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9010
Vespers of Good Friday
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TRACK NAME |
LENGTH |
| 1 |
Initial Blessing. Great Litany |
5'25 |
| 2 |
Lord, I have cried |
5'37 |
| 3 |
O Gentle Light |
3'00 |
| 4 |
Prokeimenon. Scripture reading |
9'57 |
| 5 |
Litany of supplication |
4'13 |
| 6 |
Thee, who dost clothe Thyself with light... |
9'48 |
| 7 |
Troparion: Noble Joseph. |
3'59 |
| 8 |
Final Blessing |
2'29 |
| 9 |
The Lament of the Mother of God |
10'44 |
| 10 |
Come and let us bless Joseph. |
4'23 |
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Vespers of Good Friday
On Great and Holy Friday the whole day and the service of
Vespers in particular has a special character. The Triodion,
the book with the texts for the Lenten fast, contains the
following note: "No meal is served in the refectory,
and on this day of the Crucifixion we eat nothing, but if,
as frequently happens, anyone is weak and very old and cannot
keep the fast, let him be given bread and water after sunset".
There is always a compassionate aspect to Orthodox Christianity
even at the "toughest" moments.
The service of Vespers usually starts about three o'clock
in the afternoon and lasts about two hours. Before it begins,
the Shroud is put upon the holy table in the sanctuary and
the book of the Gospels is placed upon ft. The Shroud is
a cloth, elaborately embroidered or painted, depicting Christ
laid out for burial: at His head is the Mother of God, grieving
and weeping, and at His feet Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus,
who brought spices and linen cloths with which to bury Him.
Often the angels and the sun and moon are shown, signifying
a cosmic lamentation.
After the initial blessing comes the Great Litany, in which
the Church prays for all the needs of this world, and this
is followed by a chant "The whole creation was changed
by fear, when it saw Thee, Î Christ, hanging on the
Cross". This traditional Kiev chant melody in Tone
One was harmonised by Kastalsky, as was the ancient hymn
"Î Jesus Christ, Thou gentle Light" which
follows.
Then we hear the prokeimenon, a verse from the psalms, with
the text "Judge them, Î Lord, that wrong me:
fight against them that fight against me". This introduces
three readings from the Old Testament, of which we hear
only the third, which is taken from the prophet Isaiah.
The next prokeimenon introduces the Epistle reading (though
the reading itself is not heard on the recording) and the
Alleluia refrain with its verses, which comes next, is sung
in a minor key expressing, as Archpriest Michael Fortounatto
points out "the glory and the humility of the Son of
God". The Gospel reading is also left out, as it is
very long.
In the Litany of supplication the Church prays that the
whole evening may be perfect, holy, peaceful and without
sin, and, after the priestly blessing, the psalm verses,
which accompany the Aposticha, are chanted and then the
lovely hymn "Joseph with Nicodemus took Thee down from
the Tree, Thou Who deckest Thyself with Light as with a
garment".
The climax of these Vespers comes, when the choir begins
to sing the Bulgarian chant, harmonised by Turchaninov,
"Noble Joseph, taking down Thy most pure body from
the Tree, wrapped it in clean linen with spices and laid
it in a new sepulchre". The Gospel book is brought
out solemnly from the sanctuary, carried on the head of
the senior priest, and above his head is carried the Shroud,
accompanied by lighted candles and sweet incense. The Shroud
is laid upon a table, decorated with flowers, in the centre
of the church and the Gospel book placed upon it once more,
and the priest censes the Shroud on every side and sprinkles
it with rosewater and small flowers.
After the concluding prayers and blessing, all the people
in the church come in turn to the Shroud and prostrate themselves
before it and venerate it and kiss it and, meanwhile, the
choir sings the Irmoi from a Canon of the Lamentation of
the Mother of God interspersed with troparia, and ending
with a hymn in honour of Joseph of Arimathea, which begins
"Come and let us bless Joseph of everlasting memory,
who came to Pilate by night and begged for the Life of all,
saying, Give me this stranger, who has no place to lay his
head". There is a wonderful stillness in the church
at the end of these Vespers reflecting the stillness of
all creation at the death of Christ and His burial.
This is a live recording made during the Vesper Service
of Good Friday, when, liturgically, the events of the
first Good Friday are brought to mind and re-enacted: Christ's
trial, crucifixion, His death, deposition from the Cross,
anointing and burial; this is followed by a sequence of
chants representing Mary's lamentation, as She beheld her
Son lying lifeless before her. The Gospel reading of the
day (omitted from this record for its length), recounting
the events, is mainly taken from ch. 27 of the Gospel according
to Saint Matthew.
One prominent liturgical feature in this service is the
procession with the Shroud (an image of Christ lying lifeless
in the tomb, painted on cloth) into the middle of the church,
and its veneration by the congregation, Although a late
introduction into the service (17th century), this ritual
seems particularly appropriate, as it draws the beholder
to take part, with St. Joseph and St. Nikodemus, in the
anointing and burial of the Lord; thus the symbol becomes
reality: the whole Church prostrates before the crucified
Son of God.
After the initial blessing and a litany for the needs of
the world, the choir sings of the fear and awe that overwhelmed
the whole of creation at the sight of the Son of God crucified
on the Cross; this frightening mystery of the death of God
is also glorious because it means redemption for the world:
the Church beholds the holiness "without malice"
of God who is slain for our sakes. The music is based on
traditional melodies. "All creation" is harmonised
by A. Kastalsky (1856-1926), who also harmonised the evening
entrance chant, "O gentle Light".
One of the Readings from the Old Testament is now heard,
as a prophecy of the redemptive acts of Christ: God has
become the "Suffering servant" who "hath
no form, no comeliness", "he is brought as a lamb
to the slaughter", but, "he hath borne our griefs
and sorrows, and with his stripes we are healed" (Is.ch.53);
then follows an alleluia in the minor key with verses, stressing
both the glory and the humility of the Son of God. A little
later, verses from Psalm 93 show the majesty of God who,
although crucified and buried, is the Maker and Redeemer
of the world.
Before Vespers is concluded the Shroud is brought out for
veneration as two moving hymns are sung; both are based
on the Bulgarian chant and harmonised by P. Turchaninov
(1779-1856). Here the concluding words are: "but Christ
hath revealed Himself a stranger to corruption". The
moment in the service corresponds to the deposition, anointing
and burial of Christ in which Joseph of Arimathea played
a leading role, helped by Nikodemus.
After the lamentations of the Mother of God, a last hymn
is sung to honour St. Joseph, harmonised by D. Bortniansky
(1751-1825). Each member of the congregation reverently
approaches the Shroud to venerate and kiss it.
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Audio: sound average / download fast |
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