holy week Archives - Saint Sophia

Palm Sunday. The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.

04/28/2024

Introduction On the Sunday before the Feast of Great and Holy Pascha and at the beginning of Holy Week, the Orthodox Church celebrates one of its most joyous feasts of the year. Palm Sunday is the commemoration of the Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Having anticipated His arrival and having heard of the miracle, the people went out to meet the Lord and welcomed

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent: The Message of the Suffering Servant

04/25/2024

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 5, 2015 The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (12:1-18) The most popular reading material in first century Palestine was the Book of Daniel with all its apocalyptic language and imagery. The brutality of the Roman Empire drove the people to long for a Messiah that would destroy the Empire and restore the Kingdom of David. It is not hard to see why

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Fullness of Lent

04/01/2024

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, March 9, 2022 This article comes to mind as we celebrate the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts on these Lenten Wednesdays and Fridays. There is nothing to compare to them in the Christian liturgical world. It’s hard to think of fasting in the midst of such a feast. Orthodoxy has a number of “favorite” words – all of which fall outside the bounds of normal speech. Though we commonly use the

The First Monday of Great Lent: Clean Monday

03/18/2024

By Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis Today the Orthodox Church begins the journey of Great Lent. Today is known as Clean Monday. The reason why Lent begins on Monday is that we have a forty day fast PLUS Holy Week. In the Orthodox Church, Holy Week begins with the Saturday of Lazarus, so Lent ends the day before, on a Friday. Thus working back forty days from Saturday of Lazarus, we end up starting on a Monday.

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

06/04/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 21, 2021 Pascha (Easter) comes with a great note of joy in the Christian world. Christ is risen from the dead and our hearts rejoice. That joy begins to wane as the days pass. Our lives settle back down to the mundane tasks at hand. After 40 days, the Church marks the Feast of the Ascension, often attended by only a handful of the faithful (Rome has more-or-less moved the

The Great and Holy Thursday: The Heart that is Open

04/13/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, April 9, 2017 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Glory to Jesus Christ! It is important to remember as we celebrate Holy Week that it is not about recreating the past. It is about taking the time at this particular moment to open our hearts and minds to Jesus as his Passion is remembered. Few of us take the time to open our hearts and minds to

The Great and Holy Wednesday: The Bridegroom and Judgment

04/12/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 27, 2021 Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, holy, holy, art Thou, O our God. Through the Theotokos, have

The Great and Holy Tuesday: Christ is in our Midst

04/11/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ: I am happy to report to you that He who promised to be always with us is in our midst. There is nothing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that promises that we would be free from the suffering that is inherent in this fallen world. The promise is that

The Great and Holy Monday: An Atonement of Shame

04/10/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 25, 2019 Some decades ago in my early (Anglican) priesthood, a parishioner brought a crucifix back from South America. The question for me as a priest was whether I would accept the crucifix as a gift and place it in the Church. I like crucifixes, my taste was always towards the Catholic direction. But, you have to bear in mind that Spanish/Latin crucifixes have a tendency to be, well, rather

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. This Time Is That Time – Holy Week Thoughts

04/07/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 19, 2019 At the very heart of traditional Christian worship is an understanding of time. “This time is that time.” When the Jews gathered for Passover and recited the words given to them, they said, “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.” Passover was not (and is not) a historical re-enactment, nor a simple memorial in which things done long ago are remembered. The key word is “we.” The events in

Tags

Palm Sunday. The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.

The Sixth Thursday of Great Lent: The Message of the Suffering Servant

The Third Monday of Great Lent: The Fullness of Lent

The First Monday of Great Lent: Clean Monday

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

The Great and Holy Thursday: The Heart that is Open

The Great and Holy Wednesday: The Bridegroom and Judgment

The Great and Holy Tuesday: Christ is in our Midst

The Great and Holy Monday: An Atonement of Shame

The Sixth Friday of Great Lent. This Time Is That Time – Holy Week Thoughts

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