Holy Pascha Week – Part II Servant’s Preparation Course

11 th hour of Thursday Prophesy from Isaiah 52:13-53:12 A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the L ORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.

11 th hour of Thursday Gospel from John 13:21-30 “Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me…It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it…Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.”

Eve of Good Friday §We add “The Lord is my strength, my praise and has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:12) §We read from the four gospels each hour (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) l Exception: 1st hour where the four readings are from John (The Paraclete) FROM NOW ON:

Eve of Good Friday §First Hour l Christ’s last speech with the disciples and promise to send the Holy Spirit l His prayer to the Father in John 17 §Third Hour l Christ leaves with the disciples to Gethsemane, prediction of Peter’s denial l And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31,32)

Eve of Good Friday §Sixth Hour l Read Luke 22:40-46 l Genesis 3:17-19 §Ninth Hour l Judas arrives with the soldiers to arrest Jesus l Peter cuts off the right ear of the servant of the high priest

Eve of Good Friday §Eleventh Hour (Beginning of Trials) l Psalm 2:1-2: Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the L ORD and against His Anointed l Gospels: First trial in front of the chief priests and the council. Peter denies three times.

Good Friday §First Hour l Prophecies pointing to the events of Friday l Christ is being sent to Pontius Pilate l Pilate sends Him to Herod §Psalm l “For unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and injustice has lied within herself.”

Good Friday §Third Hour l Christ goes back to Pilate l Pilate sentences him to death §Prophesies: l Genesis 48: Jacob blesses Manasseh and Ephraim l Isaiah 63: “Who is this that is coming from Edom with red garments from Bosor?”

The Sixth Hour of Good Friday §Prophesies l Numbers 21: The bronze serpent l Isaiah 53: He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

The Sixth Hour of Good Friday §Prophesies l Amos 8: The sun shall go down at noon, and the light shall be darkened on the earth by day… §Hymns l Tai Shori l Fai Etav Enf This is He who presented Himself on the cross, an acceptable sacrifice for the salvation of our race. His good Father inhaled His sweet aroma in the evening on Golgotha. l Pauline Epistle: But God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ… (Galatians 6:14)

The Sixth Hour of Good Friday §Litanies from the Agpeya §O Monogenees l O Only Begotten, eternal, and Immortal Word of God….Holy Mighty, who by weakness showed forth what is greater than power. §Agios (sad tune) l Lights are turned off (Amos 8)

The Sixth Hour of Good Friday §Psalm and Gospel §They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:16,17) §Prayer with right-hand thief “Remember me O Lord when you come into Your Kingdom…” §At end of the Sixth Hour lights are back on

The Ninth Hour of Good Friday §Prophesies l Jeremiah 11:19: “But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” §Hymns l Ti Shori l Fai Etav Enf l Pauline Epistle: And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8 l Litanies from Agpeya

The 11th Hour of Good Friday §Prophecies l Exodus and Leviticus: Passover §Psalm l “I spread forth my hands …Into Your hands, I will commit my spirit, You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.” §Gospels and conclusion

The 12th Hour of Good Friday §Move to first section of church §Prophecies l Lamentations of Jeremiah l Jonah §Psalm 44: Pekethronos §(The Royal Tune) l “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” §Gospels

The Twelfth Hour of Good Friday §Exposition and Litanies §Metanias in all directions §Procession §The Burial and Golgotha §The Book of Psalms

What happened after the Crucifixion?

Read Acts 2: For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the L ORD always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’

Read Acts 2: “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.

Read Ephesians 4:7-9 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?

Read 1 Peter 3: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,

Death Life SadnessJoy Defeat Victory We go from sad tune to annual tune. Many times in the middle of the readings.

“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

4 Major Parts: 1) Praises and readings and processions 2) Morning prayers of Saturday 3) Book of Revelation/Annointing 4) Liturgy

1 I was small among my brothers, and the youngest in my father’s house; I tended my father’s sheep. 2 My hands made a harp; my fingers fashioned a lyre. 3 And who will tell my Lord? The Lord himself; it is he who hears. 4 It was he who sent his messenger and took me from my father’s sheep, and anointed me with his anointing oil. 5 My brothers were handsome and tall, but the Lord was not pleased with them. 6 I went out to meet the Philistine, and he cursed me by his idols. 7 But I drew his own sword; I beheaded him, and took away disgrace from the people of Israel.

After Psalm 151, we pray the second hoos because it says “O give thanks to the Lord for He is good, Alleluia His mercy endures forever…” Explanation on Second Hoos: “Let us give thanks, unto Christ our God, with David the prophet, and the psalmist…” Continue with the First Hoos

Pay attention to readings which speak of: Death to Life (Hannah, Jonah, Hezekiah, Manasseh, 3 saintly youth, Susanna, many more)

Morning prayers and hours Book of Revelation/Annointing See Revelation 7:2-8 “Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Conclude with the Divine Liturgy Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:9) - Still no Reconciliation Prayer - We do pray the commemoration of the saints

Altar represents Paradise Closed curtain represents enmity with God Lights are turned off because we were sitting in “darkness and the shadow of death” Priest represents the Cherubim guarding the tree of life Deacons represent angels who ministered to Christ while on Earth

Deacons: 7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Priest: 8 Who is this King of glory? (not a question of ignorance but it is a declaration)

Deacons: The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Priest: 10 Who is this King of glory? Deacons: The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:7-10)

Curtain of altar is opened and lights on For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8) Procession around the altar 3 times Deacons join in the procession representing the souls who rose from the dead (Matthew 27:51-53) Church represents the earth

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matthew 27:51-53) Procession ends in the altar (Paradise) as we are still waiting for the Second Coming After 40 days, the Lord Jesus ascended into Heaven

1) Take advantage! 2) Attend as many services as possible 3) Offer it as a week of sacrifice to the Lord 4) Be determined 5) Encourage each other 6) Be careful…

Entering the Promised Land Time to claim our inheritance (victory) There will still be battles Remember to keep up your “healthy” lifestyle (spiritual canon) Do the “little” things. Continue reading the word of God Special readings for Holy 50 Be vigilant in prayers

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