Glory to Your Forebearance, O Lord, Glory to You
TROPARION:
As the glorious disciples, in the washing of the feet, were enlightened, the profane Judas, ravaged by greed, was benighted. And to the lawless judges he surrenders You, the Just Judge. Consider, you who love money, the one who hanged himself for the sake of it. Shun the insatiate heart that could dare such a deed against the Teacher. Lord, benevolent above all humans, glory to You.
APOLYTIKION:
You have ransomed us from the curse of the law by Your precious Blood. Nailed to the Cross and pierced with the lance, You have poured forth immortality on mankind. Glory to You, our Savior.
The Synaxarion:
On the Holy and Great Friday we commemorate the holy, saving and awesome Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ: that he was spat upon, scourged, struck, ridiculed and mocked. We remember, too, the purple robe, the rod, the sponge, the vinegar, the nails, the lance; and above all, the Cross and death-- all of which He willingly endured for us. Further we remember the saving confession of the grateful thief who was crucified with Him,
You are the living God, though put to death on the Tree, Though naked and dead, You are the Word of the living God.
The Thief opened the locked doors of Eden, using as the key "Remember me."
In Your marvelous and infinite compassion, Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
On Great Friday the Church remembers the ineffable mystery of Christ's death. Death -- tormenting, indiscriminate, universal-- casts its cruel shadow over all creation. It is the silent companion of life. It is present in everything, ready to stifle and impose limits upon all things. The fear of death causes anguish and despair. It shackles us to the appearances of life and makes rebellion and sin erupt in us. Death is an abomination, the final indignity, the ultimate enemy. It is not of God but of men. Death is the natural fruit of the old Adam who alienated himself from the source of life and made death a universal destiny, whose very fear perpetuates the agony of sin. It was through one man that sin entered the world and through sin death, and thus death pervaded the whole human race.
The day of Christ's death is the day of sin. The sin which polluted God's creation from the breaking dawn of time reached its frightful climax on the hill of Golgotha. There sin and evil, destruction and death came into their own. Ungodly men had Him nailed to the cross, in order to destroy Him. However, His death condemned irrevocably the fallen world by revealing its true and abnormal nature.
In Christ, who is the New Adam, there is no sin. And, therefore, there is no death. He accepted death because He assumed the whole tragedy of our life. He chose to pour His life into death, in order to destroy it; and in order to break the hold of evil. His death is the final and ultimate revelation of His perfect obedience and love. He suffered for us the excruciating pain of absolute solitude and alienation-- "My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken me!" Then he accepted the ultimate horror of death with the agonizing cry, "It is finished." His cry was at one and the same time an indication that He was in control of His death and that His work of redemption was accomplished, finished, fulfilled. How strange! While our death is radical unfulfillment, His is total fulfillment.
The day of Christ's death has become our true birthday. "Within the mystery of Christ dead and resurrected, death acquires positive value. Even if physical, biological death still appears to reign, it is no longer the final stage in a long destructive process. It has become the indispensable doorway, as well as the sure sign of our ultimate Pascha, our passage from death to life, rather than from life to death."
From the beginning the Church observed an annual commemoration of the decisive and crucial three days of sacred history, Great Friday, Great Saturday and Pascha. Great Friday and Great Saturday have been observed as days of deep sorrow and strict fast from Christian antiquity. Liturgically, the profound and awesome event of the death and burial of God in the flesh is marked by a peculiar kind of silence--- by the absence of a eucharistic celebration. Great Friday and Great Saturday are the only two days of the year when no eucharistic assembly is held.
ORTHROS OF GREAT FRIDAY (Celebrated on Great Thursday evening)
This service is the longest of all divine services currently used by the Church. Its first outstanding and unique feature is that it contains a series of twelve Gospel readings and thus it is known by the pious as the "Service of the Twelve Gospels".
First Gospel reading: According to St. John 13:21-18:1
1st Antiphon: The rulers of the people take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his Anointed
A lawless accusation is laid against me, Lord, O Lord, forsake me not
Let us present our pure affections to Christ, and as His friends, through Him, make an offering of our souls. Let us not, like Judas, choke ourselves with the cares of this world, but from the treasuries of our hearts let us cry: Our Father who are in Heaven, deliver us from evil.
Second Gospel Reading: According to St. John 18:1-28
Third Gospel Reading: According to St. Matthew 26:57-75
9th Antiphon: They set a value of thirty pieces of silver on the One who is beyond value, as His own people appraised Him. Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.
For food they offered me gall, and vinegar for my thirst. But You, O LOrd, raise me up and I will repay them.
Fourth Gospel Reading According to St. John 18:28- 19:16
12th Antiphon: Thus says the Lord to His countrymen:"My people, what have I done to you or how have I disturbed you? I gave light to your blind; your lepers I cleansed; a bed-ridden man I raised up. My people, what have I done for you, and how have you repayed me? In place of the manna you gave me gall; instead of water, vinegar; instead of loving me you nailed me to the Cross. No longer then can I endure. I will summon to me the nations and they will glorify me, together with the Father and the Spirit. And to them I will grant eternal life."
Today the veil of the temple is rent as a reproach to the lawless. And the sun hides its rays as it witnesses the Master crucified.
Pharisees and lawgivers of Israel, the company of the Apostles calls out to you: "Behold the temple which you have destroyed; behold the lamb whom you have crucified. You consigned Him to the tomb, but by His own power He arose. Do not deceive yourselves. For it is He who saved you from the sea and fed you in the wilderness. He is life and light and the peace of the world."
5th Gospel: According to St. Mathew 27:3-32
At the 15th Antiphon the Estauromenos, the Cross with the icon of the Crucified Christ is taken out of the Sanctuary and, as the faithful kneel, carried in procession around the Church and placed in the middle of the solea.
Today is hung upon the Tree, He who suspended the earth amid the waters.
A crown of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of Angels. He is wrapped in the purple of mockery, Who wrapped the heavens with clouds. He is buffeted with blows, Who freed Adam in the Jordan. He is transfixed with nails, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He is pierced with a lance, Who is the Virgin's Son.
We worship Your Passion, O Christ, Show us also Your glorious Resurrection.
6th Gospel: According to St. Mark 15:16-32
Prokeimenon: They divided my garments among them, and cast lots for my clothing
7th Gospel: According to St. Matthew 27:33-54
8th Gospel: According to St. Luke 23:32-49
Oikos: Seeing her own Lamb led to the slaughter, Mary, the Virgin Mother, followed with the other women, crying out: "Where do You go, Child? For whose sake are You in such haste? Might there be another marriage at Cana, and You are hurrying there to turn the water into wine for them? Shall I come with You, Son, or would You rather I wait? Speak but a word, O Word; do not pass me by in silence, You Who kept me pure. For You are my Son and my God."
9th Gospel: According to St. John 19:25-37
10th Gospel: According to St. Mark 15:43-47
11th Gospel: According to St. John 19:38-42
Aposticha: All creation was transformed by awe as it beheld You hanging on a Cross. The sun went dark, and the earth was shaken to its very foundation. All things suffered with Him Who is the Maker of All things. Lord, Lord, You suffered willingly for us; Glory to You.
12th Gospel: According to St. Matthew 27:62-66
THE ROYAL HOURS OF GREAT FRIDAY (Celebrated on Great Friday Morning)
On the Great Friday the Royal Hours (deriving the name from Psalms 5 and 2) are celebrated in the absence of a eucharistic assembly. On the Great Friday the normal service of the Hours are expanded to include a Prophecy, Epistle and Gospel reading.
Saturday of Lazarus Palm Sunday Great Monday Great Tuesday
Great Wednesday Great Thursday Great Friday Great Saturday