As always there is a packed service schedule this Πάσχα with the holiest of weeks commencing Saturday 4th April and culminating Sunday 12th.

Day	Date	Start	End	Details	Scripture Readings
Saturday	4th	9.30	12.00	Saturday of Lazarus – Holy Liturgy of St John Chrysostom	Hebrews 12:28-29;13:1-8, John 11:1-45
Saturday	4th	12.30	13.30	Vespers of Palm Sunday
Sunday	5th	9.30	12.45	Palm Sunday – Morning Holy Liturgy of St John Chrysostom	Matthew 21:1-11; 15-17, Philippians 4:4-9, John 12:1-18
Sunday	5th	19.00	20.30	Evening Service of Bridegroom Christ
Monday	6th	10.00	11.30	Holy Monday – Presanctified Holy Liturgy	Matthew 21:18-43, 24:3-35
Monday	6th	19.00	20.30	Evening Service of Bridegroom Christ
Tuesday	7th	10.00	11.30	Holy Tuesday – Presanctified Holy Liturgy	Matthew 22:15-46; 23:1-39, 24:36-51; 25:1-46; 26:1-2; 22:15-46; 23:1-39
Tuesday	7th	19.00	20.30	Evening Service of Bridegroom Christ (Parable of the 10 Virgins)
Wednesday	8th	10.00	11.30	Holy Wednesday – Presanctified Holy Liturgy	John 12:17-50; Matthew 26:6-16
Wednesday	8th	18.00	21.30	Evening Service of the Anointing of the Lord
Thursday	9th	9.30	12.30	Holy Thursday – Morning Liturgy of St Basil	Luke 22:1-39; I Corinthians 11:23-32; Matthew 26:1-20; John 13:3-17; Matthew 26:21-39; Luke 22:43-44; Matthew 26:40-75; 27:1-
Thursday	9th	18.30	21.30	Evening Service of the Last Supper
Friday	10th	10.00	11.30	Morning of the Imperial Hours – taking Christ down from the Cross	I Corinthians 5:6-8; Matthew 27:62-66
Friday	10th	18.30	22.00	The Passion of our Lord (procession 20.00 – 20.45)
Saturday	11th	9.30	12.30	Morning Liturgy of St Basil	Matthew 27:62-66; Romans 6:3-11; Matthew 28:1-20
Saturday	11th	23.00		Service of the Resurrection
Saturday	11th	Midnight		KALOS LOGOS, Holy Light
Saturday	11th	12.15am	1.45 am	Liturgy of St John Chrysostom followed by Holy Communion
Sunday	12th	12.30	13.30	Easter Vespers of Agape & Reading of the Gospel in various languages	Mark 16:1-8; Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17
Sunday	19th	9.30	12.45	Divine Liturgy – Thomas Sunday	Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31
Thursday	23rd	9.30	12.00	George the Great Martyr and Triumphant (St George’s Day)	Luke 21:12-19; Acts 12:1-11; John 15:17-27; 16:1-2
Sunday	26th	9.30	12.45	Divine Liturgy – Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women	Luke 24:1-12; Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8

You can also pick up the Easter schedule leaflet now from the church during service hours.

Lazarus Saturday

Today, the Orthodox Church honors Lazarus of Bethany, whom Jesus Christ resurrected. The holiday of Lazarus Saturday is more popularly known as Lazarus Day.

Saint Lazarus, or Lazarus of the Four Days, is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as Righteous Lazarus. Lazarus is the subject of a prominent sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death.

In Larnaca, Cyprus, the procession of the Icon of Saint Lazarus take place today. The tomb of Lazarus resides in the Church of Saint Lazarus built by Emperor Leo VI in the ninth century.

According to the Gospel account, Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary welcomed Jesus Christ into their home and believed in his mission. While Christ was in the lands beyond the Jordan River, Lazarus fell ill and died. On his return, Jesus resurrected him. The miracle was performed before the eyes of many Jews (the house of Lazarus was full of people, because according to the custom the dead were mourned for seven days) and it became a reason for them to believe in the Messiah:

“Then they took away the stone from the cave where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: Father, I thank You for listening to Me. And I knew that You always listen to Me; but this I said for the people standing around, so that they will believe that You have sent Me.” When he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’

“And the dead man came out with his hands and feet wrapped in burial cloths, and his face was covered with a cloth. Jesus says to them: Unwrap him and let him walk. Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and saw what Jesus did believe in Him”. (Gospel of John 11:41-46)

Palm Sunday

On Sunday, five days before the Passover of the Law, the Lord came from Bethany to Jerusalem.

Sending two of His disciples to bring Him a foal of an ass, He sat thereon and entered into the city. When the multitude there heard that Jesus was coming, they straightway took up the branches of palm trees in their hands, and went forth to meet Him.

Others spread their garments on the ground, and yet others cut branches from the trees and strewed them in the way that Jesus was to pass; and all of them together, especially the children, went before and after Him, crying out: “Hosanna: Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel” (John 12:13). This is the radiant and glorious festival of our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem that we celebrate today.

The branches of the palm trees symbolize Christ’s victory over the devil and death. The word Hosanna means “Save, I pray,” or “Save, now.” The foal of an ass, and Jesus’ sitting thereon, and the fact that this animal was untamed and considered unclean according to the Law, signified the former uncleanness and wildness of the nations, and their subjection thereafter to the holy Law of the Gospel.

Holy Thursday

On the evening of this day, which was the eve of the feast of unleavened bread (that is, the Passover), our Redeemer supped with His twelve disciples in the city. He blessed the bread and the wine, and gave us the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist.

He washed the feet of the disciples as an example of humility. He said openly that one of them was about to betray Him, and He pointed out the betrayer by revealing that it was he “that dippeth his hand with Me in the dish.” And after Judas had straightway gone forth, Jesus gave the disciples His final and sublime instructions, which are contained in the first Gospel Reading of the Holy Passion (John 13:31-18:1 known as the Gospel of the Testament).

After this the God-man went forth to the Mount of Olives, and there He began to be sorrowful and in anguish. He went off alone, and bending the knees He prayed fervently. From His great anguish, His sweat became as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. As soon as He had completed that anguished prayer, lo, Judas came with a multitude of soldiers and a great crowd; on greeting the Teacher guile fully with a kiss, he betrayed Him.

The Lord Jesus was then apprehended and taken prisoner to the high priests Annas and Caiaphas. The disciples were scattered, but Peter, who was more fervent than the others, followed Him even into the court of the high priest, but in the end denied thrice that he was His disciple.

Then our divine Teacher was brought before the lawless Sanhedrin and was interrogated concerning His disciples and His teaching. The high priest adjured Him before God that He tell them whether He was truly the Christ. And having spoken the truth, He was judged guilty of death, supposedly as one who had blasphemed.

Then they spat in His face, beat Him, smote Him with the palms of their hands, and mocked Him in every way, throughout the whole night until the morning.

Holy Friday

When Friday dawned, Christ was sent bound from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate, who was then Governor of Judea. Pilate interrogated Him in many ways, and once and again acknowledged that He was innocent, but to please the Jews, he later passed the sentence of death against Him. After scourging the Lord of all as though He were a runaway slave, he surrendered Him to be crucified.

Thus the Lord Jesus was handed over to the soldiers, was stripped of His garments, was clothed in a purple robe, was crowned with a wreath of thorns, had a reed placed in His hand as though it were a sceptre, was bowed before in mockery, was spat upon, and was buffeted in the face and on the head.

Then they again clothed Him in His own garments, and bearing the cross, He came to Golgotha, a place of condemnation, and there, about the third hour, He was crucified between two thieves. Although both blasphemed Him at the first, the thief at His right hand repented, and said: “Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest in Thy Kingdom,” to which our Saviour answered, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”

As He hung upon the Cross, He was blasphemed by those who were passing by, was mocked by the high priests, and by the soldiers was given vinegar to drink mixed with gall. About the ninth hour, He cried out with a loud voice, saying, “It is finished.” And the Lamb of God “Which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) expired on the day when the moon was full, and at the hour when, according to the Law, was slain the Passover lamb, which was established as a type of Him in the time of Moses.

Even lifeless creation mourned the death of the Master, and it trembled and was altered out of fear. Yet, even though the Maker of creation was already dead, they pierced Him in His immaculate side, and forthwith came there out Blood and Water. Finally, at about the setting of the sun, Joseph of Arimathea came with Nicodemus (both of them had been secret disciples of Jesus), and they took down the all-holy Body of the Teacher from the Cross and anointed it with aromatic spices, and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. When they had buried Him in a new tomb, they rolled a great stone over its entrance.

Such are the dread and saving sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ commemorated today, and in remembrance of them, we have received the Apostolic commandment that a fast be observed every Friday.

Holy Saturday

On Saturday, the high priests and Pharisees gathered together before Pilate and asked him to have Jesus’ tomb sealed until the third day; because, as those enemies of God said, “We suspect that His disciples will come and steal His buried body by night, and then proclaim to the people that His resurrection is true, as that deceiver Himself foretold while He was yet alive; and then the last deception shall be worse than the first.”

After they had said these things to Pilate and received his permission, they went and sealed the tomb, and assigned a watch for security, that is, guards from among the soldiers under the supervision of the high priests (Matt. 27:62-66).

While commemorating the entombment of the holy Body of our Lord today, we also celebrate His dread descent with His soul, whereby He destroyed the gates and bars of Hades, and made His light to shine where only darkness had reigned (Job 3 8 : 17; Esaias 49:9; 1 Peter 3:18-20); death was put to death, Hades was stripped of all its captives, our first parents and all the righteous who died from the beginning of time ran to Him Whom they had awaited, and the holy angelic orders glorified God for the restoration of our fallen race.

Kontakion of Holy Saturday

He Who enclosed the deeps is now seen dead; and the immortal One is laid in a tomb enclosed in a shroud with myrrh. Women, too, come to anoint Him, weeping bitterly and lamenting: “This Sabbath is blessed above all others, for Christ, having fallen asleep, will rise on the third day.”

Easter Sunday

Mary Magdalene, and the other women who were present at the burial of our Saviour on Friday evening, returned from Golgotha to the city and prepared fragrant spices and myrrh, so that they might anoint the body of Jesus. On the morrow, because of the law which forbids work on the day of the Sabbath, they rested for the whole day.

But at early dawn on the Sunday that followed, almost thirty-six hours since the death of the Life-giving Redeemer, they came to the sepulchre with the spices to anoint His body. While they were considering the difficulty of rolling away the stone from the door of the sepulchre, there was a fearful earthquake; and an Angel, whose countenance shone like lightning and whose garment was white as snow, rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

The guards that were there became as dead from fear and took to flight. The women, however, went into the sepulchre, but did not find the Lord’s body. Instead, they saw two other Angels in the form of youths clothed in white, who told them that the Saviour was risen, and they sent forth the women, who ran to proclaim to the disciples these gladsome tidings.

Then Peter and John arrived, having learned from Mary Magdalene what had come to pass, and when they entered the tomb, they found only the winding sheets. Therefore, they returned again to the city with joy, as heralds now of the supernatural Resurrection of Christ, Who in truth was seen alive by the disciples on this day on five occasions.

Our Lord, then, was crucified, died, and was buried on Friday, before the setting of the sun, which was the first of His “three days” in the grave; observing the mystical Sabbath, that “seventh day” in which it is said that the Lord “rested from all His works” (Gen. 2:2-3), He passed all of Saturday in the grave; and He arose “while it was yet dark, very early in the morning” on Sunday, the third day, which, according to the Hebrew reckoning, began after sunset on Saturday.

As we celebrate today this joyous Resurrection, we greet and embrace one another in Christ, thereby demonstrating our Saviour’s victory over death and corruption, and the destruction of our ancient enmity with God, and His reconciliation toward us, and our inheritance of life everlasting. The feast itself is called Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew word which means “passover”; because Christ, Who suffered and arose, has made us to pass over from the curse of Adam and slavery to the devil and death unto our primal freedom and blessedness.

In addition, this day of this particular week, which is the first of all the rest, is dedicated to the honour of the Lord; in honour and remembrance of the Resurrection, the Apostles transferred to this day the rest In addition, this day of this particular week, which is the first of all the rest, is dedicated to the honour of the Lord; in honour and remembrance of the Resurrection, the Apostles transferred to this day the rest from labour that was formerly assigned to the Sabbath of the ancient Law.

George the Great Martyr and Triumphant – Service April 23rd

George, this truly great and glorious Martyr of Christ, was born of a father from Cappadocia and a mother from Palestine.

Being a military tribune, or chiliarch (that is, a commander of a thousand troops), he was illustrious in battle and highly honoured for his courage. When he learned that the Emperor Diocletian was preparing a persecution of the Christians, Saint George presented himself publicly before the Emperor and denounced him.

When threats and promises could not move him from his steadfast confession, he was put to unheard-of tortures, which he endured with great bravery, overcoming them by his faith and love towards Christ. By the wondrous signs that took place in his contest, he guided many to the knowledge of the truth, including Queen Alexandra, wife of Diocletian, and was finally beheaded in 296 in Nicomedia.

His sacred remains were taken by his servant from Nicomedia to Palestine, to a town called Lydda, the homeland of his mother, and then were finally transferred to the church which was raised up in his name. (The translation of the Saint’s holy relics to the church in Lydda is commemorated on November 3; Saint Alexandra the Queen, on April 21.)