Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight,
and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching;
and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.
Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighted down with sleep,
lest you be given up to death,
and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom!
But rouse yourself, crying: “Holy, holy, holy, are You, O our God!”
Through the Theotokos have mercy on us!
this video was just completed with scenes from last year’s Feast at Holy Theophany Orthodox Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Christ is risen!
Indeed He is risen!
O Lord, Save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries and by virtue of Thy Cross, preserve Thy habitation!
spotted in today’s Church Father’s Wisdom (Daily Dynamis):
In the liturgical observances of Good Friday the Church views the Crucifixion within its original setting, as an event in the first Holy Week at Jerusalem. At the feast of the Exaltation [of the Cross, September 14th], by contrast, the Cross is regarded rather in its effects upon the subsequent history of the Church. On Good Friday the note is predominantly – though never exclusively – one of sorrow and mourning; on 14 September the Cross is commemorated in a spirit of triumph, as a ‘weapon of peace and unconquerable ensign of victory’ (Kontakion of the Feast).
~The Festal Menaion, Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware
On Holy and Great Wednesday the divine Fathers ordained a commemoration to be kept of the woman who was a harlot and who anointed the Lord with myrrh, inasmuch as this took place a short time before the saving Passion.
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, when He was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came and poured most precious myrrh on the head of Christ and wiped His feet with her hair, rendering Him service at a very great cost to herself. This event is set forth here that, according to the Savior’s word, her act of great fervor may be proclaimed to everyone everywhere, and because it occurred a short time before the Passion. What moved her to act thus? She had seen how merciful Christ was and how accessible to all; now, in particular, she saw Him enter the house of a leper, whom the Law deemed unclean and unfit for society. She thought to herself that He would heal the man’s leprosy and likewise the illness of her own soul. Thus, while He was seated, she poured on the top of His head a quantity of myrrh, which was worth about “three hundred thirteen denarii in silver coin,” that is, sixty assaria, and she wiped His feet with her hair. She placed her head at His feet, showing her zeal for repentance, but the disciples rebuked her, particularly Judas Iscariot. Christ, however, welcomed her, not allowing them to frustrate her good intention. He further mentioned His burial, dissuaded Judas from becoming a traitor, and honored the woman by saying that her good deed would be related everywhere, throughout the whole world.
Let it be known that there are two women who anointed the Lord with myrrh, as the divine Chrysostom says. He said that in the three Evangelists there is a certain woman who is also called a harlot, while in Saint John there is another woman, Mary the sister of Lazarus, who was not a harlot but a friend of Christ. Thus, the woman in St. John’s Gospel is not the same as the one mentioned by the other Evangelists. Whether both of them anointed Christ on the same day – this is not mentioned. Others, however, assert that there was a third woman: the one who was at the house of Simon the Pharisee; a second, Mary the sister of Lazarus; and a third woman, a different one who was at the supper. Although this opinion is added as a supplement, it is not known whether it can be held as accurate, since one of these women is not she who is now set before us.
That nard, or rather myrrh, with which the harlot anointed Christ, was very costly. It belonged to that type of compound called myrrh, which Moses was commanded by God to make for the anointing of priests and chief priests. It is of this that David says, “It is like the precious oil on the head, running down to the beard, to Aaron’s beard, running down to the edge of his garment” (Ps. 132:2). It was a compound of four substances: myrrh, flowers, fragrant cinnamon, and oil. It was called true or genuine, because skilled and trusted men were appointed to prepare that which God had in a mysterious manner revealed to Moses alone. An alabaster jar is a glass vessel made with no handle, which is also called a vykion.
We should know that today the deceitful Judas, that lover of money, that whelp of Satan, began the negotiations with the wicked Sanhedrin to betray the Master for thirty pieces of silver. Being indignant after Christ rebuked him for showing concern for the cost of the oil of myrrh, he sought out the Jews who were at the court of Caiaphas. After taking council with the Jewish High Priests, he searched for an opportunity to betray the Lord when He was alone, for the Sanhedrin feared the multitude that followed Christ.
We see in today’s Gospel (Matt. 26:6-16) that the sinful woman brought oil of myrrh to anoint Christ, while Judas brought his greed to the Sanhedrin. She spread out her hair to wipe the Lord’s feet, while Judas stretched out his hands for the money. She rejoiced to pour out the very precious oil on the Lord, while Judas made plans to sell the One who is above all price. By anointing Christ, she acknowledged Him as Lord, while Judas severed himself from the Master. She was set free of her sins, while Judas was entrapped and became a slave of the devil. She tenderly kissed the feet of Christ, asking for forgiveness, while Judas plotted to betray the Lord with a kiss, anticipating the silver.
Because the betrayal of Christ occurred on a Wednesday, the Orthodox Church has received the tradition from Apostolic times to observe Wednesday as a fast day throughout the entire year.
O Christ our God, Who was anointed with the noetic myrrh, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
Kontakion, Tone 4
Though I have transgressed, O Good One,
more than the harlot,
I have never offered Thee a flood of tears.
but, praying in silence,
I fall down before Thee,
with love embracing Thy most pure feet,
that Thou as Master mayest grant me remission of sins.
And I cry to Thee, O Saviour:
Deliver me from the defilement of my evil deeds.
Ikos: Having come to hate the works of sin and carnal pleasure, the woman who before had been a prodigal became chaste at once. Calling to mind the magnitude of disgrace and the condemnation of torment which harlots and profligates, of whom I am first, shall endure, I also am afraid; yet I foolishly continue in my evil ways. But the woman who was a harlot, having been filled with fear, hastened quickly to the Deliverer, crying out: “O compassionate Lord who lovest mankind, deliver me from the defilement of my evil deeds.”
The Exapostilarion (The Hymn of Light)
Thy bridal chamber, O my Savior, I see adorned,
and I have no raiment with which to enter therein.
Enlighten the garment of my soul, O Giver of Light, and save me.
The Hymn of Cassia
O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins,
perceiving Thy divinity,
became one of the Myrrhbearers,
bringing Thee ointment in tears before Thy burial.
She cried, “Woe is me!
“For I lived in a night of licentiousness,
“moonless and dismal love of sin.
“Accept the fount of my tears,
“O Thou who drawest the waters of the sea from the clouds.
“Bow down Thine ear to the sighing of my heart,
“O Thou who didst bow the heavens in Thine ineffable self-emptying,
“that I may kiss Thy most pure feet
“and wipe them again with the hairs of my head,
“the feet whose step Eve once heard in Paradise in the cool of the day,
“when for fear she hid herself.
“My sins are many. And who may search the depths of Thy judgments?
“O Saviour of souls, my Saviour,
“despise not Thy servant
“in Thy limitless mercy.”
And because He came into the world for the sake of all, He therefore suffered for me too, for I am one of all, O my Lord! And who am I, and what am I? Ashes and clay, a sinner and worthless slave! Oh, new and unheard of miracle! Oh, unutterable and ineffable mercy! Incomprehensible indulgence! Arise, my soul arise! Be filled with awe; humble yourself, bow low and fall at the feet of your Lord! “Sing to the Lord a new canticle; because He has done wonderful things.”
But You, my Lord and Sovereign, have suffered in my place. The servant sinned, but my Lord suffered the punishment; the servant erred, but my Lord was scourged; the servant stole, and mu Lord offered compensation; the servant was indebted, but my Sovereign paid the debt… For me wretched and accursed, He bore the infamy, He Who is blessed throughout all eternity.
~St Tikhon of Zadonsk
Ilya Repin’s Christ Wearing the Crown of Thorns (1913)~St Cyril of Alexandria
Ilya Repin’s- Golgotha (1869)My God, my God why hast Thou forsaken me?
This saying is a quotation of the first verse from Psalm 22. Jesus was probably reciting the psalm in its entirety. The psalmist goes on to say that he is ‘scorned by men and despised by the people’ (22:6). He is near death, and those around him started to divide His garments.
‘A company of evil doers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them and for my raiment they cast lots’ (Ps. 22:16-18) …’I will tell of your name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You: You who fear the Lord, praise Him! ..’For He has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; and He has not hid His face from Him, but has heard, when He cried to Him. From You comes my praise in the great congregation; My vows I will pay before those who fear Him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever’ (Ps. 22:22-26)…
The Scriptures were fulfilled, the mission completed, at the very moment when He “breathed His last.” St John of Damascus writes that “every action of Christ and all His working of miracles were truly very great and divine and wonderful, but of all things the most wonderful is His honorable Cross.” For by the Cross, he continues, all things are set aright. Sin is destroyed, death is overcome, and resurrection is bestowed. What Christ accomplished with death on the Cross is made manifest in His Resurrection.
~Veselin Kesich The Passion of Christ
Nikolai Gey-In the Garden of Gethsemane 1869HOMILY
About the King who does not wish to defend Himself with an army
“Do you think that I cannot call uponMy Father and He will not provide Me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels” (St. Matthew 26:53).
Thus spoke the Lord to the disciple who drew the sword to defend his Teacher in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is obvious from these words that the Lord could have defended Himself, if He wanted to, not only from Judas and his company of guards, but also from Pilate and the leaders of the Jews. For the might of one angel is greater than the greatest army of men, much less the might of twelve legions of angels.
The Lord did not want to seek this help from the Father. In His prayer in Gethsemane, He said to His Father, “Let Your will be done” (St. Matthew 26:42). With that, He immediately knew the Will of the Father and that it was necessary that He be given over to suffering. He was in agreement with the Will of His Father and set out on the path of suffering. It was necessary to allow the background to be portrayed gloomier in order that the resurrection would be brighter. It was necessary to allow evil to compete as much as it could so that, afterwards, it would explode and disintegrate into nothing. It was necessary to allow evil to cry aloud so that, soon after, it would become speechless before the miraculous resurrection. It was necessary that all the wicked deeds of men against God be manifested so that they would be able to see and appraise the love and mercy of God toward mankind. The angels of God were not sent to defend Christ from the Jews; rather, the angels of God were sent, after three days, to announce the holy resurrection of Christ.
O Lord, All-Powerful and All-Merciful, have mercy on us and save us!
Mikhail Nesterov’s Evening on the Volga (1932)Sensing Thy divinity, O Lord, a woman of many sins
takes it upon herself to become a myrrh-bearer,
And in deep mourning brings before Thee fragrant oil
in anticipation of Thy burial; crying:
“Woe to me! For night is unto me, oestrus of lechery,
a dark and moonless eros of sin.
Receive the wellsprings of my tears,
O Thou who gatherest the waters of the oceans into clouds.
Bend to me, to the sorrows of my heart,
O Thou who bendedst down the heavens in Thy ineffable self-emptying.
I will kiss Thine immaculate feet
and dry them with the locks of my hair;
Those very feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise
and hid herself in fear.
Who shall reckon the multitude of my sins,
or the abysses of Thy judgment, O Saviour of my soul?
Do not ignore Thy handmaiden,
O Thou whose mercy is endless.
hat tip: Andreas ~ Opuscula Theologica
