Great Saturday at the Holy Sepulcher Church

For the first three days of Holy Week, our Palestinian pilgrims fast and prepare for the last time to receive the Body and Blood of Christ at the Holy Sepulcher. Many of them, who arrived in Jerusalem for Easter and did not visit the Jordan on Christmastide, travel these days to the Jordan, bathing in the cool streams of the sacred river. On Wednesday evening, pilgrims are present at the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Equal-Apostolic Kings Constantine and Helen for the Blessing of Oil and are anointed, according to Greek custom, seven times each at the end of the rite. They spend the night of Maundy Thursday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and during the liturgy at the Holy Sepulcher they partake of the Holy Mysteries. In the morning, everyone tries to enjoy the contemplation of the touching and solemn ceremony of washing their feet. Most pilgrims spend Friday either in Russian buildings or in Jerusalem monasteries, where the services of this day are performed solemnly and in an orderly manner. This cannot be said about the Good Friday services in the Holy Sepulcher Church, because the bustle, the terrible crush and the incessant cries of the jubilant Arabs who came to the celebration of receiving the Holy Fire interfere to a large extent with the orderly and orderly flow of the services here. These children of the desert, enveloped in religious ecstasy, form round dances and circle in spiritual joy around the edicule, loudly glorifying the advantages of the Orthodox faith over other faiths. “Orthodox Arabs who came from villages (there are also some beyond Jordan) to receive the Holy Fire, according to one eyewitness who lived in Jerusalem for several years, seeing themselves among a large family of fellow believers, express their joy that they profess the Orthodox faith - in a way that goes back to ancient times, for they are mentioned in the Psalmist: “All the nations clasp their hands, shout to God with a voice of joy." Fulfilling this invitation literally, they form a line and run around the Edicule of St. They splash the coffins with their hands, chanting in time various religious expressions, between which the following verse is often heard: “will ding, illya dinel-messiah,” which means in literal translation: “there is no (implied: other) faith, the one faith of Orthodox Christians” (Dushep. Reading. 1863, No. 3 p. 284). “I confess frankly that in all the manifestations of their childish joy that I saw at that time, the same observer concludes his remarks, I did not find anything “outrageous,” as some of our people write, following the writers of the Western Church, not wanting to delve into the essence of this delight... Whoever does not want to delve into the essence of the matter, let him, together with the frivolous Michal, condemn the imitators of the hymnist David” (Ibid. pp. 315-319). But it is not only the children of the desert who splash and rejoice under the arches of the Holy Sepulcher Church and thereby contribute to the disruption of silence and order in the holy place, but also pilgrims from all countries and nationalities who have come from everywhere to see this unique and exclusive spectacle - receiving the “heavenly”, “holy” fire - behave in the church no less nervously and animatedly. All the cornices of the church, galleries, free balconies and windows, arranged deliberately for spectators in the stands, have long been purchased and rebought by the lucky ones who have good money, but even the “poor pilgrims”, who in the name of Christ reached Jerusalem and lived here with all the hardships and needs, do not want to deny themselves the happiness of seeing this extraordinary triumph “with their own eyes.” They have to literally “fight” for themselves more or less comfortable places in the church, and defend them from the encroachments of others with the strength of their muscles and stubborn patience. In the church one can often hear arguments, big conversations, desperate screams and even hysterical sobs... Those who have taken comfortable places on the eaves or balconies of the church and stand on the stands, so as not to lose them, are forced from Friday evening until noon on Saturday, when the rite of receiving the holy fire is performed, to remain in a tense position all the time, without moving from their place... From the screams, the crush and the heavy atmosphere in the church, many become dizzy and lose consciousness. The huge numbers of Turkish soldiers crowding the church these days with guns in their hands, brought in by order of the local administration, are, however, unable to maintain the necessary order and restrain the nervous crowd of thousands of pilgrims of different tribes in their religious ecstasy. The soldiers, with the help of kavas, often using heavy whips on the backs of dispersed pilgrims, with great effort manage to provide free passage for the clergy and honorary visitors to the Church of the Resurrection. At about 9 ½ pm on Friday, the patriarch appears, accompanied by numerous clergy, at the Church of the Resurrection, and the noise that had reigned here until then subsides for a while. The Patriarch, standing in the throne, gives his blessing to the ecclesiarch, who enters the bell tower located above the iconostasis of the Church of the Resurrection, and very skillfully begins to sort out the beats and rivets that are hung here in sufficient quantities. This solemn ringing in the Jerusalem temple is performed only on special holidays, in the presence of the patriarch, lasts quite a long time and undoubtedly constitutes a decoration of the festive worship of the Zion Church. Despite the unfamiliarity of the Russian ear with this ringing, in view of the art of the local bell-ringers, the ringing of the bell and riveter makes a pleasant impression on Russian pilgrims. At a time when silence reigns in the church and everyone is enjoying the peculiar ringing of beats and rivets, two deacons in full vestments come out of the altar, having a censer in one hand, and with the other they support the palm in the form of a church lying on the left shoulder, covered with a rich film, they approach the throne of the patriarch, receive his blessing and cense the entire church and all the holy places (such the censing of all holy places before the start of the morning service is performed every day and not only by Orthodox deacons, but also by Armenian and Coptic deacons). Around midnight, Matins begins. Her rite is performed according to custom. 17 Kathisma is sung by the patriarch and all present bishops and hieromonks in verse. While singing the canon, the patriarch dresses in full vestments. The other two of the oldest synodal bishops do the same. The other bishops participating in the removal of the shroud wear only stoles and small omophorions. Priests put on phelonions and stoles. The Holy Shroud, made of dense material, three times larger in size than those used in our practice, with rich gold tassels in the corners, throughout Matins, strewn with fresh flowers, reclines on the Holy Shroud. throne in the altar. After the great doxology, the archimandrites take the shroud on their heads, and the hieromonks support it by the wrists and carry it through the southern door in the altar itself to Golgotha. The clergy of the Holy Sepulcher Church precede the shroud with banners, a cross and candles, and the patriarch and bishops, holding gospels and burning candles in their hands, follow behind it. Upon the arrival of the procession to Golgotha, St. the shroud is placed on the throne, in front of the cross standing here, the patriarch pronounces a special litany about the Orthodox kings and patriarchs, to which the clergy responds by repeatedly singing “Lord have mercy.” Then, with the blessing of the patriarch, who sits in the chair prepared for him (other bishops do the same), the Russian archimandrite, the head of our mission, delivers a sermon in Russian from an elevated pulpit attached to the right wall. After the sermon, the shroud is raised onto the heads of the clergy and descends through the northern staircase to the stone of anointing. Having surrounded St. the shroud three times around the stone of anointing, it is placed on it for some time. After the recitation of the litany about the Orthodox worshipers of St. Groba, the appointed hierokyrix (preacher), delivers a sermon in Arabic. At the end of the sermon, the shroud is raised from the stone of anointing and, with a procession of the cross, it is carried to the edicule of the Holy Sepulcher. After surrounding the shroud three times around the cuvuklia, the bishops bring the shroud inside the cuvuklia and place it on the saint. Coffin. The bishops, dressed in sacred robes, stand in front of the shroud inside the St. The coffin is censed in front of her until the end of Matins. After reading the Gospel and after pronouncing the special litany, two sermons are spoken one after another in Greek and Turkish. After the bishops and clergy kissed St. the shroud, they take it out of the Holy Sepulcher, bring it into the altar of the Church of the Resurrection, carry it three times around the throne and place it on it. After Matins all the lights in the Church of the Resurrection are extinguished. The Edicule is sealed. The people, despite being tired, remain in their positions, awaiting the ritual of receiving the Holy Fire. The Arabs, having temporarily stopped their jubilation and circular movements around the edicule, resume them with new energy. The enthusiasm of the jubilant reaches, one might say, limitless limits. The more agile ones jump onto the shoulders of the circling and jubilant Arabs, forming a second choir of rejoicing, carried by the first. Laughter, swearing and screams can be heard among the crowd... At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the rite of receiving St. begins in the Church of the Resurrection. fire. The Greek and Armenian patriarchs with their numerous clergy, with the help of kavas, hardly reach the edicule. The Greek Patriarch and 12 hieromonks put on white robes and prepare to perform the litany. 12 banners are brought out of the altar, followed by singers singing the troparion: “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior,” then hieromonks in pairs and, finally, the patriarch in full vestments. After circling the edicule three times, the banners, singers and hieromonks return to the altar, and the patriarch, standing before the Holy Sepulcher, takes off his sacred vestments, leaving only the vestment and a small omophorion on his shoulders. The guards remove the seals from the Coffin. The Greek and Armenian patriarchs enter it, and the doors of the Tomb close again. On the sides of the cuvuklia on the north side, near the hole located here, an Arab priest stands with a lamp to receive the saint. fire, and near the southern same hole one of the Armenian clerics stands for the same purpose. A deep reverent silence settles in the church, lasting at least fifteen minutes. At this time, everyone’s eyes are fixed on the edicule, and everyone is eagerly awaiting the appearance of St. fire. The deafening ringing of “all evil” from the bell tower of the Church of the Resurrection interrupts the tense silence and announces to the pious pilgrims the end of the ceremony. St. is shown in the holes of the Edicule. a fire that, like a sea, in the blink of an eye, spreads throughout the entire church. Each pilgrim who is in the church, having in his hand a bunch of candles in the amount of 33, according to the number of years of our Savior’s life on earth, hastens in spiritual joy to light it from St. fire. Not many, however, of the pilgrims preserve St. fire until the end of the ceremony, most of them, after lighting from St. fire, soon extinguishes the candles deliberately for this purpose with sold paper caps filled with cotton wool. This is done for the purpose that the candles blessed by St. by fire, preserved as a souvenir and taken as a pilgrimage relic to their homeland. Thanks to this, smoke and stench fill the Jerusalem temple, and the already suffocating atmosphere in it, thanks to the huge crowd of pilgrims, becomes positively unbearable... With the receipt of St. The fire of rejoicing of the Arabs knows no bounds. While singing the same verses, in sacred ecstasy, they burn their chests, hands, lips with fire, and even extinguish bunches of burning candles right on their foreheads or chests, believing that by doing this they insure themselves against all sorts of diseases. The Patriarch, who was in the cuvuklia, holding lighted candles in both hands, leaves the coffin and appears among the people. This appearance intensifies the people's rejoicing, and their enthusiasm knows no bounds. Everyone rushes to the patriarch to light a candle from his candle, reverently touch his clothes, etc. The patriarchal cavacas, with the help of soldiers and heavy whips, with great effort, manage to lead the exhausted patriarch to the altar. The clergy greets the patriarch with the receipt of holy grace. Little by little, people begin to leave the Church of the Resurrection to rest and strengthen themselves for the Easter vigil. Many people leave the church with St. fire to light a lamp in your cell and then keep the saint. fire all year long. The rejoicing of the Arabs also gradually subsides, moving into the streets, and the Holy Sepulcher Church is empty and ventilated. In the Church of the Resurrection, after the departure of the patriarch and synodals, the liturgy of St. begins. Basil the Great, which is performed by one of the bishops. There are usually few pilgrims attending it, and yet this service is furnished in the Orthodox East with curious details that are completely unknown among us. This service is called the “First Resurrection,” and the rituals performed during its celebration fully justify this name. After reading only three proverbs, instead of our fifteen, namely from the book of Genesis, from the book of Exodus and from the prophet Daniel and the apostle, the bishop, dressed in bright vestments, begins to sing before the throne the verse: “Arise, O God, judge the earth.” While singing the same verse in the choir, the bishop opens the royal doors and, holding a basket of fresh flowers and daphnes in his hands, scatters them throughout the church with a greeting to the people: “Christ is Risen.” At this time, the beats and rivets of the Resurrection Church accompany the touching singing of sweet-voiced singers about the resurrection of the Savior. This liturgy ends with the dismissal: “Christ our true God has risen from the dead.” You might be interested in: