A Liturgical Look at the Services of Great and Holy Week and Pascha

By Subdeacon Peter Samore

“It is during Holy Week that the most impressing and moving moments in Orthodox Christian worship occur, as day by day and hour by hour the Church enters into the Passion of the Lord. Holy Week reaches its climax, first in the procession of the Epitaphion (the figure of the dead Christ laid our for burial) on the evening of Good Friday [Vespers for Holy Saturday], and then in the exultant Matins of the Resurrection at Pascha. None can be present at this midnight service without being caught up in the sense of universal joy. Christ has released the world from its ancient bondage and its former terrors, and the whole Church rejoices triumphantly in His victory over darkness and death.” Metropolitan KALLISTOS Ware, The Orthodox Church

            Great and Holy Week in the Orthodox Church best defines “why” our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died and resurrected for all of humanity. The journey through Holy Week, book-ended by the services of Lazarus Saturday and Holy Pascha, allows the worshipping Church to join the Savior on this passage so that we may fully comprehend His divine mission. Our daily liturgical services and Scripture readings are the path and transport on this journey. From Lazarus Saturday—when Christ raises Lazarus to prefigure His and our own resurrections—to Great Friday Orthros—when the twelve “Passion Gospels” take us step by step on Christ’s painful yet glorious Crucifixion—to Pascha itself—when we “rush” to the “empty tomb” in Paschal Orthros—we get the best taste to all that our Lord endured for us, and, in a sense, live with those who experienced it first-hand nearly 2,000 years ago.

However, in many parishes, these magnificent services are not so well-attended. Many people comment that the most beautiful liturgical hymns are sung in Bridegroom Orthros on the first three days of Holy Week (like the hymns “Behold the Bridegroom” and “I Behold Thy Bridal Chamber”), yet the churches sit empty. Gradually, the parishes grow fuller as the week progresses, but there is still space available. Perhaps we, the faithful, do not truly understand the importance of these services and how they contribute to our salvation and understanding of the Lord’s purposes for dying and resurrecting for us. Even still, some of us perhaps do not understand the meaning and the hymnody of the services themselves, and are intimidated and less inclined to attend. What is worse is that others still do not make the time to attend these blessed services, even if they are available. Regardless, it will take more than just the priest “pushing” his flock to attend.

The goal of this essay series is to encourage the faithful to attend more of the Holy Week services by setting forth an understanding and background of each service. This would span from Lazarus Saturday to Agape Vespers, thus encompassing all of Holy Week. My emphasis will be on the hymnody and liturgics of the services themselves. Therefore, I will quote directly from the service texts, and link pertinent passages to their Biblical sources, especially where the hymnody reflects a fulfillment of prophecy from the Old Testament.

We must come to church each day of Holy Week knowing what we will be praying and why. I pray that this series will be a map for the worshippers, so that they are not lost and find their minds, hearts and spirits wandering from prayer and worship. Once we focus on the Orthodox Christian Theology that is embedded into all of our worship (not just in Holy Week), the faithful will find a deeper appreciation and understanding of what we are witnessing and praying, thus becoming more inclined to join the “work of the people” during the most significant week of the Ecclesiastical Year.