The Bridegroom Service reminds us that we must be prepared to receive Christ. The parable of the five wise virgins and five foolish virgins tells us that our lives must be filled with faith, hope, and good works. We must also be ever-watchful for Christ's Second Coming.
Great Tuesday Evening
Great Tuesday Evening
The Bridegroom Service emphasizes to us Jesus' love for those who repent of their sins and forgive others. As a model of love and repentance, we are reminded of the sinful woman who anointed Christ with costly oil as if preparing His Body for burial. The penitential Hymn of Saint Cassiane is sung this evening.
Great Wednesday Evening
Great Wednesday Evening
This service celebrates the Holy Mystery of Anointing wherein we confess our sins and are reconciled to God. To seal our reconciliation, we are anointed with Holy Oil for the healing of our soul and body. Seven special prayers and Epistle are read this evening.
Great Thursday Morning, during the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil, we commemorate our Saviour’s establishment of Holy Communion during the Mystical Supper wherein He proclaims that the bread and wine become His Body and Blood given to us for eternal life. We are also reminded of the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and Christ's vigil in theGarden of Gethsemane
Great Thursday Evening retells the entire story of Christ's Passion through the reading of the twelve Gospel lessons. After the fifth Gospel reading, the Crucifixion is re-enacted when the priest carries the flower-adorned Crucifix in procession through the church and places It in the center of the church for veneration.
Great FRIDAY AFTERNOON commemorates the supreme sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The priest unnails Christ from the Crucifix, wraps His Body in white linen, and places It on the altar symbolizing His burial by Joseph of Arimathea. The shroud showing Christ's Body is carried in procession and laid in a flower-adorned tomb.
The Friday Evening service includes the Hymn of the Lamentations which are chanted to reflect our sorrow, to proclaim Christ's descent to Hades, and to herald His expected Resurrection. Christ's' burial shroud is taken in procession around the church and laid on the altar.
Saturday Morning commemorates the Blessed Sabbath as a day of waiting and strict fasting. The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil is celebrated as we anticipate Christ's victory over death in Hades and His Glorious Resurrection.
Saturday Evening, at 11:30 p.m., we sing the Paschal Matins service. As midnight approaches, in a darkened church, we begin the Resurrection service. At the appointed moment, the priest comes forth from the altar with a candle symbolizing the Light of Christ and proclaims "Christ is Risen!" The Paschal Liturgy and Homily of Saint John Chrysostomos invites us to share in His Resurrection through Holy Communion.
Great Thursday Morning, during the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil, we commemorate our Saviour’s establishment of Holy Communion during the Mystical Supper wherein He proclaims that the bread and wine become His Body and Blood given to us for eternal life. We are also reminded of the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and Christ's vigil in the
Great Thursday Evening retells the entire story of Christ's Passion through the reading of the twelve Gospel lessons. After the fifth Gospel reading, the Crucifixion is re-enacted when the priest carries the flower-adorned Crucifix in procession through the church and places It in the center of the church for veneration.
Great FRIDAY AFTERNOON commemorates the supreme sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The priest unnails Christ from the Crucifix, wraps His Body in white linen, and places It on the altar symbolizing His burial by Joseph of Arimathea. The shroud showing Christ's Body is carried in procession and laid in a flower-adorned tomb.
The Friday Evening service includes the Hymn of the Lamentations which are chanted to reflect our sorrow, to proclaim Christ's descent to Hades, and to herald His expected Resurrection. Christ's' burial shroud is taken in procession around the church and laid on the altar.
Saturday Morning commemorates the Blessed Sabbath as a day of waiting and strict fasting. The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil is celebrated as we anticipate Christ's victory over death in Hades and His Glorious Resurrection.
Saturday Evening, at 11:30 p.m., we sing the Paschal Matins service. As midnight approaches, in a darkened church, we begin the Resurrection service. At the appointed moment, the priest comes forth from the altar with a candle symbolizing the Light of Christ and proclaims "Christ is Risen!" The Paschal Liturgy and Homily of Saint John Chrysostomos invites us to share in His Resurrection through Holy Communion.
SERVICES PREPARATIONS - Feasts, fasts, etc.
PREPARATIONS - Feasts, fasts, etc.
NATIVITY
Agape meals
1. Eve of Nativity following Vespers/Liturgy of St Basil - Fasting Agape brunch
2. After midnight Liturgy of Nativity - Agape to break the fast
3. 1:00 pm (2009) on the Feast Day
Christopsomo
When you cut the Christopsomo (Hree-STO-pso-mo) at the Nativity Agape, you should, in the same way that we do Vasilopitta on the New Year, mark it with the blade of a knife in a Cross form, before you cut it and eat it.
Before you eat the bread, you should dip it in honey and then in chopped garlic (finely chopped). You should have just two small bowls on the table, and everyone dips only a small corner, lightly, in each. This represents the sweetness and bitterness of life, prefiguring the bitterness of the Crucifixion after the Nativity and anticipating the joy of Pascha.
In Greek Macedonia, there was a custom called "Myed," which is honey in Makedonski. The mother of the house, on Christmas eve, makes the sign of the Cross on the forehead of her children, after dipping her finger in honey, and says: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, may your life be sweet." Because my mother was not Orthodox, and thus could not do so, my father or grandfather or grandmother did it for us. It was a nice custom that you should revive for the children..
The Greeks have lost almost all of these customs, so they get drunk on Nativity Eve (Western Christmas for the majority of them), eat Lamb at huge picnics on Clean Monday, celebrate Mardi Gras (a wholesale adoption from the West), and then eat lamb again on Great Friday and get drunk for the Pascha weekend. The Russians at least go to Church before they get drunk, after having beaten up the village Jews on Great Friday of course. It really inspires one to be Orthodox in this corrupt age, huh?
GREAT LENT Suggestions from 2008
- Fr John suggested more decorations for 2009
- PX suggested avgolemmono be served every year
PALMS
Order palms from HyV at the beginning of Great Lent
CARNATIONS
2009 140 carnations were ordered from Nancy at Kabloom, who gave us the best price of 2 for $1 (all HyV's wanted 75 cents each). She also gave us a dozen roses free (to be used for rose petals in kovouklion)
2010 Order well ahead from HyV
ROSES
Rose petals needed to spread on Eiptaphion (Great Friday evening). Crown should remain on the Cross (Great Thursday).
ICONS
Bridegroom Services - Icon of Extreme Humility
Great Wednesday (Holy Anointing): Icon of the Mystical Supper
Great Thursday (12 Gospels): Icon of the Crucifixion
LOAVES
Loaves are need for Great Saturday morning.
NATIVITY
Agape meals
1. Eve of Nativity following Vespers/Liturgy of St Basil - Fasting Agape brunch
2. After midnight Liturgy of Nativity - Agape to break the fast
3. 1:00 pm (2009) on the Feast Day
Christopsomo
When you cut the Christopsomo (Hree-STO-pso-mo) at the Nativity Agape, you should, in the same way that we do Vasilopitta on the New Year, mark it with the blade of a knife in a Cross form, before you cut it and eat it.
Before you eat the bread, you should dip it in honey and then in chopped garlic (finely chopped). You should have just two small bowls on the table, and everyone dips only a small corner, lightly, in each. This represents the sweetness and bitterness of life, prefiguring the bitterness of the Crucifixion after the Nativity and anticipating the joy of Pascha.
In Greek Macedonia, there was a custom called "Myed," which is honey in Makedonski. The mother of the house, on Christmas eve, makes the sign of the Cross on the forehead of her children, after dipping her finger in honey, and says: "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, may your life be sweet." Because my mother was not Orthodox, and thus could not do so, my father or grandfather or grandmother did it for us. It was a nice custom that you should revive for the children..
The Greeks have lost almost all of these customs, so they get drunk on Nativity Eve (Western Christmas for the majority of them), eat Lamb at huge picnics on Clean Monday, celebrate Mardi Gras (a wholesale adoption from the West), and then eat lamb again on Great Friday and get drunk for the Pascha weekend. The Russians at least go to Church before they get drunk, after having beaten up the village Jews on Great Friday of course. It really inspires one to be Orthodox in this corrupt age, huh?
GREAT LENT Suggestions from 2008
- Fr John suggested more decorations for 2009
- PX suggested avgolemmono be served every year
PALMS
Order palms from HyV at the beginning of Great Lent
CARNATIONS
2009 140 carnations were ordered from Nancy at Kabloom, who gave us the best price of 2 for $1 (all HyV's wanted 75 cents each). She also gave us a dozen roses free (to be used for rose petals in kovouklion)
2010 Order well ahead from HyV
ROSES
Rose petals needed to spread on Eiptaphion (Great Friday evening). Crown should remain on the Cross (Great Thursday).
ICONS
Bridegroom Services - Icon of Extreme Humility
Great Wednesday (Holy Anointing): Icon of the Mystical Supper
Great Thursday (12 Gospels): Icon of the Crucifixion
LOAVES
Loaves are need for Great Saturday morning.
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