Why are you lazy, my pitiful soul? Why are you thinking about unprofitable cares at such a time? Why are you busy with things that pass away? The final hour is at hand and we shall soon be parted from all that is here. While you still have time, get sober and cry, “I have sinned against You, my Saviour. Do not cut me down like that unfruitful fig tree; but, since You are compassionate, O Christ, take pity on me as I cry out with fear: Let us not be left out of the wedding hall of Christ.”—Oikos from the Bridegroom Service
Image by Vladimir Zanoga. Skvoz veka, 1992
Image by Vladimir Zanoga. Skvoz veka, 1992
One Sunday, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, gave a sermon as follows:
“Last night a woman with a child came to this church. She was in trousers and with no headscarf. Someone scolded her. She left. I do not know who did that, but I am commanding that person to pray for her and her child to the end of his days to God for their salvation. Because of you she may never go to church again.”
He turned around, head down, and entered the Altar. That was the entire sermon.
“Last night a woman with a child came to this church. She was in trousers and with no headscarf. Someone scolded her. She left. I do not know who did that, but I am commanding that person to pray for her and her child to the end of his days to God for their salvation. Because of you she may never go to church again.”
He turned around, head down, and entered the Altar. That was the entire sermon.
On this mournful day of Holy Week, when we remember the betrayal of Judas, may the Lord strengthen us in the fight against our passions, especially with the love of money and the thirst for profit. May He grant us wisdom and understanding to rightly assess life and choose the right values. May He cleanse our hearts with repentance and humility, so that we may always remain faithful to Christ and not betray Him by our sins.
Let us, brothers and sisters, learn from the example of Judas, reject the sin of betrayal and strive for loyalty to Christ, so that we may be granted eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Amen.
With prayers for you and love in Christ, Fr. Vladimir”
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Let us, brothers and sisters, learn from the example of Judas, reject the sin of betrayal and strive for loyalty to Christ, so that we may be granted eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Amen.
With prayers for you and love in Christ, Fr. Vladimir”
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On Great and Holy Friday, 1945, the Righteous Maria of Paris (Skobtsova) was selected for the Nazi gas chamber at Ravensbruck, where she met her martyrdom on Great and Holy Saturday. For her efforts in rescuing Jewish children in Paris, she is among the "righteous gentiles" honoured in Israel. St Maria devised a plan involving Paris garbage collectors, who hid the children in trash cans so they could be whisked away to safety outside the city and spared from the same death she would suffer.
“Do this in remembrance of me.” On Holy Thursday, the Church celebrates the “birthday” of the the Mystical Supper— the beginning of the New Covenant.
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He celebrates the Passover meal, a perpetual reminder of the Angel of Death “passing over” the Israelite homes marked with the blood of Lambs, sparing them for the journey through the Red Sea towards the promised land.
In the Upper Room in Jerusalem with his disciples, Christ turns bread and wine into His body and blood. The Passover meal is now the Holy Eucharist.
☦️ Saint Melito of Sardis declares that Jesus “is the Passover (πάσχειν) that is our salvation.”
On the night Jesus was betrayed, He celebrates the Passover meal, a perpetual reminder of the Angel of Death “passing over” the Israelite homes marked with the blood of Lambs, sparing them for the journey through the Red Sea towards the promised land.
In the Upper Room in Jerusalem with his disciples, Christ turns bread and wine into His body and blood. The Passover meal is now the Holy Eucharist.
☦️ Saint Melito of Sardis declares that Jesus “is the Passover (πάσχειν) that is our salvation.”
"And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull." Mark 15:22
Great and Holy Friday in Icons: Christ's Crucifixion and Death
Christ nailed to the Cross. (Fresco in Dionysiou Monastery, Mt. Athos)
The Crucifixion. (Fresco in the Church of St. Nicholas in Prilepe, Macadonia. 11th-13th c.)
Christ's death. (Fresco in Vysoki Decani Monastery, Serbia. 14th c.)
Great and Holy Friday in Icons: Christ's Crucifixion and Death
Christ nailed to the Cross. (Fresco in Dionysiou Monastery, Mt. Athos)
The Crucifixion. (Fresco in the Church of St. Nicholas in Prilepe, Macadonia. 11th-13th c.)
Christ's death. (Fresco in Vysoki Decani Monastery, Serbia. 14th c.)
But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His blasphemy! +Matthew 26:63-65
When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. ✝ Matt. 27:1-2
Image: Fresco in Staro Nagoricno, Macedonia. 12th-14th c.
When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death. And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor. ✝ Matt. 27:1-2
Image: Fresco in Staro Nagoricno, Macedonia. 12th-14th c.
"Through fasting a person becomes meek, a lamb. If he turns into a beast, it means one of two things: either that his undertaken asceticism exceeds his strength, or what he was doing was selfishness and therefore receives no divine help. Because if he fasts and has proud thoughts that what he performs makes him important, then all of his fasting is as nothing."
✝️ St. Paisios of Mt. Athos
✝️ St. Paisios of Mt. Athos