V. Недели православия и крестопоклонная в Иерусалиме в Святогробском храме.

In Jerusalem, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, thanks to the gathering here at this time in huge numbers of diverse Orthodox worshipers and in front of all the numerous heterodox rivals, who have been waging a fierce struggle against Orthodoxy here for a long time and trying by all means to catch the weakest in the Catholic faith in their insidious nets, the week of Orthodoxy is celebrated on a par with the twelfth holidays and is surrounded by extraordinary solemnity divine services, the grandiose majesty of religious rites and litanies and the splendor of the very furnishings in churches and in the attire of the clergy, out of the ordinary order, in order, so to speak, to clearly show and prove to everyone that “this faith is apostolic, this faith is paternal, this faith is Orthodox, this faith establishes the universe.” Entrance to the Holy Sepulcher Church (Resurrection of Christ) The Edicule, the repository of the three-day bed of our Savior, precious to every Christian, is decorated from top to bottom for this day with ancient and sometimes precious icons, which are usually found, as the fruit of ardent love and reverent veneration of this holy place by Christ-lovers of the entire Orthodox world, in the skevophilakia - the sacristy. In front of each icon and along all the lines and cornices of the edicule, candles of all possible sizes and varied decorations, and numerous silver, gold and crystal multi-colored lamps are lit. On this day, icons with the same lamps and candles find a place from top to bottom and along all the lines of the majestic iconostasis of the Resurrection Church and even on its walls. Thousands of multi-colored glass lamps, hung in garlands in various directions in the church and in the dome, illuminate the interior of the church and its galleries, which are incredibly crowded with Orthodox pilgrims and non-religious spectators. The arrival of the patriarch with the synodal bishops and clergy to all services of this day is arranged with festive solemnity. The Patriarch is given a festive meeting in the southern doors of the church, where a velvet robe is put on him and a cross is handed to him in his right hand, and a staff is given to his left paterince. The Patriarch, having venerated the stone of anointing, goes to venerate the Holy Sepulcher in the Edicule and from there, blessing St. the people cross right and left, heading to their throne, standing under a luxurious canopy on the right side of the Church of the Resurrection. Having blessed the people from the throne on all sides, the patriarch, while singing “These are the people, the despot,” sits on the seat and blesses the next ephemerians - the priest and the deacon - to begin Great Vespers. From the bell tower of the Church of the Resurrection, placed in the middle of its iconostasis, inside the church, first heavy blows are heard on the “heavy tree,” then skillful currents are heard on the “beating and riveting” iron, finally turning into the noisy red peal of the “whole campanium.” All this takes about 20 minutes and, with the silent reverent silence in the church, makes a deep impression on the pilgrims, and undoubtedly gives the Greek clergy high and aesthetic pleasure. With the last chord of the skilled bell-ringer in the bell tower, the royal doors quickly open, and the hierodeacon emerging from the altar, as if picking up the sound of the bell fading under the arches of the church, exclaims in a high tenor: “Arise, Master, bless.” Everyone rises from their seats. The hieromonk says: “Glory to the saints,” and the patriarch in the throne reads the opening psalm. The hierodeacons’ “Calling to the Lord” of the church and the people with the “Zions”, which they support with their left hands on special luxurious brocade shrouds pinned to the left shoulder of the surplice, sprinkling of all those praying with rose water from a bottle with a very narrow neck, the solemn exit of the entire cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre clergy into the middle of the church for singing “Quiet Light” and to celebrate the litia with the blessing of the loaves - all this is performed in the Holy Sepulchre Church according to the rites of the great holidays. From the church, the patriarch returns to the patriarchate solemnly, accompanied by the synodals and all the clergy who served him. Orthodox Church of the Resurrection. (Greek katholikon) Matins and the Liturgy at the Holy Sepulcher are performed according to custom by one of the regular synodal bishops at the appointed time, i.e. at 12 o'clock at night and at 2 o'clock in the morning. People in huge numbers overflow the Holy Sepulcher Church, remaining awake all night and not wanting to give up the convenient bridge occupied in the church in order to clearly see the entire solemn litany of the next day. At 6 o'clock in the morning the patriarch appears in the Holy Sepulcher Church, accompanied by clergy and synodal bishops, and makes his entrance as solemnly as the night before. The Patriarch is vested in the middle of the church by the clergy, and for the upcoming celebration of Orthodoxy, on this day he is put on a luxurious sakkos, on which images of saints are sewn with silk, sprinkled with pearls and precious stones, and an ancient miter with precious decorations and a large diamond eagle on its front side. The Liturgy is celebrated, according to the customary rite here, in Greek and partly in Slavic languages, but the Gospel and the Apostle are read on this day in three or even four languages ​​- Greek, Arabic, Slavic and Turkish, and the hierodeacon preaching the gospel ascends to the pulpit located above the royal doors of the iconostasis, opposite the edicate. During the great exit, numerous clergy along with St. Crosses, arks with relics and even icons are brought out as gifts. As we approach the end of the patriarchal liturgy, revival begins to intensify among the numerous pilgrims, the number of which is increasing and increasing in the church. The squad of Turkish soldiers deliberately assigned to the Holy Sepulcher Church for this day, standing in two rows throughout the church and galleries, are barely able to restrain the pressure of the masses - Orthodox and non-Orthodox, restore order and give passage to diplomatic personnel and participants in the procession. After the prayer behind the pulpit, the procession begins with the singing of a prayer service, in which all the synodal bishops and all the Greek-Arab clergy, who are at that time in Jerusalem, take part. The procession of the cross proceeds in this order: in front are the patriarchal cavas, in their rich national costumes, with massive maces with silver knobs in their hands, so that the path of the procession is unobstructed, behind them are god-bearers in surplices, girded in the subdeacon style, in pairs with banners embroidered with gold and silver, and on the side of each of the banner bearers there is in the surplice there is a novice with a large lighted candle, then a choir of Syrian singers, below the staff bearers with bishops’ pateritsa, a deacon with ripids, priests in pairs, dressed in white silk vestments with crimson streaks, holding in their hands an icon 84 and candles, and sometimes a bouquet of flowers, archimandrites and abbots with arks in in their hands, also in pairs, the synodal bishops in small omophorions on their shoulders and in hoods, having on their hands, in silver frames, small Gospels, behind them a choir of Greek singers, then two subdeacons with ripids, a deacon in pairs with censers, and, finally, a priest with a large altar cross. The procession is closed by the patriarch wearing a miter on his head and holding a cross in his hand. The procession singing the troparion “To Your Most Pure Image” leaves the altar and heads to the edicule of the Holy Sepulcher, goes around it three times and past the stone of anointing and Golgotha, goes around the Church of the Resurrection along the southern gallery, then moves to the eastern and northern and stops opposite the Holy Sepulcher. The procession moves through the galleries very slowly, as the clergy at this time sprinkle the people with rose water, and the pilgrims, squeezing through the rows of standing soldiers, try in every possible way to kiss some icon held in the hands of the clergy, or at least to touch with their lips the excrements of their sacred vestments. All this is done reverently and slowly and with visible patronage on the part of the local clergy in relation to the crowd of pilgrims, overwhelmed with religious enthusiasm. The singers sing during this litany, which lasts about an hour and a half, a canon to the Savior. Upon the arrival of the litany to the edicule, the patriarch reads the gospel laid out at the prayer service, and the litany ends with the recitation of litanies about mercy and health and prosperity and standing in the Orthodox faith of all Christians and in particular fans of the Holy Sepulchre, and the usual dismissal. The procession enters the Church of the Resurrection again. Priests, archimandrites and bishops go to the altar and undress, and the patriarch stands on the steps of his throne and distributes the antidoron to the pilgrims. From the church, the patriarch returns to his chambers, accompanied by the entire consecrated cathedral, to whom he offers the usual treat in the East 85. The northern gallery of the Holy Sepulcher Church is the final point of internal litanies Plan of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Jerusalem Explanation of the numbers on the plan of the Church of the Resurrection The Litany of the Holy Sepulchre, celebrated on the week of Orthodoxy and called here “parousia” or “παρρησία,” is repeated on the week of the veneration of the cross, with the difference, however, that both in the service of this day and in the litany, special honor is given, as befits, to Golgotha ​​and the life-giving Cross of the Lord. About this week and its celebrations, our famous pedestrian V. Alba-Plaka-Barsky notes that on this day “the notorious cathedral service, and the parousia (this is the cathedral service) chosen, even greater than the first: then there were more chandeliers and lit lamps and all church utensils” 86. The service in the Holy Sepulcher Church in the evening is performed by the patriarch as solemnly as on the eve of the week of Orthodoxy. On the most cross-worshipping Sunday, Matins at midnight is served here by one of the synodal bishops, who stands in the throne on the left side of the Church of the Resurrection, wearing a crimson robe. After the great doxology, on a silver-plated, gilded 88 platter filled with greenery and flowers, with many small flower bouquets, the bishop brings from the altar, after circling the throne three times, the Holy Life-Giving Cross to the middle of the church to perform the established rite of worship and kissing by the faithful. The Cross worn on this day, about two quarters in size, contains the largest particle of the life-giving Tree of the Lord preserved in the Orthodox Church, embedded in its crosshairs, sprinkled with diamonds of high value and enclosed in a bowl-shaped tray decorated with enamel. The Life-Giving Cross is carried from the altar, in the presentation of the altar cross, ripidae and pateritsa, which are carried by deacons and clergy in surplices, preceded by deacons with censers and a host of priests, carried around the lectern three times and then rested on it. When worshiping St. To the cross, the bishop, sometimes sitting on a chair placed near the lectern, distributes bouquets and greenery to the priests and people as a blessing. A liturgy is celebrated at the usual time at the Holy Sepulchre, and another a little later at Golgotha. The performers of these liturgies are always the next rulers. At about 6 o'clock in the morning the patriarch solemnly appears and, with many priests, begins to celebrate the usual liturgy in the Church of the Resurrection, which, as on the week of Orthodoxy, is overcrowded with worshipers. After the liturgy, a solemn “parousia” is celebrated, with the participation of all the Jerusalem clergy. The order of this litany is no different from the litany we described on the week of Orthodoxy, except for the difference that all the priests have crosses in their hands on this day, instead of icons, and the patriarch on his head carries the above-described Cross with a particle of the life-giving Tree of the Lord. The people standing in the galleries of the church, along which the religious procession is marching, breaks through the ranks of Turkish soldiers and hurries to kiss the crosses in the hands of the participants in this litany. The celebration of this day ends in the same way as on the first Sunday of Lent, in the Patriarchate with the usual refreshment for the clergy and honorary participants in this celebration. Priests and archimandrites receive icons and reliquaries with relics from the hands of the vessel guardian (skeuphylax) of the Holy Sepulcher Church, since, according to the established custom throughout the East, no one uses the right to enter the sacristy, and the skevophilax is its uncontrolled manager. In the Orthodox East, during the week of Orthodoxy, after Matins, before the liturgy, a litany is performed with the presentation of holy icons in all parish and monastery churches, and a paraklis (prayer service) is sung to the Savior. The triumph of Orthodoxy, according to the Typikon of the Great Church of Constantinople, is expressed, in addition, by the performance of a short funeral litia over the kolyva, at which the patriarch commemorates the kings, patriarchs, bishops and all Orthodox Christians who died in faith and piety “from end to end of the universe.” This litia is celebrated not only on the first Saturday of Lent after Great Vespers, but also on the very week of Orthodoxy after the liturgy, and all the highest and lowest clergy take part in this litia. The so-called “rite of anathematization” in our country is not performed anywhere in the Orthodox East. The “Synodikon”, which took place in the practice of the ancient Byzantine church since 842, is not read there now, either, during the celebration of the liturgy on that day, after the Trisagion. V. Grigorovich-Barsky. Wandering according to St. places of the East 1723–1747, part 1, pp. 379–380, St. Petersburg. 1885, ed. Imperial Ave. Pal. Society edited by N. Barsukov. It should be noted that in the service of this day, during fasting in general and during Holy Week in particular, during divine services in the Orthodox East, scarlet-colored vestments are used everywhere. The Greeks do not use our black mourning vestments. In the greenery under the cross in the Orthodox East you can often see wormwood, where it, of course, grows. Pious Greeks put it in their mouths to more vividly remind themselves of the bitterness and difficulty of fasting, abstinence and repentance by feeling its bitterness. You might be interested in: