The grave of Joseph

A new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock ... Matthew 27: 57-60 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

3, The grave of Joseph

Patrick Comerford

Reading 3: John 19: 38-42

When Jesus died, and his body was taken down from the cross – the body that had been anointed only a week earlier in Bethany either by Mary or by the penitent woman – he was wrapped in a clean cloth by Joseph of Arimathea, who then laid it what three of the Gospel writers tells us was his own “new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock” (Matthew 27: 57-60; Mark 15: 42-46; Luke 23: 50-53; see John 19: 38-42).

A few years ago, I spent a few weeks in Fethiye on the south-west coast of Turkey. I was there for that blissful combination of a sun holiday and visiting the classical sites, for ancient Fethiye was known in the classical world as Telmessos.

This city had been established in 5th century BC at the frontiers of Lycian civilization. Even the remains surviving to this day provide visual evidence of a city that had a high, rich culture.

This is the region where in classical civilisation King Mausolus, who controlled the area around modern Bodrum, gave us the word mausoleum because of his monumental grave. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and you can see the reconstruction of this splendid tomb in the British Museum in London.

But, better still, I think, are the smaller graves of the rulers and the ruling class from the Lycian civilisation that can be seen in the streets of Fethiye.

As you walk through Fethiye, where Telmessos once stood, even the streets appear to be dotted with Lycian graves, tombs, sepulchres and sarcophagi. From the edges of the harbour, as you look up towards the hills that surround and protect the bay, the subdued majesty of the sculpted, tombs hewn from the rocks, carved in the rocks cannot fail to catch your eye.

The Amyntas Grave has long been the symbol of Fethiye (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

It is worth climbing high above the city and the bay to see these tombs, hewn into the edges of the rock face. The best known of these hewn rock tombs is the Amyntas Grave, which has long been the symbol of Fethiye.

This splendid tomb stands out within the cluster of rock graves, hewn out of the hillside and often hanging at the edges of the precipices. This grave has a façade like an Ionic temple, and an inscription on the left ante-wall tells us this is the tomb provided for King Amyntas who ruled the city of Telmessos during the 4th century BC, in the Hellenistic period, around the same time as the sculpted graves and monuments were being erected in Kermameikos in Athens.

So often we want to leave something behind as a memorial, something that people will remember us by.

I suppose this is why genealogists are often found in churchyards and graveyards, searching for primary evidence for dead ancestors.

The ‘saddleback’ grave in Saint Michael’s Churchyard, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Last month I was visiting Saint Michael’s Church, overlooking the cathedral city of Lichfield. In the churchyard are some amazing graves, including one known as the “saddle-back grave”, and another that is almost in the shape of a funerary urn. These graves were erected by people who wanted to be remembered for as long as possible.

I suppose Joseph of Arimathea wanted to be remembered as long as possible. He was a fearful, secret disciple of Jesus, a friend of Nicodemus, and wealthy enough to have his own tomb hewn in the rocks. But he gives up all those hopes, and loses all his fears, when he decides to take Christ down from the cross and bury him in his own tomb.

Joseph takes the Body of Christ.

Joseph says Amen to the Body of Christ.

And the tomb he had left empty for himself, is briefly filled with the body of Christ, but is then left empty forever, for Christ is raised from the dead when this Saturday ends.

When we say Amen to the Body of Christ at the Paschal Eucharist, or Easter Communion, tomorrow, we shall be saying Amen to the presence of the Risen Christ among us.

And as we prepare to say Amen to the Paschal Lamb, the Risen Christ, the Body of Christ, we find that we too are members of that Body to which we say Amen. The Risen Christ is mystically and truly present among us.

To prepare to celebrate the Resurrection, to prepare to celebrate the feast, our third piece of music to reflect on is: Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, in music composed by Mozart in the last year of his life, and sung by the Lichfield Cathedral Choir.

Music 3: Ave verum corpus, W.A. Mozart, Lichfield Cathedral Choir (2’59”).

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This is the third of three addresses in Whitechurch Parish, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, at a special service to mark Easter Eve on Saturday, 3 April 2010.

The grave of Judas

A grave in Kerameikós, Athens, where the cemetery was named after the Potter’s Field ... but what sort of grave did Judas have in Kerameikós, the Potter’s Field, in Jerusalem (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

2, The grave of Judas

Patrick Comerford

Reading 2: Matthew 27: 3-10

There are two deaths, and two burials on Good Friday, there are two graves on this Saturday, Easter Eve. The death and burial of Christ, and the tomb in which he is buried; and the death and burial of Judas, and his grave plot.

Saint Matthew’s Gospel tells us that when Judas realised the enormity of his betrayal, he repented, returned, threw the 30 pieces of silver back into the Temple, left, and went away. The chief priests did not want this blood money, and so they bought the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners, and it was in that very field that Judas hanged himself. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that Judas bought the field and that he died there (Acts 1: 18-20).

We do not know where Judas was buried. Was he buried in the Potter’s Field?

Potter’s Field or Κεραμεικός (Kerameikós) is the same name as a famous classical cemetery in Athens, close to the Acropolis. It lies in what was once the potters’ quarter in Athens – the root for its name, κέραμος (keramos, “pottery clay”) also gives us the English word “ceramic.”

Here in this cemetery, Pericles delivered his funeral oration in 431 BC, praising the great heroes, whose true burial place is in the hearts of the people. Here, in this other Potter’s Field is the most wonderful collection of graves, monuments, sculptures and sepulchres. The Street of the Tombs in Kerameikos is lined with imposing monuments from the families of rich Athenians, dating to before the late fourth century BC.

But if they left these wonderful, sculpted graves – unique pieces of classical legacy that are as beautiful, imposing and life-like as those in any great Victorian cemetery – did they really believe that they would survive in the hearts and memories of good Athenians?

A sculpted grave stone in Kerameikós, the best place to be buried in classical Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford

The Potter’s Field was the best place to be buried in classical Athens. For it was here too that the Ιερά Οδός (Hierá Odós, the Sacred Way), the road to Ἐλευσίς (Eleusis), the Eleusinian Fields, began its procession. But if those who could afford to be buried here believed in the afterlife offered in the Eleusian Mysteries why did they need to leave behind such splendid memorials in this life?

Did Judas leave behind any memorial or sculpted sepulchre in his Potter’s Field?

The first and second graves of Lazarus, even though they hold no bodies, are places of pilgrimage to this day.

Who would want to visit the grave of Judas?

What did he expect in the afterlife?

All we know is that Judas repented, and that even in the end, his thirty pieces of silver were used for a good cause. It is important in Jewish ritual law to bury the dead. But it appears there was no place in Jerusalem to bury foreigners (see verse 7).

Jesus was crucified outside the city gates, on Golgotha, the place of the skulls (Matthew 27: 33) … a place just like that where the corpses of the foreigners, the aliens may have been dumped.

The aliens, the foreigners, were outsiders, both in life and in death.

By his act of betrayal, Judas moved from being an insider, one of the 12, to being an outsider. But in death he took care of those foreigners who had been rejected both in life and in death.

What happened to his grave afterwards is probably of little concern. What is more important is that after his death, Jesus descended to the very depths of hell, and brought good news to all who were, who are, and who will be dead.

In his death and resurrection, Jesus breaks down all barriers, between the insider and the outsider, between the resident and the foreigner, between the rich and the poor, between those who are forgotten and those who are remembered.

There is no depth to which his love and his mercy cannot reach. In his death and in his resurrection, he has broken, he is breaking, he continues to break, all barriers.

Our second piece of music to reflect on is: Hail thee, festival day, by Vaughan Williams, sung by the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge. The good news of the consequences of the Death and Resurrection was first brought to those who were dead.

Music 2: Hail thee, festival day, Ralph Vaughan Williams, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge (4’ 46”).

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This is the second of three addresses in Whitechurch Parish, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, at a special service to mark Easter Eve on Saturday, 3 April 2010.

The grave of Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus, Juan de Flandes, Museo del Prado, Madrid

Patrick Comerford

1, The grave of Lazarus

Reading 1: Luke 16: 19-31.

We have been travelling on a journey wih Christ through Holy Week. That journey to Calvary and Gethsemane begins in Bethany (Matthew 26: 6), where he was probably staying with his friends, Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus (John 12: 1). While he was staying in Bethany, he dined with Simon the Leper (Matthew 26: 6). During dinner, a woman with an alabaster jar anointed his head at the table (Matthew 26: 7), in a ritual of anointing that prefigures the anointing of the body of Jesus in preparation for his burial (Matthew 26: 12).

The anointing of Jesus during that dinner in the home of Simon triggered the excuse for Judas to betray Jesus to the authorities (Matthew 26: 14) … an excuse that he may have been looking for a long time.

In a variation on this story, Saint John tells us that on the evening before Palm Sunday, Jesus had dinner with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and Mary anointed Christ’s feet with fragrant perfume (John 12: 1-8), but once again this anointing is seen as prefiguring the anointing of his body on the day of his burial (John 12: 8).

The decision of Jesus to stay with his friends in Bethany attracts the crowds, who come not just to see Christ, but to see Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead, and this too is linked with the plot to bring about the death of Jesus.

Jesus loved Lazarus, who had died in Bethany (John 11). When Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds Lazarus has been dead four days. Jesus comes to his tomb, and despite the objections of Martha, he has the stone rolled away, prays, and calls on Lazarus to come out. This Lazarus does, wrapped in his grave clothes.

In the Orthodox tradition, last Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, is also known as Lazarus Saturday. The readings and hymns for Lazarus Saturday focus on the resurrection of Lazarus as a foreshadowing of the Resurrection of Christ and the General Resurrection.

The Raising of Lazarus illustrates the two natures of Christ: his humanity in weeping at the death of his friend (John 11: 35); his divinity in commanding Lazarus to come forth from the dead (John 11: 43).

There is no further mention of Lazarus in the Bible. So what happened to the tomb of Lazarus in Bethany? What happened to Lazarus himself?

Rembrandt, The raising of Lazarus, ca 1630, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The first tomb of Lazarus at Bethany (al-Eizarariya) continues to be place of pilgrimage. But of course Lazarus had to die a second (and last) time. Orthodox tradition says Lazarus went to Cyprus, where he became the first Bishop of Kittim (Larnaka). When he –finally – died, it is said Lazarus was buried in Larnaka. His body was later moved to Constantinople by the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI in 898, but it was stolen by the Crusaders in 1204 and pirated away to France as one of the spoils of war.

In the poem, “The Love Song of J. Afred Prufrock,” TS Eliot refers to Lazarus in these lines:

To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”

But Eliot is referring to the other Lazarus in the Gospel stories: Lazarus who each day sat begging outside the gate of a rich man, his sores being licked by the dogs, while inside Dives, dressed in fine clothing, is dining sumptuously each day (Luke 16: 19-31).

Both men die, but Dives would like Lazarus to come back to life. But despite what Eliot says and Dives hopes, Lazarus does not come back from the dead once he has been received into Abraham’s Bosom at the heavenly banquet. For his part, the rich man craves merely a drop of water from Lazarus’ finger to cool his tongue, for he is tormented by fire, and wants Lazarus to return and warn his wayward brothers.

Lazarus is the only character in a New Testament parable with a name. The rich man has been named Dives by tradition, but in the telling of the story he has no name: in effect, he has lost his name, and with it his human identity.

Death comes to us all. We all end in the grave. No miracles, no wishing, no praying, can take away that inevitability. Dives learns – when it is too late – what it is to be human, and that we do not come back from the grave.

This Lazarus was rewarded, not because he was poor, but for his virtuous acceptance of poverty. The rich man was punished, not because he was rich, but for his persistent neglect of the opportunities his wealth gave him.

Christ in his life points us to what it is to be truly human. In the grave, he proves he is truly human. He has died. He is dead. Unlike Lazarus the beggar, he can bridge the gap between earth and heaven, even between hell and heaven. That is what was happening this Saturday. That is what we are remembering here today. And like Lazarus of Bethany, he too is raised from death not by human power but by the power of God.

Our first piece of music to help us reflect at the grave is by Paul Spicer. Come out, Lazar is the title track on a recording last year of the shorter choral works of this English choral conductor by the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge.

I first came across Paul Spicer’s work in Lichfield where he has lived in The Close since 1990.

This anthem is a dramatic, almost apocalyptic setting for mediaeval poetry, in this case an anonymous text. This 14th century English mediaeval poem concludes:

Say me now thou serpent sly,
Is not ‘Come out!’ an asper cry?
‘Come out’ is a word of battle,
For it gan helle soon [at once] t’assail.
Why stoppest thou not, fiend, thine ear?
That this word enter not there?
He that said that word of might,
Shop him felly to the fight. [Advanced valiantly to battle.]
For with that word he won the field
Withouten spear, withouten shield,
And brought them out of prison strong,
That were enholden there with wrong.
Tell now, tyrant, where is thy might?
‘Come out!’ hath felled it all with fight.

The final triumphant section (“For with that word he won the field …”) builds up to a huge climax on the word “might,” and the final page keeps the excitement building to the end.

Music 1: Come out, Lazar (Paul Spicer, the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, 7’24”)

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. This is the first of three addresses in Whitechurch Parish, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin, at a special service to mark Easter Eve on Saturday, 3 April 2010.

Saturday in Holy Week, Easter Eve

The Tomb of Christ inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

Patrick Comerford

The day following Good Friday is often known as Holy Saturday or in the Anglican tradition as Easter Eve, and in the Orthodox Church as Great and Holy Saturday or the Great Sabbath.

This is traditionally a day of silence and prayer, a time for thinking about the dead Christ lying in the tomb. No Mass is celebrated, no Holy Communion is distributed.

In some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, there is a provision for a simple liturgy of the word with readings commemorating the burial of Christ.

In Roman Catholic churches, the tabernacle is left empty and open, the lamp or candle usually lit next to the tabernacle to mark the Real presence has been extinguished, and the remaining Eucharistic hosts, consecrated on Maundy Thursday, have been removed, perhaps to the sacristy, where a lamp or candle burns before them so that, in cases of the danger of death, they may be given as viaticum.

The Entombment of Christ

In the Orthodox tradition, Holy and Great Saturday or the Great Sabbath is the day on which Christ “rested” physically in the tomb, but it is also the day on which he performed the Harrowing of Hell, raising up those who had been held captive there.

Matins (ὄρθρος, Orthros) of Holy and Great Saturday was served in most places last night [Friday], takes the form of a funeral service for Christ.

This morning [Saturday], a vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great is served. This is the longest Divine Liturgy of the entire Orthodox year and, traditionally, the latest.

After the Little Entrance there are 15 Old Testament readings recalling the history of salvation. Just before the Gospel reading (Matthew 28: 1-20), the hangings, the altar cloths, and the vestments are changed from black to white, and the deacon censes the church.

In the Greek tradition the clergy scatter laurel leaves and flower petals throughout the church, symbolising the shattered gates and broken chains of hell after Christ’s victory over death. While the liturgical atmosphere changes from sorrow to joy at this service, the Paschal greeting, “Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!” (Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!) is not exchanged until after the Paschal Vigil later this evening, and the people continue to fast.

The Harrowing of Hell

The Divine Liturgy on Holy and Great Saturday represents the Harrowing of Hell, the proclamation of Christ’s victory over death to those in Hades, but the Resurrection has not yet been announced to those on earth – the takes place during the Paschal Vigil tonight.

Great Lent was originally the period of catechesis for new converts Christianity. During this period, they were prepared for Baptism and Chrismation on Pascha (Easter). Before the current Paschal Vigil of Saint John of Damascus was written, the vespers served this morning was the main Easter celebration. The traditional time to receive converts is still after the Vesperal Divine Liturgy.

The Easter Vigil

In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the Easter Vigil begins at 9 p.m. tonight. The setting is C.V. Stanford’s The Office of Holy Communion in C and F, with Let all the world in every corner sing by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the celebration of Easter may begin after sundown with the Easter Vigil or Midnight Mass on what is liturgically Easter Sunday, although it is still Saturday evening in calendar.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Easter Vigil consists of four parts:

● The Service of Light

● The Liturgy of the Word

● The Liturgy of Baptism, which may include the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation for new members of the Church and the renewal of Baptismal Promises by the rest of the congregation

● Holy Eucharist

The Liturgy begins after sundown as the crowd gathers inside the unlit church, in the darkness, often in a side chapel of the church building, but preferably outside the church. A new fire, kindled and blessed by the priest, symbolises the light of salvation and hope that God brought into the world through the Resurrection of Christ, dispelling the darkness of sin and death.

The Paschal Candle, symbolising the Light of Christ, is lit from this fire. This tall candle is placed on the altar, and on its side five grains of incense are embedded, representing the five wounds of Christ and the burial spices with which his body was anointed. When these are fixed in it and the candle is lit, it is placed on the Gospel side of the altar and remains there until Ascension Day.

This Paschal candle will be used throughout the season of Easter, remaining in the sanctuary of the Church or near the lectern. Throughout the coming year at baptisms and funerals, it reminds all that that Christ is “light and life.”

All baptised people present – those who have received the Light of Christ – are given candles that are lit from the Paschal candle. As this symbolic Light of Christ spreads throughout those gathered, the darkness diminishes and dies out.

A deacon or a priest carries the Paschal Candle at the head of the entrance procession and, at three points, stops and chants the proclamation “Light of Christ” or “Christ our Light,” to which the people respond: “Thanks be to God.”

When the procession ends, the deacon or a cantor chants the Exultet, or Easter Proclamation, said to have been written by Saint Ambrose of Milan. The church is now lit only by the people’s candles and the Paschal candle, and the people take their seats for the Liturgy of the Word.

The Liturgy of the Word consists of between two and seven readings from the Old Testament. The account of the Exodus is given particular attention in the as it is the Old Testament antetype of Christian salvation.

Each reading is followed by a psalm and a prayer relating what has been read in the Old Testament to the Mystery of Christ.

After these readings, the Gloria is sung, and during an outburst of musical jubilation the people’s candles are extinguished, the church lights are turned on, and the bells rung. The altar frontals, the reredos, the lectern hangings, the processional banners, the statues and the paintings, which were stripped or covered during Holy Week, are now ceremonially replaced and unveiled, and flowers are placed on altar.

A reading from the Epistle to the Romans is proclaimed, and the Alleluia is sung for the first time since the beginning of Lent. The Gospel of the Resurrection then follows, along with a homily.

After the Liturgy of the Word, the water of the baptismal font is blessed, and any catechumens or candidates for full communion are initiated. After these celebrations, those present renew their baptismal vows and are sprinkled with baptismal water. The general intercessions follow.

The Easter Vigil then concludes with the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is the first Mass of Easter Day. During the Eucharist, the newly baptised receive Holy Communion for the first time, and, according to the rubrics, the Eucharist should finish before dawn.

The Light coming into the world

In the Orthodox Church, the Paschal Vigil begins late this evening, often at 11 p.m., with the serving of the Midnight Office, which is the last service of the Lenten Triodion. This is timed to end a little before midnight. Once the Midnight Office ends, all lights in the church are put out and everyone waits in silence and darkness until the stroke of midnight.

At the stroke of midnight, the Paschal celebration begins, consisting of Paschal Matins (ὄρθρος, Orthros), Paschal Hours, and the Paschal Divine Liturgy. Placing the Paschal Divine Liturgy at midnight guarantees that no Divine Liturgy will come earlier in the morning and ensures its place as the pre-eminent Feast of Feasts in the liturgical calendar of the Church.

Now, a single, new flame is struck in the altar, or the priest lights his candle from the eternal flame kept burning there. He then lights the candles held by then deacons or his assistants, and they go quickly to light candles held by the congregation. The light spreads speedily from one person to the next until everyone holds a lighted candle, and the church bursts into light.

This tradition has its origin in the reception of the Holy Fire at the Church of Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The priest and the congregation then go in a procession with the cross circling the church, holding lit their candles and chanting:

By your Resurrection
O Christ our saviour,
the angels in Heaven sing,
and enable us here are on Earth
to glorify you with purity of heart.

This procession re-enacts the journey of the Myrrh-bearers as they made their way to the Tomb of Christ “at early dawn” on the first Easter morning (Luke 24: 1). After circling around the church once or three times, the procession halts in front of the closed doors.

In Greek Orthodox churches, the priest then reads Mark 16: 1-8. Then, in all Orthodox traditions, the priest makes the sign of the cross with the censer before the closed doors of the icon screen, which at this point represent the sealed tomb. The priest and the people chant the Paschal Troparion, and all of the bells and semantra are sounded. Then all re-enter the church and Paschal Matins (ὄρθρος, Orthros) begins immediately, followed by the Paschal Hours, and then the Paschal Divine Liturgy.

The high point of this liturgy is the delivery of the Paschal Homily of Saint John Chrysostom, during which the congregation stands.

After the dismissal, the priest often blesses Paschal eggs and baskets filled with the foods which have been abstained from during the Great Fast, such as eggs, meat, butter and cheese. Immediately after the Liturgy, many people share a meal, sometimes at 2 a.m. or even later.

A meal often follows, sometimes lasting till dawn. In Greece, the traditional meal is mageiritsa, a hearty stew of chopped lamb liver and wild greens seasoned with egg-and-lemon sauce. Traditionally, Easter eggs, which are hard-boiled eggs dyed bright red to symbolise the Blood of Christ and the promise of eternal life, are cracked together to celebrate the opening of Christ’s Tomb.

Χριστός ἀνέστη!
Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

Christ is Risen!
He is truly risen, indeed!

Collect of the Day:

Grant, Lord,
that we who are baptized into the death
of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
may continually put to death our evil desires
and be buried with him;
and that through the grave and gate of death
we may pass to our joyful resurrection;
through his merits, who died and was buried
and rose again for us,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

No Post-Communion prayer is provided for Easter Eve.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Bringing hope to Easter

Carrying the Cross ... a scene from the Passion Play in Ballylinan in Co Laois, photographed by Alan Benson in today’s edition of The Irish Times

The Irish Times, in today’s edition [2 April 2010], publishes this editorial comment:

Bringing hope
to Easter

Since the publication of Pope Benedict’s pastoral letter to Irish Catholics, most commentators and critics have focused on his reaction to the present abuse scandal that is tearing apart the Catholic Church in Ireland, and on the many bewildering silences in his letter. His letter failed to meet the expectation of the victims of abuse – and of many faithful Catholics – but it also contained timely reminders of the significance and relevance of the Gospel message that is at the heart of this season of Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

In that part [of his letter] addressed to “the victims of abuse and their families,” Pope Benedict reminds them that “Christ’s own wounds, transformed by his redemptive sufferings, are the very means by which the power of his self-sacrificing – even in the darkest and most hopeless situations to bring liberation and the promise of a new beginning.” He tells those “priests and religious who have abused children” that “Christ’s redeeming sacrifice has the power to forgive even the gravest of sins.” And he tells “the children and young people of Ireland” that Christ loves them and “has offered himself on the cross for you.”

These are age-old beliefs that are at the heart of Christianity and it was seasonally appropriate that they should be re-told and reiterated only days ahead of the great Paschal solemnities. But it is also at the heart of the message of Good Friday and Easter that all Christians are crucified with Christ and that all who believe can find hope in the Resurrection. At the heart of Christian faith is the belief that the church is the Body of Christ, as Saint Paul says throughout his Epistles. Indeed, he is so explicit about this, that in some versions of the New Testament he says “we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones” (Ephesians 5: 30).

Baptism is incorporation into the Body of Christ, and the Eucharist is not only a memorial of Christ’s death but a real sacrament or sign of the Body of Christ. These apostolic and sacramental teachings are reminders that when members of the Church are injured – when innocent members of the Church are abused – Christ himself is wounded and assaulted once again, as truly as he was crucified on Good Friday. It is for these very reasons that the present crisis for the Catholic Church is truly what the word crisis means – it brings the church to the very cross of decision-making. The Body of Christ has been tortured, abused and forced to face the crucifixion of Good Friday constantly and perpetually across the world.

But Good Friday is meaningless for Christians without faith and joy in the Resurrection. That resurrection hope is for new life, new joy and renewed justice. Pope Benedict – however inadequately – has responded to the sufferings of the Body of Christ. But he and the bishops of the church need also to bring Easter hope to many. And that can only be brought through decisive, firm and resolute action. Otherwise, the stone remains rolled across the tomb, and, like the women who came to the grave on the first Easter morning, many will weep and wonder what they have done with the body of Christ.

Friday in Holy Week, Good Friday

The Crucifixion

Patrick Comerford

This year, Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter fall on the same days in the calendars of both the Western Church and the Orthodox Church.

Today, the Friday of Holy Week is Good Friday. Today we remember the day on which Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, on the Hill of Calvary, and in most traditions this day is marked by solemn observances in memory of the crucifixion.

Good Friday in the Anglican tradition

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer did not specify a particular rite to be observed on Good Friday but local custom came to expect an assortment of services, including the Seven Last Words from the Cross and a three-hour service consisting of Matins, the Ante-Communion (using the Reserved Sacrament in some parishes) and Evensong.

The Seven Last Words have been identified in tradition as:

● “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23: 34).

● “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23: 43).

● “Woman, here is your son … Here is your mother” (John 19: 26-27).

● “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46, Mark 15: 34).

● “I am thirsty” (John 19: 28)

● “It is finished” (John 19: 30)

● “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23: 46).

Recent revisions of the Book of Common Prayer and the introduction of Common Worship in the Church of England have re-introduced pre-Reformation forms of observing Good Friday.

They are similar to those in the Roman Catholic Church, but include observances that were common in the Church of England prior to the reforms of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I.

However, the Church of Ireland’s Book of Common Prayer (2004), which introduced provisions for Ash Wednesday, makes no provisions for Good Friday. Three collects are provided, but the note in the Calendar (p. 18) and the lack of a Post Communion Collect implies there must be no celebration of Holy Communion today. Otherwise, it is left to local custom and tradition to decide how to observe this day.

This morning, in the Chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, we are praying The Litany at 8.30. In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 3 p.m. this afternoon, the Liturgy of the Passion includes the Eucharist of the pre-sanctified.

Roman Catholic observances

Roman Catholics usually observe the day with fast and abstinence, which is understood as having only one full meal and two repasts that together ought not to equal a full meal.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, there is no celebration of the Mass after that of the Last Supper yesterday [Thursday] evening until the Easter Vigil tomorrow [Saturday] night, and the only sacraments on this day are Baptism occasionally, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. Holy Communion is distributed only in the Service of the Passion of the Lord.

In churches, the altar remains completely bare, without a cross, candlesticks or altar cloths. It is customary to empty the holy water fonts in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil. Traditionally, no bells are rung on Good Friday or Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil.

The Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord takes place in the afternoon, usually at 3 p.m., although for pastoral reasons a later hour may be chosen. The vestments are red, although traditionalists sometimes use black. This liturgy consists of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.

The first part, the Liturgy of the Word, consists of the reading or chanting of Isaiah 52: 13 to Isaiah 53: 12; Hebrews 4: 14-16, 5: 7-9, and the Passion account from Saint John’s Gospel, which is often divided between a number of singers or readers. This is followed by a series of prayers for the Church, the Pope, the clergy and laity of the Church, those preparing for baptism, Christian unity, the Jewish people, those who do not believe in Christ, those who do not believe in God, those in public office and those in special need.

In the second part, the Veneration of the Cross, a crucifix is solemnly displayed and venerated while special chants are sung.

The third and last part is Holy Communion according to a rite based on the final part of Mass, beginning with the Lord’s Prayer, but omitting the Fraction or the Breaking of the Bread and the singing of the Agnus Dei. The Eucharist, consecrated yesterday at the Mass of Holy Thursday, is distributed at this service. The priest and people then leave in silence, and the altar cloth is removed, leaving the altar bare except for the cross and two or four candlesticks.

In addition, the Stations of the Cross are often prayed either in the church or outside, and a prayer service, known as the Three Hours’ Agony, may take place between mid-day and 3 p.m.

The Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Christ suffered during his Passion on Good Friday. These Acts of Reparation do not involve prayers for the living or the dead, but seek to repair the sins against Christ. Pope Pius XI described these Acts of Reparation as a duty for Catholics and referred to them as “some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury” and sufferings of Christ. Pope John Paul II referred to them as the “unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified.”

Orthodox Great Friday

In the Orthodox Church, this day is known as Holy and Great Friday, or simply as Great Friday.

Because of the penitence and sorrow associated with the Crucifixion, the Divine Liturgy is never celebrated on Great Friday. On Great Friday, the Orthodox clergy no longer wear the purple or red that is customary throughout Great Lent, and instead wear black vestments. All the church hangings are changed to black, and they remain so until the Divine Liturgy tomorrow, on Great Saturday.

There are public readings of specific Psalms and the Gospels, with the singing of hymns about Christ’s death. Rich visual imagery and symbolism as well as stirring hymnody mark these observances. Holy and Great Friday is observed as a strict fast, and Orthodox adults are expected to abstain from all food and drink throughout the day if their health allows.

The Orthodox observance of Holy and Great Friday began last night [Thursday] with the Matins (ὄρθρος, Orthros) of the Twelve Passion Gospels. This service includes 12 readings from all four Gospels, recalling the events of the Passion from the Last Supper through the Crucifixion to the burial of Jesus. Each reading is followed either by antiphons, reflecting on the passion of Christ, or by parts of Matins. Some churches have a candelabrum with twelve candles, and one candle is extinguished after each Gospel reading.

The first of these twelve readings (John 13: 31 to John 18: 1) is the longest Gospel reading of the year.

Just before the sixth Gospel reading, which recounts Christ being nailed to the cross, a large cross, with an image of the body of Christ, is carried out of the sanctuary by the priest, accompanied by incense and candles, and is placed in the centre of the nave. As the cross is being carried, the priest or a chanter chants a special antiphon:

Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross,
Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross,
Today he who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross.
He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns,
he who wraps the heaven in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery,
he who in Jordan set Adam free receives blows upon his face.

The Bridegroom of the Church is transfixed with nails.
The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear.

We venerate your Passion, O Christ,
We venerate your Passion, O Christ,
We venerate your Passion, O Christ.
Show us also your glorious Resurrection.

During the service, everyone comes forward to kiss the feet of Christ on the cross.

After the canon, a brief, moving hymn, The Wise Thief, is chanted by singers who stand at the foot of the cross in the centre of the nave.

The service does not end with the First Hour, as usual, but with a special dismissal by the priest:

“May Christ our true God, Who for the salvation of the world endured spitting, and scourging, and buffeting, and the cross, and death, through the intercessions of his most pure Mother, of our holy and God-bearing fathers, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save us, for he is good and the lover of humanity.”

Then this morning, all gather again to pray the Royal Hours, a special expanded celebration of the Little Hours, including the First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, Ninth Hour and Typica, with the addition of readings from the Old Testament, the Epistle and the Gospel, and singing hymns about the Crucifixion at each of these hours.

This service can appear to be more festive in character, and derives its name “Royal” from both the fact that the Hours are served with more solemnity than normal, commemorating Christ the King who humbled himself for the salvation of humanity, and because in the past this service was attended by the Emperor and his court.

The Taking down from the Cross

In the afternoon, around the 3 p.m. all gather for the Vespers of the Taking-Down from the Cross, recalling Christ’s Deposition from the Cross.

The Gospel reading is from all four Gospels. During the service, the image of the body of Christ is removed from the cross, wrapped in a linen shroud, and taken to the altar. Near the end of the service, an Epitaphios or “winding sheet” – a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial – is carried in solemn procession from the sanctuary to a low table in the nave that represents the Tomb of Christ. This is often scattered with and decorated with flowers.

A 14th century Epitaphios in the Byzantine Museum in Thessaloniki

The Epitaphios itself represents the body of Christ wrapped in a burial shroud, and looks like a full-size cloth icon of the body of Christ.

Later this [Friday] evening, the Matins of Holy and Great Saturday is a unique service known as the the Orthros of Lamentation at the Tomb, and sometimes called Jerusalem Matins. Much of the service takes place around a representation of the tomb of Christ in the centre of the nave of the church.

A unique feature of the service is the chanting of the Lamentations or Praises, which include verses chanted by the clergy interspersed between the verses of Psalm 119. At one point, the priest sprinkles the tomb with rose petals and rose water.

The Epitaphios being carried in procession outside a church in Pelekas, Corfu (Photograph: Dimitris Arvanitis)

At the end of the Great Doxology, while the Trisagion is sung, the Epitaphios is taken in procession around the outside the church, and is then returned to the tomb. In some churches, the Epitaphios is held above waist level at the door so people must bow under it as they re-enter the church, symbolising their entering into the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Epitaphios in procession in Corfu

The Troparion (hymn of the day) of Great Friday is:

The noble Joseph,
when he had taken down your most pure body from the tree,
wrapped it in fine linen,
and anointed it with spices,
and placed it in a new tomb.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
The angel came to the myrrh-bearing women
at the tomb and said:
Myrrh is fitting for the dead,
but Christ has shown himself a stranger to corruption.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty Father,
Look with mercy on this your family
for which our Lord Jesus Christ
was content to be betrayed
and given up into the hands of sinners
and to suffer death upon the cross;
who is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

No Post-Communion Prayer is provided for Good Friday.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Thursday in Holy Week, Maundy Thursday

The Last Supper ... an image from Bridgeman’s workshop in Quonian’s Lane, Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

This week, the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Day, is the last week of Lent. This week is known in the Western Church as Holy Week, and in the Orthodox Church as Great and Holy Week.

The dates of Lent, Holy Week and Easter fall on the same days this year for the Western Church and the Orthodox Church. In the Western Church, this week lasts from Palm Sunday until but not including Easter Day. In the Orthodox Church, Great Week lasts from Lazarus until but not including Easter Day.

On this week, we recall the last week of Christ’s earthly life culminating in his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Day. Among Anglicans, Maundy Thursday is the normal name for this day, and is used in the Book of Common Prayer. Among Roman Catholics, the day is normally known as Holy Thursday; in the Orthodox Church, the name for this day is usually Great and Holy Thursday.

In all traditions, this day is associated with the Last Supper. This is the day before the Crucifixion, and on this day Christ had his last meal with his disciples. As the Gospel according to Saint Matthew tells us:

“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins ...” (Matthew 26: 26-29).

An icon of the Mystical Supper by the Orthodox priest and icon writer, Father Luke (Rolland) Dingman, of Brookdale, California

This morning in the chapel of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, we are reading a dramatised version of the Passion Narrative in the Gospel According to Saint John. At 5 p.m. this evening, the celebration of the Maundy Eucharist includes the Washing of Feet. The Maundy Eucharist in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, at 6 p.m. includes the Stripping of the Altars. The setting is Plainsong Mass XI, with the Gloria from the Missa Brevis by Zoltán Kodály and Ubi Caritas by Maurice Duruflé. Then the Liturgy of the Watch follows at 9 p.m.

The name Maundy for this day is said to be derived through Middle English and the Old French mandé, from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase Jesus uses to explain to his disciples why he is washing their feet: “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” (“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13: 34).

Until the reign of James II, the monarch washed the feet of poor people on Maundy Thursday. These days, the Maundy Thursday celebrations in the United Kingdom involve the monarch giving alms in the form of “Maundy Money” in red and white purses to selected senior citizens – one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign’s age.

The Pedilavium in Lichfield Cathedral ... thought to have been designed for foot-washing on Maundy Thursday (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2012)

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Christ’s Last Supper with the Twelve, along with the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood, and the commandment of brotherly love that Christ gave after washing the feet of his disciples.

This is the only Mass on this day, and inaugurates the period of the three days known as the Easter Triduum, including Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Day. Any private celebration of Mass is forbidden on this day. Although the Chrism Mass is celebrated in some dioceses this morning, with the bishop as celebrant, it is an increasing practice that the Chrism Mass is celebrated on another day earlier this week.

All the bells of the church, including the altar bells, may be rung during the Gloria at the Mass, but the bells and the organ then fall silent until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil. The Roman Missal recommends that immediately after the homily the priest should celebrate the rite of washing the feet, usually of twelve people.

At this Mass, additional hosts are also consecrated for use tomorrow at the Good Friday service. Then, at the end of the Mass, the Blessed Sacrament may be carried in procession to a place away from the main part of the church, often called an “altar of repose.” Later, the main altar is stripped bare and crosses are removed from the church or are veiled.

Great and Holy Thursday in the Orthodox Church

An icon of the Mystical Supper

In the Orthodox Church today, the Lenten character of the services is for the most part set aside, and they follow a format closer to normal. The liturgical colours are changed from the sombre Lenten hues to more festive colours, such as red.

The Liturgy of Holy Thursday includes Matins, Vespers, and, following Vespers, the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, beginning with Matins which was served last night [Wednesday] in parish churches.

Matins (ὄρθρος, Orthros) for Great and Holy Thursday does not follow the format of Great Lent, with the singular exception of chanting “Alleluia” rather than “God is the Lord.” Instead, it is served as it is outside Lent, with a complete canon. Also, at the beginning at this service there is no further reading of the Psalter for the rest of Holy Week, with the exception of kathisma XVII at the Orthros of Great and Holy Saturday.

At Matins, the Troparion sets the theme of the day: the opposition between the love of Christ and the “insatiable desire” of Judas.

“The glorious disciples were enlightened
when you washed their feet at the Supper.
Then was the impious Judas,
overshadowed by greed of silver,
and to the unjust judges
he betrays you, the just judge.
Consider, you who love money,
he who hanged himself because of it.
Do not follow the insatiable desire
that dared him to betray his Master.
O Lord, good to all,
glory be to you.”

After the Gospel reading (Luke 12: 1-40), we are invited to contemplate the mystical and eternal meaning of the Last Supper in the beautiful canon of Saint Cosmas. Its last irmos (Ninth Ode) invites us to share in the hospitality of the Lord’s banquet:

“Come, O you faithful
Let us enjoy the hospitality of the Lord
and the banquet of immortality
in the upper chamber with minds uplifted ...”

The primary Orthodox service today is Vespers, combined with the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great in the morning.

At Vespers, the stichira on “Lord, I have cried” stress the spiritual anticlimax of Holy Thursday, the betrayal of Judas:

“Judas the slave and Knave,
the disciple and traitor,
the friend and fiend,
was proved by his deeds,
for, as he followed the Master,
within himself he contemplated his betrayal …”

After the Entrance, there are three readings from the Old Testament:

● Exodus 19: 10-19. God’s descent from Mount Sinai to his people as the image of God’s coming in the Eucharist.

● Job 38: 1-23, 42: 1-5. God’s conversation with Job and Job’s answer: “Who I this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand not, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” These great and wonderful things are fulfilled in the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood.

● Isaiah 50: 4-11. The beginning of the prophecies on the suffering servant of God,

The Epistle reading (I Corinthians 11: 23-32) is the Apostle Paul’s account of the Last Supper and the meaning of communion.

The Gospel reading – the longest of the year – is from all four Gospels and is the full story of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas and Christ’s arrest in the garden.

At the Divine Liturgy of the Last Supper, there is a custom in some Orthodox churches of placing a simple white linen cloth over the altar for this Liturgy, recalling the Last Supper.

The Gospel reading at this liturgy, the Passion Gospel (John 13: 31 to 18: 1), is known as the “Gospel of the Testament.”

The Cherubic hymn and the hymn of Communion are replaced by this troparion:

“At your Mystical Supper, O Son of God,
accept me today as a communicant;
for I will not speak of the Mystery
to your enemies,
nor like Judas will I give you a kiss;
but like the thief I will confess you:
Remember me, O Lord,
when you come into your Kingdom.”

This troparion is sung at three places in the Liturgy:

● At the Great Entrance

● As the Communion Chant

● As the Post-Communion hymn.

The ceremony of the Washing of Feet is performed in some monasteries and cathedrals, but is not part of normal worship today in Orthodox parish churches as it has become in many Western churches. In those cathedrals and monasteries where there is Washing of Feet, it takes place after the Liturgy, and then it is carried out by the bishop or the abbot (hegumen). While the deacon reads the Gospel, the bishop or abbot washes the feet of twelve priests, reminding us that Christ’s love is the foundation of life in the Church and that this love shapes all relations within the Church.

On Great Thursday, the Reserved Sacrament is customarily renewed, a new host being consecrated for the coming liturgical year, and the remainder from the previous year is consumed. It is also customary on Holy Thursday to consecrate the Holy Chrism, for we receive the new love of Christ as the gift from the Holy Spirit on the day of our entrance into the Church.

After the Liturgy, all of the hangings and vestments are changed to black or another Lenten colour, to signify the beginning of the Passion.

Great and Holy Thursday is the only day during Holy Week when people who have been observing the strict Orthodox tradition of fasting eat a cooked meal, although they wait to do this until after the dismissal of the Liturgy. Wine and oil are allowed at this meal, but the people still abstain from meat and dairy products.

The Collect of the Day:

God our Father,
you have invited us to share in the supper
which your Son gave to his Church
to proclaim his death until he comes:
May he nourish us by his presence,
and unite us in his love;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

or

Almighty God,
at the Last Supper your Son Jesus Christ
washed the disciples’ feet
and commanded them to love one another.
Give us humility and obedience to be servants of others
as he was the servant of all;
who gave up his life and died for us,
yet is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
in this wonderful sacrament
you have given us a memorial of your passion.
Grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries
of your body and blood
that we may know within ourselves
the fruits of your redemption,
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

or

O God,
your Son Jesus Christ has left us this meal of bread and wine
in which we share his body and his blood.
May we who celebrate this sign of his great love
show in our lives the fruits of his redemption;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

Last updated: 31 July 2012 (Photograph from Lichfield Cathedral)

A journey together through Holy Week

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus down from the Cross

Patrick Comerford

Throughout this week, in the chapel each morning we are reading dramatised versions of the Passion Narratives in each of the Four Gospels, concluding with the Passion Narrative in Saint John’s Gospel with my tutorial group tomorrow morning, Maundy Thursday [1 April].

As we journey together through Holy Week, the week before Easter, you will have noticed how there is a gradual build-up from Palm Sunday, through the Passion Narratives each morning, the Community Eucharist this evening, the Service of Tenebrae tonight, and the Maundy Eucharist tomorrow evening, so that we can mark Good Friday prayerfully and appropriately and be prepared to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning.

That stepping up of the tempo is reflected in the Book of Common Prayer, for example, by providing the same Post-Communion prayer for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and then providing another Post-Communion Prayer and a choice of collects on Maundy Thursday.

[The Revd Dr] Maurice [Elliott] spoke on Monday morning about the origins of Holy Week in the Church calendar. The earliest reference to the custom of marking this week as a whole with special observances is found in the Apostolic Constitutions (v. 18, 19), dating from the late third century and early fourth century. It tells us abstinence from meat was expected for all the days of week, and in addition, on the Friday and Saturday, an absolute fast was commanded. Holy Week became an established custom and tradition in the Church, and The Pilgrimage of Egeria is an early text describing the traditions of the Early Church, with complete details of the observance of Holy Week when she went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem around 381 to 384.

Sunday of Holy Week (Palm Sunday):

Holy Week begins with the Sixth and last Sunday in Lent, Palm Sunday, which recalls Christ’s Triumphant entry into Jerusalem of Christ on the Sunday before his Passion and death (see Matthew 21: 1-11; Mark 11: 1-11; Luke 19: 28-44; John 12: 12-19).

In many churches, Palm Sunday is marked by the distribution of palm leaves, often tied in the shape of crosses, and by dramatised readings of the Passion Narrative in one of the Four Gospels. In Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on Sunday morning, we began with the Blessing of the Palms in the Cloister Garth, along with the Gospel reading (Luke 19: 28-40). Then, back inside the cathedral, instead of a sermon we had and a dramatised reading of the Passion Narrative (Luke 22: 14 - 23: 56) from the pulpit.

The Gospels tell us that, before entering Jerusalem, Christ was staying at Bethany and Bethphage. The Gospel according to Saint John adds that he had dinner with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.

While he was there, he sent two disciples to the neighbouring village to retrieve a donkey that was tied up but had never been ridden. Christ then rode the donkey into Jerusalem. As he rode into Jerusalem, the people lay down their cloaks in front of him, and also lay down the small branches of trees. The people sang part of Psalm 118: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118: 26; Matthew 21: 9; Mark 11: 9; Luke 19: 38; John 12: 13).

On Palm Sunday, in many Anglican churches, palm fronds and palm substitutes – or sometimes substitutes, such as yew cuttings – are blessed outside the church, and the blessing is followed by a procession into the church. In some churches, children are given palms and then walk in procession around the inside of the church while the adults remain seated.

The palm leaves or palm crosses are often saved to be burned the following year to use as ashes used on Ash Wednesday.

The liturgical colour has changed from violet to red, indicating the supreme redemptive sacrifice Christ was entering into as he entered the city of his Passion and Resurrection.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty and everlasting God,
who, in your tender love towards the human race,
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
Grant that we may follow the example
of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation.
Give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Monday of Holy Week:

The days between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday are known as Holy Monday (Fig Monday), Holy Tuesday, and Holy Wednesday, sometimes called Spy Wednesday. The Gospels of these days recount events not all of which occurred on the corresponding days between Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and the Last Supper. For instance, the Monday Gospel tells of the Anointing at Bethany (John 12: 1-11), which occurred before the Palm Sunday event described in John 12: 12-19.

Yesterday, we begin a series of readings of dramatised versions of the Passion Narrative, beginning with the Gospel according to Saint Matthew.

In the Western Church, the Monday in Holy Week is not a major feast. But traditionally, the cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem is said to have taken place on this Monday. This was when Jesus overturned the tables of the money-changers, saying to them: ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers’ (Matthew 21: 13).

An icon of Christ the Bridegroom

In the Orthodox tradition, the service of Matins on these first three days of Holy Week – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – is known popularly as “The Bridegroom Service,” and includes the “Bridegroom Prayer.” An icon of Christ the Bridegroom is displayed in the centre of the Church, showing Christ wearing the robe of mockery and crowned with the crown of thorns. The theme of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church is extended by drawing on the parable of the ten bridesmaids.

But, alongside the suffering of Christ, three other themes mark Orthodox services on the Monday:

● The story of Joseph (Genesis chapters 37 and 39-40), whose innocent suffering and his persecution by Potiphar’s wife prefigures the suffering of the innocent Christ.

● The cursing of the barren fig tree by Christ on his way into Jerusalem (Matthew 21: 18-22). This serves as an image of the judgment that befalls all of us if we do not produce the fruits of repentance and holy living.

● The demand by the mother of Zebedee’s sons for a place of privilege in the Kingdom for James and John (Matthew 20: 20-28). James and John are seeking pride of place in the Kingdom, in sharp contrast to the humility of Christ, who renounces his status as Creator in order to suffer with and for those he has created.

Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy,
but first he suffered pain,
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of his cross,
may find it none other than the way of life and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation.
Give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Tuesday of Holy Week:

The Gospel reading for Tuesday in Holy Week (John 12: 20-36), when Christ tells his disciples that the hour for him to be glorified has come – the hour when he will be lifted up from the earth. Yesterday we read the Passion Narrative in the Gospel according to Saint Mark, and in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, the clergy of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough renewed our ordination vows at the Chrism Eucharist.

Traditionally, the Tuesday in Holy Week is also associated with the encounter between Christ and Pharisees, when they try to trap him into making a blasphemous remark, and with his discourse with his disciples on the Mount of Olives about the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of the last day. The theme for Orthodox services on Tuesday is found in the parable of the Wise and Foolish Bridesmaids (Matthew 25: 1-13), and the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30).

These are understood as parables of vigilance and judgment, emphasising our need to accept responsibility for our own lives. They also develop and elaborate the note of judgment found in the Bridegroom motif on these first three days of Holy Week: when the bridegroom comes at Easter, we must be prepared.

Collect of the Day:

O God,
who by the passion of your blessed Son made
an instrument of shameful death
to be for us the means of life:
Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ,
that we may gladly suffer pain and loss
for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation.
Give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Wednesday in Holy Week, Spy Wednesday

Today is popularly known in Ireland and in other countries as Spy Wednesday, because, as in today’s Gospel reading (John 3: 21-32), this day is thought of as the day Judas Iscariot agreed to show the chief priests where they could easily capture Christ, betraying him for thirty pieces of silver (see Matthew 26: 14-16; Mark 14: 10-12; Luke 22: 3-6).

The tempo of Holy Week is stepped up today. In the chapel this morning, we continued our dramatised readings of the Passion Narrative, with Saint Luke. At the Community Eucharist at 5 p.m. this evening, the visiting preacher is Archbishop Alan Harper. Then at 9 p.m., we end the day with Tenebrae, a traditional Holy Week service.

The word tenebrae comes from the Latin meaning darkness. In this service, the candles and the lights are gradually extinguished until the whole church is in complete darkness. At the moment of darkness, a loud clash occurs symbolising the death of Jesus. This strepitus also symbolises the earthquake that followed his death: “Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27: 50-51).

In Orthodox tradition, this Wednesday is associated with the dinner Christ had in the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany. There he was anointed on the head by Mary with very expensive ointment. Some of the disciples were indignant at this apparently wasteful extravagance, claiming the myrrh could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Christ told them that the woman’s actions would be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached (Matthew 26: 13), for she had anointed him in preparation for his burial (Matthew 26: 12).

Judas went to the Sanhedrin and offered them his support in exchange for money. From this moment on, Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Peter Paul Rubens, the Feast of Simon the Pharisee

In the Orthodox Liturgy today, the hymns of the Bridegroom Service remind us of the woman who poured precious ointment on Christ’s head at the home of Simon the Leper (Matthew 26: 7).

Those two principle themes are interwoven in the texts of the Orthodox liturgy today: the betrayal of Christ by Judas, and the anointing of Christ by the woman in the house of Simon in Bethany (Matthew 26: 6-16).

The woman figuratively draws a sharp contrast with Judas. She is a repentant sinner, and as she prepares for the death and burial of Christ she is reconciled with God. Judas, who has been given everything by Christ, shows no gratitude and turns his back on salvation.

The theme of anointing is continued in most Orthodox parishes this evening, when the principle service is the Anointing of the Sick.

Collect of the Day:

Lord God,
whose blessed Son our Saviour
gave his back to the smiters,
and did not hide his face from shame:
Give us grace to endure the sufferings
of this present time,
with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you humbled yourself in taking the form of a servant
and in obedience died on the cross for our salvation.
Give us the mind to follow you
and to proclaim you as Lord and King,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Maundy Thursday

The Last Supper, known in Orthodoxy as the Mystical Supper

Among Anglicans, Maundy Thursday is the normal name for tomorrow, and is used in the Book of Common Prayer; among Roman Catholics, it is normally known as Holy Thursday; in the Orthodox Church, it is usually Great and Holy Thursday.

In all traditions, this day is associated with the Last Supper. This is the day before the Crucifixion, and on this day Christ had his last meal with his disciples. As the Gospel according to Saint Matthew tells us:

“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins ...” (Matthew 26: 26-29).

Tomorrow morning, we are reading a dramatised version of the Passion Narrative according to Saint John. In the evening, the celebration of the Maundy Eucharist includes the Washing of Feet.

The name Maundy for this day is said to be derived through Middle English and the Old French mandé, from the Latin mandatum, the first word of the phrase Jesus uses to explain to his disciples why he is washing their feet: “Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos” (“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13: 34). This new commandment is part of the Lectionary reading for the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday (John 13: 1-17, 31b-35).

Until the reign of James II, the monarch washed the feet of poor people on Maundy Thursday. These days, the Maundy Thursday celebrations in the United Kingdom involve the monarch giving alms in the form of “Maundy Money” in red and white purses to selected senior citizens – one man and one woman for each year of the sovereign’s age.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper commemorates Christ’s Last Supper with the Twelve, along with the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the priesthood, and the new commandment to love one another. This is the only Mass on this day, and inaugurates the period of the three days known as the Easter Triduum, including Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Day. Any private celebration of Mass is forbidden on this day. Although the Chrism Mass is celebrated in some dioceses this morning, with the bishop as celebrant, it is an increasing practice that the Chrism Mass is celebrated on another day earlier in Holy Week.

All the bells of the church, including the altar bells, may be rung during the Gloria at the Mass, but the bells and the organ then fall silent until the Gloria at the Easter Vigil. It is recommended that immediately after the homily the priest should celebrate the rite of washing the feet, usually of twelve people.

At the end of the Mass, the consecrated Communion hosts may be carried in procession to a place away from the main part of the church, often called an “altar of repose.” Later, the main altar is stripped bare and crosses are removed from the church or are veiled.

You will notice how tomorrow, for the Maundy Eucharist, the liturgical colours change to white. In the Orthodox Church tomorrow, the Lenten character of the services is for the most part set aside, and the liturgical colours change from sombre Lenten hues to more festive colours, such as red.

The primary Orthodox service today is Vespers, at which there are three Old Testament readings:

● Exodus 19: 10-19. God’s descent from Mount Sinai to his people as the image of God’s coming in the Eucharist.

● Job 38: 1-23, 42: 1-5. God’s conversation with Job and Job’s answer: “Who I this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand not, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” These great and wonderful things are fulfilled in the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood.

● Isaiah 50: 4-11. The beginning of the prophecies on the suffering servant of God.

The Epistle reading (I Corinthians 11: 23-32) is the Apostle Paul’s account of the Last Supper and the meaning of communion. The Gospel reading – the longest of the year – is from all four Gospels and is the full story of the Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas and Christ’s arrest in the garden. This Passion Gospel (John 13: 31 to 18: 1) is known as the “Gospel of the Testament.”

The ceremony of the Washing of Feet is performed in some monasteries and cathedrals, but is not part of normal worship today in Orthodox parish churches. Then, after the Liturgy, all of the hangings and vestments are changed to black or another Lenten colour, to signify the beginning of the Passion.

The Collect of the Day:

God our Father,
you have invited us to share in the supper
which your Son gave to his Church
to proclaim his death until he comes:
May he nourish us by his presence,
and unite us in his love;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

or

Almighty God,
at the Last Supper your Son Jesus Christ
washed the disciples’ feet
and commanded them to love one another.
Give us humility and obedience to be servants of others
as he was the servant of all;
who gave up his life and died for us,
yet is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Post-Communion Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ,
in this wonderful sacrament
you have given us a memorial of your passion.
Grant us so to reverence the sacred mysteries
of your body and blood
that we may know within ourselves
the fruits of your redemption,
for you are alive and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

or

O God,
your Son Jesus Christ has left us this meal of bread and wine
in which we share his body and his blood.
May we who celebrate this sign of his great love
show in our lives the fruits of his redemption;
who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Good Friday

On the Friday of Holy Week, Good Friday, we remember the day on which Christ was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem, on the Hill of Calvary, and in most traditions this day is marked by solemn observances in memory of the crucifixion.

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer did not specify a particular way to observe Good Friday. And so, local custom came to expect an assortment of services, including the Seven Last Words from the Cross and a three-hour service consisting of Matins, the Ante-Communion (using the Reserved Sacrament in some parishes) and Evensong.

The Seven Last Words have been identified in tradition as:

● “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23: 34).

● “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23: 43).

● “Woman, here is your son … Here is your mother” (John 19: 26-27).

● “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27: 46, Mark 15: 34).

● “I am thirsty” (John 19: 28)

● “It is finished” (John 19: 30)

● “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23: 46).

Recent revisions of the Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship in the Church of England have introduced forms for observing Good Friday. However, the Church of Ireland’s Book of Common Prayer (2004), although it introduced provisions for Ash Wednesday, makes no provisions for Good Friday, apart from the Collects, and leaves it to local tradition to decide how to observe this day.

But as you read the notes on the calendar, and notice that no Post-Communion prayer or liturgical colour for Good Friday, you see that it is implicit that there must be no celebration of the Eucharist on Good Friday in the Church of Ireland.

Roman Catholics usually observe Good Friday with fast and abstinence, which is understood as eating only one full meal and two repasts that together ought not to equal a full meal. There is no Mass from the Mass of the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday evening to the Easter Vigil on Saturday night, and the only sacraments on Good Friday are Baptism occasionally, Penance, and the Anointing of the Sick. Holy Communion is distributed only in the Service of the Passion of the Lord.

In churches, the altar remains completely bare, without a cross, candles or altar cloths. It is customary to empty the holy water fonts in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil. Traditionally, no bells are rung on Good Friday or Holy Saturday until the Easter Vigil.

The Commemoration of the Passion of the Lord takes place in the afternoon, usually at 3 p.m., although for pastoral reasons a later hour may be chosen. The vestments are red, although traditionalists sometimes use black. This liturgy consists of three parts: the Liturgy of the Word, the Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.

For the Veneration of the Cross, a crucifix is solemnly displayed and venerated while special chants are sung. The Eucharist, consecrated at the Mass of Holy Thursday is distributed at this service. The priest and people then leave in silence, and the altar cloth is removed, leaving the altar bare except for the cross and two or four candlesticks.

In addition, the Stations of the Cross are often prayed either in the church or outside, and a prayer service, known as the Three Hours’ Agony, may take place between mid-day and 3 p.m.

The Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Christ suffered during his Passion on Good Friday. These Acts of Reparation do not involve prayers for the living or the dead, but seek to repair the sins against Christ. Pope Pius XI described these Acts of Reparation as a duty for Catholics and referred to them as “some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury” and sufferings of Christ. Pope John Paul II referred to them as the “unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified.”

In the Orthodox Church, Good Friday is known as Holy and Great Friday, or simply as Great Friday. Because of the penitence and sorrow associated with the Crucifixion, the Divine Liturgy is never celebrated on Great Friday. On Great Friday, the Orthodox clergy no longer wear the purple or red that is customary throughout Great Lent, and instead wear black vestments. All the church hangings are changed to black, and they remain so until the Divine Liturgy tomorrow, on Great Saturday. The day is observed as a strict fast, with Orthodox adults expected to abstain from all food and drink throughout the day if their health allows.

Just before the sixth Gospel reading, which recounts Christ being nailed to the cross, a large cross, with an image of the body of Christ, is carried out of the sanctuary by the priest, accompanied by incense and candles, and is placed in the centre of the nave. During the service, everyone comes forward to kiss the feet of Christ on the cross. Later, a brief, moving hymn, The Wise Thief, is chanted by singers who stand at the foot of the cross in the centre of the nave.

In the afternoon, around the 3 p.m. all gather for the Vespers of the Taking-Down from the Cross, recalling Christ’s Deposition from the Cross. The Gospel reading is from all four Gospels. During the service, the image of the body of Christ is removed from the cross, wrapped in a linen shroud, and taken to the altar. Near the end of the service, an Epitaphios or “winding sheet” – a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial – is carried in solemn procession from the sanctuary to a low table in the nave that represents the Tomb of Christ. This is often scattered with and decorated with flowers.

The Epitaphios itself represents the body of Christ wrapped in a burial shroud, and looks like a full-size cloth icon of the body of Christ.

Later on Friday evening, there is a unique service that takes place around a representation of the tomb of Christ in the centre of the church, with the chanting of the Lamentations or Praises, interspersed with the verses of Psalm 119. At one point, the priest sprinkles the tomb with rose petals and rose water.

Then, at the end of the Great Doxology, while the Trisagion is sung, the Epitaphios is taken in procession around the outside the church, and is then returned to the tomb. In some churches, the Epitaphios is held above waist level at the door so people must bow under it as they re-enter the church, symbolising their entering into the death and resurrection of Christ.

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty Father,
Look with mercy on this your family
for which our Lord Jesus Christ
was content to be betrayed
and given up into the hands of sinners
and to suffer death upon the cross;
who is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

As I pointed out, no Post Communion is provided for Good Friday.

The entombment of Christ

Easter Eve or Holy Saturday

Saturday is known as Easter Eve in the Anglican tradition, is known to our neighbours as Holy Saturday and in the Orthodox Church is Great and Holy Saturday or the Great Sabbath.

This is traditionally a day of silence and prayer, a time for thinking about the dead Christ lying in the tomb. No Holy Communion is distributed, no Mass is celebrated.

In some Anglican churches, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, there is a provision for a simple liturgy of the word with readings commemorating the burial of Christ. Once again, there is no liturgical colour and no Post-Communion Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, which is an implicit understanding that there is no celebration of the Eucharist in the Church of Ireland before the Easter Vigil.

In Roman Catholic churches, the tabernacle is left empty and open, the lamp or candle usually lit next to the tabernacle has been extinguished, and the remaining Eucharistic hosts, consecrated on Maundy Thursday, have been removed, perhaps to the sacristy. In the Orthodox tradition, Holy and Great Saturday or the Great Sabbath is the day on which Christ “rested” physically in the tomb, but it is also the day on which he performed the Harrowing of Hell, raising up those who had been held captive there.

During the day, the hangings, the altar cloths, and the vestments are changed from black to white, and the deacon censes the church. The clergy scatter laurel leaves and flower petals throughout the church, symbolising the shattered gates and broken chains of hell after Christ’s victory over death. But, while the liturgical atmosphere is changing from sorrow to joy, the Paschal greeting, “Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!” (Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!) is not yet exchanged, and the people continue to fast.

Collect of the Day:

Grant, Lord,
that we who are baptized into the death
of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
may continually put to death our evil desires
and be buried with him;
and that through the grave and gate of death
we may pass to our joyful resurrection;
through his merits, who died and was buried
and rose again for us,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Once again, no Post-Communion prayer is provided for Easter Eve.

Canon Patrick Comerford is Director of Spiritual Formation, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. This essay is based on notes prepared for a lecture on the Year III BTh course, ‘Spirituality for Today,’ on 31 March 2010.