of the Crucifixion, 16th century, by
Theophanes the Cretan (
Stavronikita Monastery,
Mount Athos) Byzantine Christians (
Eastern Christians who follow the
Rite of Constantinople:
Orthodox Christians,
Eastern Lutherans and
Greek-Catholics) call this day "Great and Holy Friday", or simply "Great Friday". Because the sacrifice of Jesus through his crucifixion is recalled on this day, the
Divine Liturgy (the sacrifice of bread and wine) is never celebrated on Great Friday, except when this day coincides with the
Great Feast of the
Annunciation, which falls on the fixed date of 25 March (for those churches which follow the traditional
Julian Calendar, 25 March currently falls on 7 April of the modern
Gregorian Calendar). Also on Great Friday, the clergy no longer wear the purple or red that is customary throughout
Great Lent, but instead don
black vestments. There is no "stripping of the altar" on
Holy and Great Thursday as in the West; instead, all of the
church hangings are changed to black, and will remain so until the Divine Liturgy on
Great Saturday. The faithful revisit the events of the day through the public reading of specific
Psalms and the
Gospels, and singing
hymns about Christ's death. Rich visual imagery and symbolism, as well as stirring hymnody, are remarkable elements of these observances. In the
Orthodox understanding, the events of
Holy Week are not simply an annual commemoration of past events, but the faithful actually participate in the death and the
resurrection of Jesus. Great and Holy Friday is sometimes observed as an absolute
fast, and adult
Byzantine Christians are expected to abstain from all food and drink the entire day to the extent that their health permits. "On this Holy day neither a meal is offered nor do we eat on this day of the crucifixion. If someone is unable or has become very old [or is] unable to fast, he may be given bread and water after sunset. In this way we come to the holy commandment of the Holy Apostles not to eat on Great Friday." (cf.
Black Fast) at Holy Trinity Monastery,
Meteora, Greece The first of these twelve readings is the longest Gospel reading of the
liturgical year, and is a
concatenation from all
four Gospels. Just before the sixth Gospel reading, which recounts Jesus being nailed to the cross, a large
cross is carried out of the sanctuary by the priest, accompanied by
incense and candles, and is placed in the center of the
nave (where the congregation gathers)
Sēmeron Kremātai Epí Xýlou: Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the Cross
(three times).He who is King of the angels is arrayed in a crown of thorns.He who wraps the Heavens 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 Thy Passion, O Christ
(three times).Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection. The readings are: • John 13:31–18:1 – Christ's last sermon, Jesus prays for the
apostles • John 18:1–28 – The agony in the
garden, the mockery and denial of Christ • Matthew 26:57–75 – The mockery of Christ,
Peter denies Christ • John 18:28–19:16 –
Pilate questions Jesus; Jesus is condemned; Jesus is mocked by the Romans. • Matthew 27:3–32 –
Judas commits suicide; Jesus is condemned; Jesus mocked by the Romans;
Simon of Cyrene compelled to carry the cross • Mark 15:16–32 – Jesus dies • Matthew 27:33–54 – Jesus dies • Luke 23:32–49 – Jesus dies • John 19:25–37 – Jesus dies • Mark 15:43–47 –
Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus • John 19:38–42 – Joseph of Arimathea buries Jesus • Matthew 27:62–66 – The Jews set a guard During the service, all come 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 center 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 mankind.
Royal Hours The next day, in the
forenoon on Friday, 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 scripture readings (
Old Testament,
Epistle and Gospel) and hymns about the Crucifixion at each of the Hours (some of the material from the previous night is repeated). This is somewhat more festive in character, and derives its name of "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 mankind, and also from the fact that this service was in the past attended by the Emperor and his court.
Vespers of Holy and Great Friday and the placing of the
Epitaphios in the Sepulchre In the afternoon, around 3 pm, all gather for the Vespers of the Taking-Down from the Cross, commemorating the
Deposition from the Cross. Following Psalm 103 (104) and the Great Litany, 'Lord, I call' is sung without a Psalter reading. The first five stichera (the first being repeated) are taken from the Aposticha at Matins the night before, but the final 3 of the 5 are sung in Tone 2. Three more stichera in Tone 6 lead to the Entrance. The Evening
Prokimenon is taken from Psalm 21 (22): 'They parted My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.' There are then four readings, with Prokimena before the second and fourth: • Exodus 33:11–23 – God shows Moses His glory • The second Prokimenon is from Psalm 34 (35): 'Judge them, O Lord, that wrong Me: fight against them that fight against Me.' • Job 42:12–20 – God restores Job's wealth (note that verses 18–20 are found only in the Septuagint) • Isaiah 52:13–54:1 – The fourth
Suffering Servant song • The third Prokimenon is from Psalm 87 (88): 'They laid me in the lowest pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.' • 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:2 – St. Paul places Christ crucified as the centre of the Christian life An Alleluia is then sung, with verses from Psalm 68 (69): 'Save Me, O God: for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.' The Gospel reading is a composite taken from three of the four the Gospels (Matthew 27:1–38; Luke 23:39–43; Matthew 27:39–54; John 19:31–37; Matthew 27:55–61), essentially the story of the crucifixion as it appears according to St. Matthew, interspersed with St. Luke's account of the confession of the Good Thief and St. John's account of blood and water flowing from Jesus' side. During the Gospel, the body of Christ (the
soma) is removed from the cross, and, as the words in the Gospel reading mention Joseph of
Arimathea, is wrapped in a linen shroud, and taken to the
altar in the sanctuary. ("winding sheet"), depicting the preparation of the body of Jesus for burial The Aposticha reflects on the burial of Christ. Either at this point (in the Greek use) or during the troparion following (in the Slav use): An
epitaphios or "winding sheet" (a cloth embroidered with the image of Christ prepared for burial) is carried in procession to a low table in the nave which represents the Tomb of Christ; it is often decorated with an abundance of flowers. The epitaphios itself represents the body of Jesus wrapped in a burial shroud, and is a roughly full-size cloth icon of the body of Christ. The service ends with a hope of the Resurrection: Then the priest may deliver a
homily and everyone comes forward to venerate the epitaphios. In the
Slavic practice, at the end of Vespers,
Compline is immediately served, featuring a special
Canon of the Crucifixion of our Lord and the Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos by Symeon the Logothete.
Matins of Holy and Great Saturday in a church in Greece On Friday night, the Matins of
Holy and Great Saturday, a unique service known as
The Lamentation at the Tomb (Epitáphios Thrēnos) is celebrated. This service is also sometimes called
Jerusalem Matins. Much of the service takes place around the tomb of Christ in the center of the nave. In Greek communities all over the world, the
Epitaphios procession is a ceremonial funeral procession for Christ that takes place in Greek Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic traditions on Good Friday, where a decorated kouvouklion is carried around local cities. The decorated kouvouklion symbolizes the casket or tomb of Jesus Christ, and when it is fully decorated with flowers, candles, and the special iconographic cloth depicting the dead body of Christ known as the epitaphios cloth, the entire object is referred to as the Epitaphios. A unique feature of the service is the chanting of the Lamentations or Praises (
Enkōmia), which consist of verses chanted by the clergy 9 interspersed between the verses of
Psalm 118 (which is by far the longest
psalm in the Bible). The
Enkōmia are the best-loved hymns of Greek Byzantine hymnography, both their poetry and their music being uniquely suited to each other and to the spirit of the day. '' by
Théodore Jacques Ralli c. 1893, Greek women decorating the kouvouklion with flowers featuring the iconographic cloth known as the Epitaphios They consist of 185
tercet antiphons arranged in three parts (
stáseis or "stops"), which are interjected with the verses of Psalm 118, and nine short
doxastiká ("
Gloriae") and
Theotókia (invocations to the Virgin Mary). The three
stáseis are each set to its own music, and are commonly known by their initial antiphons: , "Life in a grave", , "Worthy it is", and , "All the generations". Musically they can be classified as
strophic, with 75, 62, and 48 tercet
stanzas each, respectively. Lauds follows, and its stichera take the form of a funeral lament, while always preserving the hope of the Resurrection. The doxasticon links Christ's rest in the tomb with His rest on the seventh day of creation, and the theotokion ("Most blessed art thou, O Virgin Theotokos...) is the same as is used on Sundays. At the end of the
Great Doxology, while the
Trisagion is sung, the epitaphios is taken in
procession around the outside of the church, and is then returned to the tomb. Some churches observe the practice of holding the epitaphios at the door, above waist level, so the faithful must bow down under it as they come back into the church, symbolizing their entering into the death and resurrection of Christ. The epitaphios will lie in the tomb until the
Paschal Service early Sunday morning. In some churches, the epitaphios is never left alone, but is accompanied 24 hours a day by a reader chanting from the
Psalter. When the procession has returned to the church, a troparion is read, similar to the ones read at the Sixth Hour throughout Lent, focusing on the purpose of Christ's burial. A series of prokimena and readings are then said: • The first prokimenon is from Psalm 43 (44): 'Arise, Lord, and help us: and deliver us for Thy Name's sake.' • Ezekiel 37:1–14 – God tells Ezekiel to command bones to come to life. • The second prokimenon is from Psalm 9 (9–10), and is based on the verses sung at the kathismata and Lauds on Sundays: 'Arise, O Lord my God, lift up Thine hand: forget not Thy poor forever.' • 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; Galatians 3:13–14 – St. Paul celebrates the Passion of Christ and explains its role in the life of Gentile Christians. • The Alleluia verses are from Psalm 67 (68), and are based on the Paschal verses: 'Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered.' • Matthew 27:62–66 – The Pharisees ask Pilate to set a watch at the tomb. At the end of the service, a final hymn is sung as the faithful come to venerate the Epitaphios. ==Roman Catholic==