Church Services
March 31 - April 7, 2007 - This Photoreport on Holy Week and PASCHA Consists of Two Portions - the first portion being devoted to the time period known in the Orthodox Church as Holy Week and the second portion devoted to PASCHA - The Feast of Feasts - and Bright Monday. Unlike other websites which proffer a "photoreport" that contains photos but leaves the viewer without text to explain what they are viewing, all archived pages on our parish site are true photoreports - that is, photos with explanatory text. As you complete your review of this page and finish with the Vesperal Liturgy of Great and Holy Saturday, you will be reminded to have a look at the report on PASCHA and Bright Monday.
Vigil of Palm Sunday With the Blessing of Willows
March 31, 2007 - If one keeps in mind throughout these reports that the new day in the Orthodox Church begins at 6:00 p.m. and not at midnight, then the order of Orthodox services makes a great deal more sense. The Vigil of Palm Sunday With the Blessing of Willows actually takes place very early on Palm Sunday and your reporter notes roughly that the service - both in form and length - resembles the Theophany Eve Vigil at which Holy Water is blessed.
The Vigil and the Divine Liturgy which will follow several hours later are actually fairly festive services reflecting the joy that onlookers sensed upon Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The black and purple clerical vestments have been put away but for a short time and they are replaced by green and light-hued vestments. Above and below are Rev. David Garretson, Rector of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church and V. Rev. Sergius Kuharsky, Pastor Emeritus of uur parish, respectively. Most are familiar with the explanation of the substitution of willows for palms in that the latter did not exist in the northern climes whence our forefathers came.
Above left and right we see members of our Choir - under the always-capable direction of Mr. Basil Kozak (not pictured) - singing the responses to the Vigil. Orthodox services are not monologue in nature and the choral responses always add beauty and fullness to the services. In the photo below we see a parishioner receiving anointing with Holy Oil before departing the service for home.
Palm Sunday Divine Liturgy - The Beginning of Holy Week
April 1, 2007 - The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is celebrated on this day. A festive liturgy, it has not been celebrated since Forgiveness Sunday. Again, the clerics wear green vestments and, for a moment, thoughts of the most difficult week of the year - Holy Week - both for Our Lord and Savior and for us - are laid aside.
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It is traditional for Orthodox Christians to hold willows during the Divine Liturgy (below left) with some parishioners adding green garnish to the willows. The willows were available outside our Church before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy (above).
Above right - Deacon Gregory reads the appointed Gospel for the day while later in the service parishioners receive Holy Communion from Fr. David (below left). Below right - children hold willows as they are about to be dismissed for their Church School classes.
The Service of Bridegroom Matins on Palm Sunday Afternoon
April 1, 2007 - Late in the afternoon of Palm Sunday our parish hosted the service of Bridegroom Matins. Area clergy gathered in service and fellowship with parishioners from sister Churches throughout New Jersey. The homilist was Deacon Stephen Vernak (foreground photo below left), of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary and the choral responses were under the direction of our Choirmaster, Mr. Basil Kozak. Below are scenes from the Bridegroom Matins.
You may click on the group photo above right to view an enlargement.
After the service a light Lenten Agape was prepared in the Church Hall for our clergy and parishioner guests (above left and right). Preparation for the meal and reception were under the direction of the local chapter of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America.
The Morning of Great and Holy Thursday
April 5, 2007 - The solemnity of Holy Week increases dramatically with the dawn of Great and Holy Thursday. It was on this day that Jesus - who knew what voluntary suffering he was about to undertake - washed the feet of his disciples in humility and celebrated the festive Passover meal with them. It was at this Passover meal which we know as The Last Supper that Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion. A solemn Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is celebrated on this day and portions of the Holy Things are prepared and set aside on this day for distribution to the hospitalized and homebound throughout the year. Below are scenes from that service. Responses were sung by a female choir under the direction of Choirmaster Kozak.
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Above left - Choirmaster Kozak receives Holy Communion on the day which the Sacrament was instituted. Because of your reporter's bona-fide medical exemption, two new photos (above right and below left) were able to be added to the report this year for the first time. Normally helping to reposition the center tetrapod and The Golgotha after the Vesperal Liturgy, your reporter instead took medical leave and recorded strong young men doing these tasks very nicely, thank you.
Below - The Golgotha stands for the first time before the new Iconostasis.
You may click on the photo above to view an enlargement.
The Evening of Great and Holy Thursday
April 5, 2007 - The Service of Matins of Great and Holy Friday With the Reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels Was Performed by Rev. Garretson and V. Rev. Kuharsky. Remember - according to the civil clock it is still Thursday evening but according to the reckoning of the day by the Orthodox Church it is very early on the morning of Great and Holy Friday.
Above are scenes from the service. In the block of photos below, our parishioners follow the readings which tell of Jesus's betrayal, false accusation before the authorities, and his crucifixion and burial. It is customary to hold lighted candles during the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels.
You may click on the photo above to view an enlargement.
There is no short Orthodox service, especially during Holy Week. Nonetheless, work remains to be done after most have departed for home at the conclusion of the service. Below left - V. Rev. Sergius Kuharsky takes the Winding Sheet from The Tomb and places on the Altar in anticipation of the services of Great and Holy Friday. Below right - parishioner Gregory Berezniak single-handedly carries into Church a stand which will support decorative flowers around The Tomb on Great and Holy Friday and Great and Holy Saturday.
Great and Holy Friday Afternoon
April 6, 2007 - Great and Holy Friday is the saddest and most solemn day on the Orthodox Christian calendar. It is a day of the strictest fast and no liturgy of any type is celebrated on this day in respect of its solemnity. At 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon of Great and Holy Friday is served the Vespers of the Entombment With the Placing of the Holy Plaschanitsa (Winding Sheet) on The Tomb. Below left is a view of the Winding Sheet on the Altar in the Sanctuary. Below right - Fr. David collects his thoughts before the service. He sits in the Sanctuary behind the smaller Royal Doors at the extreme left of our Iconostasis, not far from where the original Altar was.
You may click on the photo above left to view an enlargement.
Above left - Fr. David processes with the Holy Book of Gospels; above right - he processes beneath the Winding Sheet from the Sanctuary to The Tomb. Below - parishioners venerate the Winding Sheet at The Tomb at the conclusion of the afternoon service.
Above left - Starosta James Kornafel makes certain that all is in order before the evening service. Below is an overall view of The Tomb before our new Iconostasis.
You may click on the photo above to view an enlargement.
Great and Holy Friday Evening
April 6, 2007 - In the evening of Great and Holy Friday is served Matins of Great and Holy Saturday With Lamentations and Procession. In the sequence of photos below the procession of clergy and parishioners with the Winding Sheet around the Church and Church Hall is recorded.
You may click on the photo above right to view an enlargement.
Photo below - it is traditional to hold lighted candles during the Church procession.
Great and Holy Saturday Morning
April 7, 2007 - A Vesperal Liturgy is celebrated on the morning of Great and Holy Saturday. This service marks a transition from somber Holy Week to the theme of Christ's Resurrection.
The photo above shows the Table of Oblation before the start of the service. Although the clergy will begin the service in purple-hued vestments, the chalice cover, aer, and other covers are white in anticipation of the white vestments that the clergy will be wearing during the Great Entrance.
Photos above and below - there are many readings from the Old Testament during the initial portion of the Vesperal Liturgy and your reporter tried to capture the people of our parish participating in the service by reading the prescribed Old Testament passages.
Below - a telephoto view of the Processional Cross shows the side depicting the Crucifixion. In a few short hours this Cross will be adjusted so that its reverse side depicts the Resurrection. This concludes Part I. of the photoreport on Holy Week and PASCHA. You are invited to review Part II. of the photoreport which details our parish's observance of PASCHA and Bright Monday.
You may click on the photo above to view an enlargement.
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Copyright © 2007, Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, South River, NJ
