Taking it to the street

6 Responses to Taking it to the street

1. esquiress says:

   2 April 2010 at 12:47 PM

   That’s so awesome — I wish our local greek orthodox congregation took to the street as well!
2. SonofMonica says:

   2 April 2010 at 12:47 PM

   Fr. Z, what are they doing?
3. Oleksander says:

   2 April 2010 at 2:16 PM

   @SonofMonica

   Good Friday procession if this Sunday is their Easter, i thought Easter came on a different day this year for the Greek Orthodox “new calendar” though
4. Paulus Magnus says:

   2 April 2010 at 2:17 PM

   It’s the same this year and next year.
5. Bob Glassmeyer says:

   2 April 2010 at 3:36 PM

   The Orthodox have some beautiful ceremonies on Great and Holy Friday, as they call Good Friday. I wonder if they are processing with the Winding Sheet in the photo? If memory serves, there is a procession this day with an image of the dead Christ on the sheet on which He was lain. I’ve seen similar photos at a friend’s Orthodox parish. It’s very lovely, heartbreaking, and says a great deal about our absolute nothingness before God.
6. jfk03 says:

   2 April 2010 at 9:12 PM

   The photograph isn’t clear enough to see, but I believe they are carrying the burial shroud (epitaphios), which is an icon of the Lord’s body painted on an ornate cloth. In Orthodox countries it is common to process through the streets of the city with the epitaphios. This is usually done at the conclusion of vespers on Good Friday. The following troparion is sung during the procession:

   The Noble Joseph,
   when he had taken down Your Most Pure Body from the Tree,
   Wrapped it in fine linen, and anointed it with spices,
   and placed it in a new tomb.

   At the end of the procession, the shroud is taken back into the church and placed on an ornate stand, where it is venerated by the faithful. In the Byzantine churches, the cross is usually not venerated on Good Friday as it is in the Latin West. There is another time, earlier in Lent, when the cross is venerated.

   At the veneration, the faithful come up (usually as families) and prostrate themselves before the icon of Christ, kissing the icon and a book of the Gospels. It is a very solemn and moving ceremony. Interestingly, one hears language during vespers similar to the reproaches in the Latin Liturgy. The trisagion in the Latin Good Friday liturgy is a remnant of the Eastern liturgy.

   By the way, in my Eastern Catholic parish, the choir sang “Popule Meus” at the Third Hour. Not in Latin, but English. This Good Friday hymn is by Tomas Luis de Victoria.

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