Antiphon (XII) - troparion, idiomelon of the Hours (Tone 8)
Thus says the Lord to the Jews.
My people what have I done to you, or how have I offended you?
To your blind I gave sight, your lepers I cleansed,
the paralytic I raised from his bed.
My people what have I done to you, and how have you repaid me?
Instead of manna, gall, instead of water, vinegar:
Instead of loving me you nail me to the cross.
I can bear no more. I shall call the Gentiles mine.
They will glorify me with the Father and the Spirit,
and I shall give them life eternal.

Antiphon (XV) - Doxastikon of the Hours (Tone 6)
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on the tree.
The King of the Angels is decked with a crown of thorns.
He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery.
He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped on the face.
The Bredegroom of the Church is affixed to the cross with nails.
The Son of the virgin is pierced by a spear.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ.
We worship Thy passion, O Christ.
Show us also Thy glorious resurrection.

Doxastikon of the Praises. (Tone 6)
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
They have stripped me of my garments
And clothed me in a scarlet robe.
They have set upon my head a crown of thorns
And have given me a reed in my right hand.
That I might dash them in pieces like a potters vessel.

The Last Supper

Troparion (Tone 8)
When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of their feet
before the supper,
the impious Judas was darkened by the disease of avarice,
and to the lawless judges he betrayed You the Righteous Judge.
Behold, oh lover of money, this man who because of money hanged himself.
Flee from the greedy soulwhich dared such things against the Master!
O Lord Who art good towards all men, glory to You!

Behold, the Bridegroom

Troparion
Behold, the bridegoom comes in the middle of the night
and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching,
and unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless.
Take care then, O soul of mine
be not overcome with sleep that you will not be given over unto death
and be excluded from the Kingdom.
But rise up and call out: Holy Holy, Holy are you O God,
by the Theotokos have mercy on us.

Exaposteilarion
I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, O my Saviour
and I have no wedding garment so that I may enter;
O giver of light, make radiant the vesture of my soul and save me.

Hymn of Kassiani the Hymnographer
The woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Your divinity, O Lord, received the dignity of a myrrh-bearer, for with lamentation she brought fragrant myrrh to You before Your burial. And she cried: Woe is me, for love of sin and stings of lustful passion envelop me as the night, dark and moonless. As You cause the clouds to drop down the waters of the sea, accept the fountain of my tears. As by Your indescribable condescension You bowed down the heavens, so incline to the groaning of my heart. I shall kiss Your most pure feet and wipe them with the hair of my head, those same feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise when she hid herself in fear. Who can count the multitude of my sins? Who can measure the depths of Your judgments, O Saviour of my soul? Do not turn away from me, Your servant, for You have immeasurable mercy.

The Enterence of Our Lord into Jerusalem

Vesper's sticheron - Matins doxastikon (Tone 6)
Six days before the Feast of Passover Jesus entered Bethany.
His disciples asked Him:
"Where should we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover?"
He answered "When you have entered the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you.
Follow him into the house which he enters
and tell the master of the house: The Teacher says to you:
Here I shall eat the Passover with my disciples."

From Vespers
By Your command, O loving Lord, You have raised Lazarus Your friend from death!
His flesh had been given over to corruption! He was in the power of death four days!
By this You have foretold Your Holy Ressurection for us!
Today, You mount an untamed colt as Your charriot, foretelling the conversion of the gentiles.
Your beloved Israel offers You a hymn of praise from the mouths of innocent children,
as they see You enter the holy city, O Christ, six days before the feast of Passover.

Prayer at the Blessing of Palms

O Lord our God, Who sits upon the Cherubim, You have reaffirmed Your power by sending Your Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to save the world through His cross, burial, and resurrection. When He came into Jerusalem to suffer His voluntary passion, the people that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death took boughs of trees and branches of palms as signs of victory, thus foretelling His resurrection. Do You, Yourself, O Master, keep and preserve us who, in imitation of them, carry palms and branches in our hands. As we join the crowds and the children who sang Hosanna to you, may we, with hymns and spiritual songs, attain the life-giving resurrection of the third day.

Doxastikon of the aposticha from Holy Monday Matins (Tone 8)
The serpent found a second Eve in the Egyptian woman
and plotted the fall of Joseph through words of flattery.
But, leaving behind his garment, Joseph fled from sin.
He was naked but unashamed, like Adam before the fall.
Through his prayers, O Christ, have mercy on us.

Raising Lazarus

Troparion (tone 1)
By raising Lazarus from the dead before thy passion,
Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, O Christ God.
Like the children, with the palms of victory, we cry out to Thee,
O Vanquisher of Death, Hosanna in the Highest!
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

Kontakion (tone 2)
Christ - the Joy, the Truth, and the light of all
the life of the world and the Resurrection -
has appeared in His goodness to those on earth.
He has become the image of our ressurection
granting divine forgiveness to all

From Vespers
Oh Lord, wishing to see the tomb of Lazarus -
for you were soon to dwell by your own choice within a tomb-
You asked, "Where have you laid him?"
And learning that which was already known to You,
You called to him whom You loved, "lazarus, come forth."
And he who was without breath obeyed the One who gave him breath,
the Savior of our souls.

Oh Lord, wishing to give Your disciples an assurance of your ressurectionfrom the dead.
You came to the tomb of Lazarus and called to him by name.
Then was hell despoiled, and it released the one that had been dead four days,
as he called upon You, "O blessed Lord, glory to You.
Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.

St. Mary of Egypt

Since today is one of the days that we commemorate Saint Mary of Egypt (the other one being April 1st I believe, which is when people named after her celebrate their name days), I thought I'd post a link to a podcast that Father and I were listening to last night from Fr. Tom Hopko. Here is the link http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko And the podcast is (obviously) the one titled St. Mary of Egypt.

Self and Self Sacrifice

I do believe that what we want in life and what is good for us are two different things most of the time. This becomes most evident when we look at self-sacrifice.
During this fasting period I have noticed how negative I can be in viewing sacrifice. I always put it in terms of "giving up" something, or "can't do this or that" etc.
It wasn't until I was re-introduced to the basic things in life, such as breathing, eating, sleeping, speaking and silence that I noticed how sacred they were. The fasting from meaningless breathing, gluttonous eating, over-sleeping, careless speaking and needless entertainment allowed me to see things as they truly were. otherwise how can you be re-introduced to life if you don't first walk away from it for a while.

That is my conclusion I think. Sacrifice is not so much about giving up as walking past it to see from a better vantage point.
However you rationalize it though it is always (and perhaps should always be) a struggle.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve knew the joy of self-sacrifice as the only way to live. They lived in communion with God and the simple act of not eating from a single tree amongst the many delicious trees was not a problem. It was an act of love, trust and prayer to God.

And then the devil lied to Eve. He told her that God was a liar and that disobedience would lead to them becoming gods. They believed him, they decided sacrifice was unfair and so they took and ate. They were led astray and whole heartedly believed that by avoiding self-sacrifice they would be like god, doing what they wanted when they wanted.
And that is when they became naked, they lost the Grace God had clothed them in.

From that day till today, self-sacrifice is difficult, unwanted. It makes us feel less free as persons to "give something up", like we are loosing out. We feel like fools. That is the lie of the devil.

Christ lived His entire life in obedience to God out of love. He did what Adam and Eve did not do. Jesus being God could really do whatever He wanted whenever He wanted, but unlike what the devil says about God, He does not work that way.

When Christ was fasting for 40 days in the desert, He was hungry, then the devil came to tempt Him much like he did with Adam and Eve (though they were not hungry). He said to Jesus, "if you are hungry make these stones into bread and eat". In other words if you are God do this miracle and eat, satisfy the hunger.
Christ healed the sick, restored limbs to the lame, raised the dead, all with a word. Instead in a time of hunger He replies to that great liar," man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."

Christ answers in the way Adam and Eve should have answered. We get to know God through the beauty of His creation but also from the self-control He teaches us in our use of that Creation. It is not only eating that makes us live but not eating as well. What a thought!

May He who, out of love, was obedient even to death on the Cross for our salvation, Christ Jesus grant us peace without end.

Fr. Kosta