Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Wednesday's Bridegrrom Matins

Tuesday Night (Wednesday) Bridegroom Matins



Tonight was the last of the Bridegroom services for Holy Week. At tonight's service we heard about two people who treated Jesus very different ways. We didn't hear the whole of the Gospel stories, we'll hear those tomorrow morning, but the hymns that we sang told us something about what it going on.

Tonight was all about comparison! And who were we comparing? The Bad Gone Good and the Good Gone Bad.

Who is the Bad the Gone GoodWell that was a sinful women (adulteress, harlot, there's really no nice way to put it) who took a very expensive oil, put some on Jesus' feet and then wiped it with her own hair. She really wanted to show how much she cared about Jesus. She might have done many terrible things with her life, but she repented of all those sins by showing so much care for her Lord Jesus. There is a special hymn that was sung tonight called the Hymn of Kassiani, in which we hear the woman ask Christ, not to judge her because of her sins, but to accept her repentance. And he does! He even stands up for her when Judas, one of his own disciples, tries to scold her.

Who is the Good Gone BadThat is Judas. Yesterday we heard murmurings that Judas was thinking of betraying Jesus, but tomorrow is the day when he actually does it. Judas, a disciple who has been with Christ since the beginning, who has heard his teachings and seen all his miracles, is so upset at the kind way Jesus is treated by the sinful women that he immediately goes to the Jewish chief priests and asks for money to betray Jesus to them. Why was he so angry at the women that he would give up his friend to those who want to kill him? Well that is because when he sees the woman using all of that expensive oil on Jesus, he says that the money would better have been spent on the poor. Now, Judas really wasn't all that concerned with the poor, he was more concerned with the money. (He was in charge of the poor box and would often take money out of it for himself.) When Jesus scolds him saying, "Why do you trouble the woman?. . .For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me." That's what made Judas upset and that's why he went and sold Jesus to his enemies.

The hymns do a lot to compare these two: A terribly sinful woman who repents and honors Jesus in the best way she knows how and a disciple of Christ who sells out his friend, his Lord, for 30 pieces of silver. 

We will hear more about their stories tomorrow.


Tomorrow's Services
Holy Unction (Oil) Service 
Lawrence 6:30 PM
South Glens Falls 6PM

Hope to see you there!

Bridegroom Matins?

Tonight is the last of the Bridegroom services for Holy Week.




Last year someone in Sunday School asked why we call these services "Bridegroom Matins" so we asked Fr. Philip to explain.

Follow the link to check out last year's post.

See you tonight!

Got Questions?

WE LOVE QUESTIONS!


Ever wonder where Bridegroom Matins got its name?

Or, for that matter, why we do matins at night?

Who is Cassiane?

Why is Good Friday called "Good" if that is the day when Jesus died?

What is Jesus doing between Friday and Sunday?

Why do we use red eggs rather than pastel colored ones?


We are here to answer all of your Holy Week and Pascha questions, so ask away!

(You can use the comment section at the bottom of each post to ask questions. All comments have to be approved, so don't be concerned if yours does not show up right away.)

Holy Tuesday (April 30th)

Lamps and Talents



Lot's of Bible Stories today!

Today we heard more of the stories of Moses and Job. Remember that we started their stories yesterday morning? Today, we heard that Pharoah's daughter found Moses in a basket in the river among the reeds and that she took and adopted him as her own son. 




Then we heard about the destruction of Job's servants as well as the death of his children. All the wonderful things that God has given him have been taken away. What will he do now?

What is Jesus doing now?

In these, his last days, Jesus giving some of his final teachings to his disciples. These next two parables are part of those teachings.



The Wise Virgins entered the marriage feast with the bridegroom, the foolish were left outside!


Parable of the Ten Virgins (Mat. 25:1-13)
In this story, there are 10 young women (a.k.a. virgins) awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom at a marriage feast. Five of them are wise, so they brought lamps and lots of extra oil (to make sure that the lights did not go out). The other five are very foolish indeed because they brought no extra oil. The groom is late, so they all decided to take a nap while they waited for him. In the middle of the night (this groom was very late!) everyone's is woken up: The bridegroom has arrived! The wise virgins get out their extra oil and relight their lamps, but the foolish virgins don't have any extra so they ask for some help. The wise virgins reply that if they share the oil there won't be enough to go around and no one will have any light! So the foolish versions have to go to the shops and buy some more oil. While they are away, the bridegroom comes and everyone one goes into the feast. Then the doors are shut. Finally the foolish virgins come back, but they have been locked out!! They knock and knock and cry "Lord, open for us!" But, all they hear back is "I don't know you." They have been left out of the feast because they were not prepared.

What the moral of the story? You don't know when Jesus is going to come, so be ready. Don't wait until the last minute and be caught unprepared because then you will miss out on the feast (ie. the kingdom of heaven).

Parable of the Talents (Mat. 25:14-30)
In this story Jesus tells us about a man who was about to go on a trip. He called all his servants together and put them in charge of his property while he was away. To one servant he have 5 talents (Talents are money, so lets just call them dollars for now), to another servant he have two dollars, and to another one dollar. Then the man went on his trip. While he was away, the first servant took his five dollars, did some trading, and came back with another five! The second servant took his two dollars, traded with them and made two more! The last servant took his one dollar and hid it in the ground. Now, when the man came back from his trip, he went to settle accounts with his servants, to see what they had done with his money. The first servant brought him ten dollars (the five he was given and the five he made) and the man was very happy! The second servant brought him 4 dollars (the two he got and the two he made) and the man was very happy! The last servant brought only the one dollar because he hadn't made any more money and the man was upset. He called the last servant lazy, saying that he ought to have done something with what he was give/n. Then he took the one dollar away from the last servant, gave it to the first servant who had ten dollars, and then threw the man out of his house.

What's the moral of the story? God gives us all gifts and we should use them instead of burying our heads in the sand and being too afraid to do anything. In the end, if we haven't done anything with the gifts God has given us, we will be sent away from him.

With these parables Jesus is trying to warn his disciples, and us too, that we had better do things with the life we are living now, because we do not know when the end will come. Now is the time to get to know God, to be prepared, and what better time then Holy Week, when there is so much going on. Even though today's stories might seem a bit harsh or scary, Jesus still lets us know that it is not too late. We still have time to be with him, so lets make the most of it!



Jesus and Jewish Leaders


peter_paul_rubens_render_unto_caesar_525.jpg (525×448)

We also heard in the gospel about a time when the Sadducees, the temple leaders, set out to entrap Jesus, to get him to say something which will show the people that he is a bad teacher. But instead, the plan backfires, and Jesus is shown to be an extremely intelligent teacher. Jesus then scolds them, and reminds them that they ought to be less worried about how they act (long prayers, perfect sacrifices, head tables, etc.) and more concerned with their relationship with God and being good leaders of His people.


The journey continues. . .



Tonight's services:

Bridegroom Matins (last one!)




Monday, April 29, 2013

Tuesday's Bridegroom Matins (April 29th)


Monday Night (Tuesday) Bridegroom Matins






Tonight was the second Bridegroom Service of Holy Week. Just like last night (and this morning) the services are full of biblical stories!

In the Gospel we heardabout Jesus and his discussion with the Pharisees and Saducees, two educated groups of Jewish leaders. 

They ask Jesus many things like, "Should people pay taxes to the king?" and "Which is the greatest commandment?" Jesus astounds them all by not only answering their questions, but asking them questions they can't answer

Jesus then scolds them all! He tells them that they are all too concerned with being leaders when they ought to be concerned about teaching people to love God! Jesus tells his disciples, "He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." 

He continues, scolding Jewish leaders with being too concerned about how they appear on the outside, how nice their robes are or how long their prayers are, when they should be concerned with how the appear on the inside--with the state of their soul. Jesus calls them "whitewashed tombs" because though they are nice and shiny on the outside, inside they are full of dead peoples bones (not so nice, eh?). He says that if you really want to be clean on the outside, you have to be clean on the inside first.

These words aren't just for the Pharisees and Sadducees, they are for us too! We shouldn't be concerned about how other people see us, whether or not it looks like we are being kind or truthful or prayerful, but if we actually are like that on the inside, doing things for others and being prayerful because we really love God.


Tonight we also heard about two of Jesus parables, or stories, which he told the disciples: the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents. These stories are actually read in Tuesday morning's Gospel, so we'll hear about them later on. 

Tomorrow we'll also hear more about Moses and Job.

There are certainly lots of things to hear and see the road to Easter/Pascha! So many stories! Old and New Testament, all of scripture seems to have something to say about what is happening to Jesus.

One last thing. . . .

If you were at church and listened very carefully to the hymns, you would have have heard a mention of Judas. He's already thinking about betraying Jesus.  We also heard over the past few days that the Pharisees are plotting the death of Jesus. The gears are in motion. . . .




Tomorrow's Services

Bridegroom Matins (Last one!!)
St. George South Glens Falls 6PM
St. George Lawrence 7PM


Hope to see you there!

Holy Monday (April 29th)

Joseph and the Fig Tree


Remember last night at Bridegroom Matins, we heard about the story of Joseph and Jesus' parable of the Fig Tree? Well today we'll talk more about them.



Joseph




This is the same Joseph with the "coat of many colors." 

No, not the singing, dancing Joseph!

He was the 11th son of Jacob (also known as Israel). Joseph's brothers were extremely jealous of him because their father seemed to love Joseph best of all. One day Joseph's brothers took him and sold him to a band of slavers who then sold him into slavery in Egypt. There he worked for a high ranking official, who's wife wrongly accused Joseph and so her was thrown into prison. While in prison he began to interpret the dreams of some of the prisoners. Word of his abilities spread so far that when the Pharaoh himself was troubled with a dream, he asked Joseph to interpret. The Pharaoh then made Joseph his right hand man, governor of Egypt in charge of the people's care.

Want to read the whole story? You can find it in Genesis 37;39-41.

Why Joseph? Well, Joseph's story is taken as one of the earliest symbol's of Christ's suffering and resurrection. Joseph was mistreated by his brothers, enslaved and imprisoned, but in the end he rose to one of highest offices in Egypt and was able to help the Egyptians, and his own family, through a tough famine. Jesus will be mistreated, denied, and finally crucified, but in the end he will rise again and save all mankind.







When Jesus was walking with his disciples he found that he was hungry and so he stopped beside a fig tree to get some of its fruit, but he found that the tree was bare--it had no fruit! Immediately the fig tree shriveled up and died. (Mat. 24: 3-35) This tree was a symbol of those who, though they might appear outwardly to have faith, but they do not show the necessary fruits of virtue and righteousness, so they die. It is a reminder to all of us.


We also hear the first parts of the stories of some other well known figures from the Old Testament: Moses and Job

Why Moses and Job? 

Well, Moses is the one who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (where they ended up at the end of Joseph's story). He delivered his people, just like Christ delivered us from slavery to sin and death. 

Job is the ultimate symbol of suffering, as we read that though he was blessed by God with many children, much land, and much wealth, he lost everything and yet never lost his faith in God.

We'll hear more about Moses and Job tomorrow.


It's all about Bible stories for the next few days!



Sorry, we have no picture's from today's liturgy. =( 



Tonight's service:

Bridegroom Matins:
St. George Lawrence - 7PM
St. George South Glens Falls - 5PM


Hope to see you there!





For Parents:
You can use the Scripture readings during Holy Week as your kid's bedtime stories. It involves them in what's going on in the Church even if they cannot be part of the services.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Monday Bridegroom Matins


Sunday (Monday) Bridegroom Matins




"Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom he shall find awake. But he whom he shall find neglectful is verily unworthy. Behold, therefore, my soul. beware lest thou fallest into deep slumber, and the door of the kingdom be closed against thee, and thou be delivered to death. But be thou wakeful, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy are Thou O God. Through the Theotokos, have mercy on us."

- Troparion of Bridegroom Matins




Sunday night begins the first service of Holy Week. The bright colors and the palms which had decorated the Church this morning are now taken down and replaced with black. The joyfullness of the morning has now turned to sorrow.

During this service, the icon of Christ called "The Bridegroom" is brought out and placed in the middle of the church, while the choir chants the hymn above.

On each of the first days of Holy Week, the Church remembers some events and stories from the Bible that relate to what is happening to Jesus and the things that he taught us.

On Holy Monday we remember the story of Joseph (the one with the coat of many colors) and the Parable of the Fig Tree.

We'll talk more about them tomorrow.


The journey continues. . . . .

Jesus Arrives! (Palm Sunday: April 28th)


Palm Sunday - Jesus Come to Jerusalem

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: 
behold, your King comes unto you: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon a donkey, and upon a colt the foal of a donkey."
- Zechariah 9:9




Today is the day when the church celebrates Jesus coming into the city of Jerusalem. It is the days before Passover, and the crowds of people who are coming into Jerusalem have just heard about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Jesus, the King, enters into Jerusalem humbly, since is riding on a simple donkey rather than a majestic steed. Never the less, the crowds of people aren't going to let this event happen quietly. They shout "Hossannah!" "Hooray!" and wave branches of palm trees to show their excitement. In fact, they are causing such a commotion that the Pharisees ask Jesus to make them quiet down. Jesus says, "No. Even if all these people were to be silent, the rocks and stones would start to sing and praise God." The whole world celebrates the day when Jesus comes into Jerusalem, to begin his journey to the cross and the tomb--the journey which will save his people from death.

Palm Sunday at St. George's



Fr. Philip blessed the palm branches and pussywillows during Matins.




Today's Epistle Reading - Philippians 4:4-9

Today's Gospel Reading - John 12:1-18

 
We're celebrating too! The priests are decked out in their gold vestments. The choir and people sing loudly as we process around the church carrying candles and palms, just like they did in Jerusalem all those years ago. Young and old, parents and children, we are all here announcing to the world the good news of Christ!!





The choir leads the people as the sing, "Holy God! Holy God! Holy Mighty, have mercy on us!"



 
Are bad things going to happen to Jesus when he goes into Jerusalem? 

Sure, we know what will happen to Jesus this week, but we also know that He is going to rise from the dead and save all of us with him!! 

So for now, we celebrate!!

 


 
Tonight's Services:


Bridegroom Matins (check your local Church schedule)




Hope to see you there!


For Adults:

Fr. Alexander Schmemann: "Liturgical Explanation for the Days of Holy Week"
St. Theodore Studite on the Week of Palms

Parent Resources:
Some coloring pages can be found as part of the "Journey to Pascha" mini-unit from the Christian Ed. department of the OCA. 

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Lazarus Saturday (April 25)



Lazarus is alive!



What happened today?

Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha and a dear friend of Jesus, has been dead for four days. The disciples had told Jesus that his good friend, Lazarus, was sick, but did not come to visit him because, as he told His disciples, "His sickness is not for death. It will be for the glory of God." 


When Jesus finally comes to Bethany, Lazarus is already dead. Mary and Martha tell Jesus that if he'd been there, then Lazarus wouldn't have died. Jesus asks to see where his friend had been buried. When he gets to the tomb Jesus cries for his friend. He then asks that they open the doors of the tomb. Mary protests, saying that there would be a smell (he's been dead for four days after all), but Jesus wants it opened anyway. He pauses for a moment to pray and then calls to into the tomb, "Lazarus come out!" Lo and behold, out walks Lazarus, with his grave clothes still wrapped around him. Jesus had raised him from the dead!


Word began to spread like wildfire about what Jesus had done. Jesus and His disciples are planning on going up to the big city, Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover. Lots of people were coming to the city for the feast, and soon they would all know about Lazarus. But, remember that the Jewish authorities are waiting in Jerusalem and plotting to condemn Jesus to death.


See the icon at the top of this post? Can you identify all the people and tell what they are doing?  (If not, get your parents or siblings to help out!) There sure is a lot going on!



What happening today at the St. George's?

Fr. Philip and Fr. Edward each served Liturgy this morning for the feast.


Notice anything different about the colors in the Church?


Thats right! It's not purple anymore. It's gold and white!
That is because Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are celebrations, so we deck out the Church to match the happy occasion!

Here's Fr. Philip changing the clothes to white. The Church got a good cleaning too!!








Gospel - John 11:1-45




"May He Who by raising Lazarus from the dead confirmed the Universal Resurrection for our salvation. . .have mercy on us and save us, forasmuch as He is good and loveth mankind."

AMEN!



There will be Vespers tonight at 5PM (at both Churches)
More updates after Vespers!


Tomorrow's services:

Palm Sunday
Matins 9AM
Divine Liturgy 10AM



Bridegroom Matins 
(check your local church schedules)



Hope to see you there!!!


For Parents:
Speaking the Truth with Love: Lazarus Saturday Fr. Hopko
Alexander Schmemann Taking it Seriously

And for tomorrow, if you are interested in making Palm Crosses:
Palm Cross Diagram
Palm Cross Video Tutorial (There are many more out there too!)




A Week Out of Time

So, why do we do all these services during Holy Week?
Why do we carry palms and branches in a procession on Palm Sunday?
Why do we stay and pray with Jesus after his death?
Why do we stay up late a night to be there when Jesus breaks the gates of Hades and rises from the grave?



 Is all of this just in remembrance of history 
or maybe a simple reenactment to help us understand what happened so many years ago?


NOPE. 

WE ARE THERE
.
at Lazarus' grave
as Jesus enters Jerusalem
in the garden with the disciples when Jesus is taken
at the foot of the cross when Jesus breathes his last
at the tomb when the women discover the stone rolled away
in the upper room when the disciples see the risen Jesus


Now I know, you are probably saying, "Those things happened way back in history. We are not in Jerusalem, we're in Massachusetts or New York! How can we be there and see all these things which already happened?"


Well I'll tell you.


Think back to every liturgy you've ever been to. What is the very first thing that the Priest says? (If you can't remember, ask your parents or look it up in your prayer books.)

Have you found it? Yup, that's right. he says:

"Blessed be the Kingdom"

Now why does he say such a thing? Is the priest just letting us know that the Kingdom (of heaven) is a nice place? And why is he talking about the Kingdom of Heaven anyway, I thought we were in our Church?

AH HA!

The Church during Liturgy is the Kingdom of Heaven.

When we have these services we are participating in the ways things will be in the Kingdom of Heaven. All the hymns and the prayers let us know that we aren't just at St. George's any more, we are also involved in something much bigger, something beyond time as we know it.

I'll let Dr. Who explain:


Things aren't always as simple as they appear to be. And that's pretty great for us because it means that when we are in Church, God allows us to be a part of something which we normally wouldn't be able to do: jump outside of time. 

So, what does this mean for Holy Week? 

Well it means that we didn't have to be in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. in order to participate in those events which changed the world forever. All these hundreds of years later, we still get the chance to be there and to see all those amazing things.

Quite often, if you listen, even just a little bit, during Church services you can hear clues which let you know that something very special is going on.

For instance, last Wednesday we heard:
"Lazarus is in the tomb two days, seeing the dead of all ages. . ."

Notice that this is in the present tense, not the past. 
Lazarus is dead now. And soon (very soon indeed) he will not be dead any more.

So lets stop thinking of Holy Week and Pascha as a time when we remember things which happened a long time ago, and. . .

Be there with those crowds on Pam Sunday!
Be there to weep with the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross.
And be there with the women when they discover that Jesus Christ is not dead, 
but has Risen!!!





Thursday, April 25, 2013

Why a Holy Week Blog?


The Events of Holy Week and Pascha in the Orthodox Church.




Greetings all!

On Lazarus Saturday, April 7th, our Church begins a journery with Christ. We travel with Him to Jerusalem, listen to His last teachings with the disciples, are with Him at the cross, watch over Him at the tomb, and finally rejoice in His glorious third day Resurrection! We don't just remember the events, we mystically participate in them.

Mat. Sarah and Fr. Philip started this blog in 2012 as a way to help the Sunday School students of St. George Church in Lawrence, MA to understand what happens in our Church during Holy Week. Since Fr. and Mat. Begley have moved to NY we've expanded our blog to include what is going on at  St. George Church in South Glens Falls.

Because many of our children have school during the day or are too young to go out at night they miss participating in some of the more exciting liturgical celebrations of the Church year. It is hard to talk to children about Holy Week; its better if they see and participate in it. To that end, we will be hosting this blog in order to let them know what is happening at the church, even if they are unable to attend.

What you'll see:
- A description of where we are in the Holy Week/Paschal Journey
- Daily Gospel readings
- Pictures (and maybe even video) of liturgical services
- Links to activities for children and some interesting articles for parents
- Q&A

Be sure to check your local Churches Holy Week schedule, which can be found in your weekly bulletin, as a reminder of what's coming.

**Last year's blog posts are still on this website, so if you want to get a feeling of what a certain service might be like, check it out!

Hopefully what you see here will move you to come participate with us! As wonderful as it might be to see pictures and descriptions, it is even more wonderful for everyone to be present and praying together. 

God Bless!


P.S. This blog is not just for children! Though helping Sunday school students was the original impetus  for starting this blog, it can be just as useful if you are an adult. Due to work schedules and other commitments many adults don't see all that happens at our Churches during Holy Week. Check us out and see what you are missing, or better yet, come to Church and be a part of this Holy Week with us!

Lazarus Has Died


The Death of Lazarus


Last night, at Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, we remembered that Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, has died and was just recently buried.

We sang:

"Lazarus has now been two days dead in the tomb, and he sees the dead from all the ages. There he beholds the sights of terror, the prisoners of death, a multitude that no one can count. His sisters weep bitterly, looking upon his tomb, but Christ comes to bring his friend to life, that a single hymn of praise may be offered up with one accord by all: 'Blessed are you O Savior, have mercy on us!'"

Why do we remember the death of Lazarus? It's because in a few days, something miraculous is going to happen to him. Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead!

But for now, Lazarus is in the tomb and Jesus is on his way to Bethany and then to Jerusalem. The journey has begun. . . .

Monday, April 15, 2013

Holy Week 2013!

April 28- May 5th


Things are going to change a bit this year (new location!) but its still going to be packed full of information and ways to get involved in Church Life during Holy Week.


Watch this space! More to Come!