In the Name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Transcription

1 In the Name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, One God. Amen. Without Question, the Holy Pascha Week is the holiest week of the entire year. The beauty and depth of the rites and hymns of this week are the peak of our spirituality. A Brief History of the Celebration of Pascha 1 As early as the second century, Christians customarily fasted a short on Friday or Saturday prior to Easter Sunday as a special Paschal fast in preparation of Easter. The fast was in complete abstinence from food or drink. Additionally, the Apostolic Canons decreed that from Great Friday to Easter morning the faithful should abstain from food. By the third century, the Paschal fast had been extended to embrace the entire week from Monday to Saturday. The structure of Holy week, Paschal Vigil and Pentecost was preserved from the establishment of Dionysius of Alexandria. The Didascalia instructed the Christians to celebrate Pascha only once a year, for He died only once. To avoid miscalculating the date, they were told to allow the Jews to compute the date. They were also instructed not to celebrate the day of the Resurrection of our Lord on any other day than Sunday. At the end of the fourth century, the six days immediately before the Feast of the Resurrection developed clearly into Holy Week, as we know it by St. Cyril the Bishop of Jerusalem. The Council of Nicea set Easter as the Sunday following the Passover. By the twelfth century, Patriarch Gabriel III summoned a committee of scholars to formulate a more organized service of readings and psalms. They included the singing of thok te te gom Thine is the Power as well. In the thirteenth century Ibn Al Assal wrote the expositions of each hour s gospel reading. These practices are almost identically preserved and practiced by the Orthodox Church today. From the celebration of the Last Friday of the Great Lent to the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the Feast of the Resurrection, the readings, celebrations, and prayers are in line with the Tradition, which has been handed down from the Early Church. Our Church has set the schedule of prayers and readings to correspond with the journey, the teaching and the events, which lead up to the Crucifixion. The hymns, sermons and meditations are so expositive that the catechumens used to learn the entire story of Christ during one week Celebration of the Holy Pascha Week Today 2 1 Treasures of the Fathers of the Church Volume Three: The Holy Pascha 2 Treasures of the Fathers of the Church Volume Three: The Holy Pascha

2 Under the Old Testament law, the sin offering was to be burned outside of the camp so that the camp would not be defiled by the sins of the congregations (Lev 4:12; 21) In similar manner Christ had taken the sins of the world outside of Jerusalem. The Church follows this example by celebrating the prayers of Pascha outside of the altar and first section of the church. Since the first area of the church represents Jerusalem, the city of believers, we pray outside of this area. Therefore, during this week we do not go approach the sanctuary, for we remember how the door to the heavens was closed before Crucifixion. When our Lord institutes the covenant through the Holy Eucharist we can enter into the Holy Altar, but only on this condition. For it is through His suffering, that He gave us life with Him. Additionally, black veils are placed on the pulpit, draped along the walls and wrapped around the columns of the church. The atmosphere is transferred into one of intense mourning so hat we may participate in the Lord s sufferings. The Sacraments Since, the Church is focusing on the Passover and the suffering of the Lord during Holy Week, there is no raising of incense to be made during the first three days. During this time also, none of the sacraments are performed, other than Confession and Repentance. The first sacrament is that of the Divine Liturgy celebrated on Holy Thursday. The church prepares the people for the lack of these sacraments through general services. On the sixth Sunday of Lent, also known as baptism Sunday, most of the catechumens and children would be baptized so that they may receive communion and prepare for Easter. On the Last Friday of Lent, a General Unction service is held. The priest anoints the congregation with the oil for healing of their sicknesses and diseases. Additionally, after Palm Sunday, there is a General Funeral Service. How to Benefit Spiritually from the Holy Pascha Week 3 1) Our Behavior Inside and Outside the Church Let us concentrate our thoughts, conversations and meditations around the events of Holy Week and the Passion of Our Savior. 2) Retreat This week should be characterized by solitude and retreat with God by staying away from the discussions and various means of entertainment of pleasure. Reserve your time to God and to spiritual activities worthy of this week. 3) Follow the Steps of Christ Meditate on the events of the week one by one: from Palm Sunday, when Christ refused His worldly kingdom and the Jews gave up their hope in Him, until they crucified and buried Him. 3 HH Pope Shenouda III

3 4) Share in the Fellowship of His Suffering In order for Christ to live in us, we have to carry our cross and follow Him. If you have a cross in your life do not complain about it. Instead, rejoice in it and bear it for Christ s sake. 5) Asceticism In order to succeed in pursuing asceticism, we must sanctify our souls with spiritual food so that it may thrive and overcome physical hunger. 6) Spiritual Readings The church has organized for us a treasure of appropriate readings for everyday of the Holy Week, comprised of Gospel reading, Old Testament prophecies that correspond to the events of each day, spiritual explanations and sermons of the Church Fathers. On Bright Saturday the church reads the entire Book of Revelation. 7) Hymns Hymns, like reading preserve the thought from wandering and guide it in spiritual direction. We should continue to recite the hymns while walking, meditating, and resting. 8) Prayer - Since the prayer of the Agpeya are not used during Holy Week, we are to substitute personal prayer in their place, in addition to the intensive prayers of the church, asking the Lord who bore the sins of the world and died for us, to forgive and have mercy upon us according to His great mercy. 9) Confession and Communion During this week, each person must sit with himself and remember his sins and put them on Christ s shoulder and tell Him in shame Carry O Lord my sins too, with the sins of the rest of humanity. Take my sins and nail them to the Cross with You, so that Your Blood may wipe them away! 10)Spiritual Storage - Pascha Week is not an opportunity to benefit for a week only, but a time to store up spiritual nourishment enough to last the whole year, particularly needed during the 50 days after the Resurrection when there is no fasting. Our Walk with Christ through Every Day of Holy Week Palm Sunday - Christ the King On this day, we declare Jesus Christ our King! When the time came for our Salvation, He entered Jerusalem publicly among the people who came to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. When the Lord approached the city, the multitude started to praise Him with words specified for coming Messiah saying Hosanna in the Highest. This is the King of Israel. Blessed is He, who comes in the Name of Lord of Hosts. It was customary that a king riding a donkey came in peace. One riding a horse came for war. The King of Peace rode a colt, a new animal, never ridden before. Jesus was a New King and sat on a new animal. The colt, a symbol of the New Testament, was ridden for the first time and was accompanied by its mother (Old Testament) to be tamed. The Lord crowned the Old Testament by the New Testament. This day was the day that the Jews used to select the lambs to be slaughtered for Passover. They would keep these lambs for four days. On this day, they selected the Lord as the sacrificial lamb.

4 Holy Monday Christ the Creator On this day, Jesus Christ reveals to us His power over all creation. On the way from Bethany to the temple, the Lord Jesus Christ cursed a fig tree that was full of leaves but bore no fruit. This was an example of those who called themselves believers who had a good exterior, but were not fruitful. When the Lord entered the temple, He drove out those who were buying and selling in it to keep it undefiled. This day, the Lord tells us that as Creator, He has the power and the right over all creation. Each creation is intended for specific purpose. Man and tree alike are intended to bear fruit. When they do not bear fruit, and appear to the world as fruitful, it greatly displeases the Lord, and as creator He also has power to destroy those, which do not bear the fruit rightfully. Holy Tuesday Christ the Teacher On this day, the Lord teaches us about the Kingdom of Heaven, and the end of the World. The Lord talked with the disciples about faith and about the example made by the fig tree. The Pharisees sought to fight with Him in the temple, but the Lord used this time to speak to them with parables, such as the parables of the talents, in which He spoke to them about the Day of Judgment. Holy Wednesday - Christ the Prophet On this day, the Lord reveals to us that He is a Prophet, the Last of all Prophets. All prophets before Him all came and were called to Prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord here, prophecy s about His pending death. When the Lord is at the house of Simon the leper, the woman with the alabaster flask of ointment, comes and pours the ointment all over the head of Jesus. While the people are reprimanding her for her actions, the Lord says, Why trouble you the woman? For she has worked a good work unto me. For you have the poor with you always, but me you have not always. For in that she has poured the ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. ( Matthew 26:10 12). Also in the Gospel of the 11 th Hour, Christ Prophecies His Crucifixion when He says And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me. (John 12: 32) Holy Thursday Christ the High Priest On this day, we recognize the Lord as the great High Priest. The Lord starts the day eating the old Passover with His disciples. Before establishing for us the new sacrament of the Eucharist, the Lord washes the feet of the disciples to teach us that partaking of the Eucharist should be proceeded by the washing of repentance. The Lord teaches the humility of the priesthood. The Lord established for us the Liturgy of the Blessing of the Water. After the washing of the feet, the Lord institutes for us the Passover of the New Testament, in which we celebrate the Divine Liturgy of the

5 Eucharist. Also, the Lord establishes the sacrament of Priesthood, when He instructs his disciples by saying Do this in remembrance of Me Great Friday Christ the Redeemer, and Christ the Judge On this day, we see the Son of God Himself, hanging on the cross on account of our sins. We are not only witnesses to the Holy Passion of our Good Savior, but we become participants in the story of our salvation. At this moment, by His death, the Lord has redeemed us from our sins. The Lord has also cast the final judgment over, Satan, over sin and over death. He has declared them powerless before His almighty throne. The Lamb of God appears throughout each hour in a different form. During the First hour, He is tried and convicted under false accusations and testimony. During the Third hour, He was bruised and suffered Lamb whipped, spat upon, and mocked for our sakes. During the Sixth Hour, He was crucified for our sakes. In the Ninth Hour, He gave up His soul to the Father. In the Eleventh, He was stabbed with the spear. Finally in the twelfth, He was buried in the tomb. Bright Saturday Christ the Human On this day, we spend time with Christ as Human. We spend the night with the Lord, as His dead body lies in the tomb. At this time, we prepare for our transition from death to Life, from sin to holiness, from Hades to Paradise. We spend the night with the body of Christ, preparing for His resurrection and for ours. Resurrection Sunday Christ the God On this day, Christ makes it clear that He Was, Is, and will always be, God. He revealed His power over death to eternity. Christ, by His own power, descended into Hades, brought His people back to Him, and raised Himself up from death. Only God, can raise Himself from the dead. On this day, the resurrected God reveals to us the new glorified body that we all should take on after we have resurrected with Him. Christ is Risen From the Dead, and By His death He trampled Death and to those in the tomb He bestowed Life. Resurrection Monday Christ the Shepherd After His resurrection, we find the Lord, the Risen God, returning to His disciples looking to collect His sheep back to Him. He meets them on the road to Emmaus, in the Upper Room, out by the lake while they are fishing. The Lord is the Good shepherd and He knows His sheep. He goes to collect the scattered sheep back to Him.