† Great Tuesday ~ Parable of the Ten Virgins • St. Titus the Wonder-Worker ~ Fast day

We each carry a lamp for the duration of this temporary life.

If empty of love and obedience to the Holy Trinity and others,

how will the door to Paradise be open to us? 

H O L Y    A N D   G R E A T    W E E K

2025 ns

Holy and Great

Tuesday

Parable of the Ten Virgins

The Orthros 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. 

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.

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. 

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.

WE ALSO COMMEMORATE TODAY:

 • St. Titus the Wonder-Worker

AND FROM STS CYPRIAN AND JUSTINA MONASTERY