In the first four daysLentmorning (except Mondays) in churches are performedspecial Lenten morning services, the hours are read.In the evening - donereading the Great penitential canon Saint Andrew of Crete.The collected events of Old Testament and New Testament history are presented with deep heartfelt contrition, offering Christians saving lessons of repentance and active turning to God...

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RITE OF CONSECTION OF KOLIV

On the first Friday of Great Lent, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in an unusual manner. The canon of St. is read. to the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron, after which Kolivo is brought to the middle of the temple - a mixture of boiled wheat and honey, which the priest blesses with the reading of a special prayer, and then Kolivo is distributed to the believers.

Prayer service before miraculous icon Mother of God"Semipalatinsk-Abalatskaya" is not served on this day

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GENERAL CONFESSION - at the end of the evening Lenten service

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ON THIS DAY MANY WHO CONFESSED YESTERDAY ARE TRYING TO RECEIVE COMMUNION

First Saturday of Great Lent. Memory of Theodore Tyrone

and what he did miracle: pagans deliberately desecrated food in the markets of Constantinople, but thanks to the warning of the great martyr, believerswere able to stock up and not buycontaminated food. That is why, the day before, on Friday evening, a kolivo was consecrated in memory of the miracle.

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First Sunday of Great Lent

The name of the First Sunday of Great Lent sounds so beautiful that even a person not versed in the history of the holiday feels touched by the great meaning - the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

This is the first solemn service Great Lent, when you hear the bells ringing “at the top of their lungs” in the bell tower... and you become so joyful that our Orthodoxy is so powerful and spacious. And you fully feel what the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” is...

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Liturgy is not celebrated on weekdays, Communion is received only on Wednesday and Friday with previously consecrated Gifts.

If you go only to Sunday services during Lent, you will not feel fasting, despite abstaining from food. It is also necessary to attend special fasting services in order to feel the contrast of these holy days with other days of the year, in order to deeply breathe in the healing air of Lent. Home of the number special services- this is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

(infants are not given communion at this Liturgy)

Maundy Thursday. “My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you?” Reading the 12 Gospels

EVENING SERVICE ON GOOD THURSDAY AT SRETENSKY MONASTERY

March 19 / April 1. Thursday of Holy Week of Great Lent. Remembrance of the Holy Saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sretensky Monastery. Matins with reading of the 12 Passion Gospels. Choir of the Sretensky Monastery.

At this serviceread: 1 Cor.11, 23-32. Matthew 26, 1-20. John 13, 3-17. Matthew 26.ju 21-39. Luke 22:43-45. Matthew 26, 40-27, 2.

And on the evening of Maundy Thursday in all Orthodox churches The reading of the twelve Gospels is heard among the candles shedding tears. Everyone is standing with large candles in their hands.

This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service.

In this very special and mournful service, which occurs only once a year, the Church reveals to the believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries The Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torments of the Savior.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Here the last mysterious speeches of Christ are collected and compressed into a short space all this suffering of the God-man, to whom the soul listens, “confused and marveling.” The earthly is in contact with the heavenly eternity, and everyone who stands with candles in the temple this evening is invisibly present at Calvary.

We will clearly see how the night of prayer arrived in that very Garden of Gethsemane, the night when the fate of the whole world was decided for all time. How much internal torment and what near-death exhaustion He must have experienced at that time!

It was a night, the like of which has not been and will not be among all the days and nights of the world, a night of struggles and sufferings of the most fierce and indescribable kind; it was a night of exhaustion - first of the most holy soul of the God-man, and then of His sinless flesh. But it always or often seems to us that it was easy for Him to give His life, being God who became man: but He, our Savior, Christ, dies as a Man: not by His immortal Divinity, but by His human, living, truly human body. ..

It was a night of cries and tearful kneeling prayer before the Heavenly Father; this sacred night was terrible for the Celestials themselves...

In between the Gospels, antiphons are sung that express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. - Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic presence? Or did He deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, He did not allow you to join the meal? Or He washed others’ feet, but despised yours “Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with?”

“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? I opened the sight of your blind, I cleansed the lepers, I raised up a man on a bed. My people, what have I done to you and what have you repaid Me: gall for manna, gall for water [in the desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you anymore, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life."

And now we are standing with lit candles... Where are we in this crowd of people? Who are we? We usually avoid answering this question by placing blame and responsibility on someone else: if only I had been there that night. But alas! Somewhere in the depths of our conscience we know that this is not so. We know that it was not some monsters who hated Christ... in a few strokes the Gospel depicts poor Pilate to us - his fear, his bureaucratic conscience, his cowardly refusal to act according to his conscience. But doesn’t the same thing happen in our life and in the life around us? Isn’t Pilate present in each of us when the time comes to say a decisive no to untruth, evil, hatred, injustice? Who are we?

And then we see the crucifixion: how He was killed with a slow death and how He, without one word of reproach, surrendered to torment. The only words The words He addressed to the Father about the tormentors were: Father, forgive them - they do not know what they are doing...

And in memory of this hour, when the human heart merged with the suffering heart of the Divine, people bring burning candles with them, trying to bring them home and place them burning in front of their home icons, in order to consecrate houses for them according to pious tradition.

Crosses are drawn with soot on the door frames and on the window.

And these candles will then be kept and lit at the hour of separation of the soul from the body. Even in modern Moscow on the evening of Maundy Thursday you can see streams of fire from burning candles that Orthodox parishioners carry home from church.

The entire temple begins to shine with the light of many candles. And the whole temple is illuminated, the windows are all on fire: you look from afar - the windows are on fire. Why? The Word of God sounds. The Word of God, the Lord speaks.

And the reading of the Gospel ends, and everyone blows out their candles, and the temple is again in complete darkness. In complete darkness. And here on the right and on the left, and on two choirs, and psalm-readers, they tell and explain, share and ponder: what was said in the Gospel, what the disciples did, and how the lawless Judas “did not likee intelligence e are you?"

And then again: “And be worthy of us...” - and again the whole temple lights up

I cannot convey anything to you if you don’t feel it yourself, if you yourself don’t stand, if you yourself don’t put aside all everyday concerns and listen and participate. Such a grace-filled thing happens in the church with people: when the Gospel is read, the Lord gives those listening real participation in these great holy events.

I just want to read the release, that is, last words the priest, when he bows to his parishioners, such wonderful words

Passion Gospels:

1) John. 13:31 -18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).

2) John. 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).

3) Matt. 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).

According to Orthodox liturgical books, the service of the 12 Gospels, performed on the evening of Maundy Thursday, that is, on the eve good friday, is called in a very special way: “Following the holy and saving passions of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is noteworthy that the liturgical books do not call this service “Matins,” although its modern order is based on the rite of Matins. This is not an accident - the service of the 12 Gospels is the only matins of the year that is not celebrated at its usual time (the usual time of matins, according to the charter, is the pre-dawn part of the night). The service of the 12 Gospels should begin in the evening; The Typikon adopted in the Russian Church defines the time of its beginning as “2nd one o'clock in the morning", that is, approximately 20.00. Such an unusual – from the point of view of the charter (and not the common practice of serving Matins in the evening) – time of the beginning of the service is determined by the fact that the service of the 12 Gospels is in fact not Matins, but a vigil. It goes back to the practice of the Jerusalem Church IV and subsequent centuries to spend the night from Maundy Thursday to Friday in a vigil, consisting of prayers, chants, readings of the Gospel stories on various places The Holy City, associated with the Passion of the Lord, and processions from one such place to another.

According to the traditional rite, the service of the 12 Gospels has the following order:

1) two psalms;

2) six psalms;

3) peaceful litany;

4) singing the fast morning alleluia, and then the troparion of Maundy Thursday, When the Glory of the Disciple,

5) small litany and 1st Gospel - John 13. 31-18. 1 (contents: Farewell Discourse and High Priestly Prayer of Christ)

6) a cycle of 15 antiphons, 5 sedals and 5 Gospels:

a. antiphons 1-3;

b. small litany;

c. sedalny;

d. 2nd Gospel - John 18. 1-28 (contents: betrayal of Judas, taking Christ into custody and bringing Him to Anna, denial of Apostle Peter);

a. antiphons 4-6;

b. small litany;

c. sedalny;

d. 3rd Gospel – Matthew 26.57-75 (contents: the Lord Jesus before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, renunciation and repentance of Apostle Peter);

a. antiphons 7-9;

b. small litany;

c. sedalny;

d. 4th Gospel – John 18. 28-19. 16 (content: the Lord before the court of Pilate, the scourging and reproach of the Lord);

a. antiphons 10-12;

b. small litany;

c. sedalny;

d. 5th Gospel - Matthew 27.3-32 (contents: suicide of Judas, the Lord before the court of Pilate, scourging and reproach of the Lord, Way of the Cross);

a. antiphons 13-15;

b. small litany;

c. sedalny;

d. 6th Gospel – Mark 15. 16-32 (contents: desecration of the Lord, Way of the Cross, Crucifixion);

7) blessed;

8) prokeimenon “I divided my garments for myself” (Ps 21.18; verse – Ps 21.1b) and the 7th Gospel – Matthew 27.33-54 (contents: Crucifixion and Death on the Cross of Christ);

9) patristic reading (from the works of St. John Chrysostom or St. Ephraim the Syrian; usually omitted);

10) Psalm 50;

11) 8th Gospel – Luke 23. 32-49 (contents: repentance of the prudent thief and Christ’s death on the Cross);

12) the Three Song of St. Kosma Maiumsky;

a. according to the 5th canticle of the Trisong – small litany, kontakion with ikos, synaxarium (usually omitted);

b. according to the 9th song of the three song - the small litany and the luminaries of the prudent Thief three times;

13) 9th Gospel – John 19. 25-37 (contents: Holy Mother of God at the Cross, Christ’s death on the Cross, piercing His rib, removal from the Cross);

14) psalms of praise (according to the Typikon - in a festive way, starting with “Every breath”) and stichera;

15) 10th Gospel – Mark 15. 43-47 (contents: the removal from the Cross and burial of the Savior’s body);

16) morning doxology (in the daily version) and “Vouchsafe, Lord”;

17) litany of supplication and supplication;

18) 11th Gospel – John 19. 38-42 (contents: the removal from the Cross and burial of the Savior’s body);

19) stichera on verse;

20) 12th Gospel - Matthew 27. 62-66 (contents: sealing of the Holy Sepulcher);

21) There is good;

22) The Trisagion, according to the “Our Father” - the troparion of Good Friday. Thou hast redeemed us from the legal oath;

23) special litany;

24) release: Christ who endured spitting, and beating, and strangulation, and the cross, and death for the salvation of the world...

All points of this scheme, with the exception of No. 5 - 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, belong to the usual rite of fasting or daily matins. Thus, from the point of view of the rite scheme, the service of the 12 Gospels differs from ordinary Matins in the presence in it, firstly, of the Gospels themselves, and secondly, of a 5-fold cycle of 3 antiphons and sedalna, as well as blessed. It can also be noted that the rite begins with the troparion of Thursday, and ends with the troparion of Friday - this again confirms what was said above that the service of the 12 Gospels is not matins in the strict sense of the word, but a vigil from evening until morning.

Good Friday Matins Gospels

Egeria, a Western pilgrim of the 4th century, whose pen contains the most ancient evidence of the Jerusalem vigil on the night of Good Friday, mentions only 5 stops in the rite of this vigil. But already in the Armenian translation of the Jerusalem Lectionary of the 5th century. it talks about 7 stops and the 7 Gospel readings corresponding to them. But how did 7 readings become the modern 12? If we compare the selection of readings in the Armenian and Georgian translations of the Jerusalem Lectionary[i], then we can notice that in the modern rite only the first 4 correspond to the 7 ancient readings. These Gospel openings tell about the events of the night of the Passion, but not yet about the Crucifixion of the Lord, which is fully consistent Another special observance, the daylight service of Good Friday, was dedicated to the content of the ancient Jerusalem vigil - the remembrance of the Crucifixion, Death on the Cross and Burial of the Lord in the Holy City (elements of this service were included in the familiar rite of the Good Friday hours). And it was precisely from this succession of the daytime standing of Good Friday that 4 more readings moved into the service of the 12 Gospels, one of which was divided into two parts - these are the four stories of the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about the Crucifixion and Death on the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, corresponding in service of the 12 Gospels readings No. 5+7, 6, 8 and 9.

The system of 9 readings that formed at some point (probably this happened outside the tradition of Jerusalem - for example, in Constantinople - when the Jerusalem night vigil became widespread outside the Holy City and Palestine) was supplemented two more, telling about the Burial of the Savior (No. 10 and 11), and in this form is already widely represented in Byzantine manuscripts. The final stage of development was the transformation of the cycle of 11 Gospels into a cycle of 12 - obviously, for good measure. At the same time, for example, in modern Greek practice, the memory of the surplus nature of the 12th Gospel is preserved to this day - it is read not by a priest, like the other 11, but by a deacon.

Antiphons and Sedal Matins of Good Friday

Many of the Good Friday Matins Gospels are simply included in the general order of Matins at one point or another in the normal sequence of that service. But Gospels 2 through 6 are out of this pattern. They are framed by completely unique chants, which have no analogues in any other liturgical sequence. church year– antiphons of Good Friday. The prototypes of these antiphons are already described in the Armenian and Georgian translations of the ancient Jerusalem Lectionary. In the era of their creation, that great Byzantine hymnography of Holy Week, which now constitutes one of the pinnacles of the liturgical heritage Orthodox Church, was just beginning to develop, and the Good Friday vigil was still filled, first of all, with Old Testament hymnography - psalms. The Armenian translation of the Jerusalem Lectionary mentions the singing of 15 psalms at the beginning of the vigil; the psalms were sung with a chorus - an "antiphon" - which was not any Christian composition, but simply one of the verses of the same psalms (these 15 psalms are grouped into 5 cycles of 3 psalms and one antiphon: 1) Ps 2-4 [antiphon : Ps 2.2]; 2) Ps 40-42 [antiphon: Ps 40.9]; 3) Ps 58-60 [antiphon: Ps 58.2]; 4) Ps 78-80 [antiphon: Ps 87.6 and 78.13]; 5) Ps 108-110 [antiphon: Ps 108. 3]). In addition, the translation mentions other psalms with similar “antiphons”, performed upon arrival at the places of certain stops.

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Holy Week:

• Iconography of Holy Week- Pravoslavie.Ru
• General composition of the services of Holy Week- Priest Mikhail Zheltov
• How does Holy Week work?- Ilya Krasovitsky
• About Holy Week- Hegumen Siluan Tumanov
• Holy Week: how to combine work, services and preparation for Easter...- Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko
• How to spend Holy Week- Archpriest Igor Pchelintsev
• Holy Wednesday: Only two barriers can stand between God and us
• Holy Week: Christ and Me- Olga Bogdanova
• Holy Thursday: Let's not rely on our own exploits- Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
• Maundy Thursday: The Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane- Tatyana Sopova
• Composition of the service of the 12 Gospels (Good Friday Matins)- Priest Mikhail Zheltov
• Why does the Church curse Judas?- Archimandrite Iannuariy Ivliev
• Easter vigil. Contents of the rites of Vespers and the Liturgy of Great Saturday and Bright Matins- Priest Mikhail Zheltov
• "Word on Holy Saturday"- Patriarch Photius of Constantinople
• Canons of Holy Saturday- Priest Mikhail Zheltov
• Fifteen steps to Easter(about the meaning of fifteen pre-Easter parimies) - Andrey Desnitsky

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In the Georgian translation of the Jerusalem Lectionary, the 15 psalms at the beginning of the vigil are no longer mentioned, but the psalm with the “verse” (i.e., “antiphon”) here still opens the prayer at each of the stops (this is Ps 2 [verse: Ps 2 . 2]; Ps 40 [verse: Ps 40. 9]; Ps 108 [with non-biblical verse]; Ps 58. 2 [with non-biblical verse] ; Ps 21 [with non-biblical verse]). It is easy to see that the Georgian translation of the Jerusalem Lectionary, completed later than the Armenian one, reflects the stage of gradual displacement of Old Testament hymnography at the expense of new, Christian one - in most psalms the chorus is no longer a biblical verse, but a Christian composition. In addition, in the Georgian translation of the Lectionary, each of the mentioned psalms ends with one or two ipakoi (troparion), more extensive than the refrain of the psalm. The analogue of these ipakoi in the later rite of the 12 Gospels are sedalnas, closing the cycles of 3 antiphons, and performed, according to the charter, in a special way (with repetitions, with censing, and listening to them necessarily while standing).

Further development hymnographic refrains to the psalms of the vigil of Good Friday, the inclusion of hymns from other sources - in particular, the 12 troparions of the ancient rite of the daytime standing of Good Friday (from which the modern 12th antiphon is completely composed; they are also included in the 7th and 15th ) – and the addition of the Mother of God to the antiphons led to the gradual displacement original basis these antiphons, that is, psalms. In the modern rite of the 12 Gospels, there is only one psalm verse left - this is the first line of the 1st antiphon (Princes of mankind...), which is a paraphrase of Ps 2. 2. Thus, the antiphons - that is, by their origin, choruses - were left without those texts to which they should sing. However, in some Byzantine and Old Russian manuscripts, instructions have been preserved on how the verses of the psalms should be combined with the antiphons of the service of the 12 Gospels in their modern (i.e., later) form. These guidelines may vary somewhat, but overall they are fairly consistent. The psalms to the antiphons were not chosen by chance - these are the verses of the Psalter that contain the most vivid prophecies about Christ’s death on the Cross. Below is a possible distribution of verses for the 15 antiphons of Good Friday in their modern edition (without taking into account the double repetition of antiphons):

1st antiphon:

1st troparion (= paraphrase of Ps 2.2) – 2nd troparion

Ps 2.4 – 3rd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

2nd antiphon:

Ps 35.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 35.3 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

3rd antiphon:

Ps 34. 1 – 1st troparion

Ps 34.4 – 2nd troparion

Ps 34.5 – 3rd troparion

Ps 34.8 – 4th troparion

Ps 34.11 – 5th troparion

Ps 34. 12 – 6th troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

4th antiphon:

Ps 15.4a – 1st Troparion

Ps 15.4b – 2nd troparion

Ps 15.10 – 3rd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

5th Antiphon:

Ps 16. 1 – 1st troparion

Ps 16.3 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

6th Antiphon:

Ps 51.3 – 1st troparion

Ps 51.4 – 2nd troparion

Ps 51.6a – 3rd Troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

7th Antiphon:

Ps 7.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 7.7a ​​– 2nd Troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

8th Antiphon:

Ps 58.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 58.4 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

9th Antiphon:

Ps 68.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 68.3 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

10th Antiphon:

Ps 52. 1 – 1st troparion

Ps 52.4 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

11th Antiphon:

Ps 87.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 87.4 – 2nd troparion

Ps 87.19 – 3rd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

12th Antiphon:

Ps 53.3 – 1st troparion

Ps 53.4 – 2nd troparion

Ps 53.15 – 3rd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

13th Antiphon:

Ps 142.19 – 1st troparion

Ps 142.3a – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

14th Antiphon:

Ps 98. 1 – 1st troparion

Ps 98.2 – 2nd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

15th Antiphon:

Ps 21.2 – 1st troparion

Ps 21.8 – 2nd troparion

Ps 21.18 – 3rd troparion

Glory, and now - the Mother of God.

In conclusion, it should be emphasized once again that the hymnography of Holy Week (primarily Good Friday and Holy Saturday) and Easter is the indisputable pinnacle of Byzantine church poetry. The depth of its content and the beauty of its forms make it an important part of the church's heritage.

Literature used

1. It may vary slightly in specific manuscripts; for more details see: Janeras S. Le Vendredi-Saint dans la tradition liturgique byzantine: structure et histoire de ses offices. R., 1988. (SA. 99 = Analecta Liturgica. 12). P. 51-113.

2. These troparia are contained in the rite of the hours of Good Friday - 3 on each of the hours - and even their modern text generally coincides with the text of the ancient Jerusalem monuments.

M hi to you, dear visitors of the Orthodox website “Family and Faith”!

IN Maundy Thursday, or as it is popularly called - Maundy Thursday, Vespers is celebrated with the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels. IN pre-revolutionary Russia painted this day easter eggs(paint them in modern Russia and now), and also prepared for the evening service, both old and young. Adults and children made lanterns in which, after the service, they would need to bring a lit candle and paint the ceiling at the entrance, as well as the beams above the windows, with black crosses.

R Russian writer Vasily Nikiforov-Volgin wrote a wonderful memoir from childhood dedicated to Maundy Thursday.

WITH holy week. Maundy Thursday. Before the bell rang for the reading of the twelve Gospels, I was making a lantern from red paper in which I would carry a candle from the church from the passion of Christ. With this candle we will light the lamp and maintain an unquenchable fire in it until the Ascension.

“The Gospel fire,” the mother assured, “delivers from sorrow and spiritual darkness!”

My flashlight turned out so well that I couldn’t bear to run to Grishka and show it. He looked at him vigilantly and said:

- Wow, but I’m better!

At the same time, he showed his own, bound in tin and with colored glass.

“Such a lantern,” Grishka convinced, “will not go out in the most furious wind, but yours will not hold up!”

I became confused: will I really not bring the holy light to the house?

He told his mother his fears. She reassured.

“It’s not clever to convey it in a lantern, but try to convey it our way, the village way, in your hands.” Your grandmother used to carry the Thursday fire two miles away, in the very wind, and across the field!

The eve of Maundy Thursday was showered with a golden dawn. The ground grew cold, and the puddles were covered with crispy ice. And there was such silence that I heard a jackdaw, who wanted to drink from a puddle, break the thin frost with its beak.

- How quiet! - remarked to his mother.

She thought about it and sighed:

– On such days it is always... It is the earth that sympathizes with the suffering of the Heavenly King!..

It was impossible not to shudder when quiet land The round-sounding sound of the cathedral bell rang out. It was joined by the silver, chest-like ringing of the Church of the Sign; the Assumption Church responded with a murmuring splash, the Vladimir Church with a pitiful groan and the Resurrection Church with a thick cooing wave.

From the sliding ringing of bells, the city seemed to float through the blue twilight, like big ship, and the twilight swayed like curtains during the wind - first in one direction, then in the other.

The reading of the twelve Gospels began. In the middle of the church stood a tall Crucifix. In front of him is a lectern. I stood near the cross, and the Savior’s head was in crown of thorns seemed especially exhausted. I read the Slavic writings at the foot of the cross: “He was ulcerated for our sins and tormented for our iniquities.”

I remembered how He blessed the children, how He saved a woman from being stoned, how I cried in the Garden of Gethsemane, abandoned by everyone - and my eyes grew gloomy, and I so wanted to go to a monastery...

After the litany, in which the words touched: “For those who sail, travel, are sick and suffer to the Lord, let us pray to the Lord,” - in the choir they sang, as if with one sob: “When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the prayer of the supper...”

Everyone's candles were lit, and people's faces became like icons in the lamplight - luminous and merciful.

From the altar, along the wide, sad spills of the Thursday troparion, they carried out the Gospel, heavy in black velvet, and placed it on the lectern in front of the Crucifixion. Everything became hidden and listening. The twilight outside the windows became bluer and more thoughtful.

With unquenchable sorrow, the “beginning” of the reading of the first Gospel was laid: “Glory to Thy passion, O Lord”...

The Gospel is long, long, but you listen to it without burden, deeply breathing into yourself the breath and sorrow of Christ’s words. The candle in your hand becomes warm and tender. Her light is also alive and alert.

During the incense, the words were read, as if in the name of Christ Himself: “My people, what have I done to you or what has caused you the cold: I have enlightened your blind, I have cleansed your lepers, I have raised the man who is on his bed. My people, what have I done to you, and what will you repay me? For manna - gall, for water - otset, for a hedgehog to love me, nail me to the cross”...

That evening, to the point of shudder, I saw closely how the soldiers took Him, how they tried, scourged, crucified, and how He said goodbye to His Mother.

“Glory to Your long-suffering, O Lord”...

After the Eighth Gospel, the three best singers in our city stood in elegant blue caftans in front of the Crucifixion and sang “luminaries”: “The prudent thief in one hour hast thou vouchsafed to heaven; and enlighten and save me with the Tree of the Cross.”

With the lights of candles they left the church into the night. There are also lights coming towards us: they are coming from other churches. The ice crunches under your feet, the special pre-Easter wind is humming, all the churches are ringing, icy crackling sounds are heard from the river, and in the black sky, so spacious and divinely powerful, there are many stars.

April 28 is a special day this year - Maundy Thursday. In our Temple in the morning we served Divine Liturgy St. Basil the Great, and in the evening - reading of the 12 Gospels of the Holy Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lent is over. Holy Week is underway - the Holy Days have arrived. Maundy or Maundy Thursday, on this day we remember the established at the Last Supper Jesus Christ, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, during which all believers, under the guise of bread and wine, taste the true Body and Blood Jesus Christ. At the Last Supper, the Lord broke bread and, having blessed it, gave it to the apostles with the words: “This is My Body, which is for you are pre-yet-sya; do this in My honor.” Taking the cup and blessing it, he said: “Drink from it, everyone; For this is My Blood for the remission of sins.”

In the evening the 12 Passion Gospels were read. Amazing services. It is no coincidence that they are so concentrated, quiet and unusually strong. These Holy days have been embedded in our lives since childhood. It is so amazing that we no longer just say that we know - yes, God exists, but we empathize and through this we believe and trust in Christ the Son of God.

“I carry a passionate candle from the Gospels, look at the flickering light: it is holy. It’s a quiet night, but I’m very afraid: it will go out! If I bring it, I’ll live until next year. The old cook is glad that I brought it. She washes her hands, takes the holy light, lights our lamp, and we go to burn the crosses. We burn them over the kitchen door, then on the cellar, in the barn... It seems to me that in our yard, Christ is in the barn, and in the stables, and in the cellar, and everywhere in the black cross from mine. candles - Christ has come. And everything we do is for Him. The yard is cleaned, and all the corners are cleaned, even under the canopy. These are extraordinary days. Christ's days. Now I’m not afraid of anything: I walk through the dark hallways - and there’s nothing, because Christ is everywhere.” (“The Summer of the Lord” by Ivan Shmelev)

To suffering and death.

On the morning of Maundy Thursday, Vespers is celebrated in conjunction with the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Instead of the Cherubic Song, “Thy Secret Supper is this day” is sung three times. On this day, all Orthodox Christians try, having been properly prepared, to begin receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Matins of Great Heel usually takes place on Thursday evening. The main content of Great Heel Matins is reading of the 12 Gospels- selected chapters from the gospel of all four evangelists. These Gospels tell in detail about the last hours of the Savior’s earthly life, starting with Him after the Last Supper and ending with Him.

When reading the Gospel, the clergy and people stand with lighted candles, thereby expressing fiery love for the Divine Sufferer and becoming like the wise virgins who went with lamps to meet the Bridegroom. After each of the first five Gospels there are touching antiphons that complement the Gospel reading, revealing the deep spiritual meaning of the remembered event.

And while they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying:take, eat: this is My Body.

And taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said:drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament,poured out for many for the remission of sins.

Matt. 26, 26-28

On the Day of Unleavened Bread, when, according to the Old Testament law, the Passover lamb had to be slaughtered and eaten, and when the hour had come that the Savior from this world should pass to the Father (John 13:1), Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the law, sent His disciples - Peter and John to Jerusalem to prepare the Pascha, which, like the canopy of the law, He wanted to replace with a new Pascha - with His very body and blood. When evening came, the Lord came with His twelve disciples to the large, furnished, ready upper room of one Jerusalemite (Mark 14:12-17) and lay down. Inspiring that in the Kingdom of God, which is not of this world, it is not earthly greatness and glory, but love, humility and purity of spirit that distinguish true members, the Lord, rising from supper, washed the feet of his disciples. Having washed his feet and reclined again, the Lord said to the disciples: Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say it correctly, for I am exactly that. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you.

After washing his feet, Jesus Christ celebrated Passover first according to the law of Moses, then he established a new Passover - the great sacrament of the most holy Eucharist. The establishment of the sacrament of holy communion is the second event that the Orthodox Church remembers on Maundy Thursday.

The sacrament of holy communion, established by the Lord before His suffering and death, according to the commandment of Jesus Christ: do this in remembrance of Me, from the first times to the present is continuously performed on the numerous thrones of the Universal Church.

At the supper, the Lord definitely predicted to the disciples that one of them would betray Him, and it was the one to whom the Lord would give a piece of bread, dipped in salt, and dipped, and gave it to Judas Iscariot. Satan entered into him through the bread; and the traitor immediately withdrew from Christ and His Church. It was already night (John 13:1-30). Having stopped the dispute of the Apostles about primacy, which between them should not consist in domination and possession, but which of you is greater, be as the least, and the ruler as the servant, and having predicted the common temptation to the Apostles, and to Peter the threefold denial of Christ and His appearance to them according to resurrection in Galilee, the Lord entered with them into the Garden of Gethsemane - onto the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:24-28; Matt. 26:30-35). Here His suffering began: first spiritual, and then physical. Beginning His suffering, the Lord said to the disciples: sit here while I go and pray there, and taking Peter, James and John with Him, who were witnesses His glory during the Transfiguration, began to grieve and yearn. My soul grieves unto death; “Stay here and watch with Me,” the God-Man said to His disciples. Moving away from them a stone's throw, He bowed his head and knees, and prayed until he sweated blood, like a man, feeling the cup of suffering, and completely surrendering to the will of the Father. An angel from heaven appeared to Jesus Christ and strengthened Him. During His prayer, the Lord approached His Disciples three times and said to them: watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But the disciples could not prayerfully watch with the Lord, for their eyes were heavy.

The Gethsemane prayer of Jesus Christ instructs us that in the midst of temptations and sorrows, prayer gives us high and holy consolation and strengthens our readiness to face and endure suffering and death. The Lord instructively demonstrated the power of prayer, which comforts and strengthens, both by His example before His suffering and death, and at the same time by the suggestions to the grieving Apostles: watch and pray so as not to fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Around midnight, a traitor comes to the garden with a multitude of armed people sent by the high priests and elders. The Lord Himself goes to meet them and with the words: It is I, with whom He let them know about Himself, throws them to the ground and then humbly allows the traitor to kiss and take Himself to suffering and death (Matt. 26, 36-56; Mark 14 , 32-46; Luke 12, 38-53). Thus, the Lord, who demonstrated the continuation of His earthly life, Divine omnipotence and power over the law of nature, in a word: It is I who cast down to the earth the traitor with the people, who had legions of Angels in His power, but who came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, voluntarily and humbly betrays Himself into the hands of sinners!

According to tradition, all believers on this day partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

Archpriest G.S. Debolsky,

“Days of Worship of the Orthodox Church”, vol. 2

Hymns from the service on Thursday of Holy Week of Great Lent

Thy secret supper is this day, Son of God, accept me as a partaker; I will not tell your enemies the secret, nor give you a kiss like Judas, but like a thief I will confess to you: remember me, O Lord, in your kingdom.

“Son of God! make me now a participant in Your Last Supper (worthy to receive communion), because I will not tell the secret to Your enemies, I will not give You such a kiss as Judas (I will not betray You with a bad life), but like a thief I will confess You: remember me, Lord , in Your Kingdom."

Instead of the Cherubic Song

When the glorious disciple is enlightened at the thought of the supper, then the evil Judas, sickened by the love of money, becomes darkened, and betrays the righteous Judge to the lawless judges. See, the steward of the estate, who used strangulation for these sake! Flee the unsatiated soul, such a daring Teacher: Who is good of all, O Lord, glory to Thee.

“When the worthy disciples were enlightened while washing their feet during supper, then the evil Judas, overcome by the disease of love of money, became darkened and betrayed You, the righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. Look, you who care about riches, at the one who hanged himself because of them! Avoid such fury of a soul that dares to go against its Teacher! Lord, good to all, glory to You!”

Troparion

Gospel of Matthew

When evening came, He lay down with the twelve disciples; and while they were eating, he said, “Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” They were greatly saddened, and began to say to Him, each one of them: Is it not I, Lord? He answered and said: He who dipped his hand into the dish with Me, this one will betray Me; However, the Son of Man comes, as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed: it would have been better for this man not to have been born. At this, Judas, who betrayed him, said: Isn’t it me, Rabbi? Jesus says to him: You said.

And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take, eat: this is My Body.” And, taking the cup and giving thanks, he gave it to them and said: drink from it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I tell you that from now on I will not drink of this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink new wine with you in the kingdom of My Father.

And having sung, they went to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them: You will all be offended because of Me this night, for it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered; After My resurrection I will go before you to Galilee. Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.” Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him: Even though I had to die with You, I will not deny You. All the disciples said the same thing.

Then Jesus comes to a place called Gethsemane and says to the disciples: sit here while I go and pray there. And, taking Peter and both sons of Zebedee with him, he began to grieve and yearn. Then Jesus said to them: My soul is sorrowful unto death; abide here and watch with Me. And going away a little, he fell on his face, prayed and said: My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from Me: however, not as I will, but as You will.

Matt. 26, 21-3

Interpretation of the Holy Evangelist Matthew

As many now say: I would like to see the face of Christ, the image, the clothing! Behold, you see Him, you touch Him, you taste Him. You want to see His clothes, but He gives Himself to you and not only see, but also touch, taste, and take inside. So, no one should approach with disdain, no one with cowardice, but all with fiery love, all with a warm heart and cheerfulness. If the Jews ate the lamb in haste, standing with boots on their feet and rods in their hands, then you should watch much more. They were preparing to go to Palestine, but you are preparing to go to heaven. Therefore, one must always be awake; no small punishment awaits those who partake unworthily. Think how indignant you are at the traitor and at those who crucified Christ. So, beware that you too do not become guilty against the body and blood of Christ. They put to death the all-holy body; and you accept him with an unclean soul after such great benefits. In fact, He was not content with merely becoming a man, being strangled and killed; but He still communicates Himself to us, and not only by faith, but also by deed itself makes us His body. How pure must one be who enjoys a bloodless sacrifice? How much purer than the rays of the sun should be - a hand crushing the flesh of Christ, a mouth filled with spiritual fire, a tongue stained with terrible blood! Think what an honor you have been awarded, what a meal you are enjoying! At the sight of what the Angels tremble, and what they do not dare to look at without fear, because of the radiance emanating from here, with this we are nourished, with this we communicate and become one body and one flesh with Christ. What kind of shepherd feeds the sheep with his own members? But what am I saying - shepherd? There are often mothers who give their newborn babies to other nurses. But Christ did not tolerate this, but Himself feeds us with His own blood, and through this unites us with Himself. Consider that He was born from your nature. But you will say: this does not apply to everyone. On the contrary, to everyone. If He came to our nature, then it is obvious that He came to everyone; and if to all, then to each individual. Why, you say, did not everyone benefit from this? This does not depend on the One who was pleased to do this for everyone, but on those who were not willing. He unites with every believer through the mysteries, and He Himself nourishes those whom He gave birth to, and does not entrust it to anyone else; and by this he again assures you that He has taken on your flesh. So, having been awarded such love and honor, let us not indulge in carelessness. Do you not see with what readiness babies take their nipples, with what desire they press their lips to them? With the same disposition we must approach this meal and suckle the spiritual cup, or better said, with even greater desire we must attract to ourselves, like breastfeeding babies, the grace of the Spirit; and we should have only one sorrow - that we do not partake of this food. The actions of this sacrament are not performed by human power. The One who performed them then, at that supper, still performs them now. We take the place of ministers, and Christ himself sanctifies and transforms the gifts. Let there not be a single Judas here, not a single lover of money. If anyone is not a disciple of Christ, then let him leave; the meal does not admit those who are not such. This is the same meal that Christ offered, and nothing less. It cannot be said that this is done by Christ, and this by man; Christ himself does both. This place is the same upper room where He was with the disciples; From there they went out to the Mount of Olives. Let us also go out to where the hands of the poor are stretched out; this very place is the Mount of Olives; the multitude of the poor are the olive trees planted in the house of God, dripping with oil, which will be useful to us there, which the five virgins had, and which, not taking, the other five perished. Having taken this oil, let us go in so that we can go out with burning lamps to meet the Bridegroom. Having taken this oil, let's leave here. Not a single inhumane, not a single cruel and unmerciful person, in a word - not a single unclean one, should approach here.