April 17/30 ns 2024 † GREAT AND HOLY TUESDAY • Parable of the Ten Virgins • Hieromartyr Symeon of Persia, et al.; St. Makários of Corinth • {Readings available on request}

 HOLY AND GREAT WEEK

 HOLY AND GREAT TUESDAY

THE WEEK OF
INCOMPREHENSIBLE JOY

April 17/30 ns 2024

FAST DAY

The first part of Holy Week presents us with an array of themes based chiefly on the last days of Jesus' earthly life. The story of the Passion, as told and recorded by the Evangelists, is preceded by a series of incidents located in Jerusalem and a collection of parables, sayings and discourses centered on Jesus' divine sonship, the kingdom of God, the Parousia (Theology), and Jesus' castigation of the hypocrisy and dark motives of the religious leaders. The observances of the beginning of Great Week are rooted in these incidents and sayings. They constitute a single liturgical unit. They have the same cycle and system of daily prayer. The Scripture lessons, hymns, commemorations, and ceremonials that make up the festal elements in the respective services of the cycle highlight significant aspects of salvation history, by calling to mind the events that anticipated the Passion and by proclaiming the inevitability and significance of the Parousia.

The Orthros of each of these days is called the Service of the Bridegroom (Akolouthia tou Nimfiou). The name comes from the central figure in the well-known parable of the ten virgins (St. Matt 25:1-13). The title Bridegroom suggests the intimacy of love. It is not without significance that the kingdom of God is compared to a bridal feast and a bridal chamber. The Christ of the Passion is the divine Bridegroom of the Church. The imagery connotes the final union of the Lover and the beloved. The title Bridegroom also suggests the Parousia. In the patristic tradition, the aforementioned parable is related to the Second Coming; and is associated with the need for spiritual vigilance and preparedness, by which we are enabled to keep the divine commandments and receive the blessings of the age to come. The troparion "Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night…", which is sung at the beginning of the Orthros of Great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, relates the worshiping community to that essential expectation: watching and waiting for the Lord, who will come again to judge the living and the dead.

HOLY AND GREAT TUESDAY

Parable of the Ten Virgins

On Holy and Great Tuesday the Church calls to remembrance two parables, which are related to the Second Coming. The one is the parable of the Ten Virgins; the other the parable of the Talents. These parables point to the inevitability of the Parousia (Theology) and deal with such subjects as spiritual vigilance, stewardship, accountability and judgment.

From these parables we learn at least two basic things

First, Judgment Day will be like the situation in which the bridesmaids (or virgins) of the parable found themselves: some ready for it, some not ready. The time one decides for God is now and not at some undefined point in the future. If "time and tide waits for no man," certainly the Parousia is no exception. The tragedy of the closed door is that individuals close it, not God. The exclusion from the marriage feast, the kingdom, is of our own making. 

Second, we are reminded that watchfulness and readiness do not mean a wearisome, spiritless performance of formal and empty obligations. Most certainly it does not mean inactivity and slothfulness. Watchfulness signifies inner stability, soberness, tranquility and joy. It means spiritual alertness, attentiveness and vigilance. Watchfulness is the deep personal resolve to find and do the will of God, embrace every commandment and every virtue, and guard the intellect and heart from evil thoughts and actions.
Watchfulness is the intense love of God.

Saint Matthew 25:1-13 KJV

25 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

 {Our holy father Seraphim of Sarov tells us, the oil represents VIRTUE acquired from obedience to the Will of God}

4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Holy Hieromartyr Symeon

of Persia, et al.

During the reign of the wicked Emperor Sapor [Savori], Symeon was tortured for Christ along with his two presbyters, Audel and Ananias. The emperor's eunuch, Ustazan, who had earlier denied Christ and afterward, touched by the rebuke of St. Symeon, again, confessed the True Faith before the emperor. A thousand other Christians were also led to the place of execution with Symeon. Symeon intentionally moved out of the way in order to be the last one to be beheaded so as to encourage the other Christians to the end, so that, not one of them would waver because of their fear of death. 

When the presbyter Ananias placed his head on the chopping block, his entire body quivered. The emperor's court clerk Fusik, who secretly was a Christian, began to encourage Ananias saying: 

"Do not be afraid old man, close your eyes and be brave so that you may see the divine light." 

As soon as Fusik said this, he was recognized as a Christian and was accused before the emperor. The emperor exhausted him through great torture, as well as his daughter, the maiden Askitria. After St. Symeon saw his flock depart to the other world, he was finally beheaded. The following year on Great Friday (Good Friday), Azat [Ustazan], the beloved eunuch of the emperor, was also slain for Christ and with him a thousand other faithful. Then the emperor mourned for his eunuch and suspended the further killing of Christians. They all suffered honorably for Christ the King and Lord in the year 341 or 344 A.D.

JOY

Psalm 116:15 KJV

15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

Beloved of Christ

The Measure of the Depth
of our Savior Jesus Christ's love for us.

Who can comprehend our Savior's love for us?

He Who creates from nothing, not by a nod, not by word, not with any movement but by Will alone?  Who can comprehend such a One Who becomes one of His creatures and allows Himself to be crucified by and for his Creation?

How precious is he to us?  Can it be fully experienced?
Can we every fully know?

Saint Makários of Corinth

Saint Makarios of Corinth, Metropolitan bishop of Corinth, was a mystic and spiritual writer who worked to revive and mostly sustain the Orthodox Church under Turkish rule. He is most famous for working with Saint Nicódemos of the Holy Mountain in collecting and compiling the ascetic text of the Philokalia.