Holy or Passion Week this year starts on April 26 and lasts until May 1 inclusive. On these days, priests recommend fasting stricter, without meat, dairy products and oil and eating mainly dry or boiled food, IPN reports.
Octavian Moșin, priest of the “Meeting of God” Church of the State University of Moldova, said the faithful during the Holy Week should get ready for Resurrection not only by cleaning the homes and cooking a lot of food, but also spiritually, by asking for forgiveness, by taking communion and by doing good deeds and realizing the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ for everyone.
Holy Week begins with the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, climaxing with the commemoration of the Last Supper on Holy or Maundy Thursday and the Passion on Holy or Good Friday.
Each day of the Holy Week, called Great and Holy days, signifies one new step of the Savior on the road to crucifixion. Matins services for each day are held on the preceding evening. Matins is often served in the evening, and in some places Vespers is served in the morning.
Participation at liturgies during the Holly Week means real co-participation in events lived by Christ: the Maundy Thursday, His sufferings and Resurrection. One of the most important days of this week is Thursday, or Maundy Thursday, when it is recalled the ritual when Jesus washed the feet of his apprentices at the Last Meal.
At the evening liturgy on Thursday night, there are red 12 Gospels that tell about Judah’s betrayal of Christ, His arrest in Gethsemane garden, Peter’s denial.
Friday is characterized by a special “black” fast, when neither water nor food is consumed. It is a day of deep sadness, as it is the day when Jesus was crucified, the day of His death and burial. At Friday evening liturgy people make three circles around the church. It is reference to those three days during which Jesus was in the grave.
On April 25, the Orthodox Christians observe Palm Sunday and go to church with palm branches that symbolize victory over death and have these blessed. They take the branches home with them after the service and keep them all year round.
