Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center Holy and Glorious Pascha Preparation - Great and Holy Monday

Great and Holy Week begins just before the Vespers of Great and Holy Monday on the evening of Great Feast of The Triumphal Entry of Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ into Jerusalem - Holy and Glorious Palm Sunday - Shaneeneh and ends just before the Divine Liturgy of Holy and Glorious Pascha is celebrated on Great and Holy Saturday evening. Great and Holy Week constitute a time marked by greater solemnity, intensified prayer, and stricter fasting as we move with our Lord Jesus Christ through the events of His Passion in the beautiful Holy Week services of the Church.

All services in Great and Holy Week are moved ahead 12 hours.

The reason is probably to make the services more convenient for the people to attend.

Great and Holy Week or Pascha Cycle
Liturgical Service	of what Liturgical Day	Held on what Calendar Day	Time held
Vespers Pre-Sanctified Liturgy	of Great and Holy Monday	on Palm Sunday	afternoon
Matins Bridegroom Service	of Great and Holy Monday	on Palm Sunday	evening
Vespers Pre-Sanctified Liturgy	of Great and Holy Tuesday	on Great and Holy Monday	morning
Matins Bridegroom Service	of Great and Holy Tuesday	on Great and Holy Monday	evening

Great and Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

Jesus teaches in the temple, which we remember in the readings and chants of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy and the Bridegroom Service.
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy and Holy Communion comprise Vespers, the evening prayer, which is moved forward to the morning.
The Bridegroom Service with the The Troparion of the Bridegroom comprises Matins, the morning prayer, which is moved forward to the evening of the day before.

Matins is the the Bridegroom Service of Great and Holy Monday, which is celebrated on Palm Sunday evening

Jesus teaches in the temple, which we remember in the readings and chants of the Bridegroom Service.
We commemorate the story of the Ten Virgins, of Joseph who is the son of Jacob, and the curse of the Fig Tree.
Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ's told a parable regarding the wise and foolish virgins. The wise virgins continually awaited the coming of their Master with alertness, their lamps burning through the darkness. The foolish ones went to sleep, assuming they would have enough time to prepare at the last minute. But the Bridegroom came in the midst of the night, rewarding those who kept watch for Him and casting out those who wasted the opportunity to prepare to meet him.
Blessed Joseph of the Old Testament was beaten by his brethren, left for dead, and enslaved by foreigners. Joseph remained pure and faithful to God. While his father, Jacob mourned for his son, Joseph was gloriously reigning as a lord of Egypt, and later saved his father and his people. This prefigures the salvation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who was sold for 30 pieces of silver, arrested, condemned and suffered His bitter Passion for us, and then rose gloriously having granted life to those in the tombs!
The fig tree was condemned by Holy God the Son within the Holy Trinity / Our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ because it borne no fruit. We will be condemmned if we do not bear the fruits of penance, humility, and renouncement of bad wordly pleasures.

The troparion sung recalls the Gospel story of the servants waiting all night for the bridegroom to come. We understand that the Bridegroom for whom we are waiting is the Messiah.

The Troparion of the Bridegroom
Behold, the Bridegroom is coming in the middle of the night: blessed is the servant He shall find awake. But the one He shall find neglectful will not be worthy of Him. Beware, there-fore, O my soul! Do not fall into deep slumber, lest you be delivered to death and the door of the kingdom be closed on you. Watch instead, and cry out: "Holy, Holy, Holy are You, O God! Through the intercession of the angels, have mercy on us."

Liturgical Text

English Bridegroom Text The Melkite Eparchy of Australia and New Zealand, a Microsoft Word .doc file

Liturgical Service on Web

Greek Catholic, Melkite Al-Bushra

Traditions

Traditions of Great Lent and Holy Week Melkite Greek Catholic Church Eparchy of Newton

Images

Images of Holy Week Melkite Greek Catholic Church Eparchy of Newton

Pascha Cycle

Great and Holy Monday is between Holy and Glorious Palm Sunday--Shaneeneh and Great and Holy Tuesday.

How to determine when Great and Holy Monday occurs

Great Lent is Forty Days. A count back from the date of Pascha is made.

Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center
Martha Liles
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Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center is dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in the Lord on Dec. 12, 2000, Shirley fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 8, 2001, and Donna fell asleep in the Lord on March 9, 2020.
O God of all spirits and of all flesh, who have destroyed death, overcome the devil, and given life to the world: grant, O Lord, to the souls of your servants Bucky and Shirley, who has departed from this life, that it may rest in a place of light, in a place of happiness, in a place of peace, where there is no pain, no grief, no sighing. And since You are a gracious God and the Lover of Mankind, forgive him/her every sin he/she has committed by thought, or word, or deed, for there is not a man who lives and does not sin : You alone are without sin, your righteousness is everlasting, and your word is true. You are the Resurrection and the Life, and the repose of your departed servants Bucky and Shirley. O Christ our God, and we send up glory to You, together with your eternal Father and your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and always and for ages upon ages. Amen.

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Last Updated: Wednesday, June 03, 2020, 19:25:20, CDT
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