Lent

In the Western English-speaking world, Holy Thursday is called Maundy Thursday. This strange name comes from a corrupted form of the Latin ‘Mandatum’, or ‘commandment’, and it recalls the great commandment with which Jesus leaves his disciples: “A new commandment I give to you: That you love one another, as I have loved you” (John … Continue reading By Such Lowly Service: Footwashing and Maundy Thursday

It’s rare for an ancient hymn or prayer to be so strongly associated with its writer so as to be named after them. It’s even rarer when that writer was a woman. But that’s the case with the hymn we’ll be looking at today, which in the Eastern Church has become synonymous with Holy Wednesday: … Continue reading Turn Not Away from Your Handmaiden: The Hymn of Kassiani

Yesterday, we looked at the first of two hugely popular Orthodox Holy Week hymn surrounding the theme of Christ the Bridegroom. That prayer riffed off of the Parable of the Bridesmaids, with its theme of readiness and preparation for the coming of Christ — in this case for meeting him at his Cross. Today we’ll … Continue reading The Wedding Garment: Your Bridal Chamber

Here in the liturgical West, we think of Holy Week being primarily about the so-called “Paschal Driduum” of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. But the Eastern Church keeps it intensively the whole week, really starting on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. On those days before the action of Holy Week really … Continue reading Be Ready: Behold, the Bridegroom Comes at Midnight

A couple weeks ago, in the section of the Lenten series on common prayers that focused on the heights and depths of the Eucharistic prayers, I reflected on an ancient hymn, known as the Sanctus. Echoing the words of Isaiah 6.3, it puts us with the angels attending the throne of God, shouting: “Holy! Holy! … Continue reading Hosanna! A Relfection on the Benedictus and Palm Sunday