Night Easter service: what happens during the most joyful service of the year?

The most solemn service throughout the year is the Easter service in the church, which always takes place at night. It is for this reason that this service is also called the all-night vigil.

The service begins in different churches differently, but you can focus on the time somewhere an hour before midnight. Because a lot of people gather in the temple from ten in the evening, if the goal is to stand closer to the altar and take an active part in everything that happens in the temple, then it is important to come early.

Advice! After midnight there is a religious procession. That is, the priests leave the temple in an organized procession and walk around the temple three times along with the entire flock, after which the priest congratulates everyone on the arrival of Easter and pronounces the most important words for every Christian: “Christ is Risen.” To get to the beginning of the procession, it is better to stand at the beginning of the service not closer to the altar, but closer to the exit of the temple. Because this is how the flock will follow the procession of priests out of the church. Whoever stands at the altar will be the last to leave the temple and will complete the procession of the Cross.

Text of the Easter service download

Easter is approaching, and soon Orthodox Christians will greet each other with the joyful cry of “Christ is Risen.” Hegumen Silouan (Tumanov) talks about the features of the most joyful service of the year

***

Once a year, in the spring, when the earth sheds its snow cover and the air is filled with cool freshness and the chirping of birds that have finally decided to return to their homeland, many people, regardless of whether they go to church or pray at home, begin to excitedly ask: “When?!” “When will Easter be celebrated this year? Will we make it in time?!! Otherwise there is a lot of hassle. We must not lose face in the dirt and paint eggs and bake Easter cakes according to recipes that claim to strictly follow ancient traditions. And then celebrate as it should be: go to the cemetery to visit your relatives, cry at the grave, leave some vodka there with a crust of bread, and go home: set the table, drink some vodka again, but before that be sure to eat a blessed egg, otherwise it’s a sin!”

The week before Easter for the majority is spent in pleasant culinary chores, “so that everything is like people do,” and on the eve of Easter Sunday, lines of believers in their souls cross the church fence for the first time in a year and lay out their culinary masterpieces on the table, waiting for a noticeably tired priest with sprinkles and eyes , expecting something much more important than the consecration of Easter cakes.

The queue is long, while we wait for the priest, we will have time to talk with the neighbors. And here it becomes clear: the holiday does not end and is not limited to the blessing of food. The special holiday service begins at midnight and ends around three in the morning.

What is there to do in the temple for so long? Well, okay, the procession will go around the church with bells ringing - everyone knows that, but it will take about fifteen minutes. And what's next? And for what?

Interesting. If everyone goes, we will go too.

****

It is better to arrive early for the Easter night service. And think in advance about which temple. There will be people everywhere, but where there is a better choir or a central church that has been open for a long time, there will be more people.

It's best to bring... yourself. That is, your attention, your readiness for joy, your willingness not to be distracted by inconveniences and temptations in order to properly celebrate the Feast of Holidays and the Celebration of Celebrations.

The most correct thing, of course, is to confess the day before, so that you can then receive communion at the night Easter Liturgy of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. But, even if for some reason you were unable to prepare for Communion, just try to listen to what the Church offers us this night. After all, the Easter service is the most joyful event in the life of every believer. She is full of rejoicing in the Risen Christ. Listening to her words, penetrating into her meanings, we ourselves are filled with this great joy.

Rules for preparing for church services on Easter:

• Dress correctly: clean and tidy, festive and modest. Women must wear a headscarf to church and, if possible, choose a long skirt or dress. Try not to wear clothes made of transparent fabrics or with a deep neckline to church, and avoid cosmetics.
• You can safely go to church even during menstruation, although there is an opinion that a woman should not go to church during this period. You can light candles, give notes and perform the holy sacraments.
• Before entering the temple, stop and cross yourself three times, after each time bow to the ground. Be baptized without gloves or mittens. If it is a man, then before entering the temple, take off your headdress, but for a woman, on the contrary, be sure to cover your head.
• During the service, you cannot speak loudly, use modern technology, or behave uncivilly, pushing people aside near the icons. Remember for what purpose and with what joy in your heart you came to the temple - broadcast bright feelings.
• People do not turn their backs to the altar during services. Remember that women are always forbidden to enter the altar, and men can only do this with special permission from the priest.
• It is important to tell children before going to church how to behave in church and why they go to church: they don’t run, they don’t scream, they don’t laugh. If a child begins to cry and it is difficult to calm him down, it is better to leave the temple with him so as not to disturb other believers.
• For health, candles are placed in front of the icons of any saints, but for repose, candles are placed on the funeral table, which is most often located next to the crucifix.
• You need to be baptized after the priest’s words “Lord, have mercy,” and also after “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” and also after “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Easter Midnight Office

The festive service does not begin immediately at midnight from Saturday to Sunday, but a little earlier, a little later at 23.00.

We enter a darkened temple filled with people. Chandeliers - large chandeliers - are turned off. In front of the closed Royal Doors, on the pulpit there is a large stand in the form of a tomb. On it lies the Shroud - a decorated embroidered cloth with the image of Christ lying in the tomb.

A priest and a deacon in white robes quietly emerge from the altar and a special service begins - the floor at the altar, interspersed with the quiet singing of the choir. Its main part is the priest’s reading of the canon of Holy Saturday, which tells about the burial of Christ. At the end of the reading, incense is burned around the Shroud and, with the words “I will arise and be glorified,” the Shroud is brought into the altar through the open Royal Doors.

A few more prayers and the Midnight Office ends.

Silence again.

Procession

There are different traditions. Somewhere, Easter Matins begins exactly at midnight, and the religious procession that precedes it begins, accordingly, about 15 minutes before it. Somewhere at midnight the religious procession itself begins.

In any case, you can’t do without a religious procession.

Symbolizing the transition from the darkness of paganism to the light of Christianity, picturesquely shading the light of the Resurrection of Christ, the religious procession begins in a dark temple, illuminated only by candles burning in the hands of people.

If the abbot is familiar with Greek traditions, then he can bring the fire out for the parishioners from the altar while singing a special stichera: “Come, receive the light from the Never-Evening Light and glorify Christ risen from the dead!”

Photo of St. Petersburg Theological Academy

If there is no such tradition, then people light candles themselves.

So, after a short pause and lighting of candles, the clergy in the altar, with the gates and the curtain of the iconostasis closed, sing the stichera “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth with a pure heart to glorify Thee” . At this time, three times censing is performed in the altar around the throne. We don’t see him, but we hear the clinking of the censer, and the scent of fragrant incense can be heard.

The stichera is sung louder each time, and the choir picks it up. The Royal Doors open, still in the dark, clergy in white robes, reminding us that in ancient times, right on the eve of Easter, everyone who wanted to become Christians was baptized, leaving the altar.

All the parishioners are already singing along with the choir. The jubilant ringing of bells is heard. Ahead of the priests are parishioners and altar servers who have prepared in advance, carrying a special lantern, followed by an altar cross, an altarpiece of the Mother of God. Next come in pairs the banner bearers, singers, candle bearers with candles, deacons with their candles and censers, and behind them the priests. In the last pair of priests, the one on the right carries the Gospel, and the one on the left carries the icon of the Resurrection. The procession is completed by the rector of the temple with the Easter tricandle and the Cross in his left hand.

If there is only one priest in the church, then the icons of the Resurrection of Christ and the Gospel are carried by the laity, covering their hands with scarves out of reverence for the shrine.

We follow the priests and we are all parishioners. We slowly walk around the temple. The soul rings inside in time with the bells, the lips sing holy and mysterious words, and the hands carefully cover the candle flame from the cool night spring breeze.

Everyone approaches the entrance to the temple, he calls the porch. The entrance, western doors are already specially closed.

Those who carry shrines stop near the doors, facing west. The ringing stops. The rector of the temple, having accepted the censer from the deacon, burns incense and glorifies the Holy Trinity.

The clergy sing three times the main hymn of the holiday - the troparion of Easter: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs (i.e. Christ rose from the dead, having conquered death by His death, and giving life to those in the graves) . ” The choir echoes them.

Then the priests sing special verses. We will hear them at the beginning of each service and sometimes at other places of service. This is called the Easter beginning:

“May God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered. And let those who hate Him flee from His face. As smoke disappears, let them disappear as wax melts in the presence of fire. Thus, let sinners perish from the Face of God, and let righteous women rejoice. This day, which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad on it ,” etc.

For each verse, the singers again sing the troparion “Christ is risen.”

From time to time the rector addresses everyone with the greeting: “Christ is risen!” In response, you need to answer as loudly as possible: “Truly he is risen!” Don't be afraid, don't be silent - this is a night of special joy.

The church doors open, and the procession enters the temple, just as the myrrh-bearing women once entered Jerusalem to announce to the disciples about the Resurrection of the Lord.

The temple is filled with the light of all lamps. The bright Easter Matins begins, that is, Matins that begins long before dawn.

Easter Service – audio, text

Dear visitors of the Orthodox website “Family and Faith”!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Before you is an audio recording of the Easter Service, recorded in the Sretensky Monastery on Easter night.

To those of you who cannot attend this solemn and grace-filled service, we invite you to join the praying parishioners of the Sretensky Monastery:

Below is the entire text of the Easter service

BRIGHT EASTER MAINTENS

About the morning hour, the paraecclesiarch, taking the blessing from the abbot, comes out and strikes at the great, and slanderes enough. And, having entered the temple, he burns all the candles and candila: he arranges two vessels with burning coals and puts a lot of fragrant incense into them, and places one vessel in the middle of the church, the other in the holy altar, so that the church will be filled with all the incense. The same rector, having entered the holy altar with the priests and deacons, will be clothed in all the most illustrious dignity. And he distributes the candles to the brethren, and picks up the Honorable Cross: the deacon picks up the censer: the priest holds the Holy Gospel, and the priest the image of the Resurrection of Christ: and they are placed facing the west. And they will close the gates of the church to the west. The rector proceeds from the priest into the vestibule, by the northern doors, the deacon preceding him with two lights, and both faces singing the stichera, voice 6:

Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify Thee with a pure heart.

They also hit hard and hard, and rivet quite a bit. And having entered the porch, they stand with the Gospel and the image, facing west, as indicated before. The rector will also take the censer from the deacon in his right hand, the Cross in his left and cense the images and choirs, and the brethren according to custom. I present the deacon with a burning candle before him. The brethren all stand holding their candles, praying attentively within themselves, and thanking us for the sake of the suffering and risen Christ our God. At the end of the incense, the rector comes to the great gate of the church and cites the deacon standing before him with the candle. Then the deacon will take the censer from the hand of the abbot, and incense the abbot himself. And again the rector will take the censer, standing in front of the church doors, in vain to the east, and mark the great gates of the church, (the closed being), with the censer crosswise, three times, holding the Honorable Cross in his left hand, and with a lamp standing with both the country.

And he will loudly proclaim:

Glory to the Holy, and Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity: always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

And to us who answer: Amen.

The rector begins, with the rest of the ministers, the present troparion in voice 5:

Christ rose from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs.

And we sing in the same way, with sweet singing. This troparion is sung three times by the abbot, and three times by us.

The abbot also recites the following verses:

First verse: Let God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee from His face.

And for each verse we sing the troparion: Christ is risen: all at once.

In the second verse: As smoke disappears, let them disappear as wax melts before the fire. Christ is risen: once.

Third verse: So let sinners perish at the face of God, and let righteous women rejoice. Christ is risen: once.

Fourth verse: This day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Christ is risen: once.

Glory: Christ is risen: once.

And now: Christ is risen: once.

also sings in a higher voice: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death. And opens the gates.

The abbot enters with the Honorable Cross, which preceded him with two lamps, and to the brethren singing: And to those in the tombs he gave life. They also hit the whole campaign and ring quite loudly, three times.

The rector entered the holy altar with the priest. And the deacon says the great litany: Let us pray to the Lord in peace. Exclamation: For all glory is due to You:

And the primate begins the canon, the creation of Mr. John of Damascus. Tone 1. Irmos: Resurrection day: Irmos at 4: and troparia at 12, with refrains: Christ is risen from the dead. And again, follow every face of Irmos. Follow at the gathering of katavasia, the same irmos: Resurrection day: And according to it Christ is risen: all three times. The beginning of the canon is always created by the primate of each song, in the right or left country that happened to begin. And at the beginning of the canon he censes the holy icons and both faces and the brethren according to their rank. And for each song there is a small litany outside the altar, like a rekhom, on this holy day. An exclamation from the priest inside the altar. According to the 1st song, the gum country sings. On the 3rd, the left one sings. We sing Sitsa and other songs.

CANON, Voice 1

Song 1

Irmos: Resurrection day, let us enlighten ourselves, people: Easter, the Lord's Easter! For from death to life and from earth to heaven, Christ our God has led us, singing in victory.

Chorus: Christ is risen from the dead.

Let us purify our senses and see the shining light of the Resurrection of Christ, and rejoice, let us hear clearly and sing victoriously.

Let the heavens rejoice with dignity, let the earth rejoice, let the world celebrate, all visible and invisible: Christ has risen, eternal joy.

The same litany and exclamation: For Thine is the dominion, and Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Song 3

Irmos: Come, we drink new beer, it is not from the barren stone that the miracle works, but from the incorruptible source, from the tomb that rained Christ, we are established in Nemzhe.

Now everything is filled with light, heaven and earth and the underworld: let all creation celebrate the rise of Christ, in which it is established.

Yesterday I was buried with You, Christ, today I am resurrected with You, I was crucified with You yesterday. Glorify me Yourself, O Savior, in Your Kingdom.

The same litany and exclamation: For You are our God, and to You we send glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Ipakoi, voice 4:

Having anticipated the morning of Mary, and having found the stone rolled away from the tomb, I hear from the Angel: in the ever-present light of Him who is with the dead, what are you looking for, like a man? You see the graveclothes, preach to the world that the Lord has risen, the slayer of death, as the Son of God, saving the human race.

And the reading in Gregory the Theologian, its beginning: I will stand on my guard: After reading, the brethren again burn the candles.

Song 4.

Irmos: On the Divine guard, may the God-speaking Habakkuk stand with us and show us a luminous Angel, clearly saying: this day is salvation for the world, for Christ has risen, for He is Omnipotent.

The male sex, as if Christ had opened the virgin womb, was called: like a man, He was called Lamb: and blameless, for the taste of filth is our Passover, and for the true God is perfect in His words.

Like the one-year-old lamb, Christ, the blessed crown for us, was slain for all, the cleansing Passover, and again from the tomb the red sun of righteousness rose for us.

God-father David, galloping before the hay ark, but the holy people of God, seeing the images of the event, rejoice divinely, as Christ is risen, as Omnipotent.

Litany, and exclamation: For You are a Good and Lover of Mankind, and to You we send glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Song 5

Irmos: Let us morning the deep morning and instead of peace we will bring a song to the Lady, and we will see Christ as the Sun of truth, life shining for all.

Your immeasurable compassion, seeing through the bonds of hell, I walk toward the light, O Christ, with merry feet, praising the eternal Easter.

Let us, O luminaries, come to Christ as he emerges from the tomb, like a bridegroom, and let us celebrate God’s saving Pascha with lustful rites.

Litany, and exclamation: For sanctified and glorified is Thy most honorable and magnificent name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Song 6

Irmos: Thou hast descended into the underworld of the earth and shattered the eternal faiths that contain those who are bound, O Christ, and thou hast risen from the grave for three days, like Jonah from the whale.

Having preserved the signs intact, O Christ, Thou hast risen from the grave, the keys of the Virgin not harmed in Thy Nativity, and Thou hast opened for us the doors of heaven.

My Savior, the living and non-sacrificial slaughter, as God Himself brought to the Father by His own will, co-resurrected the all-begotten Adam, rose from the grave.

Litany, and exclamation: For You are the King of the world and the Savior of our souls, and to You we send glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Same kontakion, tone 8:

Even though you descended into the grave, Immortal, you destroyed the power of hell and rose again as a conqueror, Christ God, saying to the myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice, and grant peace to your apostles, grant resurrection to the fallen.

Ikos: Even before the sun, the Sun sometimes set into the tomb, leading to the morning, looking for the Myrrh-Bearing Virgin like the day, and crying out to friends: O friends, come, let us anoint with stinks the Life-Giving and Buried Body, the flesh of the Resurrected fallen Adam, lying in the tomb. We come, sweating like wolves, and let us worship, and bring peace like gifts, not in swaddling clothes, but wrapped in a shroud, and we weep and cry: O Master, arise, grant resurrection to the fallen.

Sunday Carol

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the One Sinless One. We worship Your Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Your holy Resurrection: for You are our God, do we know no other to You, we call Your name. Come, all you faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ: behold, through the Cross joy has come to the whole world. Always blessing the Lord, we sing His Resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death. [Thrice.]

Jesus rose from the grave, as He prophesied, to give us eternal life and great mercy. [Thrice.]

Song 7

Irmos: Having delivered the youths from the furnace, having become Man, he suffers as if he were mortal, and with the passion of death he clothes the mortal in incorruptibility with splendor, God alone is blessed and glorified by the fathers.

Wives from the world of God-wise follow in Your footsteps: Who, as if dead, I seek with tears, bowing, rejoicing to the Living God, and Your secret Pascha, O Christ, disciple of the gospel.

We celebrate the mortification of death, the hellish destruction, of another life, the eternal, the beginning, and playfully sing of the Guilty One, the One blessed of the fathers of God and the most glorified.

As truly sacred and all-celebratory this saving night is, and the luminous, light-bearing day, the herald of the rising of beings: in it the flightless Light from the grave rose carnally to all.

Litany and exclamation: May the power of Your Kingdom be blessed and glorified, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Song 8

Irmos: This appointed and holy day, One of the Sabbaths is the King and Lord, the feast of feasts and the triumph of celebrations: let us bless Christ forever.

Come, new vine birth, divine joy, in the deliberate days of the Resurrection of the Kingdom of Christ, let us join in, singing Him as God forever.

Lift your eyes around, O Zion, and see: behold, your children have come to you like a divinely luminous light, from the west and the north, and the sea, and the east, blessing Christ in you forever.

Trinity: Father Almighty, and Word, and Soul, three united in Hypostases Nature, the Most Essential and the Most Divine, in Thee we are baptized and we bless Thee forever.

The same litany and exclamation: For Thy name is blessed, and Thy Kingdom is glorified, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.

Choruses for the 9th song

My soul magnifies Christ the Giver of Life, who rose three days from the grave.

And the irmos: Shine: And the second face sings the same chorus and irmos. The first face also sings the second chorus:

My soul magnifies the will of the one who suffered and was buried, and who rose from the grave for three days.

And the irmos: Shine: And the second face sings the same chorus, and the irmos. The first face also sings the third chorus:

Christ is the new Passover, living Sacrifice, Lamb of God, take away the sins of the world.

And verse. And the second face sings the same chorus and verse. The first face also sings the fourth chorus:

The angel cried out with the Most Grace: Pure Virgin, rejoice, and again the river, rejoice: Your Son is risen three days from the grave, and having raised the dead, people, rejoice.

And verse. And the second face sings the same chorus and verse.

And the other eight choruses are chanted once to the verse:

Thou hast awakened, having fallen asleep, dead from eternity, royally roaring like a lion from Judah.

Magdalene Mary came to the tomb and, having seen Christ, asked questions like a heli-grader.

The angel washed over the women, crying: stop crying, for Christ is risen.

Christ is risen, trampling down death and raising up the dead, people, rejoice.

Today every creature rejoices and rejoices: for Christ is risen and hell has been captivated.

Today is the Lord of the captivity of hell, who has erected the enemies, even from the ages known as the fiercely possessed.

My soul magnifies the power of the Trinitarian and Indivisible Divinity.

Rejoice, Virgin, rejoice, rejoice, Blessed One, rejoice, Most Glorified One: Your Son has risen three days from the grave.

Then the first face sings again the first chorus and irmos.

Also, both faces, having come together, sing the irmos and troparion: Christ is risen: three times.

Song 9

Irmos: Shine , shine, new Jerusalem: for the glory of the Lord is upon you, rejoice now and be glad, O Zion. You, Pure One, show off, O Mother of God, about the rise of Your Nativity.

O Divine, O dear, O Thy sweetest voice! You have truly promised to be with us until the end of the age, O Christ: Who is faithful, the affirmation of hope, we rejoice.

O great and most sacred Easter, Christ! About wisdom and the Word of God, and power! Grant us the opportunity to partake of You in the eternal days of Your Kingdom.

Litany, and exclamation: For all the powers of heaven, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, praise You, and they send up glory to You, now and ever, and to the ages of ages.

Exapostilary

Having fallen asleep in the flesh as if dead, Thou art the King and Lord, who rose for three days, raised Adam from aphids and abolished death: Easter is incorruptible, the salvation of the world. [Thrice.]

On praise, every breath: on tone 1. Let’s put verses 4, and sing the resurrection stichera, tone 1:

Verse: Praise Him according to His strength, praise Him according to the abundance of His majesty.

We sing Your saving passion, O Christ, and glorify Your Resurrection.

Verse: Praise Him with the voice of the trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and the harp.

Having endured the cross and abolished death, and risen from the dead, reconcile our lives, O Lord, as One is Omnipotent.

Verse: Praise Him in the tympanum and face, praise Him in the strings and organ.

You who have been taken captive by hell and who have been resurrected by Your Resurrection, Christ, make us worthy to sing and praise You with a pure heart.

Verse: Praise Him with cymbals of good accord, praise Him with cymbals of shouting, let every breath praise the Lord.

Your divine condescension is glorifying, we sing to You, O Christ: you were born of the Virgin and you were inseparable from the Father: you suffered like a man and willingly endured the Cross, you rose from the grave as if you came from a palace, and save the world, O Lord, glory to You.

Stichera of Easter. Voice 5

Verse: May God rise again and His enemies be scattered.

The sacred Easter has appeared to us today: the new holy Easter: the mysterious Easter: the all-honorable Easter: the Easter of Christ the Deliverer: the immaculate Easter: the great Easter: the Easter of the faithful: the Easter that opens the doors of paradise to us: the Easter that sanctifies all the faithful.

Verse: As smoke disappears, let them disappear.

Come from the vision, wife of the good news, and cry to Zion: receive from us the joys of the annunciation of the Resurrection of Christ: rejoice, rejoice and rejoice, O Jerusalem, seeing the King Christ from the tomb, like a bridegroom taking place.

Verse: So let sinners perish at the face of God, and let righteous women rejoice.

The myrrh-bearing women, in the deep morning, appeared at the tomb of the Life-Giver, having found an Angel sitting on a stone, and having preached to them, said to her: Why are you looking for the Living One with the dead? Why are you crying into the aphids? Go, preach as His disciple.

Verse: This day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Red Easter, Easter, Lord's Easter! Easter is an all-honorable blessing for us. Easter! Let us embrace each other with joy. Oh Easter! Deliverance of sorrow, for from the grave today, as from the palace, Christ has risen, filling the women with joy, saying: preach as an apostle.

Glory, and now, voice 5:

Resurrection day, and let us be enlightened by triumph, and embrace each other. We say: brethren, and we will forgive all those who hate us through the Resurrection, and thus we will cry out: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs.

Christ is also risen: three times. And we sing this many times, until the brothers kiss each other.

Like the saints of our father John, Archbishop of Constantinople, Chrysostom, the Catechetical Word on the holy and luminous day of the glorious and saving Christ our God of the Resurrection.

And if anyone is pious and God-loving, let him enjoy this good and bright celebration. If anyone is a prudent servant, let him enter rejoicing into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has labored by fasting, let him now receive a denarius. If anyone has eaten since the first hour, let him accept righteous debt today. If anyone comes after the third hour, let him celebrate with thanks. If anyone has reached the sixth hour, he will doubt nothing, for he will gain nothing. If anyone has lost even the ninth hour, let him approach without hesitation or fear. If anyone has reached the point even at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid of delay: for this Lord is loving, and accepts the last as he did the first: he rests in the eleventh hour the one who has come, as he did from the first hour. And he has mercy on the last, and pleases the first, and gives to this, and grants to this, and accepts deeds, and kisses the intention, and honors the deed, and praises the proposal. Therefore, let all of you enter into the joy of your Lord: both first and second, accept the reward. Riches and wretches, rejoice with each other. Temperance and laziness, honor the day. Those who have fasted and those who have not fasted, rejoice today. The meal is complete, enjoy it all. The well-fed calf, let no one come forth hungry, all of you will enjoy the feast of faith: you will all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one weep in misery, for the common Kingdom has appeared. Let no one weep for sins, for forgiveness has come from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the death of Savior will set us free. Extinguish you, those who are kept from her, take captivity to hell, descend into hell. Grieve him by tasting His flesh. And Isaiah, when he was about to do this, cried out: hell, he says, grieve, he will shit thee: grieve, for you have been destroyed: grieve, for you have been mocked: grieve, for you have died: grieve, for you have been cast down: grieve, for you have been bound. You accept the body, and worship God: you accept the earth, and you see the sky: you accept the hedgehog, seeing it, and fall into the hedgehog, not seeing it. Where is your sting, death? Where the hell is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are cast down. Christ is risen, and the demons have fallen. Christ is risen, and the Angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life lives. Christ is risen, and not one is dead in the tomb. Christ, having risen from the dead, became the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. To him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

The troparion of the saint is also spoken. Voice 8:

At your mouth, like the lordship of fire, grace has risen, enlighten the universe: do not gain the love of money and the treasures of the world, showing us the height of humility, but chastising with your words, Father John Chrysostom, pray to the Word, Christ God, to save our souls.

Therefore, the deacon says the litany: Have mercy on us, O God, and let us fulfill our morning prayer to the Lord.

And at the cry, the deacon: Wisdom. We: Bless. Abbot: Blessed be Christ our God, always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. And we: Amen. Establish, O God: Therefore, the rector, holding the Cross, instead of: Glory to Thee, Christ God: sings: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death. And we sing: And having given life to those in the tombs. And the abbot says: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death by death and giving life to those in the tombs: our true God, through the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and all the saints, will have mercy and save us, for He is Good and Lover of Mankind. Also, raising the Cross, he says: Christ is risen. Three times. We answer: He is truly risen. Three times. We also sing the final: Christ is risen: three times, the entire troparion. And we will end by singing: And we have been given eternal life, we worship His three-day Resurrection. Therefore, we are perennial, and we kiss the Honorable Cross, held in the hand of the abbot.

About the hours of Holy Pascha and all Bright Week.

It is appropriate to know that from this day on, the holy and great Week of Easter, even until Saturday, the hours are sung.

I will begin with the priest: Blessed is our God: Face: Amen. Christ rose from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs. three times.

We also say the verb three times:

Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the One Sinless One. We worship Your Cross, O Christ, and we sing and glorify Your holy Resurrection: for You are our God, do we know no other to You, we call Your name. Come, all you faithful, let us worship the Holy Resurrection of Christ: behold, through the Cross joy has come to the whole world. Always blessing the Lord, we sing His Resurrection: having endured the crucifixion, destroy death by death.

Also ipakoi, voice 4, united:

Having anticipated the morning of Mary, and having found the stone rolled away from the tomb, I hear from the Angel: in the ever-present light of the One who is with the dead, what are you looking for, like a man? You see the grave linens, preach to the world that the Lord has arisen, the one who put to death death: for he is the Son of God, who saves the human race.

Same kontakion, tone 8, unanimous:

Even though you descended into the grave, Immortal, you destroyed the power of hell, and you rose again as the Conqueror, Christ God, saying to the myrrh-bearing women: Rejoice, and grant peace to your apostles, grant resurrection to the fallen.

This troparion is also united:

In the tomb carnally, in hell with the soul like God, in paradise with the thief, and on the Throne you were Christ, with the Father and the Spirit, fulfilling all the Indescribable.

Glory:

Like the Life-Bearer, like the reddest of Paradise, truly the brightest of all royal palaces, Christ, Thy tomb, the source of our resurrection.

And now, Mother of God:

Highly consecrated Divine village, rejoice. For you have given joy, O Theotokos, to those who call: blessed art thou among women, O All-Immaculate Lady.

Also, Lord, have mercy, 40. Glory, and now: Most honorable Cherub: Bless in the name of the Lord, father. Priest: Through the prayers of the saints, our fathers: We say: Amen. And again we say something similar: Christ is risen: three times. Glory, and now: Lord, have mercy. Three times. Bless. And the first hour is released.

Following the Liturgy can hurt.

I will say to the deacon: Bless the master. I exclaimed to the abbot: Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. And we: Amen. The rector sings with the other ministers in the holy altar: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs. Three times. And the faces the same way, three times.

The abbot says the refrains: 1st. May God rise again: Face: Christ is risen: once. 2nd. Like smoke disappears: Christ is risen: once. 3rd. Thus let sinners perish: Christ is risen: once. 4th. This day: Christ is risen: once. Glory: Christ is risen: once. And now: Christ is risen: once. The rector also sings in a higher voice: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death. We: And to those in the tombs we have given life.

Therefore the deacon says the great litany.

According to the litany and exclamation

Antiphon 1, Psalm 65, tone 2.

Verse 1: Shout to the Lord, all the earth. Chorus: Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us.

And another face verses the same verse: Shout to the Lord, all the earth, sing to His name, give glory to His praise. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us.

Verse 2: Cry to God: since Thy works are terrible, in the abundance of Thy strength Thy enemies will lie to Thee. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us.

Verse 3: Let all the earth worship You and sing to You, and let the Most High sing praises to Your name. Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us.

Glory, even now: Both faces are united in the highest voice: Through the prayers of the Mother of God, Savior, save us.

Also, small litany.

Second Antiphon, Psalm 66, same voice.

Verse 1: God be gracious to us and bless us. Chorus: Save us, Son of God, risen from the dead, singing Ti: Alleluia. once.

Another country, the same verse: God, be gracious to us, and bless us, make Thy face shine upon us, and have mercy on us. Save us, Son of God:

Verse 2: Let us know Your way on earth; Let us know Your salvation in all nations. Save us, Son of God:

Verse 3: Let men confess to You, God, let all men confess to You. Save us, Son of God:

Glory, even now: two faces together: the Only Begotten Son:

Also, litany.

Antiphon 3rd, Psalm 67, tone 5.

Verse 1: Let God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered. Troparion: Christ is risen from the dead:

Another country, the same verse: Let God rise again, and let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee from His presence. Christ is Risen:

Verse 2: As smoke disappears, let them disappear as wax melts before the fire. Christ is Risen:

Verse 3: So let sinners perish from the presence of God, but let righteous women rejoice and rejoice before God. Christ is Risen:

And there is an entrance. And the deacon exclaims, whether there is or not, the priest: Wisdom, forgive. We are the entrance: In the churches bless God, the Lord from the fountain of Israel. And we sing the troparion: Christ is risen: ipakoi: Having preceded the morning: Glory, and now: kontakion: Even if thou didst descend into the grave:

Instead of the Trisagion: Eliza was baptized into Christ, put on Christ: alleluia.

It is appropriate to know that this is the beginning of the Liturgy, and the antiphons, and the Elitsa, to be baptized into Christ: we sing throughout Bright Week, even until New Week: and so does the communicant.

Prokeimenon, tone 8: This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Verse: Confess to the Lord that His mercy endures forever.

Apostle, reading of Acts, conception 1. [Acts. 1, 1 – 8.]

Alleluia, voice 4: You have risen, having spared Zion. Verse: The Lord looked down from Heaven to earth.

Gospel of John, conception 1. [John. 1, 1 – 17.]

At the time of reading the Holy Gospel, the initial deacon, although the Gospel of honor, says: Bless the master of the evangelist: The rector also says: God through the prayers of the glorious saint: and so on, as indicated in the liturgiary. And the deacon goes out, and at the usual place, right at the royal gates, facing the east, he first exclaimed to the abbot before the throne: Wisdom forgive us, let us hear the holy Gospel. Likewise, all the priests and elders are servants, and the deacons also say that they have stood in various places, from the holy throne to the western gates of the church, one after another. In the middle of all stands the archdeacon, and everyone is honored by the abbot, one by one according to the articles, as the abbot orders. And the rector begins: Reading the Gospel from John the Holy. Others too. Abbot: Let's go. Others too. The rector, standing before the throne, facing east, reads: In the beginning was the Word: and so on. Others too. And at every exclamation, or article of the Gospel, in the church they strike one on the candy. The paraecclesiarch is outside the church on the great bell, and on the great kampan: at the last exclamation they strike the whole kampana, and on the great bell, and the Divine Liturgy of Chrysostom takes place according to the order.

Instead of Worthy: we sing:

The angel cried out with more grace, Pure Virgin, rejoice, and again the river, rejoice: Your Son is risen three days from the grave, and having raised the dead, people rejoice.

The same irmos: Shine, shine, new Jerusalem:

Participant: Receive the Body of Christ, taste the immortal source, alleluia. three times.

When the abbot says: Come with the fear of God and faith. We instead, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: we sing: Christ is risen: once. The rector says: God save your people: And we: Christ is risen: once. When the priest says: Always now and ever: And we: Christ is risen: once. Let's do the litany. Instead, Be the name of the Lord: and instead of the psalm, I will bless the Lord: we sing: Christ is risen: twelve, and multiplying: until the anaphora from the abbot will be heard. Also abbot, the blessing of the Lord is upon you: Face: Amen. Therefore, the rector instead, Glory to Thee, Christ God: sings: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death. And the face: And giving life to those in the tombs. Therefore, the abbot says dismissal with the Cross according to custom, as indicated at Matins.

Let it be known that we do not close the gates of the royal altar, great and from small countries, in all churches throughout Bright Week, even during communion.

Be aware that in Orthodoxy Christians do not bring meat to the church, but to the priest’s house.

Easter Service – audio. Text

Matins and Liturgy

Everyone entered the temple and stood in their places. The deacon pronounces the great litany, that is, many short petitions to God for our spiritual and physical needs, to which the choir sings “Lord, have mercy.” After the priest's exclamation, the choir begins to sing the Easter canon in eight parts, a composition by St. John of Damascus, who lived in the 9th century in Syria, is the crown of spiritual songs.

The choir sings, sometimes solemnly, sometimes quickly. At each song of the canon, incense is performed, clergy in robes of different colors with a cross and censer quickly walk around the entire church, filling it with the aroma of incense, and joyfully greet everyone with the words “Christ is Risen!” (Don’t forget to answer loudly “He is risen indeed!”) These numerous exits of the priests from the altar remind us of the frequent appearances of Christ to His disciples after the Resurrection.

“Photo of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy”

It is clear that some festive chaos is being created, people have to constantly crowd in order to let the priests through, while we try not to set each other on fire with the candles that we are still holding in our hands. So the text of the Easter canon becomes background noise and passes us by. In vain, of course.

The Easter Canon is an outstanding work of church literature. Lush, Byzantine-style, replete with beautiful figures of speech and comparisons, it introduces us to the spirit and meaning of the very holiday of the Resurrection of Christ, makes us fully experience and understand this event in our souls.

Here are excerpts of the canon translated into Russian:

Resurrection day! Let's shine people! Easter! The Lord's Easter! For from death to life and from earth to heaven, Christ our God, singing the song of victory, translated us.

Come, let us drink a new drink, not miraculously produced from a barren rock (as by Moses in the Old Testament), but a source of immortality flowing from the tomb by Christ, on whom (as on a solid foundation, a rock) we are established.

Yesterday I was buried with You, Christ, and with You, who has risen this day, I rise; I crucified with You yesterday: Glorify me with You, Savior, in Your Kingdom!

Your ancestor David danced in front of the ark (which in the Old Testament, like a shadow, reminded of You); and we, the holy people of God, seeing the fulfillment of prophecies, will rejoice with divine inspiration, for Christ has risen as almighty.

Christ, as a one-year-old lamb, (sacrificed in the Old Testament at Easter) is for us a good crown, (who completed the operation of the Old Testament), the Blessed One was voluntarily slaughtered for the remission of the sins of all, as a cleansing Passover, and again shone for us from the tomb as the beautiful Sun of truth.

We will stay awake from early morning and instead of fragrant oil we will bring singing to the Lord, and we will see Christ - the Sun of truth, radiating life to everyone.

We celebrate the mortification of death, the destruction of hell, the beginning of another - eternal - life, and in delight we glorify the culprit - the One blessed God of our fathers and the most glorified.

The canon ends with the solemnly sad singing of the exapostilary:

Having fallen asleep in the flesh as a mortal, You, the King and Lord, rose again on the third day, resurrecting Adam from corruption and abolishing death, the Easter of immortality, the salvation of the world.

And then the jubilant stichera of Easter sound:

“...Today the sacred Pascha has been revealed to us, the Pascha of the New Testament, the holy, the mysterious Pascha, the all-honorable Pascha, the Pascha of Christ the Redeemer, the immaculate Pascha, the great Pascha, the Pascha for the faithful, the Pascha that opens the doors of heaven to us, the Pascha that sanctifies all the faithful! ..."

At the end of Matins, after singing: “Let us embrace each other, shouting: brethren! and we will forgive all those who hate us through the resurrection,” believers greet each other, saying: “Christ is risen!” and answering “Truly he is risen!”, they kiss each other three times and exchange Easter eggs. This is called “being Christed.”

According to the Rule, the priests, having said Christ to each other at the altar, go out to the solea and here they say Christ with each of the parishioners. But in our time, with a large number of parishioners, the priest, coming out with a cross on the solea, shouting “Christ is Risen!” three times. signifies everyone with a cross on three sides, after which he returns to the altar.

The custom of greeting each other on Easter with these words is very ancient. Already the disciples of Christ “said that the Lord has truly risen” (Luke 24:34). In the words “Christ is Risen!” lies the whole essence of the Christian faith.

After the celebration of Christ, a special “Catechetical Word” of St. John Chrysostom, telling about the spiritual essence of the holiday:

“...enter, all of you, into the joy of your Lord! ... rich and poor, rejoice with each other; those who are abstinent and careless, honor this day equally; those who fasted and those who did not fast, rejoice now! The meal is plentiful, enjoy it all! A well-fed Taurus, let no one leave hungry! Everyone enjoy the feast of faith, everyone perceive the wealth of goodness!

Let no one weep over his misery, for the Kingdom has come for everyone! Let no one cry for their sins, because forgiveness has shined from the grave! Let no one be afraid of death, for Savior’s death freed us! Embraced by death, He extinguished death. Having descended into hell, He captured hell and grieved the one who touched His flesh.

Anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: “Hell was upset when it met You in its nether regions.” Hell is upset because it is abolished! I was upset because I was ridiculed! He was upset because he was killed! He was upset because he was deposed! I was upset because I was tied up! He took the body and touched God; accepted the earth, and found heaven in it; I took what I saw, but was subjected to what I did not expect!

Death! where is your sting?! Hell! where is your victory?!

Christ has risen and you have been cast down! Christ has risen and the demons have fallen! Christ has risen and the angels rejoice! Christ has risen and life triumphs! Christ is risen, and no one is dead even in the tomb! For Christ, having risen from the grave, was the first to rise from the dead (showing us the way). To Him be glory and His might forever and ever! Amen".

Several more hymns will be sung (in general there will be few readings that night) and the liturgy begins, during which you can hear the reading of the Gospel in different languages: in Slavic, Russian, as well as in the ancient languages ​​to which the apostolic preaching extended - Greek, Latin, and in the languages ​​of the peoples most known in the area.

At the end of the service, after communion, the most faithful and persistent parishioners who did not leave after the procession will consecrate special bread, reminiscent of a huge prosphora. He calls it Artos, which translated from ancient Greek means Bread. It will be worn at religious processions all week, cut and distributed to people a week later, on Saturday, as a large shrine.

And only then do we all go from the temple to the refectory - the temple, or home - and break our fast.

That's all for the night service. Here are three hours given as a sacrifice to God. Here it is, holy fatigue and a feeling of mystery and well-lived time.

By the way, if you did not hear and understand everything at the night service, you can pray in peace, without night fatigue, without thoughts about sleep and breaking the fast, at the same Easter services throughout Easter week - the week after Easter Sunday, morning and evening. And thereby complement the joy of night prayer. And nourish the soul with that blessed food that will strengthen us for the entire year remaining until next Easter.

Not the year that begins with the ringing of the chimes in January, but the liturgical year that begins with the ringing of Easter bells.

***

We know that time leads us to death.

But God made death itself not a dead end, but a gateway to another, eternal life. Therefore, we live in a special, church time, symbolically breaking the inexorable flow of time and letting eternity into it.

Eternity, to which the soul, excited by the clear mystery of the Resurrection, calls so much.

Eternity with God, whose Name we bear, and by Whom we sanctify all our paths on this Earth.

Eternity, which can become for each of us a genuine Easter, no longer requiring symbols, breaking the fast and rituals.

Easter of the end of suffering.

Easter consolation.

Easter of Life.