March 28/April 10 ns 2026 † GREAT FRIDAY  THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR SAVIOR • St. Hilarion the New  Fast day

 HOLY & GREAT FRIDAY

 THE CRUCIFIXION OF OUR SAVIOR

• St. Hilarion the New

FAST DAY

March 28/ April 10 ns 2026

Kecharitomene

~`Full of Grace`~

THE AFTERNOON
commemorates the supreme sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. The priest unnails Christ from the Crucifix, wraps His Body in white linen, and places It on the altar symbolizing His burial by Joseph of Arimathea.


THE EVENING
includes the Hymn of the Lamentations which are chanted to reflect our sorrow, to proclaim Christ's descent to Hades, and to herald His expected Resurrection.

FROM THE FIRST STASIS OF THE LAMENTATIONS AT THE TOMB

In a grave they laid Thee, O my Life and my Christ;
and the armies of the angels were sore amazed,
as they sang the praise of Thy submissive love.
.
How, O Life, canst Thou die?
Or abide in a grave?
For Thou dost destroy the kingdom of death, O Lord,
and Thou raisest up the dead of Hades’ realm.

St. John the Wonderworker: Concerning the Reception of the Holy Mysteries on Pascha

“The Lamb of God communicates with us on the holy and light-bearing night of Resurrection. We pray for this when we are just beginning to prepare for Lent, and afterwards many times during the course of the Great Fast: that the lord would vouchsafe us to partake of the Holy Mysteries on the night of Holy Pascha. At that time the grace of God acts in a special way upon men’s hearts. We partake of the Christ Resurrected, we become partakers of His Resurrection. Of course, we must prepare ahead of time, and, having already communed during Great Lent, receive again the Holy Mysteries. Before Paschal Liturgy there is no time for a proper confession; this must be done earlier. And then, on that light-bearing night, having received general absolution, to draw near to the Divine Lamb, the pledge of our resurrection. No one should leave the Church prematurely, rushing away to eat the meat of animals instead of receiving the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.”

Mach 27/ April 9 ns 2026 † GREAT THURSDAY ~ THE MYSTICAL SUPPER • Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica ~ Fast day

 

I AM THE

RESURRECTION

AND THE

LIFE

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Saint John 15:11 KJV

Rejoice, thou who makest manifest

the life of the Angels.

HOLY & GREAT THURSDAY

 THE MYSTCAL SUPPER

• Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessalonica

FAST DAY

March 27/ April 9 ns 2026

GREAT THURSDAY MORNING
during the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil, we commemorate our Savior's establishment of Holy Communion during the Mystical Supper wherein He proclaims that the bread and wine become His Body and Blood given to us for Eternal Life. We are also reminded of the betrayal by Judas Iscariot and Christ's vigil in the Garden of Gethsemane.


GREAT THURSDAY EVENING
retells the entire story of Christ's Passion through the reading of the twelve Gospel lessons. After the fifth Gospel reading, the Crucifixion is re-enacted when the priest carries the Crucifix in procession and places It in the center of the Church for veneration. The following Antiphon is chanted.

Today is suspended upon the Tree, He who suspended the earth over the waters. x3
A crown of thorns crowns Him, who is the King of the angels.
He is wrapped in the purple robe of mockery, who wraps the heavens with clouds.
He receives smiting, who freed Adam in the Jordan.
He is transfixed with nails, Who is the Son of the Virgin.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ. x3
Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection!

Photo: Where they laid Him

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem

1962

It is not meet for you to be unknown Holy Martyr Matrona even though you died secretly in prison.

As an orphan girl Matrona was a servant in the home of a Jew in Thessalonica.

The wife of the Jew continuously mocked Matrona because of her faith in Christ and tried to persuade her to deny Christ and to attend the synagogue. But the meek Matrona went about her work conscientiously and did not say anything to her mistress. But in secret she prayed to Christ the God.

On one occasion the Jewess discovered that Matrona was attending church unbeknown to her and, in anger, questioned her as to why she did not attend the synagogue rather than the church? To that, Matrona replied, "Because in the Christian churches, God lives and He withdraws from the Jewish synagogues." Furious, because of this type of bold reply, the Jewess beat Matrona, locked her up in a dark room, and, in addition to that, bound her hands. The next day as she was kneeling in prayer and glorifying God, her ropes had fallen off by the power of God.

Afterwards, on two occasions, she was locked up again and, in the end, died of starvation. This evil Jewish woman then took the body of this holy maiden and hurled it to the ground from the heights of her home. Christians took the body of this martyr and buried it with honors. Alexander the bishop, learning of the many miraculous works of this holy martyr, erected a church over her grave. The evil Jewess received her just punishment when she slipped, fell to the pavement, and was smashed to death from the same spot at the top of the house from which she hurled down Matrona's body.

March 26/April 8 ns 2026 †GREAT WEDNESDAY ~ THE HARLOT WHO ANOINTED THE LORD WITH MYRRH • Sýnaxis of the Archangel Gabriel ~ Fast day

I AM THE
RESURRECTION

AND THE
LIFE

As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Saint John 15:11 KJV

 Rejoice, for thou didst bring back to their senses those dispossessed of their spiritual minds.

HOLY & GREAT WEDNESDAY

 THE HARLOT WHO ANOINTED
THE LORD WITH MYRRH

• Sýnaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

FAST DAY

March 26/ April 8 ns 2026

On Holy & Great Wednesday the Church invites the faithful to focus their attention on two figures: the sinful woman who anointed Jesus shortly before the passion (St. Matt 26:6-13), and Judas, the disciple who betrayed the Lord. The former acknowledged Jesus as Lord, while the latter severed himself from the Master. The one was set free, while the other became a slave. The one inherited the kingdom, while the other fell into perdition. These two people bring before us concerns and issues related to freedom, sin, hell and repentance.

The repentance of the sinful harlot is contrasted with the tragic fall of the chosen disciple. It is clear that Judas perished, not simply because he betrayed his Master, but because, having fallen into the sin of betrayal, he then refused to believe in the possibility of forgiveness. 

If we deplore the actions of Judas, we do so, not with vindictive self-righteousness, but conscious always of our own guilt. In general, all the passages that seem to be directed against the Jews should be understood in this same way. When the passage denounces those who rejected Christ and delivered Him to death, we recognize that these words apply not only to others, but to ourselves: for have we not betrayed the Savior many times in our hearts and crucified Him anew?

I have transgressed more than the harlot, O loving Lord, yet never have I offered Thee my flowing tears. But in silence I fall down before Thee and with love I kiss Thy most pure feet, beseeching Thee as Master to grant me remission of my sins; and I cry to Thee, O Savior: Deliver me from the filth of my works.

While the sinful woman brought oil of myrrh, the disciple came to an agreement with the transgressors.
She rejoiced to pour out what was very precious,     Judas made haste to sell the One who is above all price.
She acknowledged Christ as Lord, he severed himself from the Master.
She was set free, but Judas became the slave of the enemy.
Grievous was his lack of love.
Great was her repentance.

Grant such repentance also unto me, O Savior who has suffered for our sake, and save us.

Saint Matthew 26:6-16 KJV

6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?

9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,

15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.

16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.