And suddenly, stopping in front of her, he asked:
“Did you…forgive me?”
Instead of answering, she rushed to him and hugged him tightly.
- You must forgive me! - he continued, - for everyone ... And for himself ... and for those who no longer exist ... What is it! what happened?! he exclaimed almost bewilderedly, looking around him, “where is...everything?..
Good Friday Poems
On Strastnaya (from the novel "Doctor Zhivago")
B. L. Pasternak
B. L. Pasternak
Still around the darkness of the night.
It's still so early in the world
That there are no stars in the sky
And each, like day, is bright,
And if the earth could
She would sleep through Easter
Under the reading of the Psalter.
Still around the darkness of the night.
Such early in the world
That the area lay down for eternity
From the crossroads to the corner
And before dawn and heat
Another millennium.
Still the earth is naked-goal,
And she has nothing at night
rock the bells
And echo from the will of the singers.
And from Good Thursday
Until Holy Saturday
Water bores the shores
And viet whirlpools.
And the forest is stripped and uncovered,
And on the Passion of Christ,
Like a line of worshipers, it stands
A crowd of pine trunks.
And in the city, on a small
Space, as at a gathering,
The trees stare naked
In church lattices.
And their eyes are filled with terror.
Their concern is understandable.
Gardens come out of the fences
The way of the earth is shaking:
They bury God.
And they see the light at the royal doors,
And black boards, and a row of candles,
tear-stained faces
And suddenly towards the procession
Coming out with a shroud
And two birches at the gate
Must step aside.
And the procession goes around the yard
Along the edge of the sidewalk
And brings from the street into the porch
Spring, spring talk
And the air with a taste of prosphora
And spring frenzy.
And March scatters snow
On the porch a crowd of cripples,
As if a man came out
And he took out and opened the ark,
And gave everything to the thread.
And the singing lasts until dawn,
And, having sobbed enough,
Reach quieter from within
To wastelands under the lanterns
Psalter or Apostle.
But at midnight the creature and flesh will be silent,
Hearing the rumor of spring,
What is just the weather,
Death can be overcome
Strength of Sunday.
The article talks about what Good Friday is and what customs and rituals are associated with this important day.
From the article you will learn why Friday on the eve of Easter was called Holy, what rituals exist, signs of this important day before Christ's Sunday.
Easter in relation to Good Friday
One of the strictest fasts of the year ends at the end of Holy Week (Passion Week), during which believers remember the events that led Jesus Christ to death: spiritual and physical torment became the culmination of the Savior's bodily life.
On Good Friday, the laity read about the Last Supper, the taking of Christ into custody, the trial of the Divine Prisoner, the scourging and the execution of the death sentence, culminating in the crucifixion. The last six days of Great Lent are called "Great" or "Passion". During Holy Week, special services are held, and the Orthodox adhere to a particularly strict fast.
Passion Week is held for the laity in remembrance of the last days spent on earth by Jesus.
Great Monday in churches they read the gospel parable of the roadside fig tree cursed by the Lord. The symbolism and spiritual meaning of the image of the barren fig tree is revealed in detail:
- the roadside fig tree personifies the perishing in repentance, whose soul does not bring faith, prayer and good deeds
- the moment when the tree withered from the words of the Lord shows the Divine power of the Savior, the censure of people who outwardly create the appearance of the executors of God's commandments, but from whom it is impossible to wait for good fruits
On Maundy Tuesday believers devote to reading the parables that the Son of God spoke in the Temple of Jerusalem: about the resurrection, about the judgment of the Savior, about ten virgins.
Believers spend Good Friday in remembrance of the saving passions for Christians
Great Wednesday believers dedicate to reading the parable of the poured precious myrrh on the head of the Savior by sinners. By this they prepared him for repose. On this day, they condemn and curse the greed for money and the betrayal of Judas. It also speaks of the prepared fate of two different people: Judas, who betrayed the Lord and thereby destroyed his soul, and the harlot Mary Magdalene, who repented and accepted salvation.
On Maundy Thursday Several events took place: the establishment by Jesus of the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, the prayer of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Good Friday believers dedicate to remembrances of the saving passions for church-going people and the death of Jesus on the cross.
Great Saturday the laity dedicate reading about the burial of the Savior and how his body was in the tomb. Holy Fire, which is taken out on this day from the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem - a symbol of the Resurrection of the Lord.
Holy Week believers dedicate preparations for Easter: cleaning is carried out, Easter cakes are baked, Easter eggs are painted.
On Holy Week, believers prepare for the feast of the Holy Resurrection of Christ
With Easter cakes and krashankas, believers go to Divine Liturgy on Great Saturday, where the consecration of products is held.
Holy Week ends with the celebration of Easter - Christ's Sunday.
Good Friday - the essence of what it is, what it means, what happens on Good Friday
Good Friday is the day when the Son of God was crucified. During the Divine service, the clergy recall that event three times, reading the Gospel:
- at Matins there is a service of 12 Gospels, excerpts from which recall the saving sufferings and the crucifixion of Jesus, which took place on Friday
- The Great (Royal) Hours pass in the reading of the narrations from the four evangelists
- Great Vespers is held under the reading of the composite Gospel
Good Friday commemorates the torments of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion
Video: GREAT LENT. PASSION WEEK. GOOD FRIDAY
When is the Shroud taken out on Good Friday?
- There is no liturgy in the church on Good Friday. However, on the day when Good Friday falls on the Annunciation, the service of St. John Chrysostom takes place.
- On Good Friday, the canon “On the Crucifixion of the Lord” is performed in the temple, and the clergy also take out the Shroud, a symbolic burial shroud with the full-length body of the Savior depicted on it, which lies in a coffin.
On Good Friday, church bells do not ring. On this day they take out the Shroud
- The iconographic image of the Savior in the tomb is an obligatory attribute of the worship of two last days Holy Week: Good Friday and Good Saturday.
Priests in black robes carry the Shroud
- The Shroud is placed on a special elevation, symbolizing the Holy Sepulcher, in front of the Royal Doors. At the same time, the Head of the Savior is turned to the north, and the legs - to the south. Incense is applied to the Shroud, flowers are laid out. These actions symbolize the anointing with incense of the Body of the executed Savior by myrrh-bearing women.
- The service on the day of special repentance begins at two o'clock in the afternoon. The shroud is taken out an hour after the start of the service - at the time of Jesus' death on the cross.
What can you do on Good Friday?
On Good Friday, those who have defended the service bring home 12 burning candles, which are not allowed to burn out to the end. These candles bring prosperity and happiness to the house where they are stored. On this day, you can sow a garden, a field. Dill and peas sown in a small amount are the key to a good harvest.
All preparations for the celebration of Easter are made before Maundy Thursday
Can you bake on Good Friday?
It is allowed to bake Easter cakes on Good Friday. Baked Easter cakes should be covered with sacred willow. Such willow twigs are then used as a talisman against evil spirits.
Can you get married on Good Friday?
Believers spend a strict fast on Good Friday in prayers, it is also obligatory to attend a mournful service (Lamentation of the Virgin). If you decide to get married in April, then it is better to wait another 2 weeks after Easter. Go to church, and at the end of the fast you can get married and have a fun wedding.
In Orthodoxy, it is allowed to get married after the Red Hill (Antipaskha)
What does it mean to get married on Good Friday?
On Easter week - on the biggest and most punishable holiday, you can’t walk and have fun. Therefore, it is better to postpone the date of the wedding. Consider whether to start family life with a great sin and how the wedding on Good Friday will then turn out for both of you, because this is the time to prepare for the resurrection of the Savior.
On Easter week, on Good Friday, no one gets married, and no one in the church will marry the newlyweds.
What not to do on Good Friday?
The following activities are prohibited:
- wash
- sticking iron objects into the ground
- alcohol consumption
- fun
If a person spends this day in amusements, then the whole year will shed tears.
Women on this day cannot:
- spin
- clean the house
Men on this day cannot:
- chopping wood
- use a cleaver
- plant trees
Women are not allowed to sew on Good Friday
What does a dream on Good Friday mean on Saturday: signs
A dream from Thursday to Friday predicts the future, but the dream takes on special significance on Good Friday. Usually such a dream is filled with accurate predictions. Having seen a prophetic dream, wait for its fulfillment until noon (lunch) of the same day.
Dream on Good Friday
What does it mean if a child was born on Good Friday?
On the fate of a child born on Good Friday, this day will not be reflected in any way.
What does it mean if a child was born on Good Friday
What does a birthday mean on Good Friday?
- In the old days, it was believed that a baby born on Good Friday should be taken to the grandmother so that she would reprimand him from future troubles, and so that the child would not suffer a difficult fate.
- But the clergy have a different opinion on this matter: all the troubles that will happen in the life of such a child will eventually turn into great joy. Therefore, the birth of a baby on a mournful day should not be considered a bad sign.
What does birthday mean on good friday
What does the bread baked on Good Friday mean?
It is believed that if you bake bread on Good Friday, it will be fresh for a long time and will not become moldy. Such bread is used as a remedy for ailments. Sailors took a bun baked on Good Friday with them on a long journey, using it as a talisman. If you keep such a bun at home, then it will become a talisman against fires.
Is it possible to bake bread on Good Friday
What does it mean to die on Good Friday?
Anyone who leaves this world on Good Friday will experience the torment of life with the Savior and rise with him.
What does it mean to die on Good Friday
Lent - Good Friday: what can you eat?
Food is not consumed on Good Friday until the moment the Shroud is taken out. But even after that, only bread and water are allowed.
Good Friday: what conspiracies, rituals and prayers to read?
A conspiracy from alcoholism, drunkenness and getting rid of estimated longing
- Ash is taken from the stove on Good Friday.
- It pours at the intersection, where there are no cars.
The plot is read three times:
Just as this ash does not sprout, but the sprouts are petals, the fruit from the petals, so the slave (name) will not take wine in his mouth: neither on Sunday, nor on Saturday, nor on Friday, nor on Thursday, nor on Wednesday, nor on Tuesday, and not on Monday. Amen. Just as this ash will not fill with a key, it will not sing like a nightingale, so the slave (name) will not drink green wine. Amen. As this ash does not farrow, does not give birth, so the slave (name) will forever say goodbye to wine. He will not drink: neither on Sunday, nor on Saturday, nor on Friday, nor on Thursday, nor on Wednesday, nor on Tuesday, nor on Monday, nor on weekdays, nor on holy days. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
- Repeat the ceremony two Fridays in a row.
- Hide the rest of the ash and use it at times when the temptation to drink is great.
Good Friday conspiracy for stress, depression
- To conduct the ceremony, you will need three Easter eggs, which must be lowered into a container of water, over which the following magical text is read:
Strengthen my faithful words, Lord, Strengthen, Christ, the servant of God (name). As people rejoice at a bright Easter, so may the servant of God (name) be happy with life. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
- This water suffering from depression should wash.
- On Good Friday, you need to bake a small bun.
- One half is eaten by those who conduct the ceremony, and the other is kept all year behind the icons. But before you put the bread behind the icons, you need to say:
“Lord, save, save, protect. Now and forever and forever and ever. Amen".
Prayers for Good Friday:
Prayer for others
O Jesus, have mercy on your holy Church; take care of him.
Oh Jesus, have mercy on poor sinners and save them from hell.
Oh Jesus, bless my father, my mother, my brothers and sisters, and whatever I have to pray.
O Jesus, have pity on the souls in purgatory and bring them to your heavenly rest.Prayer to Express Sorrow for Sins
God my Father,
I'm sorry for turning my back on your friendship.
You showed only love for me.
I have sometimes shown a little love in return.
Because of yours, yours only, Jesus, who died and rose again for me, forgive me all my sins.
Father, not only have I offended you with my sins, but I have also offended your community here on earth.
I promise to show great love to the neighbor in order to make up for my sins.
There is nothing I can do if your Holy Spirit does not help me lead a life like Jesus, a life spent forgetting about myself in the service of others.
Prayer for Holiness on Good Friday
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs I don't prayPrayer for Unity
Heavenly Father,
you are the Father of all men.
We ask you to send the Holy Spirit,
Spirit that unites people
so all people
forget past troubles
put aside unfair opinions,
and work together for the benefit of all,
regardless of their religion,
no matter what their races are,
so in the end
this world,
did good men working together,
in the spirit of Jesus and work with you,
may be given to you by your Son,
Unite especially all Christians
so they can be together again soon,
like one flock around the table of the Lord's Supper.
We ask you to unite more closely those of our Church who
so under the guidance of the Spirit unto thy kingdom,
we can work, pray and live happily together
in love and peace. (Amen)
Prayers for Good Friday
Prayer for Holiness on Good Friday
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs I don't pray
Keep me, my God, from the stain of sins,
Let me both work diligently and pray properly,
Let me be a kind word and deed to others,
Let me do nothing wrong or idle in words, thoughtless say
Set you a lock on my lips
Let me in the season, Lord, be honest, in the season of gays,
Let me be true to your grace just for today
And if today, my tide of life should fade,
Oh bet if I die today, come home today,
So, for tomorrow and its needs, I don't pray
But hold me, guide and love me, Lord, I pray you.
A conspiracy for the whole year from all enemies
"In the name of the Father and the Son
And the Holy Spirit.
King Herod fights, fights,
Shedding blood, no one
Doesn't regret
Doesn't let anyone down.
Against the evil man
Great Sagittarius -
God the Father!
At our Lord
Jesus Christ
The sun is a bow, the month is an arrow:
There is something to shoot.
The Lord will not give anyone
Offend me.
The Lord God is ahead of me
Mother of God behind
With them I'm not afraid of anyone,
With Them, I fear no one.
And you, my evil enemies,
You spoke in tongues,
Hot pincers in fangs
And in the filthy eyes of the sands.
In the name of the Father and the Son
And the Holy Spirit.
Now and forever and forever and ever.
Amen".Conspiracy to ask for forgiveness from the deceased
Reading on Good Friday evening.
“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
There is no beginning without end.
in the name of the Creator.
Name of Jesus Christ.
I will get up and cross myself.
I will go beyond the threshold
Blessed
I will go to the holy church
To the golden cross
To the Mother of God
And her son Jesus Christ.
I will beg with bows
And crosses
I will pay with repentant Tears.
In the realm of the dead
dead state,
In the middle of darkness
The darkness of dead people.
Kings, executioners,
Judges and sovereigns
Dashing and kind people
There is one dead soul.
Before this soul
There is my fault.
For the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For His crown of thorns
I ask and beg (name) to forgive me
And my living soul
Let go of the sin.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Now and ever
And forever and ever. Amen."Video: Good Friday. Our Easter is Christ!
Good Friday is the saddest day of the year for a believing Christian. Find out what beliefs and prohibitions are associated with the Friday before Easter.
Great, or Good Friday - the essence of the date
Of all the days of the Great Week, this - mournful. Condemned and crucified on Golgotha Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his life for the forgiveness of the sins of mankind. Good Friday was the last earthly day lived by the Savior.
Good Friday falls on Great Lent, which lasts until Easter. On this day, it should be observed more strictly than usual. It is customary to limit as much as possible. Everything earthly and mortal should fade into the background. Before the Taking Out of the Shroud (around 2:00 pm), it is better to abstain from food altogether, and after it, prefer bread, raw fruits, and water.
The Church recommends devoting the date to prayers and be sure to go to the temple service. There are three worship services. In the morning Hours with the reading of the Gospel of the Passion of the Lord. In the afternoon - vespers with the removal of the shroud. The evening service lasts until Saturday morning and ends with the burial of the Shroud. In the old days, candles from the church were carried lit. Now they are extinguished at the exit from the temple, houses are lit near the icons.
What not to do on Good Friday
On Good Friday you can not work at home - a sin. Household chores are best done in. It is also better to do personal hygiene in advance, on Friday, leave all earthly affairs and do spirituality. An exception is the preparation of Easter cakes, but more on that below. It is customary to transport bees on this day to avoid their death.
One of the most serious sins "pierce the ground" i.e. work in the garden. Plant something on the Friday before Easter - there will be no harvest, trouble will come to the house. This does not apply to cabbage and parsley. Sowed now, they will yield a double harvest.
It is impossible to spit on the ground, so that the saints and angels do not turn away for a whole year. Under a special ban, work with metal tools, they symbolize the spear with which Christ was killed. Even slicing bread falls under the ban, it must be broken by hand.
On Good Friday, you can not cut your hair and dye your hair - to the loss of health and beauty. It is better to refuse cosmetic and medical procedures.
According to the church, the whole day before should be devoted to prayers and reflections on the sacrifice of Christ. The observance of Great Lent is not only about food. Children conceived on Good Friday will be born sick or grow up evil, cruel people. Whoever gets drunk on the day of the death of the Son of God will turn into an alcoholic within a year.
On Good Friday, you can not rejoice and have fun. Therefore, it is better to postpone a birthday or other holiday to another time. This date is dedicated to universal sorrow. Laughing, singing, talking loudly and walking for fun is not allowed. Whoever laughs on the Friday before Easter will cry for a year.
Signs for the Friday before Easter
Our ancestors noticed a way to check the house for damage. Go to the service in the church in the morning, do not forget to buy a candle before it begins, with which you are supposed to stand until the end of the service. Bring the rest of the candle home. With it go around the whole house without missing a single room. Near the object on which damage is directed, the candle will begin to crackle and smoke.
To attract prosperity, you need to bring 12 candles from the church. Place them around the house and light them up. Let them burn. If you consider yourself a wealthy person, for additional income, treat the needy.
They believed in the old days that if you wash your laundry on the Friday before Easter and hang it outside to dry, traces of blood will appear on it - a reminder that household chores are prohibited.
Whoever abstains from food and water before the start of Holy Saturday will know the exact time and cause of death three days before his death. No drink can then harm the one who withstood thirst on Easter Friday. Those who fall ill on this date will recover quickly.
The Friday before Easter is the best day to wean a baby. The child will grow up healthy and strong, there will be a lot of happiness in his life.
Wipe the corners of the house with a clean rag and hide it from strangers. It helps with diseases of the lower back and legs. After the bath, you need to tie a rag around the sore spot and leave it overnight. On Maundy Thursday, stoves are cleaned of ash, from Good Friday kept to treat the evil eye, depression and alcoholism. A ring consecrated in the church of any precious metal protects against diseases.
Good Friday Baking
The church and a number of signs advise you to cook Easter cakes and paint eggs - you can’t take care of the house on Good Friday. But folk legends give the pastries prepared on this day magical properties .
Starting to prepare dishes for the Easter table, read any prayer you know. The dough should be made by the mistress of the house alone, without helpers. No one should see him, the dish will turn out tasteless. While the pastries are in the oven, forbid the household to make noise so that the Easter cakes turn out to be lush and beautiful.
Easter cake baked on Good Friday is not eaten entirely on Easter. The portion must be kept behind the icons until the next Great Week. Pieces of this cake are given to patients to improve well-being. It also protects against fires and natural disasters. The cake prepared on this day will not mold.
Bread is baked on Friday. They do not eat it, but keep it in the house. Bread baked on Good Friday- a strong talisman against diseases and natural disasters. It protects the house from thieves and intrigues of enemies. Well, if the bread turned out beautiful. If it is burnt, you should beware of trouble.
Baking is stored until the next Great Week. It is not thrown into the trash, but fed to birds.
Good Friday is a time of bodily restrictions and spiritual self-improvement. Set aside worldly affairs and make time for church, prayer, and meditation on God. Ancient signs will help to attract wealth and good luck, get rid of troubles and diseases.
Commemoration of the holy saving passions of our Lord Jesus Christ
Father! forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.
On Great Friday, the Holy, saving and terrible sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, suffered by His will, took place and is remembered by the Church.
Celebrating on Good Friday “the following of the holy and saving passions of our Lord Jesus Christ,” the Orthodox Church on this great day marked all the times of the sacred events of the salvation of the world with a divine service: the time of the taking of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His condemnation by the bishops and elders to suffering and death (Matt. 27:1) - the service of Matins; the time of leading the Savior to judgment before Pilate - Divine service of the first hour (Mt. 27, 2); the time of the condemnation of the Lord at the trial by Pilate - by the celebration of the third hour; the time of Christ's suffering on the cross - at the sixth hour; the time of death is the ninth hour; and the removal of the body of Christ from the cross by evening.
There is no Liturgy on Good Friday, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed Himself, and 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 removal from the cross of the body of Christ and His burial. At Vespers, the priests raise the Shroud (that is, the image of Christ lying in the tomb) from the Throne, as if from Golgotha, and take it out of the altar to the middle of the temple. The Shroud relies on the tomb, a specially prepared table. Then the clergy and all those praying worship before the Shroud and kiss the sores of the Lord depicted on it - the perforation of the rib, hands and feet of Him. The shroud is located in the middle of the temple for three (incomplete) days, thus reminiscent of the three-day presence of Jesus Christ in the tomb.
At the morning Divine 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. St. John Chrysostom mentions the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels on Good Friday. He says: “The Jews attack Jesus Christ with fury, and of themselves torment Him, bind, lead away, become the perpetrators of insults inflicted by the soldiers, nail to the cross, reproach, mock. Pilate here did not add anything on his part: they do everything themselves. And this is what we read when we are all in the assembly, lest the pagans tell us: you show the people only brilliant and glorious things, such as signs and wonders, but you hide shameful things. The grace of the Holy Spirit so arranged that all this is read with us on a national holiday - precisely on Great Thursday of Pascha (that is, on the Friday of Holy Week), when men and women come in great numbers, when the whole universe flocks, then this is preached loud voice; and with such and such public reading and preaching, we believe that Christ is God. “Now we all,” said St. John of Damascus on the Great Heel, “are gathered to hear about the cross, we fill the Church, we press each other, we sweat and exhaust ourselves.”
The readings of the Passionate Gospels are preceded and accompanied by the singing: "Glory to Thy long-suffering, Lord." Indeed, His long-suffering was exceedingly great; His sufferings were terrible. According to the Church and St. John Chrysostom, during the terrible and saving sufferings of the Lord, each member of His holy flesh “suffered dishonor for us: the head from the crown of thorns and the reed; face from blows and spitting; lanitis from earache; mouth from offering vinegar mixed with gall; ears from the blasphemy of the wicked; shoulders from beating; the right hand of the reed, which they gave Him to hold instead of a scepter; hands and feet from nails; ribs from a copy; the whole body from being exposed, scourged, dressed in chlamys, feigned worship and crucifixion.
Each reading of the Gospel is proclaimed with the gospel, and at each reading the forthcoming ones are lit with lamps: this signifies the triumph and glory that accompanied the Son of God and during His extreme humiliation amidst reproach and suffering and testifies to His highest holiness and Divinity. The Lord, going to voluntary suffering and death, Himself foretold: now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, then God will glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him (John 13:31-32), that is, “together with the cross,” says John Chrysostom. The sufferings of the Lord for our sins were as grievous as they were glorious for the Lord. Enemies go to take Him to suffering and death, and they fall before His Divine omnipotence and are healed of their wounds. They rage against the Savior, but His innocence and supreme holiness triumph over their blinded malice. Those who, either out of fear or greed, have denied 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 is condemned to death, gives in to despair and returns 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests, saying: I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. The chief 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 is it to us? take a look yourself". “Are these not the words of those who themselves testify to their villainy and madness, covering themselves with a senseless mask of feigned ignorance”? Desperate Judas threw down the pieces of silver in the church and strangled himself. And 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 therefore they did not put it in a korvan.
God-man on the cross; one of the thieves crucified with Him, rebuking the other for blasphemous words, confesses Jesus Christ as the Lord, and His innocence and Divinity. Finally, for the glory of the Crucified One, terrible signs follow one after another, announcing the expiatory suffering and death of the saints of the Most Holy One and admonishing the crucifiers (1 Cor. 2, 8). In the Temple of Jerusalem, the veil is torn in two, showing that with the death of the universal Sacrifice on the Cross, the end of the ancient tabernacle has come and the path to the very sanctuary has been opened to all (Heb. 9, 8).
Archpriest G.S. Debolsky,
"Days of worship Orthodox Church”, vol. 2
Chants from the Friday Service of Holy Week of Great Lent
Today it hangs on a tree, Who hung the earth on the waters: He wears a crown of thorns, Who is the King of Angels: He dresses in a false purple, clothes the sky with clouds: the suffocation is pleasant, Who frees Adam in the Jordan: the Bridegroom of the Church was nailed with nails: the Son of the Virgin was pierced with a copy. We bow down to Thy Passion, Christ: we bow down to Thy Passion, Christ: we bow down to Thy Passion, Christ, show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.
“Now hangs on the tree the One who hung (established) the earth on the waters; the King of Angels is covered with a crown of thorns; He who dresses the sky with clouds is dressed in jester's purple; he who freed (from sin) Adam in the Jordan accepts stupefaction (slapped); the Bridegroom of the Church is nailed; the Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear. We worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, we worship Your sufferings, Christ, show us also Your all-glorious Resurrection.
Gospel of Luke
Led with Him to death and two villains. And when they came to the place called Skull, there they crucified Him and the malefactors, one on the right, the other on 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 rulers also mocked with them, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, the chosen one of God. The soldiers also cursed 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 and said: or are you not afraid of God when you yourself are condemned to the same? and we are justly condemned, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing wrong. 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.
And it was about the sixth hour of the day, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour: and the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said: Father! into your hands I commit my spirit. And having said this, he gave up his spirit. The centurion, seeing what was happening, glorified God and said: truly this man was a righteous man. And all the people who had gathered for this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their breasts. All those who knew Him, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood in the distance and looked at it.
OK. 23, 32-49
And all the people who had gathered for this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their breasts.
OK. 23, 48
What was the spectacle that led the audience into complete bewilderment? What was the spectacle that sealed 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, striking in the chest and taking with them a terrible bewilderment ... What was this spectacle?
Not only people looked at this spectacle: all the Angels of God looked at him with horror and the deepest reverence; heavenly things no longer attracted their attention; their gazes rushed, riveted to the spectacle that opened on the ground. The sun saw what he had not seen, and, unable to endure what he saw, hid his rays, as a man closes his eyes at an unbearable sight for him: it was dressed in deep darkness, expressing in darkness sadness, as deep as death is bitter. The earth trembled and shook under the event that took place on it. The Old Testament Church tore apart her magnificent veil; so the most precious clothes are tormented and not spared in the inevitable, decisive disaster. And all the people who had come together for this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their chests ... What kind of spectacle was it?
There was a spectacle that we now contemplate in memory, in the ongoing church service, in the sacred Image that is presented to our eyes. The spectacle was the Son of God, descended from heaven, incarnated for the salvation of people, cursed, killed by people.
What feeling, if not a feeling of horror, should completely embrace the heart at this spectacle? What state, if not a state of complete bewilderment, should be a state of mind? What word can be uttered at this spectacle? Will not every human word die in the mouth before it comes out of the mouth? And all the people who had gathered for this spectacle, seeing what was happening, returned, beating their breasts.
They returned, beating their breasts, returned in bewilderment and horror, those who came to look at the Savior hanging on the tree of the cross, like a ripe and scarlet fruit, came to look with a probing thought, out of pompous and false conceit. Faith was silent in them. The fading sun cried out to them, the trembling earth cried out to them, the stones cried out to them, parting with a crash and rising above the graves of the dead, suddenly revived by the death of the Savior. They returned in horror, vainly inquisitive: in horror not from the perfect murder of God, but in horror from the formidable gaze and voice of shuddering, insensible nature, expressing its knowledge of God before humanity that did not recognize Him. They returned, beating their breasts in fear for themselves, for their flesh and blood, for the sake of which blood was shed, the body of the God-man was tormented.
While the Jews, resting in the Law, boasting of a vast and accurate knowledge of the Law, were perplexed, looking at the event foretold 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 foreboding of their own disaster, the pagan, the centurion, stood before the cross and the Sacrifice, stood without leaving. It was impossible for him to leave, because he commanded the guard that guarded the Sacrifice: this happy impossibility was given to him, because faith was hidden in his heart, obvious to the Knower of Hearts. When nature proclaimed its confession of God, the centurion gave an answer to the mysterious voice of nature, gave an answer to the mysterious confession with an open and public confession. Truly He was the Son of God, he said of the executed, hanging before his eyes, the wanderer, 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, signs struck them - an earthquake, a tearing of the church curtain, a deep darkness that came at noon; on the other hand, they were blinded and hardened by the carnal mind and proud self-deception, representing the Messiah in the splendor of earthly glory, a magnificent king, the conqueror of the universe, at the head of a large army, among a host of luxurious courtiers. At this time, a warrior, a pagan, confessed the executed wanderer to God: at this time, a criminal criminal confessed Him to be God. Come down from the cross! - the blind Jewish bishops and scribes mockingly said to the God-Man, not understanding what all-holy Sacrifice, what all-holy and all-powerful Burnt offering they brought to God, - let him come down from the cross, so that we can see, and we will believe: at this time, the rude, ignorant robber recognized Him as God ascended to the cross because of His divine righteousness, and not because of His sin. With bodily eyes he saw a naked, crucified near him, subject to the same fate as himself, a helpless beggar, condemned by both spiritual and civil authority, 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 sensible, the righteous of the world showered God with abuse and ridicule—the thief turned to Him with a well-intentioned and successful prayer: remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42).
The Ever-Virgin Mother of God stood at the cross and the Lord crucified on it. Her heart was pierced with sadness like a sword: the prediction of the holy elder Simeon was being fulfilled. But She knew that Her Son, the Son of God, deigned to ascend the cross and offer Himself as a reconciliatory sacrifice for outcast humanity; She knew that the Lord, having completed the redemption of people by death, would rise again and 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: she was silent before the will of God, 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 Divine Love. Divine Love is the source of Theology. She is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and Theology is a Gift of the Holy Spirit. She revealed to the Apostles the mysterious meaning of redemption. For the love of Christ compels us, the disciple and messenger of Christ proclaims the gospel, reasoning thus: if one died for all, then all died (2 Cor. 5:14). Because of the infinite love that the Lord has for mankind, and which the Lord alone is capable of having, all mankind suffered on the cross in the person of the Lord and died in the person of the Lord. But if humanity suffered in Him, then it was justified in Him; if it died in Him, then it was made alive in Him. The death of the Lord became the source of life.
Suddenly, the voice of the crucified Lord was heard from the cross to the Ever-Virgin: Geno! 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 mankind into a new life by life-giving death, the Lord enters into the rights of the Ancestor of the human, and declares His own Mother, according to humanity, of the disciple and all His disciples, the Christian tribe. The old Adam is replaced by the New Adam, the fallen Eve by the immaculate Mary. By the transgression of one, the Apostle said, many were subjected to death, how much more the grace of God and the gift of the grace of one Man, Jesus Christ, abound for many (Rom. 5:15). Through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, countless and inexpressible blessings have been poured out on the human race: not only has the redemption of men been accomplished, but their adoption as sons of 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, salutary thoughts, striking our hearts with these thoughts. We remembered, we vividly contemplated the act of Divine Love, an act that surpassed words, surpassed comprehension. The martyrs responded to this love with torrents 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, sighs of the heart, confession of their sins, and drew from it healing for souls; Many who were oppressed by sorrows and illnesses responded to this Love, and this love dissolved their sorrows with Divine consolation. We will also respond to the love of our Lord for us with sympathy for His love: a life according to His all-holy commandments. This sign of love He requires from us, and only this sign of love He will accept from us. Whoever loves me will keep my word; He who does not love Me does not keep My words (John 14:23, 24). If we do not respond to the Lord's love for us with love for Him, then has not the blood of the God-man been shed for us in vain? Is not His all-holy Body tormented for us in vain? Is it not in vain that the Great Sacrifice was laid on the altar of the cross, and slain? All-powerful is Her intercession for us for salvation: all-powerful is Her complaint against those who neglect Her. The voice of the blood of the 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 middle of heaven, on the very throne of the Godhead, 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: when shall Me descend into destruction? The all-holy Sacrifice speaks, accusing the Christians who have been redeemed by it, who have taken its price into themselves, and cast it down with them into the stench of sin. This terrible crime is committed by everyone who takes the joys of Christ, their soul and body, redeemed by Christ and belonging to Christ, creates their spirits of a harlot by various copulation with sin. Do you not know, says the Apostle, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him. Amen.
"The date of death, like the date of birth, a person does not choose himself," he explained. "Dni.ru" confessor. And everyone has their own time. Good Friday is the saddest day of the year. This is the time when our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. Retirement at this time is certainly special for a Christian. To die with Christ on the same day is to endure all life's sufferings with him and rise with him. This is a very good sign."
ON THIS TOPIC
On the Holy Week the church remembers the trial, crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the cross. In Orthodoxy, at the morning service, the "12 Gospels" of the Holy Passion of Christ are read, and at the evening service, the shroud is brought out and the Canon about the crucifixion of the Lord and "To weeping" are sung. Holy Mother of God". On Good Friday, a particularly strict fast should be observed - on this day it is customary not to eat anything until the evening service.
It is worth noting that Bystritskaya is a purebred Jew. Her parents are military infectious disease doctor Avraam Petrovich Bystritsky and hospital cook Esfir Isaakovna Bystritskaya. Therefore, Orthodox signs are not very suitable for her. But there is symbolism in her death according to Jewish traditions!
The fact is that Pesach is now celebrated - the main holiday of the year for Jews. It symbolizes the acquisition by the sons of Israel of freedom from ancient Egyptian slavery. And death on Pesach for a Jew is a special mercy of the Almighty. True, Judaism forbids putting the deceased on display. According to custom, a pinch of earth or clay shards is placed on his eyes, and he is dressed in white linen clothes without knots and pockets. The coffin should be the simplest, wooden. Whether all these traditions will be observed during farewell to Bystritskaya - we will find out on April 30 at a memorial service at the Maly Theater.