Month: March 2017

March 22, 2017
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of the Great Fast Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at which we commemorate the Holy Venerable-Martyr Nikon and His Disciples, Martyred with Him (270-75)

Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts Continue reading March 22, 2017 Wednesday of the Fourth Week of the Great Fast Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts at which we commemorate the Holy Venerable-Martyr Nikon and His Disciples, Martyred with Him (270-75)

March 19, 2017
Third Sunday of the Great Fast – Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Octoechos Tone 3; Holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria

Not only the Third Sunday of Great Lent, but the week that follows, are devoted to welcoming the Precious Cross of Christ. This adoration of the Cross does not have a penitential character, but rather the opposite: “through the Cross joy has come to the whole world.” Having reached the midpoint of Lent we take refreshment, as though at a spiritual oasis, in the shade of the Cross, which is the banner and emblem of Christ’s victory. The Cross is a sign of our joy in Christ’s triumph. The liturgical texts express this joy; all the hymns in praise of the Cross have a victorious note to them. The Canon of Sunday Matins resembles the Paschal Canon of Saint John of Damascus. Continue reading March 19, 2017 Third Sunday of the Great Fast – Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross, Octoechos Tone 3; Holy Martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria