SSPP HOLY WEEK- THE BRIDEGROOM & HOLY THURSDAY

SO, WHAT DOES HOLY WEEK LOOK LIKE IN OUR HOMES? Here’s a beautiful guide for families (developed by Fr. William Bennett and Fr.

Jonathan Bannon) which includes references to gospel readings for each day and ideas to get your home and family ready for Holy Week and Pascha.

Also, keep in mind that the Orthodox Church recognizes that people worship with all five senses, so our churches are filled with music, icons, incense and candles. Our bodies hear the chanting, smell the fragrant incense, and we are called to mindfulness and worship. When we light the candle, our bodies know to engage prayer. Let your services at home bring in your senses as the services in church do — stand before your icons, light your candles and burn your incense. LIVESTREAM SERVICE TIPS:

ADDITIONAL REMINDERS FOR THE WEEK: PRAY, fast, repent. WATCH our live streamed services. CONNECT with our SSPP family in prayer. SHARE your holy week at home with us by emailing pictures to internsspp@gmail.com READ and follow along in your Holy Week book. CONVERSE with our family on the meaning of each day and scripture. Below are resources, crafts, ideas and discussion points to help you navigate Holy Week in your home with your families. As we celebrate Holy Week at home, we can make an effort to bring it alive for our children and ourselves. Try to create some peace and prayerfulness at home and don’t try to do everything! Focus on the gospel readings and on being truly present with one another and with God.

Now let’s take a brief look at each of the services:

THE BRIDEGROOM SERVICES Beginning on the evening of Palm Sunday and continuing through the evening of Holy Tuesday, the Orthodox Church observes a special service known as the Service of the Bridegroom. These services show Jesus as our Bridegroom going to the Cross for us because He loves us so much. The kids will notice that Christ is not dressed like a man getting married, but a bridegroom shares his love with a bride just as Christ shares His love with us. So, these services show us how we can bring our love to Jesus by doing things that are pleasing to Him. (Icon and Coloring Page can be seen below) ACTIVITIES

1. Watch the service online. 2. Light an oil lamp in your home if you have one (or a candle) 3. Learn about the Parable of the Ten Virgins and where we get the imagery

of Christ as Bridegroom. https://www.ancientfaith.com/ podcasts/grapevine/the_parable_of_the_ten_virgins

4. Review the beautiful hymn: O my Savior, now I see Your wedding hall decorated, and I have not the garment needed for me to enter it. Make this raiment of my soul brightly shine, O Giver-of-Light, and save me. “Behold the Bridegroom Comes”.

5. Review the Hymn of Kassiani (Tuesday) Behold, the Bridegroom cometh in the middle of the night, and blessed is that servant whom He shall find watching; and again unworthy is he whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, lest thou be overcome with sleep, lest thou be given up to

death, and be shut out from the Kingdom. But rouse thyself and cry: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, O God, through the Mother of God, have mercy on us. ICON DESCRIPTION The icon shows Christ humiliated by Pontius Pilate’s soldiers (Matthew 27:27-31). In a cruel irony, the soldiers mockingly worshiped Jesus and through insults proclaimed Him rightly to be the King of the Jews. Crowned with thorns, cloaked in scarlet, bound and holding a reed, this is how Christ appears in the Bridegroom Icon. The crown is a symbol of Christian marriage in the Orthodox Church and the ropes binding Christ’s hand are a near-universal symbol of marriage. The reed used as a mock scepter is a symbol of humility of a person that does all possible to bend in service to others. (See icon and coloring page below)

HOLY WEDNESDAY The theme of Holy Wednesday is repentance and forgiveness. We remember the sinful woman who anointed our Lord in anticipation of His death. Her repentance and love of Christ is the theme of the wonderful "Hymn of Kassiane" which is chanted, reminding us one more time, before "it is too late," that we too may be forgiven if we repent. On the afternoon or evening of Great and Holy Wednesday, the Sacrament or Mystery of Holy Unction is conducted in Orthodox parishes. The Sacrament of Holy Unction is offered for the healing of soul and body and for forgiveness of sins. At the conclusion of the service of the Sacrament, the body is anointed with oil, and the grace of God, which heals infirmities of soul and body, is called down upon each person. There are 7 Gospels and Epistles relating to the healing power of the Holy Spirit. After each Gospel/Epistle there is a prayer for healing. Depending on your family’s attention span, this might be the day to choose 2 or 3 of the Gospels/Epistles/prayers to read and discuss and not ask your family to ‘sit’ through the service. Remember to explain that we would normally receive the Holy Unction Oil from the priest at the end of the service for ‘the healing of soul and body’. This might also be a good time to address any questions/concerns your family has about our current situation since this service is about healing. The sacrament of Holy Unction cannot be performed at home, but anyone can anoint another person with holy oil and say a prayer for their good health! ACTIVITIES

1. Livestream the service. 2. Anoint each other with holy oil at home or make your own sweet smelling

oil by adding a scent to olive oil. (You can also use holy water.) 3. Compile a list of people you know who are sick and/or suffering and

include these names in your prayers. ICON DESCRIPTION The icon depicts the agony and prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane Although Jesus was Son of God, He was destined as man to accept fully the human condition, to experience suffering and to learn obedience. The Son of God assumed the role of a servant and lived a truly human existence. Though He was Himself sinless, He allied Himself with the whole human race, identified with the human predicament, and experienced the same tests. The events in the Garden of Gethsemane disclose the human nature of Christ. The sacrifice He was to endure for the salvation of the world was imminent. Death, with all its brutal force and fury, stared directly at Him. It’s terrible burden and fear - the calamitous results of the ancestral sin- caused Him intense sorrow and pain. Instinctively, as man He sought to escape it. He found Himself in a moment of decision. In His agony He prayed to

His Father, "Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt" (Mark 14:36). (Icons and coloring page are listed below) Discussion Points

1. Have we/how often have we gone to the Sacrament of confession? 2. Are we forgiven without being repentant for our sins? 3. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray to God “Forgive us our trespasses and we

forgive those who trespass against us”. How have we forgiven? Is this how we’d like to be forgiven?

HOLY THURSDAY On Thursday of Holy Week four events are commemorated: the washing of the disciples' feet, the institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, and the betrayal of Christ by Judas. The day begins with Divine Liturgy of St Basil and ends with the reading of the Twelve Gospels.

ACTIVITIES

1. Watch the virtual service. 2. Listen to the Twelve Gospel Readings. 3. Dye Red Eggs. 4. Last Supper Craft https://www.catholicicing.com/holy-thursday-last-supper-craft/

ICON DESCRIPTION The Icon of the Mystical Supper – Institution of the Holy Eucharist. Christ is the central figure at the table. Saint John the Beloved is seated at Christ's right; as the youngest of the disciples he is depicted as beardless. Judas Iscariot the Betrayer is the third figure from Christ's left; he is depicted dipping into the dish. Saint John the Beloved receives in his left hand a piece of the Body of Christ; another morsel is on the table before Christ. The chalice containing the Precious Blood of Christ is in His Left hand. The Church also has an icon of the Crucifixion of Christ. He is shown nailed to the Cross. His right side is pierced and from the wound flows blood and water. At the foot of the Cross is a skull. (Golgotha, the Mount of the Crucifixion, means "the place of the skull."). On the top bar of the Cross is the inscription "I.N.B.I.", the initials for the Greek words meaning "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." (See icon below) Discussion Points: 1. We are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. How do we do

this in today’s time? Why is this difficult for us to do? How can we find the courage and support needed to accomplish this?

2. We ready scripturally, “Through the cross joy has come to all the world.” How does our suffering become transformed into Joy?

ADDITIONAL HOLY WEEK ACTIVITIES HOLY WEEK TABLE TOPICS:

• Holy Monday • Holy Tuesday • Holy Wednesday • Holy Thursday • Holy Friday

WATCH AN ANIMATED STORY FILM: If you have extra time, you might watch this heartwarming animated story of a young Russian girl during Soviet times, who learns about Pascha by mysteriously meeting St. Seraphim of Sarov. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNLuIfs7rzA&list= CREATE A HOLY WEEK TIME CAPSULE: As we live through this historic pandemic, we’re all encouraged to journal and document our experiences as these will become firsthand sources for the future. Why not chronicle Holy Week and Pascha at home, and keep some of your mementos in a box with your reflections? CREATE A HOLY WEEK PASSPORT: Fr. Patrick O’Rourke from Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Ogden, Utah created a beautiful Holy Week Passport that your family might enjoy! Print this Passport on legal sized paper (two-sided, flip on short end) to create a sequential booklet. (If you don’t have legal paper handy, you will have to get creative and print it on separate pages, and then bind them together.) MAKE AN EASTER STORY WREATH: http://www.weelittlemiracles.com/2012/04/make-easter-story-wreath-free.html