...continued.
13. Bright Pascha on Mount Athos
There is no feast for Christians more solemn and more joyful than Pascha. And Athos, removed from the world, celebrates on this day an especially solemn feast. Wearied from the labors and ascetic struggles of the Holy Forty Days, the Athonite monk, after partaking of the modest portion offered on Great Saturday at sunset — bread and figs with a small cup of grape wine — cheerfully and joyfully hastens to the katholikon church to listen to the reading of the Acts of the Apostles, in expectation of the sacred midnight and of the infinitely joyful, fully understandable only to the Christian, triumphant exclamation.
Meanwhile, until midnight, amid dead silence and half-light, the voice of the reader of the Book of Acts sounds peacefully and quietly. On Athos, according to Greek custom, at this time the Holy Epitaphios does not stand in the middle of the church (it has already, since the morning of Great Saturday, after the procession at Matins around the church, been placed upon the holy altar). Half an hour before midnight the Canon of Great Saturday begins to be sung, after which the clergy gathered and waiting in the altar, in bright vestments, all holding candles, and the superior with the Holy Gospel, come out with the singing of “Your Resurrection…” and the rest into the church narthex (the procession around the church, as with us, does not take place at this time), and here, before the closed doors of the church, perform the usual beginning of the Paschal service.
The first words proclaiming the victory of our Savior over death are infinitely joyful for every Christian, but the joy of the monks is even more understandable; after the singing of the Paschal stichera is finished, the superior knocks on the closed doors of the church, which are immediately opened from within, expressing by this the power of the Savior, who suddenly destroyed the dominion of death and with extraordinary ease — in a single moment — opened the gates of Paradise. The rest of the Paschal Matins service, up to the Praises, proceeds in the same order as with us in Rus’, with the same singing of the entire Canon, the same censing, and with the same general illumination in the hands of all present.
When the time comes for the sacred greeting and kissing, here (at the beginning of the singing “Praise the Lord”), preceded by the clergy and banners, all go out from the church into the square before it, where there is more space, and there begins the greeting: “Christ is Risen,” and the kissing of the Holy Gospel and the crosses. First the officiating clergy kiss one another, the holy crosses and icons that they hold, in order, beginning with the superior, who holds the Holy Gospel, then the hieromonks, then the hierodeacons; after them the rest of the brethren approach one after another for the kissing, and then stand side by side. It should be noted that, strictly observing the ancient monastic rule, on Athos even on this Holy day they do not kiss on the lips, but only kiss one another on the shoulder.*
As, on the one hand, the number of those awaiting the kissing of the Holy Gospel, crosses, and icons decreases, on the other hand the circle of candle-bearers increases, who already stand in rows awaiting the rest of their brethren. Toward the end of the sacred kissing, a magnificent sight is formed: imagine about a thousand, sometimes even more, people, all with candles in their hands, arranged in order across the spacious monastery square; all together they form two or three irregular circles, closing with a single person in the very center. (Usually, for the sake of maintaining order, one of the older monks voluntarily takes on this responsibility.)
To fully enjoy this sight, one must at that moment go up into one of the upper cells; from there you will see a vast winding ribbon of fire. When the mutual greeting is finished, all return again into the church, and after the completion of Matins and the Hours, the Liturgy begins. The difference of the Athonite Liturgy from ours on this occasion is that the Gospel is read in only one language; the reading in various languages, probably because of the exertions of nearly three days, is postponed until Vespers (however, the custom of reading the Gospel at Vespers in many languages is common throughout the East).
The Liturgy ends, according to our reckoning of time, at about five or six o’clock. Around three in the afternoon the solemn Paschal Vespers begins, at which the Gospel is also read in various languages, with the same arrangements as among us; during this reading, here too, just as with us, there is a sequential ringing of the bells, and at the end the bell-ringing merges with the sounds of all kinds of small bells and wooden and iron boards located in various parts of the monastery for the services, and this continues almost until the end of Vespers.
14. The Celebration of Pascha in Ancient Rus’
The solemn day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ, always and everywhere great and joyful, old Moscow met and conducted with particular magnificence. Patriarchal services and royal processions gave it still greater solemnity and splendor.
On the eve of the Bright feast, the sovereign listened to the Midnight Office in his palace, in a special room known by the name of the Throne Chamber. In this same chamber, after the conclusion of the Midnight Office, the rite of the royal audience was performed. All the higher court and service ranks were admitted here to bow to the ground before the tsar and “to see the sovereign’s most-bright eyes,” which was regarded as the highest reward for faithful service. Officials of lower ranks were admitted by special permission of the tsar, by selection, and entered the chamber by the direction of one of the close attendants, usually a stolnik, who at that time stood in the chamber at his post by the entrance and admitted them according to a list, two persons at a time. The lower ranks of serving people were not admitted into the chamber at all, but were granted only the sight of the sovereign during his passage to the Dormition Cathedral.
At the time when the boyars and other dignitaries entered the chamber, the sovereign sat in an armchair in a standing silk caftan worn over a zipun. Before him the chamber-servants held the entire attire intended for the procession to Matins. This attire consisted of: an opashen, a standing caftan, a zipun, a standing collar (neckpiece), a gorlat cap and a cap, and a staff of ebony (from the exotic east). Each of those entering the chamber, having beheld the most-bright eyes of the sovereign, bowed to the ground before him, and, having rendered the obeisance, returned to his place.
In the first, and sometimes in the second hour of the night, from the bell tower of Ivan the Great there sounded the solemn peal for Bright Matins. The ringing continued for quite a long time — until the sovereign arrived at the cathedral. During the ringing the patriarch entered the cathedral with all the hierarchs, archimandrites, abbots, and priests concelebrating with him. Having entered the altar, the patriarch and all the clergy vested there “fully vested in their most splendid vestments.” When everything was ready for the beginning of Matins, the patriarch sent a a ceremonial clerk to the palace to notify the sovereign.
Then began the majestic procession of the sovereign to Matins, accompanied by a vast retinue in precious, shining garments. The sovereign was surrounded by boyars and okolnichy in gold garments and in fur caps; ahead of the sovereign went stolniki, stewards, service nobility, clerks, likewise in gold garments and fur caps. The sovereign himself was also in a gold opashen with pearl embroidery, with precious stones, and in a fur cap. All ranks who stood in the vestibules and on the porches, having bowed to ground before the sovereign, went ahead of him to the cathedral, arranging themselves three persons in a row. At the cathedral they stood on both sides of the path at the western doors, within grilles specially arranged for this purpose. Into the cathedral after the sovereign entered only those who were in gold caftans.
Having entered the cathedral and made the beginning, the sovereign venerated the icons, the shrines of the wonderworkers, the Robe of the Lord, and stood in his usual place by the right pillar, near the patriarchal place.
At this time the patriarch, vested, came out of the altar and blessed the sovereign. After this began the procession, which was made along one side of the cathedral from the northern doors to the western. It should be noted that before the procession the patriarch did not distribute candles either to the clergy, nor to the tsar, nor to the boyars and the people, and likewise in the cathedral there were not yet prepared either analogia for the icons or the patriarchal place in the middle.
When the procession began, the sacristans ordered all the bells to be rung, and from the cathedral they drove out all the people and closed all the church doors. The tsar with the boyars did not go behind the icons, but went directly to the western doors and there, outside the cathedral, stood on the right side. Meanwhile in the cathedral there remained one sacristan with half of the guards and made all preparations for the celebration of Matins: in the middle of the cathedral they set the patriarchal place, and before it two analogia with coverings and golden cloths, with rich and multicolored adornments; on these analogia after the procession were placed the Gospel and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ. The monthly icon the sacristan removed from the analogion and carried into the altar onto the table of oblation. In the middle of the church they also set two vessels with coals and incense.
The patriarch performed the procession with all the cathedral clergy. Before him they carried a smaller banner, four ripidia, two crosses — a crystal one and a painted one — and the altar icon of the Mother of God. After the icon of the Mother of God went priests with the Gospel and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, which they carried on cloths, and before them went subdeacons with twisted candles, candlesticks, and a lamp. Before the priests went the sovereign’s singers and sang: “Your Resurrection, O Christ the Savior.” The patriarch concluded the procession. “And they ring then all together at one time, for a long time.”
When the patriarch came to the closed western doors of the cathedral, and the cross-bearers stood “with their backs to the doors,” “and at that time they order to wave the candle, and they cease ringing.” The sacristan with a candle stood at the very western doors on the right side, and near him, by the corner of the cathedral or the Palace of the Facets, he placed guards with a board.
When everything was ready for the beginning of Matins, the patriarch distributed lit candles to the tsar, the boyars, the authorities, and all the people, and then, taking the censer and the honorable cross, censed the holy icons, the sovereign, the boyars, the authorities, all the people, and turning to the east proclaimed: “Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial and Life-giving and Indivisible Trinity always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages.” The clergy answered “Amen.” And then the patriarch himself three times sang the Paschal troparion “Christ is Risen,” and the third time sang only halfway, and the singers completed it. The troparion was then repeated many times with verses, with ringing and striking of boards.
After entering the cathedral again, everything proceeded according to the Paschal order: censing, singing of the Canon, readings, and the tsar standing in his appointed place.
When all had assembled in the altar in order, the Paschal kissing began.
The patriarch venerated the Gospel and the icons held by those concelebrating with him, and he himself kissed them in the mouth** and greeted them “Christ is Risen,” to which he received the response: “Truly He is Risen.”
After the patriarch, the same was done by all the clergy in the same order.
After this, the patriarch came out to the middle of the cathedral, and first approached the tsar.
The tsar kissed him in the mouth,*** and then venerated the Gospel and icons and exchanged the Paschal greeting with the other hierarchs.
After the tsar, the boyars and the people also exchanged the Paschal greeting with the clergy.
15. Artos
Among certain rites and ceremonies connected with the celebration of Pascha in the Orthodox Church is the use of the artos. Artos, in literal translation from the Greek language, means “bread,” and according to the church typikon – a whole prosphoron. The symbolic meaning of the artos is sufficiently clearly revealed from those prayers which it is prescribed to read for the blessing and the breaking of the artos.
As in the Old Testament, in remembrance of the deliverance of the people of God from the bitter labor under Pharaoh, a lamb was slain by the command of the Lord, which at the same time prefigured the Lamb who takes away the sins of the whole world, the beloved Son of God; so in the New Testament, in remembrance of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have been delivered from the eternal labor of the enemy and have received release from the insoluble bonds of Hades, there is brought the artos – bread, which represents the Bread of Eternal Life that came down from heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, having nourished us with spiritual food for the sake of the three-day and saving Resurrection, has become for us the true Bread of Life. Invoking the blessing of God upon the artos being sanctified, the priest in his prayerful address asks the Lord to heal every ailment and sickness and to grant health to all who partake of this artos.
According to the currently in force typikon of the Orthodox Greco-Russian Church, the ecclesiastical use of the artos consists in the following: “In accordance with the signification of Pascha, which unites in itself the event of the death and Resurrection of the Lord, upon the artos is inscribed either a Cross crowned with thorns, as a sign of Christ’s victory over death, or an image of the Resurrection of Christ.” Prepared in this way, it is brought on the very first day of Pascha into the altar and there, upon the table of oblation, is placed in a special vessel called the panagiarion. On that same day, after the prayer behind the ambo, its consecration takes place, with the reading of the appointed prayer and the sprinkling with holy water.
Throughout the entire Bright Week, the artos lies either in the altar or in the church upon an analogion specially arranged for this purpose, together with the image of the Resurrection of Christ. During the procession which is prescribed each day of Bright Week after Matins (but in parish churches usually after the Liturgy), together with banners and the icons of the Resurrection of the Lord and of the Mother of God, the artos is also carried around the church. In monasteries, each day of Bright Week, in addition, the artos is brought in a solemn procession, with the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, with lamps, with the ringing of all the bells and with the singing of “Christ is Risen,” into the refectory of the brethren, and is placed there on a specially prepared analogion.
After the meal there takes place the so-called elevation of the artos. At the elevation of the artos, the cellarer says once: “Christ is Risen”; those present respond: “Truly He is Risen.” Then, making the sign of the cross with the artos, he says: “We venerate His Three-Day Resurrection,” and places the artos upon the panagiarion. After this all approach the analogion on which the artos had been placed and kiss it. Then the artos, with the same solemnity with which it had been brought into the refectory, is carried back again into the church.
On the last day of Bright Week, on Saturday, the artos is solemnly broken after the Liturgy. In monasteries this breaking is usually performed in the following order: after the Liturgy the artos is brought into the refectory; there they sing “Christ is Risen” three times, read the Lord’s Prayer, and then the priest pronounces a specially appointed prayer, and the broken artos is eaten by the brethren before the meal. “But,” it is said in the Supplementary Trebnik, “the priest may also break the artos at the Liturgy after the prayer behind the ambo and distribute it to the faithful instead of the antidoron. The artos must not be kept the whole year for any superstition.”
The use of the artos is a custom of the Greco-Eastern Church. The West does not know this rite. Into the Russian Church the “rite of the artos” undoubtedly passed together with Christianity and divine services from Greece, where the elevation of the artos (and of the panagia) was a custom firmly established in church practice, as is shown by Goar’s Euchologion. From the comparison of various manuscript service books belonging to the 13th–14th centuries, it is evident that in the Russian Church this rite had a universal significance and was strictly observed in monasteries at that time. In the times of the patriarchate, it was customary among us that the artos, as well as the prosphoras at the Liturgy on the first day of Pascha, were delivered to the Moscow Dormition Cathedral from the royal court. The patriarch, on the first day after the Liturgy, with the council, in procession and with the artos, would go to the sovereign; there, after the elevation of the artos by the archdeacon, the artos was kissed by the sovereign, the patriarch, and others. The artos was then carried back to the church, and there it was again elevated by the archdeacon.
As for the historical origin of the rite of the artos in the Orthodox Church, it must be discussed in connection with the history of the so-called “Rite of the Panagia.” Panagia, from the Greek language, means “All-Holy” or “Most-Holy,” which designation is usually applied to the name of the Mother of God. By the “Rite of the Panagia” is understood the rite of the elevation of a special bread in the monastic refectory after the meal, in honor of the Mother of God. Concerning the origin of this rite, our Liturgical Psalter speaks thus.
The Lord Jesus Christ before His sufferings had a meal with His disciples at the Secret Supper, when He established the Mystery of the Eucharist, and after the Resurrection He appeared more than once to bless their meals and even partook of food with them. In remembrance of this, the apostles had the custom of leaving at the meal the middle place empty and placing before it a portion of bread, as though for the Lord present among them. After the meal they would, with prayer and thanksgiving, elevate this bread, saying: “Glory to You, our God, glory to You! Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Great is the name of the Holy Trinity. Christ is Risen.” After the day of the Ascension of the Lord they would say: “Great is the name of the Holy Trinity. Lord Jesus Christ, help us.” Thus the apostles performed this custom while the Mother of God remained on earth.
On the third day after the Dormition of the Mother of God, when they, having been wondrously gathered all together in one place for her burial, after the meal began to perform the customary elevation of bread in honor of the Lord and had just said: “Great is the name…,” suddenly the Mother of God appeared upon a cloud with angels and said: “Rejoice, I am with you always.” The disciples were amazed at such a wonder and, instead of “Lord Jesus Christ,” cried out: “Most Holy Mother of God, help us.” Then they went to the tomb and, not finding her most pure body there, were convinced of her being taken up with the body into heaven. In remembrance of this, in monasteries the “Rite of the Panagia” is usually performed at the meal; during Bright Week this rite receives its modifications and becomes the rite of the elevation of the artos.
Goar’s Euchologion describes the “Rite of the Panagia” performed in Greek monasteries as follows: “The most pious among the Greeks,” says Goar, “monks and clerics, have the custom, after giving thanks following the taking of food, to raise with the first two fingers of both hands a triangular loaf – the panagia. The act of elevation itself is entrusted in monasteries to someone specially chosen from among the brethren. The chosen one, having asked blessing and forgiveness from those present, takes a special piece of bread that lay during the meal before the icon of the Mother of God, and raises it in the sight of all with two fingers of his hands, saying: ‘Great is the name,’ and all add: ‘of the Holy Trinity.’ Then the one elevating continues: ‘Most Holy Mother of God, help us.’ To this those present reply: ‘Through her prayers, O God, have mercy on us and save us!’ Then, after censing, the brethren receive from the hands of the refectorian (cellarer) the panagia, divide it among themselves, and, offering praise to the Mother of God, all partake.” In general, the “Rite of the Elevation of the Panagia” set forth in our printed Liturgical Psalter (ch. 16) fully agrees with this Greek order of elevation.
“Panagia,” according to Goar, has the form of a triangle, pointed at the top. Goar, in his Euchologion, explaining the symbolic meaning of this form, cites the words of Symeon of Thessaloniki: “This cut indicates at one and the same time both unity and trinity – by its three sides signifying the threefold, and by the top the one… And thus we have received from the fathers, according to apostolic tradition, to dedicate each day to the One in Trinity our God in honor of the Mother of God, through Whom we have come to know the Trinity.”
Source: From the book Simple Gospel Word: Stories and Reflections on the Gospel Readings for Sundays and Feast Days, (published in 1890). Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
Notes:
* The author makes this observation of Athonite monks not kissing on the lips for Pascha because apparently in Russia at that time the paschal kiss, at least from the patriarch to other clergy and the tsar, was a kiss on the lips.
** Here the patriarch kisses his fellow clergy on the mouth.
*** Here the tsar and the patriarch exchange a paschal kiss on the mouth.