By Marina Zoziou

The Great Tuesday In the morning the Vespers ends, with some of the trumpets we chanted yesterday afternoon at Orthos, and the Divine Liturgy. On the afternoon of Great Tuesday, the Orthodox Wednesday is ends. During this day we perform Remembrance of the event of the Lord’s lean by myth from the prostitute woman. Also brings to our memory the church and the convening of the Jewish conferencethat is, their supreme court, to make the decision of the Lord, as well as Judas’ plans to betray his teacher.

With the help of Archimandrite Fr. Filoumenos Roubi, Secretary General of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens- we will give the “mark” of the day.

The sequence of this day contains the two major contrasts, as Archimedes. Filled 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 prostitute, the events are the opposite. A trumpet says characteristically: “The prostitute, the prostitute of the Despot, the Judas, the hands of the illegal, the hand, the hand of the jokes. You are barely, our released and liberation, Lord Glory. “

The incident with the prostitute woman is as follows: One day, a Pharisee, called Simon, went to Jesus, and called him to a meal. Jesus accepted. It was a habit of the Jews, when they wanted to honor a guest, to accept him with the kiss of hospitality, to offer him water to wash his feet dusty and spread his hair with oil. Such special honors, Simon the Pharisee did not offer Christ; since, in the habit, the guests left their dusty sandals out, entered, and all fell into the triple ones that were spoiled around the table. In those warm hospitable places, the doors were usually open and passersby were entering the houses whatever they wanted and went out freely or stood inside if they had fun to see and hear.

A sinner had heard the sermon of Jesus and his teaching had made her deep impression. Many performers associate the face of this woman with the one that appears in the 8th chapter of John the Gospel. More specifically, it is described that the secretaries and the Pharisees brought to Christ a woman who was arrested in self -sufficiency and, by law, had to be killed by stoning. They asked Christ what to do with her and he replied “Immortal Immore I put a stone in it” escaping it from death and forgiving it.

She, then, learned that the Lord had been invited to Simon’s house. So he took an alabaster container with precious myrrh, followed him, and, entering the room where they ate, went shy and stood behind him. Jesus spoke and listened to his words and remembered her own naughty sinful life. She was ashamed and sad for her past many sins. He then approached Christ from behind. Christ was sitting between the Pharisees. And the prostitute breaks the smell – that is, it offered not only the expensive myrrh, but also the equally expensive alabaster smell – and began to smell it from head to feet. And she washed the legs of Christ with her myrrh and tears. And, after solving her hair and sponge with these feet of Christ, she was overwhelmed.

The Pharisees are watching the scene. The host was looking at the calm of Jesus, and with his account he said: “If he was a prophet, as they call him, he would know what this woman who touches him is, how he is a sinner.”

Christ understood His thought and replies: “Simon, I have something to tell you”. “Say, teacher,” Pharisee replied. “One lender had two debtors; one owned five hundred dinars, and the other fifty. And because they had no pay, they gave them both. Which of the two, tell me, will he love him more? “. Simon responded: “I guess, the one to whom he gave most”. And Jesus told him: “You responded right”. And, showing him the sinner who was crying, tired on his feet, he said: “Do you see this woman? I entered your house and water on my feet you didn’t. But with her tears she was raining and with her hair sponge me. You didn’t kiss me. But after he entered, she did not cease to afflict my legs. My head with oil did not blink it. But this with myrrh blocked my legs. That’s why I tell you, her sins forgiven many, because she loved a lot. ” And, to the woman, he said, “Your sins forgiven; your faith saved you. Drink the good. ” The guests were of course remained to wonder who is the one who forgives sins.

The reason this day was dedicated to the prostitute woman and the event of the smell is not just that “Before the Salvation of Passion Little Thanks”as we read in the Triodion’s memorandum in the synagogue of the day. But, above all, because Christ Himself will associate this smell to His burial. Jesus’ smell by a woman is now done before his death, at exactly the place of the smell, which would take place if he died normally, and not impunity on the cross.

Great Tuesday

The trumpet of Kassiani

As the last trumpet of the sequence is chanted The trumpet of the pious and literary poet of the Byzantine monk Kassiani, which the novelists have brutally abused, presenting it, falsely and slanderously, as a prostitute. Prostitute – of course – was not the Cassian, the poet, but the heroine of her poem, that is, the woman who smelled the Lord. The performers do not agree on the number of women who were muted. Others believe they are one, two and three others. Of course, none of them is Maria Magdalene. In Orthodox tradition, Maria Magdalene was not a beautiful young prostitute, but a respectable middle -aged woman (probably older than the Virgin Mary, which is why she is usually mentioned first by the rest of the myrrh). After the Resurrection, he traveled to Rome, where he protested the unfair conviction of Christ, whose court had to be preceded, as he was a Roman citizen, and succeeded in condemning Pilate. She stayed with Theotokos until her death and, after preaching the Gospel in many Mediterranean countries, settled in Ephesus until the end of her life.

Together, however, with the prostitute, Judas’ face looks at the same time enigmatic. The nickname “Iskariotis” accompanying him has confused many performers. The most popular explanation is that this word describes it as zealous. The word Iskariotis sounds like the word îš-sikariiwhich means ‘Man with dagger’. This theory implies that Judas became a disciple of Christ, but, after realizing that Jesus would never guide uprising against Rome, he betrayed him. However, Judas’ motives were not political. His motivation was clearly the money. A hymn of the day says: “Christian, Judas, Judas Golden”that is, Judas loved money more than Christ.

The Fathers of the Church interpret about the events of the day: It is not only the carnal sins that keep us away from God, but also the attachment to the material goods. There are many substitutes for the true worship of God. Everything that conquers the soul becomes God and an idol. And, while the soul of man was built to be united with God, she hits sin to sin.

The Lord remains silent on Wednesday and Thursday until night, when he would have been words that have never been heard throughout human history from his lips. In front of his eyes he has only death, the final mystery with which he will complete his mission, which was our salvation.