Preparing for Holy Week

For me, Holy Week is a profoundly significant event in my spiritual life, as it is for many Orthodox Christians. This week is filled with daily services filled with beautiful hymns and readings that remind us in a most personal way of Christ’s love shown in His self-sacrifice on the Cross and His glorious Resurrection. I feel as if I am actively participating in the passion of Christ. Every year, I am changed in some profound way. 

To experience Holy Week we must fully commit ourselves to participate in the many services and practice self-restraint through fasting. As Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans (12: 1-2), we must offer our bodies as a living sacrifice in liturgical worship, and let God re-make us in His image. We must be open to change and continually repent of our sins, recognizing our limitations and celebrating the faith God has given us based on the hope of our resurrection. Don’t allow yourselves to be distracted by those who discourage your full participation, including fasting.

Our souls need this nourishment. The world that surrounds us, even in our church community, can easily distract and discourage us from living an Orthodox Christian life. At times we all fail to recognize our sinfulness and our need for divine help. Paul tells us set aside our exaggerated ideas about our self-importance. We must accept the limits of our being, seek to nourish your soul, and participate fully in this Holy Week. 

In the Orthodox Church, Holy Week begins with Christ's arrival in Jerusalem and includes services that mark the events of His Passion and Resurrection. The beautiful bridegroom services that begin on Sunday evening are filled with beautiful hymns concluding on Tuesday evening  with the moving hymn of Cassiani. On Wednesday, we have the opportunity to receive Holy Unction for the healing of our soul and body.

Thursday marks the initiation of the sacrament of Holy Communion at the Mystical Last Supper which is celebrated with a Divine Liturgy. That evening, we witness the crucifixion as the 12 Gospels are read on His Passion, and we have the opportunity to venerate Christ as He hangs on the Cross in a darkened, candlelit service. On Friday afternoon, we witness His burial, and that evening participate in a solemn procession  singing hymns of lamentation. 

On Saturday, we begin to celebrate Christ’s descent into Hades with a morning liturgy. The climax of the week comes on Saturday evening at midnight when the light of Christ is brought from the altar and passed on to each member, lighting all the candles held by each individual. The church is filled with light, and the glorious sounds of angelic hymns proclaim His Resurrection. This joyful proclamation, "Christ is risen, defeating death by death," fills our hearts and souls with His love and light.

As we enter Holy Week, let us all humble ourselves with restraint, fasting, and extra liturgical worship. Above all, let us remember that our purpose as Orthodox Christians is to become like Christ, to purify our hearts of sinfulness and passions, and to prepare ourselves for eternal life in his Kingdom. The Orthodox way of life supports our efforts toward this aim.

More on the Orthodox way of life.