Troparion, tone 8
Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, / and blessed is the servant, whom he will find vigil, / but not worthy again, who will be found in despair. / Take heed, my soul, / do not be burdened with sleep, / lest you die You will be betrayed/ and shut yourself out of the Kingdom,/ but rise up calling:/ Holy, Holy, Holy art thou, O God, // By the Mother of God have mercy on us.
The Troparion is sung at Matins on the first three days of Holy Week. In this troparion, the Church instills in us the saving fear of the sudden coming of the Judge of the world and encourages us to spiritual wakefulness. It is based on the parable of the ten virgins (Matt. 25:1-13).
Exapostilary
I see Your palace, my Savior, adorned, and I have no clothes, so that I may go into it: enlighten the robe of my soul, O Light-Giver, and save me.
Exapostilary is sung on the first four days of Holy Week. In this song we confess our unworthiness before the Lord, we lament and cry, like a bride left outside the bridal chamber.
Troparion, tone 8
When the glory of the disciple/ is enlightened at the supper,/ then the wicked Judas/ is darkened by the love of money,/ and betrays You, the Righteous Judge, to the lawless judges./ See, wealth to the zealot,/ for these sake used strangulation!/ Flee, unsatisfied souls,/ Such a daring Teacher;// And O goodness of all, Lord, glory to Thee.
The chant “When the glory of the disciples...” is sung on Maundy Thursday and at Matins of Good Friday. During Lent, it is also read in conjunction with Holy Communion.
Troparion, tone 6
Thy secret supper this day, O Son of God, receive me as a partaker; I will not tell your enemies a secret, nor give you a kiss like Judas, but like a thief I will confess to you: remember me, O Lord, in your kingdom.
The hymn “Thy Secret Supper...” is sung on Holy and Great Thursday instead of the Cherubic Song.
Antiphon 15, tone 6
Today he hangs on the tree, Who hung the earth on the waters: He is crowned with thorns, He who is the King of Angels: He dresses in a false scarlet, Clothes the sky with clouds: strangled He who was free in the Jordan accepted Adam: the Church Bridegroom was nailed with nails: the Son of the Virgin was pierced with a spear. We worship Your passion, Christ. We worship Your passion, Christ. We worship Your passion, O Christ: show us Your glorious Resurrection.
“Today hangs on the tree...” is the hymn of Matins on Good Friday, which has a special name: The Consequence of the Holy and Saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Exapostilary
The prudent thief, in one hour you made heavenly, O Lord, and enlighten me with the tree of the godfather, and save me.
The prudent thief is one of the two thieves crucified on Calvary next to Jesus Christ, who repented, believed in Christ, humbly expressed his faith before Him and received from Him the promise that “now” he would abide with Him in paradise. The repentance of the prudent thief is remembered in the chant on Good Friday Matins during the reading of the Twelve Gospels.
Troparion, tone 2
Noble Joseph,/ took down Your most pure Body from the tree,/ wrapped it in a clean shroud,// and laid the coverings in the new tomb with stinks.
Joseph of Arimathea, mentioned in the troparion, was a rich Jew, a member of the Sanhedrin and a secret disciple of Christ. After the death of the Savior, Joseph asked Pilate for His body for burial. When permission was received, together with Nicodemus, he took the body of the Savior from the cross, wrapped it in a shroud, with incense, as the Jews usually buried, and laid it in a new tomb, recently carved into the rock in his garden, rolling a large stone to the door of the tomb.
The troparion “Blessed Joseph” is sung during the removal of the Shroud at Vespers of Good Friday and at Matins of Great Saturday (performed in the evening of Good Friday).
Troparion, tone 8
Let all human flesh remain silent, and let it stand with fear and trembling, and let nothing earthly think within itself: the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to slay and be given as food to the faithful. Before this come the faces of the Angels with all the Principality and Power, the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-crested Seraphim, the covering faces and the crying song: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
On Holy and Great Saturday at the Liturgy, instead of the Cherubic Song, they sing “Let all human flesh be silent.”
Irmos, tone 6
Do not weep for Me, Mother, seeing in the tomb, Whom in your womb without seed you conceived a Son: for I will arise and be glorified, and exalt with glory unceasingly like God, by faith and love Greater than you.
Irmos of the 9th song of the Matins canon, “Do not weep for Me, Mother,” is sung as a worthy saint at the Liturgy on Holy Saturday.
Stichera on the kissing of the Shroud
Come, let us please the ever-memorable Joseph, who came to Pilate in the night and asked everyone: give me this strange one, who has nowhere to lay his head; Give me this strange one, whose evil disciple betrayed him to death; give me this strange one, His Mother, who sees hanging on the cross, weeping and crying out motherly: alas for Me, My Child! Alas for Me, My Light and My beloved womb! For what was predicted by Simeon in the church today will happen: My heart has passed through the weapon, but I will turn my tears into the joy of Your Resurrection. We worship with Your passion, Christ, we worship with Your passion, Christ, we worship with Your passion, Christ, and the Holy Resurrection.
While singing this stichera, people come up to venerate the Shroud on Good Friday. The chant recalls the secret disciple of Christ, Joseph of Arimathea, who, after the death of the Savior, went to Pilate and asked him for the Body of the Lord, which he then gave to burial along with the righteous Nicodemus, also His secret disciple. They took the Body of the Savior from the Cross, wrapped it in a shroud and laid it in a new tomb, in which no one had been buried before (St. Joseph prepared this tomb in advance for himself) in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the presence of the Mother of God and the holy myrrh-bearing women.
Arise, O God, judge the earth, as You have inherited in all nations.
“Arise, O God, judge the earth...” - we hear this text from Psalm 81 on Holy Saturday at the liturgy, the last day before Easter. During this prayer, the clergy change from black Lenten vestments to white ones. This means that we already know about victory over death, we rejoice in quiet joy in anticipation of the Resurrection of Christ.
To you, dressed in light like a robe, Joseph fell from the Tree with Nicodemus, and seeing the dead, naked, unburied, the compassionate one will accept the cry, weeping with the words: woe is me. sweetest Jesus, Who saw the sun hanging on the Cross in darkness, covered with darkness, and the earth trembling with fear, and the church veil torn: but now I see Thee, For my sake, death rose by will. How will I bury you, my God, or what kind of shroud will I wrap around you? With which hand shall I touch Your incorruptible body? or a song of song I will sing to Your exodus, O Bountiful One, I magnify Your Passion, I will sing songs and praises of Your burial with the Resurrection, calling: Lord, glory to You.
The chant “You are clothed with light, like a robe” is heard in Orthodox churches before the removal of the Shroud - an embroidered icon depicting the deceased Christ. The shroud is taken out of the altar by the priest, then a procession of the cross takes place. The prayer book “You are clothed with light as with a robe” calls on people who come to the service to become like the disciples of Christ - to show mercy and love towards Him.
Prokeimenon, tone 4
You have divided My garments for yourself, and cast lots for My clothing.
“Divide my garments for yourselves” is the chant of the service “12 Gospels” (Matins of Good Friday with the reading of the 12 Gospels of the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, performed in the evening of Maundy Thursday). The basis of this service is made up of twelve passages of the New Testament, revealing the entire sequence of events of the Last Supper, the Way of the Cross and the death of the Savior. Between these texts various chants are heard - they convey the spiritual meaning of what is happening, direct thoughts and feelings in a prayerful direction. Such is the prokeimenon “I divided my garments for myself” - the words of the prophecy about the Savior’s suffering on the Cross, taken from the 21st Psalm of David.
Antiphon 10, tone 6
Dress yourself in light, like a robe, standing naked in judgment, and on the cheek will receive the stress from the hands that you created, and lawless people on the Cross nailed the Lord of Glory, then the veil of the church irritated, the sun is darker, unable to bear the sight of God being annoyed, Whom all things tremble. Let us bow to him.
The disciple rejected, the thief cried out: remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom.
Glory, Mother of God: Peace the world, from the Virgin, O Lord, to wear flesh for slaves, so that we may praise You according to You, Lover of mankind.
And now, the same.
Hymn from the service of the Passionate Gospels.