Holy and Great Friday

[TER]

Bump for today being 4/22 (like the OP) and also for being Passover.

Well, Eve of Passover right now. Which some say was the day of the crucifixion, also prior to the Sabbath. Like today.

Not a lot of activity in the RPF religious threads. I think you guys are slippin'.

The Eastern Orthodox Christians commemorate Holy and Great Friday this Friday coming up.

[heavenlyboy34]

Hope my orthodox brothers and sisters are having a wonderful and blessed Holy Week! I haven't been able to go to any liturgies since Sunday. :'( I will be going to Holy Saturday, though. At Agape Vespers I will be reading the Gospel in Russian. Pray for me if you are able.

[TER]

Why Did It Become Dark When Christ Was Crucified?



By St. Cyril of Alexandria

(Homilies on Luke)

Luke 23:44 - "There was darkness over all the land."

He who excels all created things, and shares the Father's throne, humbled Himself to emptying, and took the form of a slave, and endured the limits of human nature, that He might fulfill the promise made of God to the forefathers of the Jews. But they were so obdurate and disobedient as even to rise up against their Master. For they made it their business to deliver the Prince of life to death, and crucified the Lord of glory. But when they had affixed to the cross the Lord of all, the sun over their heads withdrew, and the light at midday was wrapped in darkness, as the divine Amos had foretold. For there was "darkness from the sixth hour until the ninth hour," and this was a plain sign to the Jews, that the minds of those who crucified Him were wrapped in spiritual darkness, for "blindness in part has happened to Israel." And David in his love for God even curses them, saying, "Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see."

Yes! creation itself bewailed its Lord, for the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent, and the very temple assumed the garb of mourners, for its "veil was rent from the top to the bottom." And this is what God signified to us by the voice of Isaiah, saying, "And I will clothe the heaven with darkness, and wrap it around with sackcloth."



By St. John Chrysostom

(Homily 88 on Matthew)

Matthew 27:45 - "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour."

This is the sign which before He had promised to give them when they asked it, saying, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah" (Matt. 12:39); meaning His cross, and His death, His burial, and His resurrection. And again, declaring in another way the virtue of the cross, He said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am He" (Jn. 8:28). And what He says is to this purport: "When you have crucified Me, and think you have overcome Me, then, above all, shall you know My might."

For after the crucifixion, the city was destroyed, and the Jewish state came to an end, they fell away from their polity and their freedom, the gospel flourished, the word was spread abroad to the ends of the world; both sea and land, both the inhabited earth and the desert perpetually proclaim its power. These things then He means, and those which took place at the very time of the crucifixion. For indeed it was much more marvelous that these things should be done, when He was nailed to the cross, than when He was walking on earth. And not in this respect only was the wonder, but because from heaven also was that done which they had sought, and it was over all the world, which had never before happened, but in Egypt only, when the passover was to be fulfilled. For indeed those events were a type of these.

And observe when it took place. At midday, that all that dwell on the earth may know it, when it was day all over the world; which was enough to convert them, not by the greatness of the miracle only, but also by its taking place in due season. For after all their insulting, and their lawless derision, this is done, when they had let go their anger, when they had ceased mocking, when they were satiated with their jeerings, and had spoken all that they were minded; then He shows the darkness, in order that at least so (having vented their anger) they may profit by the miracle. For this was more marvelous than to come down from the cross, that being on the cross He should work these things. For whether they thought He Himself had done it, they ought to have believed and to have feared; or whether not He, but the Father, yet thereby ought they to have been moved to compunction, for that darkness was a token of His anger at their crime. For that it was not an eclipse, but both wrath and indignation, is not hence alone manifest, but also by the time, for it continued three hours, but an eclipse takes place in one moment of time, and they know it, who have seen this; and indeed it has taken place even in our generation.

And how, you may say, did not all marvel, and account Him to be God? Because the race of man was then held in a state of great carelessness and vice. And this miracle was but one, and when it had taken place, immediately passed away; and no one was concerned to inquire into the cause of it, and great was the prejudice and the habit of ungodliness. And they knew not what was the cause of that which took place, and they thought perhaps this happened so, in the way of an eclipse or some natural effect. And why do you marvel about them that are without, that knew nothing, neither inquired by reason of great indifference, when even those that were in Judæa itself, after so many miracles, yet continued using Him despitefully, although He plainly showed them that He Himself wrought this thing.

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What Does It Mean That Christ Became a Curse For Us on the Cross?


By St. Cyril of Alexandria

(Commentary on John)

John 19:16-18 - They took Jesus therefore. And He went out, bearing the Cross for Himself, unto the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

They lead away, then, to death the Author of Life; and for our sakes was this done, for by the power and incomprehensible Providence of God, Christ's death resulted in an unexpected reversal of things. For His suffering was prepared as a snare for the power of death, and the death of the Lord was the source of the renewal of mankind in incorruption and newness of life. Bearing the Cross upon His shoulders, on which He was about to be crucified, He went forth; His doom was already fixed, and He had undergone, for our sakes, though innocent, the sentence of death. For, in His own Person, He bore the sentence righteously pronounced against sinners by the Law. For He became a curse for us, according to the Scripture: "For cursed is everyone," it is said, "that hangs on a tree." And accursed are we all, for we are not able to fulfill the Law of God: For in many things we all stumble; and very prone to sin is the nature of man. And since, too, the Law of God says: "Cursed is he which continues not in all things that are written in the book of this Law, to do them," the curse, then, belongs unto us, and not to others. For those against whom the transgression of the Law may be charged, and who are very prone to err from its commandments, surely deserve chastisement. Therefore, He That knew no sin was accursed for our sakes, that He might deliver us from the old curse. For all-sufficient was the God Who is above all, so dying for all; and by the death of His own Body, purchasing the redemption of all mankind.

The Cross, then, that Christ bore, was not for His own deserving, but was the cross that awaited us, and was our due, through our condemnation by the Law. For as He was numbered among the dead, not for Himself, but for our sakes, that we might find in Him, the Author of everlasting life, subduing of Himself the power of death; so also, He took upon Himself the Cross that was our due, passing on Himself the condemnation of the Law, that the mouth of all lawlessness might henceforth be stopped, according to the saying of the Psalmist; the Sinless having suffered condemnation for the sin of all. And of great profit will the deed which Christ performed be to our souls - I mean, as a type of true manliness in God's service. For in no other way can we triumphantly attain to perfection in all virtue, and perfect union with God, save by setting our love toward Him above the earthly life, and zealously waging battle for the truth, if occasion calls us so to do. Moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ says: "Every man that does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me." And taking up the Cross means, I think, nothing else than bidding farewell to the world for God's sake, and preferring, if the opportunity arise, the hope of future glory to life in the body. But our Lord Jesus Christ is not ashamed to bear the Cross that is our due, and to suffer this indignity for love towards us; while we, poor wretches that we are, whose mother is the insensate earth beneath our feet, and who have been called into being out of nothing, sometimes do not even dare to touch the skirt of tribulation in God's service; but, if we have anything to bear in the service of Christ, at once account the shame intolerable, and shrinking from the ridicule of our adversaries, and those who sit in the seat of the scornful, as an accursed thing, and preferring to God's pleasure this paltry and ill-timed craving for reputation, fall sick of the disease of disdainful arrogance, which is the mother, so to say, of all evils, and so make ourselves subject to the charge. For thus is the servant above his lord, and the disciple above his master, and thinks and acts accordingly. Alas, for this grievous infirmity, which always in some strange shape lies athwart our path, and leads us astray from the pursuit of what is meet!

Call to mind, too, how the inspired Peter could not endure Christ's prophecy, when He foretold His sufferings upon the Cross, for He said: "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is betrayed unto the hands of sinners; and they shall crucify Him, and kill Him." The disciple, not yet understanding the mysterious ways of God's providence, God-loving and teachable as he was, was moved by his scruples to exclaim: "Be it far from You, Lord; this shall never be unto You." What answered Christ? "Get behind Me, Satan; you are a stumbling block unto Me. For you mind not the things of God, but the things of men." But we may hence derive no small profit, for we shall know, that when occasion calls us to exhibit courage in God's service, and we are compelled to endure conflicts that ensue for virtue's sake; yea, even if they who honor and love us best strive to hinder us from doing anything that may tend to establish virtue, alleging, it may be, our consequent dishonor among men, or from some worldly motive, we must not yield. For they, then, are in nowise unlike Satan, who loves and is ever wont to cast stumbling blocks in our path by diverse deceits, and sometimes by smooth words, so as to divert from the pursuit of what is meet, the man who is urged thereto by the spirit of piety. And I think Christ meant something like this, when He said: "If, therefore, your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it away." For that which does us injury is no longer our own, even though united to us by the bond of love, and though its connection with us be but its natural deserving.

Two robbers were crucified together with Christ, and this was owing to the malice of the Jews. For, as though to emphasize the dishonor of our Savior's death, they involved the just Man in the same condemnation as the transgressors of the Law. And we may take the condemned criminals, who hung by Christ's side, as symbolical of the two nations who were shortly about to be brought into close contact with Him, I mean the children of Israel and the Gentiles. And why do we take condemned criminals as the type? Because the Jews were condemned by the Law, for they were guilty of transgressing it; and the Greeks by their idolatry, for they worshiped the creature more than the Creator.

And after another manner those who are united with Christ are also crucified with Him; for enduring, as it were, death to their old conversation in the flesh, they are reformed into a new life, according to the Gospel. Yea, Paul said: "And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh, with the passions and the lusts thereof;" and again, speaking of himself in words applicable to all men: "For I, through the Law, died unto the Law, that I might live unto God. I have been crucified with Christ: yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me." And he exhorts also the Colossians: "Wherefore, if you died to the world, why do you behave yourselves as though living in the world?" For, by becoming dead unto worldly conversation, we are brought to the rudiments of conduct and life in Christ. Therefore the crucifixion of the two robbers, side by side with Christ, signifies in a manner to us, through the medium of that event, the juxtaposition of the two nations, dying together, as it were, with the Savior Christ, by bidding farewell to worldly pleasures, and refusing any longer to live after the flesh, and preferring to live with their Lord, so far as may be, by fashioning their lives according to Him, and consecrating them in His service. And the meaning of the figure is in no way affected by the fact, that the men who hung by His side were malefactors; for we were by nature children of wrath, before we believed in Christ, and were all doomed to death, as we said before.

19:19 - And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the Cross. And there was written, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

This is, in fact, the bond against us which, as the inspired Paul says, the Lord nailed to His Cross, and in it led in triumph the principalities and the powers as vanquished, and as having revolted from His rule. And if it were not Christ Himself that fixed the title on the Cross, but the fellow-worker and minister of the Jews, still, as He suffered it so to be, it is as though He were recorded as having inscribed it with His own hand. And He triumphed over principalities in it. For it was open to the view of all who chose to learn, pointing to Him Who suffered for our sake, and Who was giving His life as a ransom for the lives of all. For all men upon the earth, in that they have fallen into the snare of sin (for all have gone astray, and have all together become filthy, according to the Scripture), had made themselves liable to the accusation of the devil, and were living a hateful and miserable life. And the title contained a handwriting against us - the curse that, by the Divine Law, impends over the transgressors, and the sentence that went forth against all who erred against those ancient ordinances of the Law, like unto Adam's curse, which went forth against all mankind, in that all alike broke God's decrees. For God's anger did not cease with Adam's fall, but He was also provoked by those who after him dishonored the Creator's decree; and the denunciation of the Law against transgressors was extended continuously over all. We were, then, accursed and condemned, by the sentence of God, through Adam's transgression, and through breach of the Law laid down after him; but the Savior wiped out the handwriting against us, by nailing the title to His Cross, which very clearly pointed to the death upon the Cross which He underwent for the salvation of men, who lay under condemnation. For our sake He paid the penalty for our sins. For though He was One that suffered, yet was He far above any creature, as God, and more precious than the life of all. Therefore, as the Psalmist says, the mouth of all lawlessness was stopped, and the tongue of sin was silenced, unable any more to speak against sinners. For we are justified, now that Christ has paid the penalty for us, "for by His stripes we are healed," according to the Scripture. And just as by the Cross the sin of our revolt was perfected, so also by the Cross was achieved our return to our original state, and the acceptable recovery of heavenly blessings; Christ, as it were, gathering up into Himself, for us, the very fount and origin of our infirmity.

19:20 - This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city, and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek.

We may remark that it was very providential, and the fruit of God's inexpressible purpose, that the title that was written embraced three inscriptions - one in Hebrew, another in Latin, and another in Greek. For it lay open to the view, proclaiming the Kingdom of our Savior Christ in three languages, the most widely known of all, and bringing to the Crucified One the first-fruits, as it were, of the prophecy that had been spoken concerning Him. For the wise Daniel said that there was given Him glory and a Kingdom, and all nations and languages shall serve Him; and, to like effect, the holy Paul teaches us, crying out that every knee shall bow; of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore the title proclaiming Jesus King was, as it were, the true first-fruits of the confession of tongues. And, in another sense, it accused the impiety of the Jews, and all but proclaimed expressly, to those who congregated to read it, that they had crucified their King and Lord, blind wretches that they were, without thought of love toward Him, and sunk in crass insensibility.

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[heavenlyboy34]

+rep Blessed Holy Friday to you, brother! Would you believe that this year it was so crowded that I and more than a lobby full of people didn't get to process around the church? :'(

[TER]

+rep Blessed Holy Friday to you, brother! Would you believe that this year it was so crowded that I and more than a lobby full of people didn't get to process around the church? :'(

the Church building is usually much more packed these Holy Days, like it is on Christmas, but I haven't heard it where a procession didn't get a chance because of the sheer volume! It sounds like your local Church is growing!

[heavenlyboy34]

the Church building is usually much more packed these Holy Days, like it is on Christmas, but I haven't heard it where a procession didn't get a chance because of the sheer volume! It sounds like your local Church is growing!

Indeed! It seems like there are new baptisms and chrismations going on pretty regularly.

[TER]

Today is Great and Holy Friday, the Day when our Lord and Savior was crucified and laid in the tomb so that He could free the captives in Hades and give everlasting life to those who believe in Him.

Breaking news from Jerusalem:

Blood is leaking from the stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which Christians have believed since as far as records go to have been the stone where Christ was laid after He was taken off the Cross in preparation for burial.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RosaryMys...66164544913409

Glory to You our God for Your forebearance, Glory to You!

[heavenlyboy34]

Today is Great and Holy Friday, the Day when our Lord and Savior was crucified and laid in the tomb so that He could free the captives in Hades and give everlasting life to those who believe in Him.

Breaking news from Jerusalem:

Blood is leaking from the stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher which Christians have believed since as far as records go to have been the stone where Christ was laid after He was taken off the Cross in preparation for burial.

https://mobile.twitter.com/RosaryMys...66164544913409

Glory to You our God for Your forebearance, Glory to You!

Hope you made it to Lamentations, brother. I did! <3 I had #choirduty too.

[TER]

We had a beautiful service. Off to church now for Liturgy.

Btw, I jumped the shark with the video above. That was apparently from 2015, not yesterday. I was so excited when I heard it that I posted it without giving time to get all the facts in.

A Blessed Pascha to you HB and all to all my brethren!

May He remember all of us in His Kingdom!

[TER]

The Seven Phrases Christ Spoke on the Cross


By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

You want to know the meaning of those seven phrases uttered by Christ on the cross. Aren’t they clear?

The first phrase: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34). With these words, Christ showed His mercy to His executioners, whose malice didn’t abate even when He was suffering on the cross. Besides this, the words He cried aloud from the top of the rock of Golgotha represent a proven but never well-understood truth: that those who do evil never know what they’re doing. By killing the Righteous One, in reality they’re killing themselves and, at the same time, are actually glorifying Him. As they’re trampling all over God’s law, they don’t see the millstone which is descending invisibly that will crush them. As they’re mocking God, they don’t see that their faces have become transformed into the snouts of wild beasts. Imbued as they are with evil, they never know what they’re doing.

The second phrase: "Truly, I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise" (Lk. 23:43). This was addressed to the thief who repented on the cross. A very consoling phrase for sinners who, even at the last moment, repent. God’s mercy is indescribably great. The Lord was fulfilling His mission even on the cross. To His last breath, the Lord was saving those who indicated even the slightest desire to be saved.

The third phrase: "Woman, behold your son" (Jn. 19:26). Christ was speaking to His Holy Mother, who was standing at the foot of the cross, also being crucified in her heart. To Saint John the Apostle He said: "Behold, your mother." This demonstrates the concern which everyone owes to their parents. You see, He Who gave people the commandment "Honor your father and mother" (Ex. 20:12), was fulfilling it in His very last moments.

The fourth phrase: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). These words show both the strength of human nature and the Lord’s foreknowledge. As a man, He was suffering, but underneath human pain there’s a mystery. You see, only these words would be able to dispel the heresy which was later to shake the Church and which stated that the divine nature suffered on the cross. But the eternal Son of God became incarnate as a man so that He could be a man in body and soul, so that, when the time came, He’d be able to suffer for people and to die on their behalf. Because, if the divine nature of Christ had suffered on the cross, this would mean that His divine nature would have died. And that’s something we shouldn’t even contemplate. Ponder as deeply as you can on these great and terrible words: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

The fifth phrase: "I thirst" (Jn. 19:28). His blood was flowing. This is why He was thirsty. The sun was beginning to set and struck Him full in the face, so, together with all the other torments, He was burning up. Naturally, He was thirsty. But, Lord, were you really thirsty for water, or for love? Were you thirsty as a man or as God, or both? The Roman centurion gave you a sponge soaked in vinegar. A drop of mercy such as you hadn’t experienced from other people for the whole of the three hours on the cross. To some extent, this Roman soldier relieved the sin of Pilate - the sin of the Roman Empire - towards Christ, even if it was with vinegar. This is why, Lord, you would eradicate the Roman Empire, but would establish another.

The sixth phrase: "Father, into your hands I commend My spirit" (Lk. 23:46). This means that the Son was delivering His spirit into the hands of His Father. He said this to show that He came from the Father, not of His own self-will, as the Jews accused Him. But these words were also said so that they’d be heard by the Buddhists, the Pythagoreans, the apocryphers and all those other philosophers who babble on about the transmigration of the souls of dead people into other people, animals, plants, stars or metallic elements. Get rid of all these fantasies and see where the soul of the dead Righteous One is headed: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

The seventh phrase: "It is finished" (Jn. 19:30). This doesn’t mean that life is ended. No! It means that His mission, which was concentrated on the salvation of the human race, had ended. The divine task of our sole, true Messiah had been completed and was sealed with His blood and earthly death. The torments were over, but life was just beginning. The tragedy was finished, but not the drama. Next to come was the majestic achievement: victory over death, the resurrection, and glory.

[donnay]

The fourth phrase: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). These words show both the strength of human nature and the Lord’s foreknowledge. As a man, He was suffering, but underneath human pain there’s a mystery. You see, only these words would be able to dispel the heresy which was later to shake the Church and which stated that the divine nature suffered on the cross. But the eternal Son of God became incarnate as a man so that He could be a man in body and soul, so that, when the time came, He’d be able to suffer for people and to die on their behalf. Because, if the divine nature of Christ had suffered on the cross, this would mean that His divine nature would have died. And that’s something we shouldn’t even contemplate. Ponder as deeply as you can on these great and terrible words: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Jesus called God, Father. Jesus was teaching from the cross, Psalms 22 which was David talking 1000 years before. Fulfilled prophecy.

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Jesus called God, Father. Jesus was teaching from the cross, Psalms 22 which was David talking 1000 years before. Fulfilled prophecy.

You are correct.

Nevertheless, what St. Nikolai wrote above is 100% correct. The divine nature of Christ did not suffer on the cross.

[TER]

Also regarding that Psalm Christ referenced and fulfilled, the most significant verses are indeed towards the end of Psalm, and here Christ is referencing His victory which would take place on the third day in His glorious Resurrection.

[TER]

This is from St. John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, 3.27:

Since our Lord Jesus Christ was without sin (for He committed no sin, He Who took away the sin of the world, nor was there any deceit found in His mouth) He was not subject to death, since death came into the world through sin. He dies, therefore, because He took on Himself death on our behalf, and He makes Himself an offering to the Father for our sakes. For we had sinned against Him, and it was meet that He should receive the ransom for us, and that we should thus be delivered from the condemnation. God forbid that the blood of the Lord should have been offered to the tyrant. Wherefore death approaches, and swallowing up the body as a bait is transfixed on the hook of divinity, and after tasting of a sinless and life-giving body, perishes, and brings up again all whom of old he swallowed up. For just as darkness disappears on the introduction of light, so is death repulsed before the assault of life, and brings life to all, but death to the destroyer.