The Catalog of Good Deeds

On Bright Friday, the first Friday after Easter, the Life-Giving Spring is celebrated. The Life-Giving Spring is all at once a title given to the Mother of God, an actual miracle-working spring near Constantinople, and an Icon of the same name.

The icon principally shows the miracle-working spring, located outside the Golden Gate of Constantinople, amid a grove of trees. Over-time the spring was not taken care of, became choked with plants, and was forgotten. It was later in the 5th century that the spring was rediscovered by the future-emperor Leo Marcellus, at the prompting of the voice of the Theotokos. A church dedicated to her as the Life-Giving Fount was built, protecting the spring until it was destroyed 1000 years later during the Turkish invasion. Nevertheless, the spring still survives today, underground now and accessed by descending stone steps.

As mentioned, the “Life-Giving Spring” is also a title of honor given to Mary, the Mother of God, for example in the Canon of the Akathist:

HAIL, Sovereign Lady, never failing spring of the living Water

The living Water is, of course, Christ Himself and the line is a reference to the Old Testament, when Moses in the wilderness struck the rock “and [God] brought water out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down as rivers” (Psalm 78:16; also Exodus 17). Jesus, referring to this miracle, said: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, according to the Scriptures, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

Just as the Old Testament miracles prefigured the as yet unborn Jesus Christ, so too do modern miracles point back to their source in the Risen Christ.

The Icon, then, shows the miraculous spring which still exists today – usually in the shape of the Cross. Around about people are coming to the waters to be healed. This is where most of the people’s attention is focused. Yet we who stand “outside” the Icon, are also granted the invisible image of the Mother of God holding Jesus Christ. Seated within a font, they sanctify the waters which then flow into the cross-shaped pool everyone is gathered around. The physical manifestation of God’s love for mankind is shown together with the spiritual source of such miracles: Christ, the living Water and His Mother, from whose belly the living Water flowed.

As a life-giving fount, you conceived the Dew that is transcendent in essence,
O Virgin Maid, and you have welled forth for our sakes the nectar of joy eternal,
Which pours forth the water that springs up unto everlasting life in unending and mighty streams;
And so, taking delight, we all cry out:
Rejoice, O Spring of life for all men!

-Apolytikion for the Feast Day

Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/theotokos-of-the-life-giving-spring/

The Paschal fast of Holy Week is the most ancient part of the Great Fast. It is already well attested by the second century, in conjunction with the rites of Christian initiation through baptism. At first spanning one or two days, the fast lengthened to four and then to a full six already by the third century. With the conversion of Constantine, the ensuing flood of people desiring to enter the Faith and imperial interest in holy places, the fourth century witnessed tremendous development in ritual for Holy Week. This evolutionary process continued in the middle ages and shows itself even in our own time.

Within the New Testament, we see little indication of a preferred time for celebrating baptism. Baptism was understood primarily as a putting off of the old in order to become part of "a society of persons that was in marked contrast to all others." The original emphasis was on baptism for the remission of sins and a filling with the Spirit. The stress soon evolved into baptism as a death and resurrection of the individual, as a personal participation in Christ’s suffering and exaltation. As such, Pascha became the normative occasion for baptism. As the numbers of catechumens waned, however, Lent and Holy Week were transformed to a commemoration of past events and to a time of repentance. The attendant rites have, over this course, taken on dramatic elements and a growing sense of sentimentality.

The Beginnings: Second and Third Centuries

By the second century, the very ‘structure’ of initiation in the early Church included instruction in preparation for baptism. The length of this preparation varied and often spanned several years. Then, "As many as are persuaded and believe that these things which we teach are true, and undertake to live accordingly, are taught to pray and ask God, while fasting, for the forgiveness of their sins; and we pray and fast with them" for one or two days—Saturday only, or Friday and Saturday—a fast without any food or drink.

By the mid-third century, in many but not all places, the fast had lengthened to six days. Few could have kept a week of total fast. In some places, bread and salt were eaten Monday through Thursday after the ninth hour, then, those who could, kept a total fast Friday and Saturday. On Holy Saturday, those who had been elected as being ready for illumination would

meet together as catechumens for the last time. Here they are "catechized" by undergoing a final exorcism; they renounce Satan, are anointed with the "oil of exorcism" which has been blessed along with the chrism the preceding Holy Thursday, and recite the Creed which they have memorized since hearing it in the fourth scrutiny [on the preceding Sunday]. They kneel for prayer, and are then dismissed, being told to go home "and await the hour when the grace of God in baptism shall be able to enfold you."

Dionysius of Alexandria, in writing his Letter to Basiliades around 260, provides us the earliest source for an incipient ritual of Holy Week. Dionysius takes great pains to link each day and hour of Holy Week to events in Christ’s passion, sojourn in the tomb and resurrection. The Syriac Didascalia do the same.8 Hippolytus’ Apostolic Tradition (ca. 215) and Cyprian (d. 258) both link the hours of prayer—for Holy Week and throughout the year—with specific events during Christ’s final week.

The Formative Age: Fourth Century

Cyril of Jerusalem, in the Catechetical Homilies he delivered ca. 350, makes no mention of daily commemorations and ritual. The Cross and the Resurrection, for example, were part of a single, united celebration on Saturday night, for which the six days of fasting were simply preparation. Friday did not yet specifically commemorate the crucifixion. But the "current of the times" in the fourth century was a historicizing one: eschatological notions were giving way to historical commemoration.

From Jerusalem comes innovation. By the time a pilgrim from Spain named Egeria visited, between 381-385, when this same Cyril was in his final years as bishop of the Holy City, there had evolved unmistakable correlation between passion events and the services for each day. Egeria was able to describe the rites in great detail in her diary. The close proximity of the actual sites where the events of our Lord’s passion took place, and the influx of pilgrims, no doubt suggested visiting and venerating at those locations. Dix condenses well Egeria’s diary, showing "a fully developed and designedly historical series of such celebrations in which the whole Jerusalem church takes part:"

It begins on Passion Sunday with a procession to Bethany where the gospel of the raising of Lazarus is read. On the afternoon of Palm Sunday the whole church goes out to the Mount of Olives and returns in solemn procession to the city bearing branches of palm. There are evening visits to the Mount of Olives on each of the first three days of Holy Week, in commemoration of our Lord’s nightly withdrawal for the city during that week. On Maundy Thursday morning the eucharist is celebrated (for the only time in the year) in the chapel of the Cross, and not in the Martyrium; and all make their communion. In the evening after another eucharist the whole church keeps vigil at Constantine’s church of Eleona on the Mount of Olives, visiting Gethsemane after midnight and returning to the city in the morning for the reading of the gospel of the trial of Jesus. In the course of the morning of Good Friday all venerate the relics of the Cross, and then from noon to three p.m. all keep watch on the actual site of Golgotha (still left by Constantine’s architects open to the sky in the midst of a great colonnaded courtyard behind the Martyrium) with lections and prayers amid deep emotion. In the evening there is a final visit by the whole church to the Holy Sepulchre, where the gospel of the entombment is read. On Holy Saturday evening the paschal vigil still takes place much as in other churches, with its lections and prayers and baptisms….

Visitors like Egeria carried back to their native lands the memory of what they had experienced in Jerusalem and tried to emulate it in their own liturgical practices. Thus historical commemorations and stational liturgies spread quickly throughout the Christian world, for both Holy Week and the rest of the year. For example, because of the unique situation in Jerusalem, where multitudes of pilgrims descended, they would occupy the church all night in order to have a place for matins, and similarly for the other hours of prayer. Thus, in order to keep the people occupied, services and hymns were celebrated continuously. Clearly it was impossible for the bishop to preside around the clock, so services would begin without the bishop, who would then make an entrance some time later. This practice was imitated in many places, such that ever since the latter part of the fourth century the entrance of the bishop/clergy for vespers, Liturgy, etc., has moved from the opening of the service to some point later, for Holy Week and throughout the year!

Also noteworthy is that in the fourth century there developed a consensus that the full celebration of the Eucharist, always a joyful event, was inconsistent with the austerity of the fast. Instead, vespers with Communion was instituted on Wednesdays, Fridays and saints’ days, though Egeria declines to attest to the practice of presanctified Communion during Holy Week during the time of her visit.

The Studite Revisions: Ninth through Fifteenth Centuries

In the ninth century, two learned brothers at the Monastery of Studios in Constantinople—Theodore the Studite and Joseph the Studite, Archbishop of Thessalonica—created a work called the Triodion. Covering the period from three Sundays before the start of Lent through Pentecost, including, of course Holy Week, they compiled and composed original hymnography, seeking to bring a return to biblical roots, particularly the Psalms and the Old Testament. In doing so, the Studites furthered the earlier historicizing trends and nearly obliterated baptismal themes from Lent and Holy Week texts. Their emphasis was on commemorating salvation history and drawing out ethical and ascetical teachings.

Much of their material originated in Palestine in the sixth through eighth centuries, especially from the great Lavra of St. Sabas Monastery. They intended the Triodion for monastic communities. They had no catechumens. Even in the "world" by that time only infants remained to be baptized. Partly for this reason and partly because of the general influence monastics were gaining in the Church, especially in the area of spiritual direction, the monastic rites of the Triodion began replacing the cathedral rite in the twelfth century. By the fourteenth century, the process was complete.

Within the basic structure of the Triodion, additional hymnography was inserted up until the fifteenth century—obviously an abrupt terminus at the fall of Constantinople. It is only at the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, for example that the popular enkomia16 of Matins for Holy Saturday first appear.

It must be noted that all printed editions of the Triodion are incomplete. They represent only a selection of the material in the manuscripts, "and many of the unpublished texts are of a high standard artistically and spiritually."

Holy Week Services As Celebrated Today

Egeria testified to historicizing and emotional tendencies beginning in the fourth century. Not only has this trend continued within the Church from then up to the present, the Orthodox Church has also been influenced by humanistic movements in the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches, particularly leanings toward the dramatic, intended to elicit sentimental responses of "feeling" in the faithful.

Nevertheless, the Church has always been conservative and doubly so when it comes to her lenten and Holy Week services. Thus, as we examine, ever so briefly, the various Holy Week rites, it should be noted that many of the differences we encounter between structures of the services for Lent/Holy Week and their usual order arise from this tendency toward archaism. It is not so much that a service has a special structure in Holy Week; rather, in Holy Week "we do it the old way.”

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

On the first three days of Holy Week, the full cycle of offices is prescribed, with distribution of Presanctified Gifts after vespers. One indication of the ancient order of these services is the instruction to offer incense with a katzion, a hand censer, instead of the modern censers on chains.

After his entry into Jerusalem, Christ spoke to the disciples about signs that would precede the Last Day (Mt. 24-25). Eschatological themes show up in the troparion of the Bridegroom and the exaposteilarion "I see thy bridal chamber…" at matins. The parables of the Ten Virgins and of the Talents pervade these three days. On Monday we also remember the innocent suffering of the Patriarch Joseph as a type of Christ’s. The barren fig tree which Jesus cursed serves as a reminder of coming judgment. Wednesday contrasts the agreement made by Judas with the Jewish authorities to repentance with tears of the sinful woman. The Triodion texts making it clear that Judas’ fall was not so much because of his betrayal as his despair of forgiveness.

Since we understand healing and forgiveness in a holistic manner, without a soul versus body dualism, the sacrament of Holy Unction is served in many parishes on Holy Wednesday evening. This practice provides an example of a continuing evolution, a practice which is not prescribed in the Triodion or typicon. In many parishes, this sacrament replaces celebration of Holy Thursday matins.

In parish churches today, in order to schedule the services to be more accessible to attendance by the faithful, they are often served "by anticipation." For example, the typicon prescribes matins to be served at 1 a.m. This is, therefore, anticipated and the service started the evening before. This then pushes the other hours forward, such that vespers and the Presanctified Liturgy are served in the morning.

Thursday

On this day we commemorate four historical events: 1) Jesus washing his disciples’ feet; 2) institution of the Eucharist; 3) the agony in Gethsemane; 4) betrayal by Judas. A full eucharistic Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served in combination with vespers. Repeated use of the hymn "Of thy mystical supper…" combines the themes of Holy Communion and Judas’ treachery. It is used even as the cheroubikon, the hymn that accompanies the transfer of the gifts. At this Liturgy the Holy Chrism is also consecrated in patriarchal cathedrals or their equivalents.

A foot-washing rite often follows the Divine Liturgy. Here the bishop or other proestamenos renders a dramatic re-enactment of Christ’s washing the feet of his disciples, usually twelve presbyters or deacons.

Friday

Three importants variants from the usual order of matins are found on Holy Friday, Holy Saturday and on the Feast itself. These exhibit a "particularly pronounced dramatic character in which the symbolic aspect of the liturgical action is greatly emphasized." This matins is a solemn service, with many extra hymns, in a variety of tones and twelve Gospel lessons, with lighted candles held by the faithful; yet it is interesting that the Great doxology is to be read rather than sung. The matins of Holy Friday clearly harks back to the Jerusalem practice of passion services celebrated at the locations where the events took place, as described in the twelve Gospel lessons which we read at this service.

After the fifth Gospel lesson and during the last of the fifteen antiphons of the service, we find a recent development in the rite: a procession with the Cross is made in Greek/Mediterranean churches. Having originated in Antioch, it was adopted in Constantinople in 1824. After the Cross is placed in the middle of the church, a figure of Christ is transfixed thereto with nails, then all venerate it.

The sufferings of Christ form the theme of the Holy Friday services: mockery, crown of thorns, scourging, nails, thirst, vinegar and gall, crying out , plus the confession of the good thief. It is vital to note, however, that passion is never separated from Resurrection, even in the darkest moments: "We venerate thy Passion, O Christ: Show us also thy glorious Resurrection."

The Hours take on a special, fuller form on this day, called Royal Hours. First, Third, Sixth and Ninth hours of prayer each include a Prophecy, an Epistle and a Gospel Lesson.

We find more late, "dramatic" developments—not mentioned in the Triodion—in the vespers service. In the Greek/Mediterranean usage, at the conclusion of the Gospel lesson, the corpus of Christ on the Cross is taken down. In those churches which practice this custom, the vespers service itself has come to be known as "Un-nailing Vespers."

Another, slightly older—yet still recent—development of the fifteenth or sixteenth century is a procession with the epitaphios26 during the aposticha, where it is carried around the church and deposited on a decorated bier in the center of the church.

The vespers on this day may be combined with the Divine Liturgy if the Feast of the Annunciation fall on this day. A Presanctified Liturgy was celebrated on Holy Friday up until at least the middle of the eleventh century. By 1200, however, it disappeared abruptly. It is interesting to note that while in the Byzantine practice the Presanctified on Holy Friday has dropped out, this is the only day of the year in which the Latin rite has retained the Presanctified Liturgy.

Saturday

It is on the Sabbath, the "Day of Rest," that truly no Liturgy is properly prescribed (the vesperal Liturgy now commonly celebrated on Saturday morning or afternoon being the original vigil and Liturgy of the Feast). This is the one Saturday of the year where the Eastern Church prescribes and permits fasting.

The matins of Holy Saturday begins like any other daily matins, up through "God is the Lord…" and a set of troparia. Then the Triodion prescribes kathisma 17 (Ps. 118 LXX) in three stases, with each verse followed by a special megalynarion in praise of the buried Christ. Little litanies separate the stases. Next there follow the resurrectional troparia known as the evlogetaria. Daily matins then continues except that there is no magnificat on the ninth ode of the canon. At the Trisagion at the end of the Great Doxology, since the 15th/16th century introduction of a procession with the epitaphios at "Un-nailing Vespers," we process around the outside of the church with the epitaphios, passing under it as we re-enter the church. Then we have the troparion of Holy Saturday, a prokeimenon, and a reading from the Prophecy of Ezekiel. Then we sing another prokeimenon, followed by an Epistle lesson, Alleluia as at the Liturgy, and a Gospel lesson. Finally, we have litanies and a conclusion like that of Sunday matins.

At this unique matins service, we find а constantly rising intensity of the musical tension curve: the service begins with the somber fifth tone, becoming somewhat more joyful in the second stasis, and still brighter during the third stasis, sung in the festive third tone. The first high point is reached with the resurrectional troparia, while the second high point occurs during the Great Doxology, especially in the solemn trisagion during the procession. The heightened mood continues through the Scripture readings and to the conclusion of the service.

The order of the service given above is that found in the Triodion. Evolution of this service continues, however, such that modern Greek/Mediterranean practice is to delay the kathisma with its megalynaria until later in the service, to after the canon. Instead of being up front in the service, this relocation follows a general trend in the Greek church of moving "high points" to later in the services, so that a greater number of the people who arrive habitually late to services will be able to be in attendance.

While Christ has descended to Hades, the theme of the enkomia "is watchful expectation rather than mourning. God observes a Sabbath rest in the tomb, while we await his Resurrection, "bringing new life and recreating the world."

Conclusion

Historicizing and dramatic elements have shaped our Holy Week observance into the majestic Byzantine rites which we know today. The process began in the first century and continues down to our own age. Regretfully, however, many of our people turn out for these beautiful services and are not seen the rest of the year. The services have become such that people want to observe them as they would a beautiful opera, in small doses, but they fail to connect the paschal events with their own lives. The celebration has become so much a commemoration of something so long ago, that it is time we begin sending the pendulum back on this trend and find ways to recover the eschatological dimensions of Pascha. People need to recover the sense of something happening to them, for which they need to prepare, something that sets them apart from the rest of mankind, something that affects the way they live and relate to one another.

Theodore and the Studites devised the Triodion precisely because the form of the celebration at the time, with its emphasis on baptism, failed to connect to a society where there were no adult catechumens. They, therefore, transformed Lent and Holy Week to a time of repentance and renewal of one’s baptismal commitment. Now, however, people are ignorant of the Triodion, and the fast is viewed as no more than a set of external dietary rules. Following the example of these ninth century saints, we, in our own time must strive to find ways to bring back a personal connection to the historical events.

Source: http://www.antiochian.org/midwest/Articles/Development_of_Holy_Week_Services.htm

And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty

and your faith is also empty. (St. Paul the Apostle)

At the centre of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ and His Resurrection from the dead. As such, the Icon of the Resurrection is the most celebrated, the most common, the most cherished, the most instructive.

It is all of these things because the Orthodox Icon of the Resurrection is not content with simply showing us the Risen Christ, or the empty tomb; the Victory shown in the Icon of the Resurrection is complete.

Christ is risen from the dead,

Trampling down death by death,

And upon those in the tombs bestowing life! (Paschal Hymn)

Jesus Christ was not content with laying in the tomb for three days after His crucifixion. Instead, while His body was entombed, Christ’s soul descended into Hades, or Hell. Christ descended there not to suffer, but to fight, and free the souls trapped there. Just as bringing a light into darkness causes the darkness to disappear, the Source of all Life descending into the abode of the dead resulted in Jesus’ victory over death, and not death’s victory over Jesus. This is the full reality of what Christ’s death and resurrection accomplished.

In the Icon, Jesus Christ stands victoriously in the centre. Robed in Heavenly white, He is surrounded by a mandorla of star-studded light, representing the Glory of God. Christ is shown dramatically pulling Adam, the first man, from the tomb. Eve is to Christ’s left, hands held out in supplication, also waiting for Jesus to act. This humble surrender to Jesus is all Adam and Eve need to do, and all they are able to do. Christ does the rest, which is why He is pulling Adam from the tomb by the wrist, and not the hand.

Surrounding the victorious Christ are John the Baptist and the Old Testament Righteous (Abel is shown as the young shepherd-boy). Those who predeceased Christ’s crucifixion descended to Hades, where they patiently waited the coming of their Messiah. Now they are freed from this underworld, and mingle freely with Christ and His angels.

And what of this underworld, Hades? It is shown in the aftershock of Christ’s descent into its heart – in utter chaos.

This event, known as the Harrowing of Hades, was taught from the very beginning of the Church. St. Melito of Sardis (died ca 180) in Homily on the Passion; Tertullian in A Treatise on the Soul, 55, Hippolytus in Treatise on Christ and Anti-Christ , Origen in Against Celsus, 2:43, and, later, St. Ambrose (died 397) all wrote of the Harrowing of Hell.

“Harrow” comes from the Old English word used to describe the ploughing of a field with a cultivator which is dragged roughly over the ground, churning it up. In the icon, Christ is shown with the instrument of His death plunged deep into Hades. Beneath Christ’s feet – which still carry the marks of His crucifixion – lay the gates of Hades, smashed wide open. Often they are shown laying in the shape of the Cross. Therefore, just as the hymns proclaim, so too does the Icon: Christ has trampled death by death.

Within the dark underworld are scattered broken chains and locks; and at the very bottom is the personified Hades, prostrate and bound. Hades is not destroyed – it is still there – but its power to bind people is gone. There are no chains, no locked doors. If only we raise our hands in supplication and longing for Jesus Christ, He is there to lift us from the grave.

Thou didst descend into the tomb, O Immortal,

Thou didst destroy the power of death!

In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God,

…bestowing resurrection to the fallen. (Paschal Kontakion)

Source: https://iconreader.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/the-resurrection-icon-of-victory/

By Father Andrew Lemeshonok

Master, it is good for us to be here (Luke 9:33) – this is what we can say now to our God, Who came to this world to save humanity. Today we are here because it is the very place, where God’s love dwells. The love, which heals any fatal wound, which corrects any mistake and makes up for any loss. There is only one way for an Orthodox Christian – the way to Christ. All the other ways will bring us to a dead end sooner or later. The dead end where we will find nothing but our own “self”, our personal madness and loneliness.

We thank God for allowing us to attend His Feast on this paschal night. People who have partaken of the Holy Communion today will head into the city and carry The Resurrected Christ in themselves. What a wonderful light it will be! Just look how many churches there are in the city, and in each of them people are accepting God.

Sometimes it seems to us that there is so much evil in the world that a person loses the ability to think about what is good and choose good over evil. But this is not true! Christ is the victor! There is nothing to be afraid of, if we choose to be with God. There were some periods in our history, when the government itself intended to destroy the Holy Church, to destroy people’s faith in Christ. But Christ was victorious. And today Christ is a victor as well! There are many other temptations in the world – modern civilization, information, various conveniences and comfort, without which our life seems to be impossible. In fact, it is only impossible to live without God, while with Him you can live anywhere, even in prison. Father Nikolai (Guryanov) once told me: “You know, in prison it is good to live as well. People are working there…”

It is good to live in any place, if you live with God. At the same time, you will feel bad anywhere, if there is no Christ in your heart. I congratulate you all on partaking of the Sacraments of Christ and the Resurrection of Christ! Let this joy of the Resurrection stay in us throughout the entire church year. Let us always keep in mind the example of the life of St. Seraphim of Sarov. His life was difficult and sometimes even unbearable. Despite the fact that he faced many challenges on his way, he always met other people with these words: “My dear, Christ is risen!” We should also learn to live in such a way. We should keep the Resurrected Christ in our hearts despite all our sorrows and pains. We should learn to see God in any person. This is what the read victory over death is. Pray God that we manage to become the part of this Victory, to live through it and get enough strength to see The Kingdom of Heaven, which any faithful person strives to reach and not just our grave ahead.

Christ is risen!

April 16, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

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Bright Friday and the Icon of the Life Giving Spring

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Video Monologue: Reading the Psalter

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Iconographic Analysis: the Icon of Victory over Death

Keeping the Joy of Resurrection for the Entire Church Year

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