At we will give the “stamp” of the day for the entire Holy Week until Easter Sunday
By Marina Zioziou
Holy Week it is something unique in the church year. In the importance, after all, of world-saving events, according to the saint John the Chrysostom, due to the name of the most holy week of the year as “Great”.
In the liturgical act of the Church, the beginning of the next day is made from the afternoon of the previous one. So, the Masses held on the evening of Holy Week, concern the events of the following day. Our texts, following this practice, will describe the next day’s events, but will be in the Sequence of the day they are published.
Every day on –with the help of Archimandrite Fr Filoumenos Roubis, Secretary General of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens– we will give the “stamp” of the day for the entire Holy Week until Easter Sunday. Also, Mrs. Evelena Kardamila, PhD candidate in Folklore will “travel” us to customs and traditions in every corner of Greece, which have their roots deep in time.
On Holy Tuesday in the morning Vespers is celebrated, with some of the Troparia we chanted yesterday afternoon in Orthros, and the Pre-consecrated Divine Liturgy. On the afternoon of Holy Tuesday, the Orthros of Holy Wednesday is celebrated. On this day we perform commemoration of the event of the anointing of the Lord with myrrh by the harlot. It also brings to our memory the Church and the convening of the Council of the Jewsthat is, of their supreme Court, to receive the decision to condemn the Lord, as well as the plans of Judas for the betrayal of his Teacher.
And so, the sequence of this day contains the two great contrasts, as pointed out by Archim. Kissing Roubis, through two faces, a prostitute and a student, expressing two examples, one positive and one negative. And while one would expect the positive example to be the student and the negative the prostitute, however the facts show the opposite. A trope typically says: “The harlot stretched out her hair to the Lord, Judas stretched out his hands to the lawless; I, let them receive forgiveness, he, let them receive silver. Through you we help you, who has done and set us free, Lord, glory be to you.”
The incident with the harlot is as follows: One day, a Pharisee named Simon came to Jesus and invited him to a meal. Jesus accepted. It was the custom of the Jews, when they wished to honor a guest, to receive him with the kiss of hospitality, to offer him water to wash his feet dusty from the road, and to anoint his hair with oil. Simon the Pharisee did not offer such special honors to Christ, until after, according to custom, the guests had left their dusty sandals outside, entered, and all fell on the three-beds which were arranged around the table. In those warm hospitable places the doors were usually left open, and passers-by entered the houses at any hour and went out freely, or stood inside, if it amused them to see and hear.
A sinful woman had heard Jesus preach and His teaching had made a deep impression on her. Many interpreters connect the face of this woman with the one that appears in the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to John. More specifically, it is described that the Scribes and Pharisees brought to Christ a woman who was caught red-handed committing adultery and, according to the Law, had to be stoned to death. They asked Christ what to do with her and He answered “Let the sinless one of you be the first to throw a stone at her” saving her from death and forgiving her.
So she learned that the Lord had been invited to Simon’s house. So she took an alabaster vessel of precious myrrh, followed Him, and, entering the room where they were eating, went shyly and stood behind him. Jesus was speaking and she was listening to his words and she was remembering her own wayward sinful life. She was ashamed and sorry for her past many sins. He then approached Christ from behind. Christ was sitting among the Pharisees. And the harlot breaks the censer – that is, she offered not only the most expensive myrrh, but also the equally expensive alabaster censer – and began to smell Him from head to foot. And she washed Christ’s feet with her myrrh and tears. And, after untying her hair and wiping the feet of Christ with them, she kissed them.
The Pharisees watch the scene. The host looked at the calmness of Jesus, and with his calculation said: “If he was a prophet, as they call him, he would know what this woman who touches him is, that she is a sinner.”
Christ understood his thought and answered: “Simon, I have something to tell you”. “Say, teacher,” replied the Pharisee. “A creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And since they had nothing to pay, he gave them both. Which of the two, tell me, will love him more?’. Simon answered: “I guess the one he gave the most to”. And Jesus said to him: “You answered correctly”. And, showing him the weeping sinner, bowed at His feet, He said: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house and you did not pour water on my feet. She, however, wet them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t give me a kiss. She, however, after entering, did not stop kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil. But she anointed my feet with myrrh. This is why I tell you, her sins are forgiven, many of them, because she loved a lot.” And, turning to the woman, he said: “Your sins are forgiven; your faith has saved you. Go to hell.” The guests were of course left wondering who it is that forgives sins.
The reason this day was dedicated to the harlot and the event of consecration is not just that “before the saving passion of this little event”, as we read in Triodi’s note in Synaxari of the day. But, mainly, because Christ Himself will connect this consecration with His burial. The anointing of Jesus by a woman now takes place before his death, in the very place of the anointing that would have taken place if he had died normally, and not dishonorably on the Cross.
The trope of Cassiana
It is sung as the last trope of the sequence the trope of the pious and eloquent poet of Byzantium, Nun Kassianis, whom novelists have brutally abused, falsely and slanderously portraying her as a harlot. Kassiani, the poet, was not a prostitute – of course – but the heroine of her poem, that is, the woman who anointed the Lord with myrrh. Interpreters do not agree on the number of women who anointed the Lord with myrrh. Others believe it is one, others two and others three. Of course, none of them are Mary Magdalene. In the Orthodox tradition, Mary Magdalene was not a beautiful young prostitute, but a venerable middle-aged woman (probably older than the Virgin Mary, which is why she is usually mentioned first among the other myrrh bearers). After the Resurrection, he traveled to Rome, where he protested the unjust condemnation of Christ, which should have been preceded by a trial, as he was a Roman citizen, and succeeded in having Pilate convicted. She stayed with the Virgin until her ascension and, after preaching the Gospel in many countries of the Mediterranean, she settled in Ephesus until the end of her life.
But together with the harlot, the face of Judas looks enigmatic at the same time. The nickname “Iscariot” accompanying him has confused many interpreters. The most popular explanation is that this word describes him as a zealot. The word Iscariotis sounds similar to the word Κ-sikariimeans “man with a dagger”. This theory implies that Judas became a disciple of Christ but, after realizing that Jesus would never lead a rebellion against Rome, betrayed Him. Judas’ ultimate motives, however, were not political. His motive was purely money. A hymn of the day reads: “Intimacy of Christ, Judas blooming with gold”that is, Judas loved money more than Christ.
The Fathers of the Church interpret the events of the day: It is not only the sins of the flesh that keep us away from God, but also the attachment to material goods. There are many substitutes for the true worship of God. Whatever conquers the soul becomes a god and an idol. And, while the soul of man was created to be united with God, it commits fornication clinging to sin.
The Lord remains silent on Wednesdays and Thursdays until the evening, when words would come from his lips that have never been heard in all of human history. Before His eyes He has only death, the final sacrament with which He will complete His mission, which was our salvation.
Source: Skai
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
