Read 12 Passionate Gospels in Russian. Holy and Great Friday. Suffering transformed by love into bliss

EVENING SERVICE ON GREAT THURSDAY IN SRETENSKY MONASTERY

Thursday of Holy Week of Great Lent. Remembrance of the Holy saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sretensky monastery... Matins with the reading of the 12 Passionate Gospels. Choir of the Sretensky Monastery.

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/podcasta/12_evangeliy_010410-04f927.mp3
Duration 182: 41 min.

This service reads: 1 Cor. 11: 23-32. Matthew 26: 1-20. John 13, 3-17. Matthew 26.ju 21-39. Luke 22: 43-45. Matthew 26: 40-27, 2.

And on the evening of Maundy Thursday in all Orthodox churches the Reading of the Twelve Gospels is distributed among the candles pouring down tears. All are standing with large candles in their hands.

All of this service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of saving suffering and death on the cross God-man. Every hour of this day there is new feat Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the divine service.

In this very special and mournful divine service, which happens only once a year, the Church reveals to the believers the full picture of the Lord's suffering, from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion of Calvary. Carrying us mentally through the past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us anxious spectators of all the torments of the Savior.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the lips of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: "Glory to Thy longsuffering, O Lord!" After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Here are collected the last mysterious speeches of Christ and compressed in a short space all this suffering of the God-man, to whom the soul hears "embarrassed and amazed." The earthly touches the heavenly eternity, and everyone who stands this evening with candles in the temple is invisibly present at Calvary.

We will clearly see how the night of prayer came in that very Garden of Gethsemane, the night when the fate of the whole world was decided for all time. How many inner torments and what dying exhaustion He must have experienced at this time!

It was a night like which there was not and will not be among all the days and nights of the standing of the world, a night of struggles and sufferings of the most fierce and incomprehensible; it was a night of exhaustion - first of the most holy soul of the God-man, and then of His sinless flesh. But it always or often seems to us that it was easy for Him to give His life, being God who became a man: but He, our Savior, Christ as a Man dies: not with His immortal Deity, but with His human, living, truly human body ...

It was a night of crying and tearful kneeling prayer before the Heavenly Father; this sacred night was terrible for the Celestials themselves ...

In the intervals between the Gospels, antiphons are sung, which express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. - Did He excommunicate you from the face of the apostolic? Or did you deprive you of the gift of healings? Or did he not admit you to the meal while celebrating the Supper with the others? Or did you wash your other feet, but despise yours? Oh, how many blessings you, ungrateful, have deserved. "

“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? Has opened your sight to your blind, cleansed the lepers, raised the man on the bed. My people, what I have created for you and what you have repaid to Me: for manna - bile, for water [in the wilderness] - vinegar, instead of love for Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will no longer tolerate you, I will call upon My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life. "

And now we are standing with candles lit ... Where are we in this human crowd? Who are we? We usually avoid answering this question by placing blame and responsibility on someone else: if only I were that night. But alas! Somewhere in the depths of our conscience, we know that this is not so. We know that Christ was not hated by some monsters ... with a few strokes the Gospel draws us poor Pilate - his fear, his bureaucratic conscience, his cowardly refusal to act according to his conscience. But isn't the same thing happening in our life and in the life around us? Isn't Pilate present in each of us when the hour comes to say the decisive no to untruth, evil, hatred, injustice? Who are we?

And then we see the crucifixion: how He was killed with a slow death and how He, without a single word of reproach, gave himself up to torment. The only words he addressed to the Father about the tormentors were: Father, forgive them - they do not know what they are doing ...

And in memory of this hour, when the human heart merged with the suffering heart of the Divine, people bring burning candles with them, trying to bring them home and put them burning in front of home icons, in order to consecrate them at home according to the pious tradition.

The crosses are painted with soot on the door frames and on the window.

And these candles will then be kept and lit at the hour of the separation of the soul from the body. Even in modern Moscow in the evening Maundy Thursday one can see fiery streams from burning candles, which Orthodox parishioners carry home from the temple.

Passionate Gospels:

1) John. 13: 31-18: 1 (Farewell conversation of the Savior with the disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).

2) John 18: 1-28 (The taking of the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the high priest Anna).

EVENING SERVICE ON GREAT THURSDAY IN SRETENSKY MONASTERY

Duration 2:55:38 minutes

And on the evening of Maundy Thursday in all Orthodox churches, the Reading of the Twelve Gospels is heard among the candles pouring down with tears. All are standing with large candles in their hands.

All this service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death of the God-man on the cross. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and an echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the divine service.

Here are collected the last mysterious speeches of Christ and compressed in a short space all this suffering of the God-man, to whom the soul hears “confused and wondering”. The earthly touches the heavenly eternity, and everyone who stands this evening with candles in the temple is invisibly present at Calvary.

It was a night of crying and tearful kneeling prayer before the Heavenly Father; this sacred night was terrible for the Celestials themselves ...

“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? Has opened your sight to your blind, cleansed the lepers, raised the man on the bed. My people, what I have created for you and what you have repaid Me: for manna - bile, for water [in the wilderness] - vinegar, instead of love for Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will no longer tolerate you, I will call upon My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life. "

The crosses are painted with soot on the door frames and on the window.

And these candles will then be kept and lit at the hour of the separation of the soul from the body. Even in modern Moscow on Maundy Thursday evening, one can see fiery streams from burning candles, which Orthodox parishioners carry home from the church.

Passionate Gospels:

1) John. 13:31 - 18: 1 (Farewell conversation of the Savior with the disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).

2) John. 18:1-28 ... (The taking of the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane and His suffering from the high priest Anna).

3) Matt. 26:57-75 . (The suffering of the Savior at the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).

4) John. 18:28-40 , 19:1-16 . (The suffering of the Lord at Pilate's trial).

5) Matt. 27:3-32 ... (Despair of Judas, new sufferings of the Lord by Pilate and his condemnation to be crucified).

6) Mar. 15:16-32 ... (Leading the Lord to Calvary and His suffering on the Cross).

SERVICE WITH THE READING OF THE 12 GOSPELS
(Passionate Gospels)

Service "12 Gospels" - Lent service performed on the evening of Holy Thursday with the reading of 12 Passionate Gospels dedicated to the sufferings of Jesus Christ.

It contains the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, chosen from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the garden of Gethsemane.

Passionate Gospels:

1) John. 13: 31-18: 1 (Farewell conversation of the Savior with the disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).

2) John 18: 1-28 (The taking of the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane and His suffering from the high priest Anna).

3) Matthew 26: 57-75 (The suffering of the Savior at the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).

4) John 18: 28-40, John 19: 1-16 (The suffering of the Lord at Pilate's trial).

5) Matthew 27: 3-32 (Despair of Judas, new sufferings of the Lord by Pilate and his condemnation to be crucified).

6) Mark 15: 16-32 (Leading the Lord to Calvary and His suffering on the Cross).

7) Matthew 27: 34-54 (Continuation of the story of the Lord's sufferings on the cross, miraculous signs that accompanied His death).

8) Luke 23: 32-49 (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for the enemies and repentance of the prudent robber).

9) John 19: 25-37 (The words of the Savior from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and the repetition of the story of His death and perforation).

10) Mark 15: 43-47 (Removing the body of the Lord from the Cross).

11) John 19: 38-42 (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior).

12) Matthew 27: 62-66 (Assigning guards to the Savior's tomb and sealing the tomb).

The reading of the Passionate Gospels is furnished with some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: "Glory to Thy longsuffering, O Lord," proclaimed by the gospel, listened to by the believers by burning candles.

***

In the evening on Maundy Thursday Matins of Good Friday is celebrated, or the service of the 12 Gospels , as this service is usually called. All this service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death of the God-man on the cross. Every hour of this day there is a new feat of the Savior, and an echo of these feats is heard in every word of the divine service.

In him The Church reveals to the believers the full picture of the suffering of the Lord, from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion of Calvary. Carrying us mentally through the past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us anxious spectators of all the torments of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the lips of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: "Glory to Thy longsuffering, O Lord!" After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

In the intervals between the Gospels, antiphons are sung, which express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior?- it says here. - Has He excommunicated you from the face of the apostolic? Or did you deprive you of the gift of healings? Or did he not admit you to the meal while celebrating the Supper with the others? Or did you wash your other feet, but despise yours? Oh, how many blessings you, ungrateful, have deserved. "

“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? Has opened your sight to your blind, cleansed the lepers, raised the man on the bed. My people, what I have created for you and what you have repaid Me: for manna - bile, for water[in desert] - vinegar, instead of love for Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will no longer tolerate you, I will call upon My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life. "

After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the "blessed" with the troparions, the triune canon follows, conveying in a concise form the last hours of the Savior's stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord, and is sung three times by the luminaries.

Exists ancient custom after the last Gospel, do not extinguish your candle, but bring it home burning and make small crosses with its flame under top crossbar every door of the house ( Wed Ref. 12:22). The same candle is used to light a lamp in front of the icons.

S.V. Bulgakov, Handbook for clergy

The last week before Easter is called Holy Week, and each day is called Great. During these days, the Church remembers and experiences the last events from the life of Christ before the crucifixion. Special meaning among them has Maundy Thursday. At the Liturgy on this day, the establishment of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is remembered, and in the evening the so-called "Passionate Gospels" are read. How does this day look in the light Holy Scripture? How are Christians today conducting it? Is it necessary to bring a lighted candle from the temple and draw a cross on front door? Where did the "tradition" come from to clean, wash and wash on this particular day? Read the answers to these questions below.

What does the Gospel say about the events of Maundy Thursday?

All four evangelists testify to last days life of Christ. The taking into custody and crucifixion on the cross was preceded by Easter, which Christ celebrated with his disciples.

Preparing for Easter and washing the feet

Jesus asked Peter and John to go to Jerusalem and prepare the Passover meal. The apostles, according to the teacher, met a man with a jug of water and turned to him: the Teacher ordered to meet Easter in your house. In the evening, Jesus Himself with the rest of the disciples came to this place, to the so-called Zion upper room.

Before eating the festive meal, also known as the Last Supper, Jesus showed an example of amazing humility.

It was not the first time that the disciples began to measure grace by human standards, that is, they began to ask Christ who deserves to be honored more. But the Good Teacher, the Son of God, who became a Man for the salvation of everyone, washed my feet To my disciples.

What is the point of this action? Jesus showed that the kingdom of heaven is the opposite kingdom. In it, the one who belittles himself becomes superior to everyone. And even the Son of God accepts humiliation and death on the cross. This custom of washing the feet has survived to this day: in cathedrals and some monasteries, representatives of the higher clergy perform a special rite.

Then Jesus and his disciples began to eat. In addition to fulfilling the law and eating Easter food, on Great Thursday Jesus actually also established the Sacrament of the Eucharist. He took bread in his hands, after the blessing, divided it into parts and gave it to the disciples, saying:

Take, eat; this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sins

Then Jesus took a cup of wine and also gave it to the apostles:

Drink from her all, This is My Blood of the New Testament, even for you and for many, shed for the remission of sins

Bread and Wine Are not trivial symbols at all. According to the teaching of the Church, every time during the Liturgy, bread and wine are transformed into the Flesh and Blood of Christ. There are many testimonies of both priests and laity who doubted the truth of this sacred rite, but then became witnesses terrible secret... With a spiritual eye they saw the body and blood in the chalice. But this is a completely different topic.

Let's return to the events taking place in the Zion Upper Room. Jesus, who called Himself in the Gospel the Bread of Life, establishes the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Therefore, the events of Thursday evening are also called the Last Supper. The Son of God says that He gives His Flesh and Blood for the salvation of people from sin.

Judas Betrayal and the Commandment of Love

And the very next day He will have to accept unbearable bodily torment and bloodshed, right up to the death of the cross. And one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot, will betray Him to certain death.

Judas among the apostles was a kind of "cashier", he carried a box of money. But at some point, he began to regard his "position" not as a service. Judas was mentally seduced by money once, twice, three times ... Before he had time to catch himself, passion took possession of him completely and led him to the high priests. For 30 pieces of silver, he betrayed. And not just a person, but a Teacher, whom the disciples consciously called the Son of God.

Jesus knew what Judas was up to. And it was at the Last Supper that he told the apostles that one of them would betray Him. The disciples, of course, began to ask: "Isn't it me?" And only Judas heard the answer: "You." Then the seduced disciple received from the good Teacher a piece of bread dipped in salt, with the words: "What are you doing, do quickly." After this Judas left the upper room of Zion.

He no longer heard the commandments of love:

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you ... And there is no more love than if someone would lay down his soul (give his life) for his friends

It was on such a step, right up to death on the cross, that the Son of God went.

Judas did not hear the last teachings of Christ at the Last Supper - to overcome sorrow, endure suffering and believe in the Son of God, His Father and the Holy Spirit. It did not include the prediction of the preaching of Christianity throughout the world, which the apostles would later fulfill.

Judas did not hear the grief of Christ about the disciples, who in the last hours of Christ's life would scatter. I did not know that Peter would deny the Son of God three times before the cock crows.

Judas Iscariot was not a witness to Jesus' prayer to His Father for the apostles. The commandment of faith, love and endurance of sorrow no longer applied to him. After all, by his betrayal of Christ, he gave himself into the hands of the devil.

All these events on Thursday are remembered by evangelists. And the Church also honors this day especially.

Features of the Liturgy on Maundy Thursday

In memory of the celebration of the First Eucharist, it is obligatory to serve Divine Liturgy.

It reads a Gospel passage about the events of that day: the celebration of Easter, the Last Supper and the communion of the apostles, the washing of the feet, the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter.

Also, the Cherubic is not sung at the Liturgy. It is replaced by the well-known prayer before communion:

Thy supper is a secret day, Son of God, accept me a partaker, we will not tell you a secret with your enemy, I will not give you a kiss, like Judas, but like a robber I confess You: remember me, Lord, in Thy Kingdom

In it, the believers ask the Lord to grant them communion, as disciples once did. The worshipers promise not to betray Christ by serving the passions, like the money-loving Judas who betrayed Christ with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane. In this prayer, Christians show meekness, humility and hope, like a robber crucified by right hand from Christ. As you know, the robber repented before his death and asked Jesus to remember him in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Whenever possible, believers try to receive the Holy Communion on this day. Approaching the chalice with the Holy Gifts, they recall the communion of the apostles and the great mercy shown to each person - the opportunity to unite in the Sacrament with God.

Reading the 12 Passionate Gospels

In the evening in the temples they serve the Matins of Good Friday. It reads 12 Gospel passages about the sufferings of Christ. Therefore, the divine service is known under another name - service of the 12 Gospels .

Believers hold lighted candles in their hands, in some churches they kneel while reading the Holy Scriptures. Priests read gospel stories about the sufferings of Christ. Since in the Church Slavonic language, suffering is called passions, it is customary to call the passages being read passionate Gospels.

Believers invisibly witness the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, the sufferings of the high priests Anna and Caiaphas, the doubts of Pilate and the condemnation to death, the beating of Christ and the way to Golgotha, the crucifixion and humiliation from the crucifixes, the repentance of the robber and death.

Before us is the Son of God poured with bloody sweat in prayer for the cup; the guards who came to seize Jesus after hearing him Holy name falling to their knees.

Before us is Judas, with a sly kiss for 30 pieces of silver, betrays the Son of God, Peter, who denied Christ three times, cries to the sound of a rooster, the disciples scatter so as not to see the Passion of Christ.

In front of us, Jesus is beaten half to death, spit in His eyes, shouting: "Crucify Him, crucify!"

Before us the Virgin Mary grieves, whom Christ gives to the care of his beloved disciple John, Mary Magdalene and other myrrh-bearing wives are filled with tears.

Before us, the prudent robber repents and gives himself up to eternal torment crucified by left hand from the Son of God.

Before us, a choking Jesus squeezes out of Himself the words of prayer for crucifixes and evildoers:

Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing

And then he gives his spirit into the hands of the Lord.

Then there will be the removal of Christ from the cross, burial and mourning, and then the joy of the Resurrection. But when reading the passionate Gospels, the Church first of all remembers the great sacrificial love Christ to people, the price of which is betrayal, loneliness and crucifixion.

Why carry home a lighted candle?

While reading the Gospel passages, believers hold lighted candles in their hands, after the end of the service they do not extinguish them, and so they follow home to draw a cross at the front door with the flame of a Thursday or passionate candle. It is believed that this cross should protect the home from evil spirits.

But what is it? A pious tradition or another superstition, so beautifully disguised as Orthodoxy?

In the liturgical literature, there is no mention of such a tradition of Maundy Thursday, there is no corresponding decree for mandatory execution.

But this custom cannot be called a magical action, because it is performed with faith and prayer.

Some parallels can be drawn with Hebrew Easter ... In the book of Exodus, it is written that each family had to take a lamb, the baked meat of which with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, and ate on Passover. And the blood of this lamb was anointed on the doorposts of the doors. By this "mark" the Angel of the Lord distinguished the families of the Israelites from the Egyptians, in whose homes the "destructive plague" was supposed to take away the eldest sons.

To this day, Orthodox Christians believe that crosses painted with "passionate" candles are capable of protecting their homes from uncleanness. It is difficult to disagree with this, knowing how evil spirits are afraid of the sign of the cross and the cross on the wearer.

Maundy Thursday - time for cleaning?

But there is another "tradition" associated with Maundy Thursday. This day is also popularly called Maundy Thursday. In modern parlance, people believed that this was supposedly the perfect day for cleaning. Therefore, it was necessary on this day to clean up, clean, wash, wash. Also, our great-grandmothers believed that on this day it is useful to swim in a living reservoir in order to cleanse yourself of diseases.

Where to look for the grounds for such an interpretation of Holy Thursday? There are several options:

in the Gospel: Christ washed the feet of His disciples;
in the history of the Church: used to be baptized on Great Saturday. People have been preparing for this event for about three years. So that worries about their appearance would not bother them on Friday, when the Church remembers the death of Christ, the “Christian candidates” cleaned themselves up on Thursday.

There are also versions associated with the pagan past of the Slavs. But in modern Orthodox life such options can be viewed from a different angle. Maundy Thursday is another reason on the eve of Easter to take care of spiritual purity , confession and communion.

The meaning of this day of Holy Week is also described in this video:

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