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Explanation of the Service
by Rev. Demetrios George Kalaris
A close comparison can be drawn between the life of Joseph and that of Jesus, for as Joseph was rejected by his brothers, so Christ was scorned by his own people.
As Joseph was sold for 30 pieces of silver by his brothers to Potiphar, in like manner Judas, a disciple of Christ, betrayed our Lord for an equal sum. As Joseph was left to die in an open pit, so Jesus was buried, and as Joseph rose from slavery to become a powerful ruler in Egypt, so Christ became victorious over death by His Resurrection.
Also, we commemorate the fig-tree which was cursed by the Lord and withered. After His triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, Jesus journeyed into the surrounding towns of Bethany, and tired and hungry, saw from a distance a large fig-tree with bright green leaves. When he approached the tree, He found that it bore no fruit although it was time for the harvest. The fig-tree represents the synagogue of the Jews which had only in part acquired the divine truth, refusing to accept the complete revelation of God through Jesus Christ. Christ compares the fig with sin — as the fig is sweet and tasty, so is sin appealing and greatly desired.
The service of Holy Monday is chanted on the evening of Palm Sunday as a matins ritual. It is sung in the evening because the church day begins at sundown. This practice was taken from the Hebraic religion. The service consists of the customary psalms of David which are read at every matin service. After the recitation of these psalms, that is, the 3rd, the 37th, the 62nd, the 87th, the 102nd and the 142nd which were a part of the Hebrew worship and have been carried over into the Christian service, we hear the Great Ectenis (the familiar supplications and responses which are heard at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy). Following the ectenis certain prophetic verses from the psalms of David regarding the adversaries of Christ are chanted with the thrice-sung Alleluia. After this, the litany of the Nymphios takes place, while the following hymn is chanted:
“Behold the Bridegroom cometh in the midst of the night, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again unworthy is he 3 whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, 0 my soul, lest thou be borne down with sleep, lest thou be given up to death, and lest thou be shut out from the Kingdom. Wherefore rouse thyself and cry: Holy, Holy, art Thou, O God; through the protection of the Heavenly Hosts, save us.”
The priest, holding the icon of Christ, proceeds to the narthex of the church where he places the icon for the veneration of the faithful until the morning of Holy Thursday. There are two interpretations of this part of the Holy Monday services: one symbolizes the condemned Christ on His way to Golgotha, the other the coming of Christ as a judge. The hymn chanted at this time admonishes all to prepare for His coming and is followed by several troparia illustrating the passion of Christ. Then the Gospel lesson of the day is read which is taken from Matthew, Ch. 21, verses 18-43.
This selection tells us of the events that took place after His entrance into the city of Jerusalem, including the episode of the fig tree and the instructive parables pertaining to the workers of the vineyard. The 51st psalm of David is read, followed by the three groups of odes which call the sinners to penitence, and the stanza of the particular feast day is read. The supplications and responses as well as the following hymn are chanted.
“I see Thy bridal hall adorned, O my Savior, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter therein; O giver of Light, make radiant the vesture of my soul and save me.”
Then we have the praises, which are selected verses of the psalms of David, chanted with certain troparia pertaining to the passion of our Lord. The doxology, which is an early Christian composition, is read rather than chanted, as a sign of mourning. The matin supplications are chanted, followed by the recitatives, and the service is completed by the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, the dismissal hymn and the benediction by the priest.
Each morning during the first three days of Holy Week, the Liturgy of the Presanctified, one of the most picturesque and solemn services of our Church, is celebrated.
The Church, wishing its faithful to partake of the Holy Eucharist more frequently during Lent, instructed that the Presanctified Liturgy be celebrated every Wednesday and Friday, the first three days of Holy Week and on certain feast days. At the Liturgy of the Presanctified, the Holy Gifts — that is, the Host that has been consecrated at a previous Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom or St. Basil the Great, usually celebrated on Saturday or Sunday — are brought from the prothesis (the table of offerings) to the Holy Altar.
The transfer of the Sacred Hosts is a solemn rite in the Presanctified Liturgy. While the procession takes place everyone kneels and all is silent except for the celebrant who inaudibly recites, “Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers have mercy upon us, O Lord Jesus Christ.”
After the presanctified Holy Gifts have been placed on the Holy Altar, the liturgy of the catchumens initiates. This part of the liturgy has been preserved in the Presanctified although not read audibly in the Liturgy of St. John and St. Basil.
The prayers for Holy Communion are recited by the priest and the Communion follows, after the prayers of the catechumens have been said and the Lord’s Prayer read.