Great Friday

Good Friday is the day when the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is crucified to become a scapegoat for the sins of mankind.

On this day of the Holy Week, fasting in the Orthodox Church is particularly strict – then neither is it eaten nor drunk (even water). On Friday, Faith requires not to do any work.

On Holy Friday no Holy Mass is used during the day, for on that day alone the Lord has sacrificed himself and the King’s Hours are being performed.

On the evening in the temple, Christ’s sufferings, his death and his funeral are recalled and experienced.

Before the beginning of the service, a symbolic tomb of Christ, decorated with flowers, was raised in a specially raised place in the middle of the temple, and on the throne was placed the Platinum – the cloth with which the dead body of Christ was wrapped after its removal from the cross. The platter is a piece of cloth embroidered with the image of the Savior in the grave. The platter is exported in the following way: the singer stands before the northern door of the altar and slowly begins to sing the first stitch: An egg of an anchor … and after it goes the priest and other church workers wearing a linen cloth circling three times the crucifixion and the prepared table (the cucumber) and put the cloth on the table. The priest and then the worshipers kiss the Holy Cross, the Holy Gospel, and the linen itself.

During the evening worship, the Lord’s offering is done in front of the linen. The chants are dedicated to the sufferings and deaths of Christ.

After the Paypalis was brought out of the evening worship, she walked around the temple and symbolically performed the funeral of Christ.

At the end of the evening, the priest takes the Platinum from the center of the temple and puts it on the altar’s holy throne.

https://bg.wikipedia.org

The photo is Google’s gallerySuch is the tradition in my home country of Bulgaria on that day.

© Elenka Smilenova 2018 – All Rights Reserved