holy week Archives - Saint Sophia

Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

11/13/2026

Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, one of the Three Hierarchs [January 30], was born at Antioch in about the year 347 into the family of a military commander. His father, Secundus, died soon after the birth of his son. His mother, Anthusa, widowed at twenty years of age, did not seek to remarry but rather devoted all her efforts to the raising of her son in Christian piety. The youth studied under the finest

His Appearing in the Liturgy

09/04/2026

~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, January 20, 2025 Standing in the Church, listening to the choir or chanter sing while priest censes the icons, words swirl with the rising smoke and connections and associations multiply as words evoke images and images evoke thoughts: participation, coinherence, incarnation, mystery, timeless form and formless time, fullness and emptiness, fulfillment and… And then the thought comes, full-formed or teasing, but it arrives. Not as a result of logic or reason,

Saturday of Souls. Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

05/30/2026

~By Father Stephen Freeman 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 Ascension to a

Palm Sunday: The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem

04/05/2026

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

Lazarus Saturday

04/04/2026

Saturday of the Holy and Righteous Friend of Christ, Lazarus Introduction On the Saturday before Holy Week, the Orthodox Church commemorates a major feast of the year, the miracle of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when he raised Lazarus from the dead after he had lain in the grave four days. Here, at the end of Great Lent and the forty days of fasting and penitence, the Church combines this celebration with that of

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Death of God, my Death and the Resurrection

03/31/2026

Sister Parakliti, Holy Skete of Saint Mary Magdalene, in Liti The grandeur of Great Friday and Great Saturday lies in the fact that human reason is incapable of comprehending that the Son of God died. In a war, for example, we can evaluate how tragic the situation is by the extent of the destruction. In some way, the same is true here. In order to stop the mighty catastrophe of human history, God died. So

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent. As Lent Moves On—The Greatest Fast Awaits

03/16/2026

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 9, 2019 As Great Lent has passed its mid-point, attention begins to move towards Holy Week itself and its very intense focus. It has been an unusual time for me, having traveled on two successive weekends to lead retreats. Travel is always disruptive, and absence from your own community creates a break in the normal continuity of the Fast. I have great sympathies for those whose jobs involve frequent travel.

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades: Soul Saturdays

06/07/2025

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 Third Friday of Pascha. A Pascha of Beauty – In a Soviet Prison – 1928

05/09/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! ~By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 8, 2018 Serge Schmemann, son of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, in his wonderful little book, Echoes of a Native Land, records a letter written from one of his family members of an earlier generation, who spent several years in the prisons of the Soviets and died there. The letter, written on the night of Pascha in 1928 is to a family member, “Uncle Grishanchik” (This was Grigory

The Second Friday of Pascha. Sacred Remembering

05/02/2025

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! CHRIST IS RISEN! Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, May 3, 2020 A question came up at Subdeacon James’ Adult education class last Thursday about remembrance, like when we say, “May her memory be eternal,” and “Remember us, O Lord, when you come into your kingdom.” That got me thinking. We have done a lot of remembering over the past few weeks and what have we gained from it? If Holy

Archive

Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

His Appearing in the Liturgy

Saturday of Souls. Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades

Palm Sunday: The Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem

Lazarus Saturday

The Sixth Tuesday of Great Lent. The Death of God, my Death and the Resurrection

The Fourth Monday of Great Lent. As Lent Moves On—The Greatest Fast Awaits

Pentecost and the Liturgy of Hades: Soul Saturdays

The Third Friday of Pascha. A Pascha of Beauty – In a Soviet Prison – 1928

The Second Friday of Pascha. Sacred Remembering

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