Lent & Pascha 2011 Galleries

Holy Week: Good Friday : The vespers service on Good Friday commemorates the removal of Christ’s dead body from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (Jn 19:38-40). During the service, the priest places an “epitaphios” on a table representing Christ’s tomb. The epitaphios is an embroidered cloth symbolizing the winding sheet in which Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped Christ in order to transport his body to the tomb where the body would be washed, wrapped in spices, and prepared for burial. The Good Friday service shown in these photos took place on 4/22/11 at St. Nikola parish in Phoenix, AZ.

Holy Week: Good Friday

The vespers service on Good Friday commemorates the removal of Christ’ ...

Updated: Oct 22, 2012 6:17pm PST

Pascha : What eastern Christians call Pascha, western Christians call Easter. But by either name, the observance celebrates Christ’s rising from the dead. As the Paschal hymns declare: “Christ has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and, upon those in the tombs, bestowing life. Jesus, having risen from the grave as he foretold, has bestowed on us eternal life and great mercy.” Christ himself says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rv 1:18, KJV). The Paschal celebration shown in these photos took place on 4/23 through 4/24/11 at Holy Archangels parish in Phoenix, AZ.

Pascha

What eastern Christians call Pascha, western Christians call Easter. ...

Updated: Apr 25, 2011 12:14am PST

Holy Week: Holy Saturday : Holy Saturday is the last day of Holy Week and commemorates the day that Christ’s physical body lay in the tomb while his soul descended into Hades to release those held captive there (1 Peter 3:19-20; 4:6). The baptism shown in these photos occurred on Holy Saturday of 4/23/11 at a private residence in Gilbert, AZ.

Holy Week: Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday is the last day of Holy Week and commemorates the day th ...

Updated: Apr 24, 2011 4:46pm PST

Holy Week: Passion Narratives : On Holy Thursday, the faithful gather to enter mystically into the last hours of Christ’s life. They chant a multitude of Psalms and the priest recites twelve readings from all four of the Gospels, recounting the events of the last supper through Christ’s crucifixion and burial. The Holy Thursday service shown in these photos occurred on 4/21/11 at St. Katherine parish in Chandler, AZ.

Holy Week: Passion Narratives

On Holy Thursday, the faithful gather to enter mystically into the las ...

Updated: Apr 22, 2011 5:15pm PST

Holy Week: Unction Service : Holy Wednesday commemorates Mary of Bethany’s anointing Christ with spikenard while he was visiting Simon the leper (Mt 26:6-13). The sacrament of holy unction also heals soul and body, as we read in James: “Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him” (Jas 5:14-15, Douay-Rheims). The unction service seen here took place on 4/20/11 at Exaltation of the Holy Cross parish in Phoenix, AZ.

Holy Week: Unction Service

Holy Wednesday commemorates Mary of Bethany’s anointing Christ with sp ...

Updated: Apr 22, 2011 12:10am PST

Holy Week: Palm Sunday : Eastern Orthodoxy begins Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday, wherein the faithful remember Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem just prior to his suffering, death, and resurrection. The photos in this gallery were taken on 4/17/11 at St. John the Evangelist, a mission parish of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). The parish temporarily meets in a former Coptic church; hence, the unconventional iconography.

Holy Week: Palm Sunday

Eastern Orthodoxy begins Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday ...

Updated: Apr 17, 2011 1:16pm PST

Lazarus Saturday : Lazarus Saturday takes place the day before Palm Sunday, commemorating Christ’s raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-45). Traditionally, the Eastern Orthodox Church uses this day to baptize converts since baptism symbolizes one’s rising from the dead, as did Lazarus. Colossians 2:13 reads, “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” In the same vein, the Troparia of St. Lazarus exclaims, “Oh, Christ-God, when thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead before thy passion, thou didst confirm the universal resurrection.” The celebration of Lazarus Saturday shown in these photos took place on 4/16/11 at St. Ignatius of Antioch, a mission parish of the Antiochian Archdiocese.

Lazarus Saturday

Lazarus Saturday takes place the day before Palm Sunday, commemorating ...

Updated: Apr 16, 2011 9:48pm PST

Fifth Sunday of Lent : This Vesperal service, marking the final Sunday of Lent, took place on 4/10/11 at St John the Baptist, a Romanian parish in Glendale, AZ.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

This Vesperal service, marking the final Sunday of Lent, took place on ...

Updated: Apr 13, 2011 12:35am PST

Fourth Sunday of Lent : This Lenten Vespers service, jointly celebrated by the clergy of Ss Peter and Paul parish in Phoenix and St John the Evangelist parish in Scottsdale (both OCA), took place on 4/3/11.

Fourth Sunday of Lent

This Lenten Vespers service, jointly celebrated by the clergy of Ss Pe ...

Updated: Apr 05, 2011 12:33am PST

Third Sunday of Lent : This vespers service took place on 3/27/11 at St Sava parish in Phoenix, AZ.

Third Sunday of Lent

This vespers service took place on 3/27/11 at St Sava parish in Phoeni ...

Updated: Mar 30, 2011 12:11am PST

Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts : During the weekdays of Lent, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts, whereby the faithful may partake of the Eucharistic elements consecrated at the previous Sunday’s liturgy. The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy shown in these photos took place on 3/23/11 at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church in Chandler, AZ.

Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts

During the weekdays of Lent, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates th ...

Updated: Mar 24, 2011 9:54pm PST

Second Sunday of Lent : These photos were taken on 3/20/11 at Assumption Orthodox Church in Scottsdale, AZ.

Second Sunday of Lent

These photos were taken on 3/20/11 at Assumption Orthodox Church in Sc ...

Updated: Mar 22, 2011 11:51pm PST

First Sunday of Lent (Triumph of Orthodoxy) : A crisis arose during the reign of the Isaurian emperors. These Saracen-minded heretics followed the lead of the Muslims, insisting that any portrayal of the divine is idolatrous, a heresy known as iconoclasm. In AD 787, the Council of 2 Nicea pronounced the necessity of iconography in Christian worship, but the iconoclastic heresy persisted. On the first Sunday of Lent in AD 842, the regent-empress Theodora and the faithful of Constantinople processed toward the church of Hagia Sophia, triumphantly restoring the place of icons in Christian worship. From that time, the Eastern Orthodox Church has commemorated this victory over heresy on the first Sunday of Lent. The pictures in this gallery were taken on 3/13/11 during the Triumph of Orthodoxy celebration at St George Antiochian Church in Phoenix, AZ.

First Sunday of Lent (Triumph of Orthodoxy)

A crisis arose during the reign of the Isaurian emperors. These Sarac ...

Updated: Mar 16, 2011 10:29pm PST

Forgiveness Sunday : On the day before Lent begins, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes a celebration called “Forgiveness Sunday” in which both clergy and laity ask one another’s forgiveness. Christ said, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Mt 5:23-24, KJV). These photos come from Holy Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, AZ (shot 3/7/11).

Forgiveness Sunday

On the day before Lent begins, the Eastern Orthodox Church observes a ...

Updated: Mar 09, 2011 10:42pm PST