SAINT STEVEN'S SERBIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL
Alhambra, California
HOLY WEEK AND PASCHA SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
APRIL 19 LAZARUS SATURDAY
Matins 9:00 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.
Vrbica , Vespers & Lenten Dinner 6:00 p.m
APRIL 20 PALM SUNDAY
Matins 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.
Bridegroom Matins 7:00 p.m.
APRIL 21-22 GREAT & HOLY MONDAY & TUESDAY
Presanctified Liturgy 9:00 a.m.
Bridegroom Matins 7:00 p.m.
APRIL 23 GREAT & HOLY WEDNESDAY
Presanctified Liturgy 9:00 a.m.
Holy Unction Service 7:00 p.m.
APRIL 24 GREAT & HOLY THURSDAY
Matins 9:00 a.m. Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil 10:00 a.m.
Matins with Reading of Gospels 7:00 p.m.
APRIL 25 GREAT & HOLY FRIDAY
Royal Hours 10:00 a.m. Vespers 4:00 p.m.
Matins (Burial Service) 7:30 p.m.
APRIL 26 GREAT & HOLY SATURDAY
Vesperal Liturgy of Saint Basil 10:00 a.m.
Paschal Procession and Matins with Hierarchical Divine Liturgy 11:00 p.m.
APRIL 27 PASCHA – EASTER
Hierarchical Paschal Vespers 11:30 a.m.
Festive Banquet & Barbeque 1:00 p.m
In the Orthodox Church the last week of Christ's life is officially called Passion Week . In popular terminology it is called Holy Week . Each day is designated in the service books as "great and holy." There are special services every day of the week. Each day of Holy Week has its own particular theme. The theme of Monday is that of the sterile fig tree which yields no fruit and is condemned. Tuesday the accent is on the vigilance of the wise virgins who, unlike their foolish sisters, were ready when the Lord came to them. Wednesday the focus is on the fallen woman who repents. Great emphasis is made in the liturgical services to compare the woman, a sinful harlot who is saved, to Judas, a chosen apostle who is lost. The one gives her wealth to Christ and kisses his feet; the other betrays Christ for money with a kiss. On each of these three days the Gospel is read at the Hours, as well as at the Vespers when the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is served. The Old Testamental readings are from Exodus, Job, and the Prophets. The Gospel is also read at the Matins services which are traditionally called the " Bridegroom " services because the general theme of each of these days is the end of the world and the judgment of Christ . It is the common practice to serve the Bridegroom services at night.
Behold, the bridegroom comes in the middle of the night and blessed is the servant whom he shall find watching, and unworthy the servant whom he shall find heedless. Take care then, 0 my soul, and be not weighed down by sleep that you will not be given over unto death and be excluded from the Kingdom. But rise up and call out: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou O God, by the Theotokos have mercy on us (Troparion of the First Three Days).
The Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil is served on Holy Thursday in connection with Vespers. The long gospel of the Last Supper is read following the readings from Exodus, Job, Isaiah and the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians ( 1 Cor 11 ). The following hymn replaces the Cherubic Hymn of the offertory of the liturgy, and serves as well as the Communion and Post-Communion Hymns.
Of Thy mystical supper, 0 Son of God, accept me today a communicant, for I will not speak of Thy mystery to thine enemies, neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss, but like the thief will I confess Thee: Remember me, O Lord, in Thy kingdom.
The liturgical celebration of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday is not merely the annual remembrance of the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion. Indeed the very event of the Passover Meal itself was not merely the last-minute action by the Lord to "institute" the central sacrament of the Christian Faith before his passion and death. On the contrary, the entire mission of Christ, and indeed the very purpose for the creation of the world in the first place, is so that God's beloved creature, made in his own divine image and likeness, could be in the most intimate communion with him for eternity, sitting at table with him, eating and drinking in his unending kingdom.
Thus, Christ the Son of God speaks to his apostles at the supper, and to all men who hear his words and believe in him and the Father who sent him: Fear not, little flock, it is Your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Lk 12:32). You are those who have continued with me in my trials; as my Father appointed a Kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. ... (Lk 22:28-31). In a real sense, therefore, it is true to say that the body broken and the blood spilled spoken of by Christ at his last supper with the disciples was not merely an anticipation and preview of what was yet to come; but that what was yet to come -- the cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven -- came to pass precisely so that men could be blessed by God to be in holy communion with him forever, eating and drinking at the mystical table of his kingdom of which there will be no end.
Thus the " Mystical Supper of the Son of God " which is continually celebrated in the Divine Liturgy of the Christian Church, is the very essence of what life in God's Kingdom will be for eternity.
Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God (Lk 14:15). Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9).
Matins of Holy Friday are generally celebrated on Thursday night. The main feature of this service is the reading of twelve selections from the Gospels , all of which are accounts of the passion of Christ. The first of these twelve readings is Jn 13:31-18:1 . It is Christ's long discourse with his apostles that ends with the so-called high priestly prayer. The final gospel tells of the sealing of the tomb and the setting of the watch ( Mt 27:62-66 ).
The Hours of Holy Friday repeat the Gospels of Christ's passion with the addition at each Hour of readings from Old Testamental prophecies concerning men's redemption, and from letters of Saint Paul relative to man's salvation through the sufferings of Christ. The psalms used are also of a special prophetic character, e.g., Ps 2, 5, 22, 109, 139, et al.
The first service belonging to Holy Saturday -- called in the Church the Blessed Sabbath -- is the Vespers of Good Friday. It is usually celebrated in the mid-afternoon to commemorate the burial of Jesus.
The Matins of Holy Saturday are usually celebrated on Friday night. There is in the person of Jesus Christ the perfect unification of the perfect love of man toward God and the perfect love of God toward man. It is this divine human love which is contemplated and praised over the tomb of the Savior. As the reading progresses the Praises become shorter, and gradually more concentrated on the final victory of the Lord, thus coming to their proper conclusion:
I long for Thy salvation, O Lord, Thy law is my delight (Ps 119:174). The mind is affrighted at Thy dread and strange burial. Let me live, that I may praise Thee, and let Thy ordinances help me (119:175).
The women with spices came early at dawn to anoint Thee. I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek Thy servant, for I do not forget Thy commandments (119:176). By Thy resurrection grant peace to the Church and salvation to Thy people!
The Vespers and Matins of the Blessed Sabbath, together with the Divine Liturgy which follows, form a masterpiece of the Orthodox liturgical tradition. These services are not at all a dramatic re-enactment of the historical death and burial of Christ. Neither are they a kind of ritual reproduction of scenes of the Gospel. They are, rather, the deepest spiritual and liturgical penetration into the eternal meaning of the saving events of Christ, viewed and praised already with the full knowledge of their divine significance and power.
Originally this Liturgy was the Easter baptismal liturgy of Christians. It remains today as the annual experience for every Christian of his own dying and rising with the Lord. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him (Rom 6:8-9). Christ lies dead, yet he is alive. He is in the tomb, but already he is "trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life." There is nothing more to do now but to live through the evening of the Blessed Sabbath on which Christ sleeps, awaiting the midnight hour when the Day of our Lord will begin to dawn upon us, and the night full of light will come when we will proclaim with the angel: "He is risen, he is not here; see the tomb where they laid him" ( Mk 16:6 ).
The Easter procession circles the church building and returns to the closed doors of the front of the church. This procession of the Christians on Easter night recalls the original baptismal procession from the darkness and death of this world to the night and the life of the Kingdom of God. It is the procession of the holy passover , from death unto life, from earth unto heaven, from this age to the age to come which will never end. Before the closed doors of the church building, the resurrection of Christ is announced. Sometimes the Gospel is read which tells of the empty tomb. The celebrant intones the blessing to the "holy, consubstantial, life-creating and undivided Trinity." The Easter troparion is sung for the first time, together with the verses of Psalm 68 which will begin all of the Church services during the Easter season.
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee from before his face!
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life. (Troparion)
This is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
In the Orthodox Church the feast of Easter is officially called Pascha , the word which means the Passover . It is the new Passover of the new and everlasting covenant foretold by the prophets of old. It is the eternal Passover from death to life and from earth to heaven. It is the Day of the Lord proclaimed by God's holy prophets, "the day which the Lord has made" for his judgment over all creation, the day of His final and everlasting victory. It is the Day of the Kingdom of God, tile day "which has no night" for "its light is the Lamb" ( Rev 21:22-25 ). [Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Orthodox Faith, Volume ii Worship]