HOLY FRIDAY 2026 (LIVE FROM ATHENS): LAMENTS AND EPITAPHIOS
Holy Friday is the most somber and solemn day of the year on the Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar. All day Church bells are chiming at intervals signifying deep mourning. We are waiting for tonight's liturgy, involving the unnailing of the body of Christ from the cross, lamentations and the epitaphios, the preparation of the body on a bier which will be the center of a mournful procession.
Kabarnos Live stream (expected around 7.30-8.30 EEST).
The following are some of the most beautiful lamentations.
- April 8, 2026 Stefanos Lagoutaris: Σημερον κρεμαται επι ξυλου. (Today they hang him on wood).
- April 5, 2026 Nektaria Karantzi & Psaltries Byzantine Choir: Ω γλυκυ μου εαρ. (Oh my sweet blood).
- April 8, 2026 Diadima Orthodoxias: Τα Εγκώμια του Επιταφίου Θρήνου: Η Ζωή εν Τάφω, Άξιον Εστί. (The Praise of the Epitaph Lament: Life in the Tomb, Axion Esti).
- April 9, 2026 Stefanos Lagoutaris: Ηδη βαπτεται καλαμος. (Judgement has already been passed).
- April 9, 2026 Stefanos Lagoutaris: Στον αναβαλομμενον. (In the same place).
"Pretty much every society that we have surviving documents of from the time, from the Romans to the Chinese, mention their spiritual rituals either no longer working or being seriously weakened around the time of Christs crucifixion". Read the thread. It's very interesting!
Father Stephen de Young and Father Andrew Damick in last night's episode of The Lord of Spirits, with the usual zest and humor are making historical and scholarly annotations are comparing the four Passion Gospel stories without committing the sin of 'harmonization'.
April 9, 2026 Ancient Faith: Lord of Spirits - He Suffered and Was Buried [Ep. 137].
Father Stephen de Young and Father Andrew Damick in last night's episode of The Lord of Spirits, with the usual zest and humor are making historical and scholarly annotations are comparing the four Passion Gospel stories without committing the sin of 'harmonization'.
April 9, 2026 Ancient Faith: Lord of Spirits - He Suffered and Was Buried [Ep. 137].
We are also looking ahead to events of tomorrow, because the Orthodox day is running from sunset to sunset. Specially during Holy Week this may lead to some confusion.
Tomorrow we'll come back at length about the extraordinary theological and ontological significance of this day's events, scantily touched on in Roman Catholicism and ignored altogether by the various Protestant branches: Christ's Harrowing of Hades.
Tomorrow we'll come back at length about the extraordinary theological and ontological significance of this day's events, scantily touched on in Roman Catholicism and ignored altogether by the various Protestant branches: Christ's Harrowing of Hades.
Tomorrow Holy Saturday, some Churches celebrate the Liturgy of Saint Basil in the morning (more on this in yesterday's post). The rest of the day is passed in solemn darkness, anticipating the arrival of the Holy Light from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
The Light arrives per chartered flights, from Jerusalem to Athens and Thessaloniki and is then distributed to the rest of the country. By midnight every Church to the smallest hamlet should be ready for the Procession of Pascha celebrating Christ's Resurrection.
For some time the Israeli government kept us in suspense if the Church of the Holy Sepulcher would be open. Last Saturday for Latin Easter the Church was only open to the clergy. But tomorrow the Church is back operating per usual.
The Light arrives per chartered flights, from Jerusalem to Athens and Thessaloniki and is then distributed to the rest of the country. By midnight every Church to the smallest hamlet should be ready for the Procession of Pascha celebrating Christ's Resurrection.
For some time the Israeli government kept us in suspense if the Church of the Holy Sepulcher would be open. Last Saturday for Latin Easter the Church was only open to the clergy. But tomorrow the Church is back operating per usual.
Comments
Post a Comment