What is the symbolism and significance of the removal of the shroud on Good Friday? Good Friday services. The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud

What is the removal of the Shroud

The term "shroud" appeared in Russian liturgical books in late XVI century. The Shroud is an icon depicting the Savior lying in the tomb. Usually this is a large cloth (piece of fabric) on which the image of the Savior laid in the tomb is written or embroidered. Removal of the Shroud and Funeral Rite- these are the two most important services that take place on Good Friday Holy Week. Good Friday is the saddest day in church calendar for Christians all over the world. On this day we remember the suffering of the Cross and the death of Jesus Christ.

Removal of the Shroud

Done Friday afternoon at Vespers on Holy Saturday, at the third hour of Good Friday - at the hour of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (i.e., the service usually begins at 14.00). The shroud is taken out of the altar and placed in the center of the temple - in the “coffin” - a raised platform decorated with flowers and anointed with incense as a sign of grief over the death of Christ. The Gospel is placed in the middle of the Shroud.

Liturgical features of the burial rite

Matins of Great Saturday with the Rite of Burial usually served on Friday evening. The shroud in this service is given the role that in other cases the icon of the holiday has.

Matins begins as a funeral service. Funeral troparia are sung and incense is performed. After the singing of the 118th Psalm and the glorification of the Holy Trinity, the temple is illuminated, then the news of the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb is proclaimed. This is the first, still quiet, because the Savior is still in the tomb - the good news of the Resurrection of Christ.

During the service, believers make a procession of the cross - they carry the Shroud around the temple and sing “Holy God.” The religious procession is accompanied by the ringing of funeral bells.

At the end of the burial ceremony, the Shroud is brought to the royal doors, and then returned to its place in the middle of the temple so that all the clergy and parishioners can bow to it. There she remains until late evening on Holy Saturday.

Only before Easter Matins, during the Midnight Office, is the Shroud taken to the altar and placed on the throne, where it remains until Easter is celebrated.

Iconography of the Shroud

The Shroud is a plate on which the Savior is depicted lying in the tomb. This icon (the Shroud is considered an icon) has traditional iconography.

In the central part of the composition of the Shroud the icon “Position in the Tomb” is depicted. The entire body or just the body of the buried Christ.

The “Position in the Tomb” icon describes the gospel scene of the burial of the crucified Jesus Christ. The body was taken from the cross and wrapped in a shroud, that is, burial shrouds soaked in incense. Then the Savior was placed in a coffin carved into the rock, and a large stone was rolled at the entrance to the cave.

The shroud is performed in different techniques. Most often, velvet fabric is used as a basis. For example, Shrouds of the XV-XVII centuries. were made using the facial sewing technique. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. craftsmen combined gold embroidery or relief applique of fabrics with painting. The face and body of Christ were painted using painting techniques. There were also completely picturesque Shrouds.

Nowadays you can often see Shrouds made using typographic methods in churches. These are the costs of mass production - handmade it costs expensive.

Along the perimeter of the Shroud, the text of the troparion of Great Saturday is usually embroidered or written: “The noble Joseph took down Your most pure body from the tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud and covered it with odors (option: fragrant scents) in a new tomb, and laid it.”

Traditions of removing the Shroud

In some temples after procession The clergy carrying the Shroud stop at the entrance to the temple and raise the Shroud high. And the believers following them, one after another, go to the temple under the Shroud. A small liturgical cover is usually placed in the middle of the shroud, along with the Gospel. Sometimes the face of Christ depicted on the Shroud is covered with a shroud - in imitation of the rite of priestly burial, which prescribes covering the face of the clergyman lying in the coffin with air (air is a large quadrangular cover that symbolically depicts the shroud with which the body of Christ was entwined).

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The Shroud is the most important part of the entire divine service performed on the Great Friday of Holy Week.

Great Vespers and the removal of the Shroud on Good Friday take place at 2-3 p.m. This action completes the cycle of services for this day. It is this time that is considered to be the time of the Savior’s death. By this hour the Shroud is taken to the temple. Removal is carried out through the Royal Doors. Before lifting the Shroud from the throne, the clergyman is obliged to bow to the ground three times. Then, in the presence of a deacon with a candle and censer, as well as priests, the Shroud is carried into the temple through the northern gate. A special place on a hill is prepared for her, which may be called a “coffin.” It is decorated different colors as a sign of sorrow for Jesus Christ, and also anoint the place with incense. The Gospel is placed in the center of the Shroud.

After Great Vespers, Little Compline is held. Hymns are sung about the lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, as well as a canon about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. After this, everyone can venerate the Shroud. The shroud lies in the center of the temple for three days (incomplete), thereby reminding believers of the presence of Jesus Christ in the tomb.

During the service, believers make a procession of the cross - they carry the Shroud around the temple and sing “Holy God.” The religious procession is always accompanied by the ringing of funeral bells.

Only before Easter Matins, during the Midnight Office, is the Shroud taken to the altar and placed on the throne, where it remains until Easter is celebrated.

On Good Friday, people all over the world bow before the Shroud with special reverence. It is a living confirmation of what Jesus Christ did for humanity. His torment and death were able to open for us the entrance to paradise, which was closed after the sin of the first people, and also give us hope of meeting the Lord after death.

Sermons for Holy Week - Met. Anthony of Sourozh
Removal of the shroud. Good Friday. April 8, 1966

How difficult it is to connect what is happening now and what once was: this glory of the removal of the Shroud and that horror, human horror that gripped all creation: the burial of Christ on that one, great, unique Friday. Now the death of Christ tells us about the Resurrection, now we stand with lit Easter candles, now the Cross itself shines with victory and illuminates us with hope - but then it was not so. Then, on a hard, rough wooden cross, after many hours of suffering, the incarnate Son of God died in the flesh, the Son of the Virgin died in the flesh, Whom She loved like no one else in the world - the Son of the Annunciation, the Son who was the come Savior of the world.

Then, from that cross, the disciples, who had previously been secret, but now, in the face of what had happened, opened up without fear, Joseph and Nicodemus took down the body. It was too late for the funeral: the body was taken to a nearby cave in the Garden of Gethsemane, laid on a slab, as was customary then, wrapped in a shroud, covering the face with a scarf, and the entrance to the cave was blocked with a stone - and that was as if that was all.

But there was more darkness and horror around this death than we can imagine. The earth shook, the sun darkened, the whole creation was shaken by the death of the Creator. And for the disciples, for the women who were not afraid to stand at a distance during the crucifixion and dying of the Savior, for the Mother of God this day was darker and more terrible than death itself. When we now think about Good Friday, we know that the Saturday is coming, when God rested from His labors - the Saturday of victory! And we know that on the bright night from Saturday to Sunday we will sing the Resurrection of Christ and rejoice over His final victory.

But then Friday was the last day. Nothing is visible behind this day, the next day was supposed to be the same as the previous one, and therefore the darkness and gloom and horror of this Friday will never be experienced by anyone, will never be comprehended by anyone as they were for the Virgin Mary and for the disciples of Christ .

We will now prayerfully listen to the Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, the lamentation of the Mother over the body of the cruel death of her lost Son. Let's listen to him. Thousands, thousands of mothers can recognize this cry - and, I think, Her cry is more terrible than any cry, because from the Resurrection of Christ we know that the victory of the general Resurrection is coming, that not a single one is dead in the tomb. And then She buried not only Her Son, but every hope for the victory of God, every hope for eternal life. The endless days began, which, as it seemed then, could never come to life again.

This is what we stand in front of in the image Mother of God, in the image of Christ's disciples. This is what the death of Christ means. In the remaining a short time let us delve into this death with our souls, because all this horror is based on one thing: SIN, and each of us who sin is responsible for this terrible Good Friday; everyone is responsible and will answer; it happened only because a person lost love and broke away from God. And each of us, who sins against the law of love, is responsible for this horror of the death of the God-Man, the orphanhood of the Mother of God, for the horror of the disciples.

Therefore, when we venerate the sacred Shroud, we will do it with trepidation. He died for you alone: let everyone understand this! - and let us listen to this Cry, the cry of the whole earth, the cry of hope that has been torn, and thank God for the salvation that is given to us so easily and which we pass by so indifferently, while it was given at such a terrible price to God, and the Mother of God, and the disciples . Amen.

Troparion (tone 1)

At Christmas you preserved your virginity, at the Dormition you did not abandon the world, O Mother of God, you reposed in the Life of the Mother of the Being of the Life, and through Your prayers you delivered our souls from death.

Kontakion (voice 2)

In prayers, the never-sleeping Mother of God and in intercessions, the immutable Hope of the grave and mortification cannot be restrained, as if the Mother’s Life was reposed to the Life in the womb of the ever-virgin One.

Greatness

We magnify You, Immaculate Mother of Christ our God and glorify Your Dormition all-gloriously.

ORIGIN OF THE HOLIDAY, ITS MEANING AND IMPORTANCE

The Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God has been established since ancient times. He is mentioned in the writings of Blessed Jerome, St. Augustine and Gregory, Bishop of Tours. In the 4th century, the Dormition was celebrated everywhere in Constantinople. At the request of the Byzantine Emperor Mauritius, who defeated the Persians on the 15th day of August, the day of the Assumption of the Mother of God became a church-wide holiday in 595.

Initially the holiday was celebrated in different time: in some places - in January, in others - in August. Thus, in the West, in the Roman Church (in the 7th century), on January 18, the “death (depositio) of the Virgin Mary” was celebrated, and on August 14, the “assumption (assumptio) into heaven.” This division is significant in that it shows how the ancient Western Roman Church, in agreement with the Eastern Church, looked at the death of the Mother of God: without denying the bodily death of the Mother of God, which the current Roman Catholic Church is inclined to do, the Ancient Roman Church believed that this death was followed by the resurrection of the Mother of God. The general celebration of the Dormition on August 15 in most Eastern and Western Churches was established in the 8th-19th centuries.

The main purpose of establishing the holiday was to glorify the Mother of God and Her Dormition. To this goal from the IV-V centuries. another is added: denunciation of the errors of the heretics who encroached on the dignity of the Mother of God, in particular, the errors of the Collyridians (heretics of the 4th century), who denied human nature of the Blessed Virgin and, accordingly, those who denied Her bodily death.

In the 5th century, Patriarch Anatoly of Constantinople wrote stichera for the feast of the Assumption, and in the 8th century, two canons were written by Cosmas of Maium and John of Damascus.

According to the most ancient and generally accepted tradition of the Church, the celebrated event took place as follows. After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven, the Most Holy Virgin, remaining, according to the will of Her Son, in the care of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, constantly remained in the feat of fasting and prayer and in the liveliest desire to contemplate Her Son, seated at the right hand of God the Father. The high lot of the Most Blessed Virgin, Her involvement in the matter of God’s gracious vision for the salvation of the world, made Her whole life wondrous and instructive. "Wonderful Your birth, - exclaims, - a wonderful way of education, wonderful, wondrous and inexplicable for mortals is everything in You, Bride of God.” “Wonderful are Your mysteries, Mother of God! You, Lady, appeared as the Throne of the Most High and today you passed from earth to Heaven. Godlike is Your glory, shining with miracles befitting God.”

At the time of Her Dormition, the Most Holy Virgin Mary lived in Jerusalem. Here, three days before her death, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Her, and, as it was foretold to Her about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her, when She approached Her departure from the earthly vale, the Lord revealed to Her the secret of Her blessed Assumption. “Again Gabriel was sent from God to preach the coming of the Pure Virgin.” Her repose was marked by miracles, which she sings in her songs. On the day of Her death, the apostles, at the command of God, were caught up into the clouds and from different countries lands were transferred and placed in Jerusalem. The apostles had to see that the Dormition of the Mother of God was not an ordinary, but a mysterious repose, just as Her birth and many circumstances of life were miraculous. “It was necessary for the eyewitnesses of the Word and the servants to see the Dormition according to the flesh of His Mother, since it was the final sacrament over Her, so that they would not only see the ascension of the Savior from the earth, but would also witness the repose of the One who gave birth to Him. Therefore, gathered from everywhere by Divine power, they arrived in Zion and accompanied the Supreme Cherub going to heaven.”

At the Dormition of the Mother of God, James, the brother of the Lord in the flesh, the Apostle John the Theologian, the Apostle Peter - “the honorary head, the chief of the Theologians” and other apostles, with the exception of the Apostle Thomas, were present.

The Lord Himself with the Angels and saints appeared in extraordinary light at the meeting of the soul of His Mother. The Most Holy Theotokos, seeing the Lord, glorified Him, for He fulfilled the promise to appear at Her Dormition, and with a smile of joy on her face she gave up Her blessed soul into the hands of the Lord.

“Departing as if with raised hands, with which She carried God in the flesh, the All-Immaculate One, with the boldness of the Mother, said this to the Born: “Keep in everything those whom You have given Me,” those “who will call on My name and You, who were born of Me, My Son and My God, and fulfill all their requests for good.”

Having accepted the holy soul of the Blessed Virgin, the Lord handed Her over to Archangel Michael and the Powers of the disembodied Angels, “clothed Her,” says the ancient synaxar, “as if in a shell, the glory of which cannot be expressed; and Her honest soul was seen as white as light.” “The heavenly Divine villages worthily received You (Mother of God), as an animated sky, and You, brightly adorned as the All-Immaculate Bride, appeared to the King and God.”

The transition to eternal and better life was the death of the Pure and Immaculate Virgin Mary: She reposed from a temporary life to a truly Divine and unceasing life to contemplate in joy Her Son and Lord, sitting with the flesh taken from Her and glorified at the right hand of God the Father. “Now Mariam rejoices, seeing the all-immaculate Body of the Lord, deified, on the Throne of God.”

According to the will of the Blessed Virgin, Her body was buried in Gethsemane between the tombs of Her righteous parents and Joseph the Betrothed. “The apostolic face buried the body of the Blessed Virgin who had received God.”

“Oh, a wondrous miracle,” he exclaims, “the source of life is placed in the tomb, and the ladder to heaven (the) tomb appears: rejoice, Gethsemane, holy house of the Mother of God.”

On the third day, when the Apostle Thomas, who was not at the death and burial of the Most Holy Theotokos, came to Gethsemane and the coffin was opened for him, the Most Pure Body of the Mother of God was no longer there.

“Why do you dissolve joy with tears, preachers of God? The twin (Apostle Thomas) came, admonished from above, inviting the Apostle: you see the belt (of the Mother of God) and understand, the Virgin is risen from the grave,” “as the Mother of God.”

The apostles were very surprised and saddened when they did not find the Holy Body of the Mother of God - only the Shroud lay in the tomb as false evidence of Her repose.

The Church has always believed that the Mother of God was resurrected by Her Son and God and taken to heaven with her body: “The honorable body of the Blessed Virgin did not see corruption in the tomb: but She and her body passed from earth to heaven.” “The God-receiving body, even if it dwells in the tomb, but does not habitually abide in the tomb, rises by the power of the Divine.” For it was not fitting for the village of life, says the synaxarion of the holiday, to hold on, and for the creature that gave birth to the Creator in an uncorrupted body to be left to decay in the earth with the creature. “The King God of all gives you supernatural things, for just as he was preserved as a virgin at birth, so in the tomb he preserved the body incorruptible and together (with Himself) glorified Divine glorification, giving You honor as the Son of the Mother."

After the Dormition of the Mother of God, the apostles, during a meal, talked about the miraculous disappearance of the body of the Mother of God from the tomb. Suddenly they saw the Most Holy Virgin in heaven “living, standing with many Angels and shone with ineffable glory,” Who said to them: “Rejoice.” And involuntarily, instead of: “Lord Jesus Christ, save us,” they exclaimed: “Most Holy Theotokos, help us” (hence the custom of offering prosphora at meals in honor of the Mother of God, called the “Rite of Panagia”).

At the tomb of the deceased, we tend to think about the life he lived, about what it was like, what the person managed to accomplish in the life given by the Lord as an individual, what special features distinguished his character. If, over the tomb of the Mother of God, someone asked what constituted the essence of the character and life of this highest Person, one could answer, following Saint Demetrius of Rostov: virginity, virgin purity of soul and body, deep humility, complete love for God - the highest, most perfect holiness , which is only achievable for a person in the flesh. The Blessed Virgin was, as St. Andrew of Crete says, “the Queen of nature,” “the Queen of the entire human race, who is above everything except the One God.” She was the Most Honest Cherub, the Most Glorious Seraphim without comparison.

“Even the highest being of heaven and the most glorious Cherub, and the most honorable of all creation, who, for the sake of purity, was a friend of the Everlasting Being, in the Son’s hand today betrays the all-holy soul.”

The Mother of God achieved this perfect holiness and purity with the help of God's grace personal feat improvement. The Most Blessed Virgin was prepared for such holiness before Her birth by the feat of the Old Testament Church in the person of previous generations of righteous people, forefathers and fathers commemorated before the Nativity of Christ (see about this below: Week of the Holy Forefather and Father before the Nativity of Christ).

"Being highest heaven and more glorious than the Cherubim, surpassing all creation in honor,” She appeared “for her excellent purity as a shelter for the eternal Being,” and served great secret The Incarnation of God became the Matter of Life, “the source of the beginning of the life-saving and saving incarnation for all.”

Just contact with the Blessed Virgin, spiritual communication with Her, even the simple sight of Her, delighted, took the breath away, and touched the contemporaries of Her earthly life. Righteous Elizabeth, according to the Gospel, is filled with spiritual delight. According to legend, the same feelings are experienced by Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer and Saint Dionysius the Areopagite. Ignatius the God-Bearer visited the Mother of God in the house of the Apostle John the Theologian. Saint Dionysius, a noble and educated man, in a letter to the Apostle Paul writes that when the Apostle John led him into the dwelling of the Most Holy Virgin, he was illuminated from without and from within by a wondrous Divine light of such power that his heart and spirit were exhausted, and he was ready to honor Her worship that is due to God Himself. In the person of the Holy Virgin, Christianity has the wondrous beauty of virginity, moral perfection and humble wisdom.

The thought of the Mother of God as the ideal of a deified person is too strong in the church consciousness. The name of the Blessed Virgin is chanted at all services. Mother of God holidays equalized with the Lord's holidays. In liturgical hymns and akathists, She is depicted with superhuman features: an ever-flowing Source, giving water to the thirsty; the fiery Pillar showing everyone the path of salvation; burning bush; Joy to all who mourn; Hodegetria - Guide to salvation, opening the doors of heaven to the Christian race.

Serving the mystery of the incarnation and salvation was the essence of the life of Our Lady. In Her person, humanity participates in salvation as a Divine-human cause. “The Mother of God, although not independently, femininely and, so to speak, painfully, walks together with her Son the path to Golgotha, beginning with the Bethlehem manger and flight into Egypt, and, standing at the cross, receives the torment of the cross into Her soul. In Her face the Mother of the human race suffers and is crucified. Therefore, She is called the Lamb in church hymns, along with the Lamb (Christ).” She is the Mother of the human race, by whom we are adopted by Her Divine Son Himself.

On the day of the holiday, “the sacred and glorious memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary, adorned with Divine glory,” gathers all the faithful to the joy and glorification of Her “Divine Dormition,” for “the Mother of Life, the candle of unapproachable Light, the salvation of the faithful and the hope of our souls, is brought to life.” She through whom we are deified is presented gloriously into the hands of Her Son and Master. She gave an immaculate soul into the hands of the Son, therefore, with Her holy Dormition, the world was revived and brightly celebrates with the disembodied and the apostles. In view of organic connection the whole world, what happened to the Mother of God at the Assumption and after Her Assumption could not help but be reflected in all areas of the world - in Her the whole world overcomes death. The world, as it were, took another step in this regard after it was granted the Resurrection of Christ, as if it came even closer to the general resurrection. “Having once been cursed by God, the earth was sanctified by the burial of our God and now again by Your burial, Mother.” To reveal the essence of the event, songwriters in the troparion of the holiday and in stichera resort to comparisons of the celebrated event with greatest event in the life of the Mother of God - by Her birth of the Son of God. The correspondence, first of all, lies in the fact that both events are not explainable by the laws of nature, and the first of them determined the second: having become the Matter of Life, the Most Holy Theotokos could not die, in in its own sense this word, - She passed on to true life from this illusory and incomplete earthly life. “At Christmas you preserved your virginity, at the Dormition you did not forsake the world, the Mother of God, you reposed in the Life (life), the Mother of the Being of the Life (being the Mother of life).”

What was wonderful and unusual about the Nativity of the Mother of God was the seedless conception, and at Her Assumption - incorruption (“incorruptible death”): “ double miracle, miracle connected with miracle; for she who has not experienced marriage turns out to be the nurse of the Child, still remaining pure, and who finds herself under the yoke of death is fragrant with incorruption.”

The chants of the holiday, the composition of which dates back to the 6th-8th centuries, reflect the most ancient tradition of the entire Orthodox Church, affirm and express Orthodox view on the image of Her death and warn against all kinds of possible dogmatic errors. Modern Roman Catholic theologians are inclined to completely deny the corporeal Mother of God, believing that the Most Holy Theotokos was completely removed from ancestral sin (the doctrine of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary). After the proclamation of the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin, Catholic theology went further along the path of proclaiming a new dogma and teaching about the bodily ascension of the Mother of God into heaven (without bodily death). Contrary to this opinion, Orthodox teaching speaks of the actual bodily death of the Mother of God. “Even though the incomprehensible fruit of Sowing (i.e., the incarnate Son of God), by Whom the heavens were, the burial was accepted by the will, as if the burial had been rejected (then as the inexperienced One who had given birth would have avoided burial."

And the apostles who were present at the Dormition of the Mother of God saw in Her “a mortal wife, but also supernaturally the Mother of God.” Having the highest holiness and personal sinlessness by grace (but not by nature), the Mother of God was not removed from the common destiny of all people - death as a consequence of original sin, present in the very nature of man, death, which became, as it were, the law of human nature. Only the God-man Christ, sinless by nature and not involved in original sin, was not involved in death in the body. And He accepted death voluntarily, for us, for our salvation. The Mother of God “submits to the laws of nature” and, “dying, rises to eternal life with son" . “Having emerged from deadened loins, O Pure One, You received an end in accordance with nature, but having given birth to real Life, You reposed to Divine and Hypostatic Life.”

According to the faith of the Church, the Mother of God, after Her Dormition and burial, was resurrected by Divine power and remains in heaven with Her glorified body. But the resurrection of the Mother of God is similar to other cases of the resurrection of the dead and differs from the only and saving for all Resurrection of the God-man Christ the Savior. This Orthodox teaching, contrary to the views of Catholics, does not diminish, but exalts, the dignity and glory of the Blessed Virgin, who through the feat of life achieved the greatest holiness and purity, which served the Incarnation and our salvation. In praise and admiration of the glory of the Mother of God, both heavenly and earthly are united.

“Blessed are You in heaven and glorified on earth. Every tongue glorifies You with thanksgiving, confessing You as the Matter of Life. The whole earth was filled with Your glory; everything was sanctified by the world of Your fragrance. Through You, the sorrows of the foremother were transformed into joy. Through You all the Angels sing with us: “Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth.” The tomb cannot hold You: for that which perishes and is destroyed does not darken the Master’s body. Hell cannot possess You: since the royal soul is not touched by fellow servants” (St. Andrew of Crete).

Great is the glory of the Mother of God in heaven after her repose. “The sweetest Paradise of the Divine and the most beautiful of the whole world, visible and invisible. She rightfully became not only close, but also at the right hand of God, for where Christ sat in heaven, there is now this Most Pure Virgin, She is both the repository and the owner of the wealth of the Divine” (St. Gregory Palamas). “Wonderful are Your secrets, Mother of God: You, Lady, have appeared as the Throne of the Most High. Godlike is Your glory, shining with miracles befitting God.”

The Dormition of the Mother of God was Her transition to this glory and bliss in heaven. Therefore, this is not a day of sadness, but of joy of all earthly and heavenly. The Dormition of the Mother of God is glorified by all ranks of Angels, “the earthly ones rejoice, flaunting Her Divine glory.”

“The Sun of (Divine) glory not only sheds the light of bliss on Her, but even enters into Her, and thus this entire multi-flowing source of light is contained, that the blessed face of the Blessed Virgin casts rays from itself, like a second sun of glory, aggravating the light of a non-evening day.” . “Understand the difference,” says further the famous Greek poet and theologian Elijah Minyaty, Bishop of Cephalonite, “between the bliss that all the souls of other righteous people enjoy, and that which the Mother of God Mary rejoices in: they partly perceive the light of Divine glory, but this one perceives all sun of glory. Those who received grace here in part and, to the extent of grace, enjoy glory there. This there is the abode of all glory, just as here was the abode of all grace. She was here, as the Archangel called Her, grace-filled, that is, she had all the fullness of Divine grace. John the Theologian also says this: “To each of the elect, grace has been given in part. The Virgin is all the fullness of grace.”

The Lord, who gave so much to the Mother of God Herself, gave special grace to the whole world through Her repose into heaven. With the Dormition, the possibility of grace-filled intercession for the world opened up for Her. Just as, while in this world, the Most Pure Virgin Mary was not alien to the heavenly abodes and was constantly with God, so after her departure She did not withdraw from communication with people, did not leave those in the world. “You lived with people,” says Saint Andrew of Crete, turning to the Mother of God, “A small part of the earth had You, and since You were transformed, the whole world has You as propitiation.” “Even though you passed from earth to heaven, O Virgin, yet Your grace is poured out and fills the whole face of the earth.” Now the Virgin Mary has ascended to heaven “to joy and help us,” “to the nearest intercession for all of us, “now it is possible for heaven to be both a person (and for people).” “Rejoice, O Joyful One,” is sung in the Akathist, “who did not leave us in Your Assumption.”

The significance of the Mother of God for us earth-borns is especially marked prayer appeal to Her: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.” The boldness of such treatment has the rich historical experience. All Christian history, starting with the marriage in Cana of Galilee, is imprinted by the manifestation of Her power, proof of Her power and mercy, as the Mother of our Lord and the Mother of the Christian race: “Rejoice,” she cries, “the Lord is with Thee and with Thee with us.” She is, according to the Lord of lords, our Master, Lady and Mistress, our hope and hope of eternal life and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Of course, what has been said does not end there deep meaning and the significance for us of the event of the Assumption. The ascent of the Mother of God is surrounded by clouds, “so as if some spiritual darkness covers the revelation of everything in words about Her, not allowing the hidden understanding of the sacrament to be clearly expressed” (St. Andrew of Crete).

“Wonderful are Your mysteries, O Mother of God. Every tongue is perplexed to praise according to property. Every mind is amazed (not able) to comprehend the great mysteries of the Mother of God and Her glory, and “no flexible, eloquent tongue can so floridly sing Her at her true worth.” “Besides (however) a good being, accept (our) faith, for we weigh (you know) our divine (fiery) love, for You are the Representative of Christians, We magnify You.”

FEATURES OF THE HOLIDAY SERVICE

For the worthy celebration of the Assumption, Christians prepare for a two-week fast, which is called the Assumption, or the Fast of the Most Holy Theotokos, and lasts from August 1/14 to August 14/27. This fast is the second strictest after Lent. During the Dormition Fast, it is prohibited to eat fish, boiled food with vegetable oil allowed only on Saturdays and Sundays, and without it - on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fasting was established in imitation of the Mother of God, who spent her entire life, and especially before Her Dormition, in fasting and prayer. Fasting before the Dormition in August has been known since the 5th century. In the 12th century, at the Council of Constantinople (1166), it was decided to fast for two weeks before the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary (and only on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord was eating fish allowed).

If the Feast of the Assumption falls on Wednesday or Friday, fasting is permitted only for fish. If it is Monday and other days, laymen are allowed meat, cheese and eggs, and monks are allowed fish.

During the Assumption Fast, as well as during the Petrov and Nativity fasts, on days not marked by any holidays (before the service “on 6” inclusive), according to the Rules (Typikon, Chapter 33 and Chapter 9) it is prescribed to sing “Alleluia” instead of “God” Lord,” read the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian with bows and hours instead of the Liturgy. “Alleluia” and great bows do not occur on the days of the forefeast, afterfeast, and on the very feast of the Transfiguration (from August 5/18 to August 13/26). Therefore, during the entire Lent, such Lenten worship is possible only twice: August 3/16 and August 4/17 (see Typikon, follow-up under August 1–14).

At the all-night vigil, the same three paremias are read as at the Nativity of the Virgin Mary: about the mysterious ladder seen by the patriarch Jacob, about the prophet Ezekiel’s vision of the closed eastern door of the temple, and about the house and meal of Wisdom.

At the litia, at “God is the Lord” and at the end of Matins - the troparion of the holiday. Magnification is sung in polyeleos. There are two canons. Canon 1st tone: “Adorned with Divine glory” by Cosmas of Maium (VIII century), second canon 4th tone – “I will open my mouth” by John of Damascus (VIII century).

On song 9, instead of “The Most Honest Cherub,” the chorus and irmos of the first canon are sung.

Chorus: The angels saw the Most Pure Dormition and were amazed at how the Virgin ascended from earth to heaven.

Irmos: Nature's Rules are conquered in You, Pure Virgin: the Nativity is virgin (birth remains virgin) and the belly is betrothed to death (and life is betrothed to); Virgin after birth, and alive after death, saving Thy inheritance to the Mother of God.

The same refrain to the troparions of the first canon. To the second canon there is another refrain.

At the Liturgy, the honorable man is sung: “The rules of nature are conquered” with a refrain.

The Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary has one day of pre-celebration (August 14/27) and 8 days of post-feast. It is given away on August 23/September 5.

ORIGIN OF BURIAL OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

In some places, as a special celebration of the holiday, a separate burial service for the Mother of God is performed. It is celebrated especially solemnly in Jerusalem, in Gethsemane (at the site of the supposed burial of the Mother of God). This service for the burial of the Mother of God in one of the Greek publications (Jerusalem, 1885) is called “Sacred observance of the repose of our Most Holy Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary.” In manuscripts (Greek and Slavic) the service was opened no earlier than the 15th century. The service is performed in the likeness of the Matins of Great Saturday and the main part of it (“Praises” or “Immaculate”) is a skillful imitation of the Great Saturday “Praises”. In the 16th century it was widespread in Rus' (then this service was almost forgotten).

In the 19th century, the funeral rite for the Assumption was performed in a few places: in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, in the Kostroma Epiphany Monastery and in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. In the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra it did not constitute a separate service, but was performed at the all-night vigil of the holiday before the polyeleos (Immaculate with choruses, divided into 3 sections).

Currently, in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the full rite of burial of the Mother of God is performed at Matins on August 17/30 according to the rite of Gethsemane with some changes. At the festive all-night vigil before the polyeleos, there is a special chant of the first stichera and verses of the three articles of the rite of the “Burial of the Mother of God” in front of the icon of the Dormition.

With the blessing of St. Philaret of Moscow, in the Gethsemane monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in addition to the Assumption, the feast of the resurrection and ascension of the Mother of God into heaven was established (August 17/30). The day before, at the all-night vigil, the Jerusalem Follow-up took place. In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (according to the handwritten Charter of the Lavra of 1645), this rite was performed in ancient times at the vigil of the holiday after the 6th song. In Jerusalem, in Gethsemane, this burial service is performed by the patriarch on the eve of the holiday - on the morning of August 14/27.

“Praise, or sacred following at the holy repose of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary” - this is the title under which this rite was first published in Moscow in 1872, performed in Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Athos. It was transferred from Greek language Professor Kholmogorov in 1846; the necessary corrections were made by Saint Philaret of Moscow. The same “Following” took place in the Gethsemane monastery. Currently, the Jerusalem “Followment to the Repose of the Most Holy Theotokos,” or “Praise,” has again become widespread in many cathedrals and parish churches. This service is usually performed on the second or third day of the holiday.

The full rite of burial of the Mother of God according to the Jerusalem tradition is placed in the “Service for the Dormition” (published by the Moscow Patriarchate, 1950) in the form of an all-night vigil (Great Vespers and Matins), at which polyeleos and magnification are not sung. The “Liturgical Instructions for 1950” contains the “Rite of Burial,” but instead of Great Vespers before Matins, it indicates the succession of Lesser Compline (similar to the service on Great Friday). The sequence of Matins and “Praise” in the “Liturgical Instructions” are printed in full (according to the Jerusalem Study).

FEATURES OF THE BURIAL SERVICE

In the stichera on “Lord, I cried,” the last five stichera are taken from the Jerusalem sequence. The stichera for “Glory” “To you, clothed with light, like a robe” was composed in imitation of a similar stichera on Great Friday at Vespers. Entrance with censer. Proverbs of the holiday. Litiya (festival stichera).

“Glory”: “When you descended to death, Immortal Mother of the Belly.” “And now: “The sacred disciple carried the body of the Mother of God to Gethsemane.”

When singing troparions from the altar through the Royal Doors, the icon of the Assumption or the shroud is carried to the middle of the temple and placed on the lectern or on the tomb (if it is a shroud). Incense is performed on the shroud, the entire temple and the people.

After the troparions, “Immaculate” is sung with choruses, divided into three sections. Between the articles there is a litany and a small incense (of the shroud, iconostasis and people).

At the end of the third article, special troparia “for the Immaculate Ones” are sung: “The Council of Angels was surprised, in vain you were counted among the dead” with the refrain: “Blessed Lady, enlighten me with the light of Your Son.”

After the small litanies there are sedate ones, the first antiphon of the 4th voice “From my youth.” Polyeleos and magnification are not sung. Next is the Gospel and the usual sequence of the Matins of the holiday. After the Gospel, everyone venerates the icon or shroud, and the abbot anoints the believers with consecrated oil.

Before the great doxology on “Glory, even now,” the Royal Doors open and the clergy go out to the middle of the temple to the shroud.

After the great doxology, while singing the final “Holy God” (as when carrying out the Cross), the clergy raises the shroud, and a procession of the cross takes place around the temple, during which the troparion of the holiday is sung and the trezvon is performed. At the end of the religious procession, the shroud is placed in the middle of the temple. Next is the litany and other sequences of Matins.

On Good Friday, a special service is performed in the church - the Rite of Burial of the Shroud.

Easter (this year - April 28, 2019) is Holy holiday, which is preceded by very sorrowful ones, tragic events associated with the death of the Savior on the cross. This happened on Friday, which is also called Passionate, emphasizing the suffering of Christ, and Great, meaning the importance of this day.

How the ceremony of removing the Shroud on Good Friday takes place is described in detail below.

Why is Friday called Good Friday?

The events of Good Friday will become clear if we rewind time just one day back and plunge into the atmosphere of Thursday (the same Thursday that people called Clean Thursday).

Let us mentally imagine the Lord's Supper - a kind of farewell evening, which became the last for Christ and his disciples. Of course, none of the 12 apostles had any idea that Jesus would be taken into custody a few hours later.

And only Judas Iscariot was aware of what was happening, because the traitor had already begun his vile game. Having reached an agreement with the Savior’s enemies, he literally sold his teacher for 30 pieces of silver.

By the way, today scientists have made simple calculations that have revealed amazing fact. Those 30 pieces of silver are today's 6 thousand dollars. This is the amount Judas valued the Lord’s life at.

Of course, Christ knew about the upcoming torment, because he came to earth in order to die and then be resurrected. Through his atoning sacrifice, the Lord was to save all mankind. But did he know in detail what would happen in a few hours? Hardly.

Therefore, immediately after the supper, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to retire and mentally prepare for the most difficult test. This is what this place looks like today (Jerusalem, Israel).

Meanwhile, Judas was already with his accomplices. The remaining 11 disciples settled down not far from the Savior. Thursday turned out to be a very busy day, so they fell asleep very quickly: fresh air, sweet silence and sentimental Moonlight did their job.

But Christ had no time for sleep. The moment of his suffering and passion is described in great detail in the Bible.

The Savior turned his gaze to heaven and simply prayed to God.

Perhaps everyone has heard the expression “the passion of Christ.” It's not just a name famous film, but also part of the true biography of the Savior - the events of the last days of his earthly life. Of course, at that moment he was experiencing not carnal, but spiritual passions.

This is what we sometimes call the words “the soul hurts.” Painful thoughts, a feeling of the inevitability of suffering and a terrible, unjust death. Needless to say, in this mental struggle a person especially needs the support of his loved ones - at least a warm word and a kind look.

Obviously, this is exactly what the Lord wanted when he approached his disciples. But they were already fast asleep. Christ did not wake them up, did not ask for help, although, of course, he had every right to do so. It’s just that this was not part of his mission - the Savior does not share his suffering, but bears his cross to the end.

A few hours later he will literally carry a huge wooden cross. Together with a raging crowd, representatives of the authorities and a small number of sympathizing people, the Lord reached a place called Golgotha... (Gospel of Matthew, chapter 27).

This is what it looks like today (Jerusalem, Israel).

Screaming enemies, laughing soldiers, whispering conspirators - their discordant cries turned into disgusting chaos, which reverberated with a dull, sad noise in the ears of all those gathered. No one thought about what would happen in just a few minutes. The Lord dies in torment and struggle.

At that very second, the unexpected happened. The sky became dark as if night had suddenly fallen or a total solar eclipse. The stones at the foot of the cross cracked, and the curtain in the local temple was torn exactly in half.

The crowd was seriously scared. Those who just recently shouted and mocked the defenseless man hurried to go home. And many soldiers, timid people, felt not only trembling fear, but also deep respect for the deceased. They believed that Christ was truly the Son of God.

A few more hours later, when Golgotha was deserted, one rich man, whose name was Joseph, came to the cross with the body of Jesus (whether it’s a coincidence or not, but the same name was given to the Savior’s earthly father, Mary’s husband). He removed the body, embalmed it, swaddled it and performed the burial ceremony (placed it in a stone tomb).

The next day, the traitors were afraid of the already dead Christ, because they remembered his promise that in three days he would rise again. Therefore, they decided to move a heavy stone to the entrance to the tomb, put a seal on it, and in addition set up a guard who should stand at his post around the clock.

No, those people did not know that no security could disrupt God’s plans, because Christ’s mission would be completed only when he was resurrected. So, all that remains is to wait for the fulfillment of this promise. And this was exactly the case when the promised one waits not for three years, but for three days.

After all, on Sunday a great miracle will happen, which a good half of humanity still remembers today. We call him Happy Easter– a holiday of hope and good changes, the victory of life over death, spring over winter, the forces of light over the forces of darkness.

But the other hero of this story faced real death, without the prospect of resurrection. Judas Iscariot never got to enjoy his $6,000. After the death of Christ, he was terribly afraid for his transgression, realizing that he had done something terrible.

Taking a wallet with 30 ill-fated pieces of silver, the traitor went to the conspirators to return the money to them. But the life of the innocently murdered man could not be returned. And the attackers had nothing to do with these bloody coins.

Judas became confused and threw the money right in the temple. The silver coins rolled across the floor, jingling and bouncing alarmingly. This ominous sound seemed to foreshadow an imminent tragedy. Iscariot ran from the city and hanged himself on the first tree he came across.

The legend says that at first he wanted to hang himself on a birch tree, but it got scared and turned white with fear. Then the traitor committed suicide on an aspen tree. Since then, the aspen bush has been trembling in the wind more than others - apparently, it never recovered from what happened...

From this short story It becomes clear that such an event is a real dramatic story, and Good Friday is called so for a reason. By the way, all days last week before Easter are called passionate (like the week itself), for example: Holy Thursday(aka clean), Good Friday, Holy Saturday, etc.

It is also customary to call days great, because they are the most significant and revered in Christianity. Thus, Good Friday is, without exaggeration, a great, dramatic day, which even today requires a special attitude and respect from us.

Holy Friday service

The Good Friday service of Holy Week has several differences from traditional church services.

First of all, the Liturgy is not celebrated on this day, since it was on this day that Christ was crucified, who himself became a sacrifice for the salvation of all sinners. In addition, the main service pays attention only to the suffering and death of the Lord, who lay in the tomb for two full days, and rose again on the third (Easter).

The main icon of the service is the shroud. It is a fabric on which is embroidered the image of the body of the deceased Christ.

As a rule, the shroud is a rather dense material of a dark (black) or dark red color (priests also dress in clothes of mourning shades). Around the image are embroidered letters with a phrase about how Joseph took the body of the Lord from the cross and buried him in the tomb.

The entire service is a reverent vigil before the tomb of Christ, which the shroud represents. In essence, this is an expression of grief for the deceased - a kind of memorial service in memory of the Savior, who fell victim to an unjust earthly court.

The course of the service is as follows:

The vigil begins at lunchtime; First, the funeral troparia are sung, then Psalm 118. This reading contains its own sacred meaning: reverence for the Lord, participation in his suffering, as well as glorification of the Holy Trinity.
Then the consecration of the temple takes place, after which the news about the women who came to the tomb is proclaimed.
After this, at approximately 15:00 local time, the rite of removing the shroud is carried out. After all, it was at this time of Good Friday that Christ died, uttering his last words: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
The clergy take the shroud, three people approaching it from each side, after which the icon is carried around the temple in a solemn procession of the cross. The priests are followed by the faithful. They sing the chant “Holy God.”
The shroud is brought into the temple and placed in the middle of the temple on a small elevation decorated with flowers. Thus, the icon resembles a coffin in which the deceased Savior lies. She will stay like this until the evening of the next day.
Now every believer can come up and bow to the icon, and also kiss the pierced places - hands and feet. This is how the rite of burial of the shroud is performed on Friday before Easter (the text of the service is the same, read in Old Church Slavonic).
The next day, on Saturday evening, the shroud is taken to the altar, where it will remain until Easter, i.e. until the next day.

The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud in the church: video

The rite of removal and burial of the shroud on Good Friday is a truly special service, which is performed only once a year, and is unlike any other service. Every believer should see this with his own eyes.

The ceremony of removing and burying the shroud on Good Friday has not only symbolic, but also spiritual significance.

This is how clergy and believers remember the sufferings and passions of Christ that he experienced in last days your life on earth. The Shroud in this sense acts as a material image, with the help of which one can clearly feel the atmosphere of that tragic day.

In the first four daysLentmorning (except Mondays) in churches are performedspecial Lenten morning services, the hours are read.In the evening - donereading the Great penitential canon Saint Andrew of Crete.The collected events of Old Testament and New Testament history are presented with deep heartfelt contrition, offering Christians saving lessons of repentance and active turning to God...

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RITE OF CONSECTION OF KOLIV

On the first Friday of Great Lent, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated in an unusual manner. The canon of St. is read. to the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron, after which Kolivo is brought to the middle of the temple - a mixture of boiled wheat and honey, which the priest blesses with the reading of a special prayer, and then Kolivo is distributed to the believers.

A prayer service before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God "Semipalatinsk-Abalatskaya" is not served on this day

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GENERAL CONFESSION - at the end of the evening Lenten service

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ON THIS DAY MANY WHO CONFESSED YESTERDAY ARE TRYING TO RECEIVE COMMUNION

First Saturday of Great Lent. Memory of Theodore Tyrone

and what he did miracle: pagans deliberately desecrated food in the markets of Constantinople, but thanks to the warning of the great martyr, believerswere able to stock up and not buycontaminated food. That is why, the day before, on Friday evening, a kolivo was consecrated in memory of the miracle.

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First Sunday of Lent

The name of the First Sunday of Great Lent sounds so beautiful that even a person not versed in the history of the holiday feels touched by the great meaning - the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

This is the first solemn service of Great Lent, when you hear the bells ringing “at the top of their lungs” in the bell tower... and you become so joyful that our Orthodoxy is so powerful and spacious. And you fully feel what the “Triumph of Orthodoxy” is...

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Liturgy is not celebrated on weekdays, Communion is received only on Wednesday and Friday with previously consecrated Gifts.

If you go only to Sunday services during Lent, you will not feel fasting, despite abstaining from food. It is also necessary to attend special fasting services in order to feel the contrast of these holy days with other days of the year, in order to deeply breathe in the healing air of Lent. The main special service is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts

(infants are not given communion at this Liturgy)

Removal of the Shroud

Divine services Good Friday

What is the removal of the Shroud

Term "shroud" appeared in Russian liturgical books at the end of the 16th century. The Shroud is an icon depicting the Savior lying in the tomb. Usually this is a large cloth (piece of fabric) on which the image of the Savior laid in the tomb is written or embroidered. Removal of the Shroud and Funeral Rite - these are the two most important services that take place on Good Friday of Holy Week. Good Friday is the most mournful day in the church calendar for Christians around the world. On this day we remember the suffering of the Cross and the death of Jesus Christ.

Removal of the Shroud

Liturgical features of the burial rite

Matins of Great Saturday with the Rite of Burial usually served on Friday evening. The shroud in this service is given the role that in other cases the icon of the holiday has.

Only before Easter Matins, during the Midnight Office, is the Shroud taken to the altar and placed on the throne, where it remains until Easter is celebrated.

Iconography of the Shroud

The Shroud is a plate on which the Savior is depicted lying in the tomb. This icon (the Shroud is considered an icon) has traditional iconography.

In the central part of the composition of the Shroud the icon “Position in the Tomb” is depicted. The entire body or just the body of the buried Christ.

The shroud is made using different techniques. Most often, velvet fabric is used as a basis. For example, Shrouds of the XV-XVII centuries. were made using the facial sewing technique. In the XVIII-XIX centuries. craftsmen combined gold embroidery or relief applique of fabrics with painting. The face and body of Christ were painted using painting techniques. There were also completely picturesque Shrouds.

Nowadays you can often see Shrouds made using typographic methods in churches. These are the costs of mass production - handmade is expensive.

Traditions of removing the Shroud

In some churches, after the religious procession, the clergy carrying the Shroud stop at the entrance to the temple and raise the Shroud high.

And the believers following them, one after another, go to the temple under the Shroud. A small liturgical cover is usually placed in the middle of the shroud, along with the Gospel. Sometimes the face of Christ depicted on the Shroud is covered with a shroud - in imitation of the rite of priestly burial, which prescribes covering the face of the clergyman lying in the coffin with air (air is a large quadrangular cover that symbolically depicts the shroud with which the body of Christ was entwined).

What is the symbolism and significance of the removal of the shroud on Good Friday? Good Friday services. The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud

What is the removal of the Shroud

Removal of the Shroud

Liturgical features of the burial rite

Iconography of the Shroud

Traditions of removing the Shroud

ORIGIN OF THE HOLIDAY, ITS MEANING AND IMPORTANCE

FEATURES OF THE HOLIDAY SERVICE

ORIGIN OF BURIAL OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

FEATURES OF THE BURIAL SERVICE

Why is Friday called Good Friday?

Holy Friday service

The rite of removal and burial of the Shroud in the church: video

Removal of the Shroud

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