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Holy Tuesday Praises and Stikhera
The Praises (Psalms 148. 149, 150) Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His exceeding greatness!(Ps 150:2) How shall I, the unworthy one, appear in the splendor of Your saints? For if I dare enter Your bridal chamber with them, my garments will betray me: they are unfit for a wedding. The Angels will cast me out in chains. Cleanse the filth of my soul, O Lord, and save me in Your love for mankind! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! (Ps 150:3) Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! (Ps 150:4) O Christ the Bridegroom, my soul has slumbered in laziness. I have no lamp aflame with virtues. Like the foolish virgins, I wander aimlessly when it is time for work. But do not close Your compassionate heart to me, O Master! Rouse me, shake off my heavy sleep! Lead me with the wise virgins into the bridal chamber, that I may hear the pure voice of those that feast and cry unceasingly: “O Lord, glory to You!” Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Ps 150:5) You have heard the condemnation, O soul, of the man who hid his talent. But do not hide the Word of God! Proclaim His wonders, that, increasing the gift of grace, you may enter into the joy of your Lord! |
Holy Wednesday Praises and Stikhera
The Praises (Psalms 148. 149, 150) Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His exceeding greatness!(Ps 150:2) A harlot recognized You as God, O Son of the Virgin. With tears equal to her past deeds, she besought You, weeping: “Loose my debt, as I have loosed my hair! Love the woman who, though justly hated, loves You! Then with the publicans will I proclaim You, O Benefactor, Who love mankind.” Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! (Ps 150:3) The harlot mingled precious myrrh with her tears. She poured it on Your most pure feet and kissed them. At once You justified her. O Lord, Who suffered for our sakes, forgive us also, and save us! Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringsand pipe! (Ps 150:4) As the sinful woman was bringing her offering of myrrh, the disciple was scheming with lawless men. She rejoiced in pouring out her precious gift. He hastened to sell the priceless One. She recognized the Master, but Judas parted from Him. She was set free, but Judas was enslaved to the Enemy. How terrible his slothfulness! How great her repentance! O Savior, Who suffered for our sakes, grant repentance to us also, and save us! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Ps 150:5) Oh, the wretchedness of Judas! He saw the harlot kiss the footsteps of Christ, but deceitfully he contemplated the kiss of betrayal. She loosed her hair while he bound himself with wrath. He offered the stench of wickedness instead of myrrh, for envy cannot distinguish value. Oh, the wretchedness of Judas! Deliver our souls from it, O God! The sinful woman ran to buy the precious myrrh with which to anoint her Savior. She cried to the merchant: “Give me myrrh, that I may anoint Him Who has cleansed all my sins!” The woman who was engulfed in sin found in You a haven of salvation.She poured out myrrh with her tears and cried to You: “Behold the One Who brings repentance to sinners! Rescue me from the tempest of sin, O Master, through Your great mercy!” |
Holy Thursday Praises and Stikhera
The Praises (Psalms 148. 149, 150) Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His exceeding greatness!(Ps 150:2) The assembly of the Jews gathers together to deliver to Pilate the Maker and Creator of all. What lawlessness! What faithlessness! The Judge of the living and the dead they prepare for judgment. The Healer of suffering they prepare for sufferings. How great is Your mercy! O long-suffering Lord, glory to You! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! (Ps 150:3) The transgressor Judas, O Lord, dipped his hand in the plate with You at supper. But now, he unlawfully stretches forth his hand for silver. He calculated the price of the woman’s myrrh, yet he does not shudder in selling You, the priceless One. He let the Master wash his feet, yet he deceitfully kisses Him in betrayal to lawless men. Cast out from the ranks of the Apostles, he casts away the thirty pieces of silver, not seeing the Resurrection on the third day. By it, have mercy on us! Praise Him with timbrel and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! (Ps 150:4) Judas, the treacherous deceiver, with a deceitful kiss betrayed the Lord and Savior. He sold the Master as a slave to lawless men, and the Lamb of God, the Son of the Father, the only greatly merciful One, was led as a sheep to the slaughter. Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! (Ps 150:5) Servant and deceiver, disciple and betrayer, friend and devil, Judas has been revealed by his deeds. While following the Master, he plotted His betrayal. He said to himself: “I shall betray him and gain the purse.” He sought to have the myrrh sold and, by deceit, to have Jesus seized. He gave the kiss and gave up the Christ. But, like a sheep, led to the slaughter, so went the only compassionate Lover of mankind. The Lamb, Whom Isaiah proclaimed, goes willingly to the slaughter; He gives his back to scourging, His cheeks to buffeting. He does not turn His face from the shame of spitting. He is condemned to a shameful death. He, Who is sinless, willingly submits to all to grant to all resurrection from the dead. |
Great and Holy Friday
April 30
Royal Hours of Pascha @ 9am
Vespers of Great and Holy Friday - Taking Christ off the Cross @ 4pm
Matins of Great and Holy Saturday - The Lamentations @ 6pm
On Great and Holy Friday, Christ died on the Cross. He gave up His spirit with the words: “It is finished” (John 19:30). These words are better understood when rendered: “It is consummated.” He had accomplished the work for which His heavenly Father had sent Him into the world. He became a man in the fullest sense of the word. He accepted the baptism of repentance from John in the Jordan River. He assumed the whole human condition, experiencing all its alienation, agony, and suffering, concluding with the lowly death on the Cross. He perfectly fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)
The Man of Sorrows... Read the rest HERE
Holy Pascha
services begin with
Nocturns of Holy Pascha
@ 11:30 pm Saturday May 1
followed by
Matins of Great and Holy Pascha
@ Midnight (12am) May 2
then the
Divine Liturgy for Holy Pascha
Follows the Matins service
At the conclusion of the Pascha services
we will celebrate with our annual Pascha "Breakfast"