Holy Friday (April 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 Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the cross with nails. The Son of the virgin is pierced by a spear.
We worship Your passion, O Christ! 
We worship Your passion, O Christ! 
We worship Your passion, O Christ! 
Show us also Your glorious resurrection.

Let us not keep the feast like the Jews, for our Passover, Christ God, has been slain for us. But let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement and with sincerity let us entreat Him: Rise, O Lord, and save us, for You are the Lover of Mankind!

Your cross, O Lord, is life and resurrection for Your people. Trusting in it, we praise You, our crucified God. Have mercy on us!

Holy Thursday (April 5)

When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of their feet before the supper, then the impious Judas was darkened, ailing with avarice, and to the lawless judges he betrays You, the Righteous Judge. Behold, O lover of money, this man who because of money hanged himself. Flee from the greedy soul which dared such things against the Master. O Lord You are good towards all, glory to You!

Holy Wednesday (April 4): Hymn of St. Cassiani

The woman had fallen into many sins, 0 Lord, yet when she perceived Your divinity, she joined the ranks of the myrrh-bearing women. In tears she brought You myrrh before Your burial. She cried, "Woe is me! For I live in the night of licentiousness, shrouded in the dark and moonless love of sin. But accept the fountain of my tears, O You that gathered the waters of the sea into clouds. Bow down Your ear to the sighing of my heart, O You that bowed the heavens in Your ineffable condescension. Once Eve heard Your footstep in paradise in the cool of the day, and in fear she ran and hid herself. But now I will tenderly embrace those pure feet and wipe them with the hair of my head. Who can measure the multitude of my sins, or the depth of Your judgments, O Savior of my soul? Do not despise Your servant in Your immeasurable mercy."

Holy Monday and Holy Tuesday (April 2-3): Hymn of the Bridegroom

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again, unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, are You, O our God! Through the Birthgiver-of-God have mercy on us!

Lazarus Saturday/Palm Sunday (March 31-April 1)

Giving us before Your Passion an assurance of the general resurrection, You have raised Lazarus, Christ our God. Therefore, like the children we also carry symbols of victory and cry to You, the Conqueror of Death: Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Words from the Saints -- March 27, 2018

"Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence." --St. Basil the Great

"Repentance is the beginning, middle and end of the Christian way of life..." --St. Gregory Palamas

"'I have sinned' is just three syllables; and yet in these three syllables the flames of the heart's sacrifice rise up to heaven." --St Augustine of Hippo

"He who has learned the law properly fears the Lawgiver and, fearing Him, he turns away from every evil." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Fearful afflictions await the hard of heart, for without great sufferings they cannot become pliable and responsive." --St. Thalassios the Libyan

"The knowledge of God does not reside in a body that loves comforts." --St Isaac of Syria

Penitential Stanzas (Tone 1)

Savior, I have fallen into a great abyss because of my sins, and my transgressions weigh me down. Stretch out Your hand to me as You did to Peter, O Lord. Save me, O God, and have mercy on me.

My thoughts and deeds condemn me, O Savior. Give me the thought of turning back, that I may cry out to You: Save me, O God, and have mercy on me!

Another world awaits you, my soul: a Judge will soon reveal your secret and terrible thoughts and deeds! Do not linger, then, among the things that are here. Anticipate the Judgment and cry out to the Judge: Be merciful to me, O God, and save me!

Do not reject me at the testing, my Savior, though I am held fast by the laziness of sin. Arouse my thoughts to repentance; make me a proven worker of Your vineyard: grant me the wages of the eleventh hour and great mercy!

Words from the Saints -- March 20, 2018

"Complete trust in God; that is what Holy humility is." --St Porphyrios

"He who attains love cannot fall." --St. Macarios the Great

"What is the human mind without Christ? It’s a suffering, tortured lamentation. What is the human soul without Christ? It’s a talking scarecrow. What is our conscience, our free will? Hopeless blindness. What is the body without Christ? A disgusting, loathsome worm. What is our will? A helpless criminal In general, what are we without Christ? A terrible, external spectacle." --St. Justin Popovich

"We must give thanks for all things to the Lord, Who has rightly given us difficulties that we may learn patience, which is more beneficial than comforts, and ennobles the soul." --St. Moses of Optina 

"Prayer is food for the soul. Do not starve the soul; it is better to let the body go hungry. Do not judge anyone; forgive everyone. Consider yourself worse than everyone in the world and you will be saved. As much as possible, be more quiet." --St. Joseph of optima

"God loves us very much. He has us in mind in each and every moment and He protects us. We should know this and not be afraid of anything." --St. Porphyrios

"We must not allow Christ to be overshadowed by any regulations, any customs, any traditions, any aesthetic considerations, or even any piety."  --St. Maria of Paris

Penitential Stanzas (Tone 8)

Penitential Stanzas (Tone 8)
King and Master, the angels praise You without ceasing, and I fall before You crying out like the Tax-Collector:  God be merciful to me and save me (Luke 18:13)!

My soul, because you are immortal, be not overwhelmed by the waves of this life.  But return to sobriety and cry out to Your Benefactor:  God be merciful to me and save me!

Grant me tears, O God, as You once gave them to the woman who had sinned, and count me worthy to wash Your feet which have delivered me from the path of error.  As sweet-smelling ointment, let me offer You a pure life created in me through repentance.  And may I also hear the words which I long to hear:  Your faith have saved you, go in peace (Luke 7:37-50).

When I call to mind the many evils I have done, and I think about the fearsome day of judgement.  I am seized with trembling and I flee to You for refuge, the God Who loves mankind.  I beseech You Who alone are free from sin to turn not away from me.  But before the end comes grant compunction to my humbled soul and save me.

Words from the Saints -- March 13, 2018

"I prefer a sinful man who knows he has sinned and repents, to a man who has not sinned and considers himself to be righteous." --Abba Sarmatas

"To be Orthodox means to have the God-man Christ constantly in your soul, to live in Him, think in Him, feel in Him, act in Him. In other words, to be Orthodox means to be a Christ-bearer and a Spirit-bearer." --St. Justin Popovich

"When you want to resolve a complex problem, seek God's will in the matter, and you will find a constructive solution." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Christians have a glory and a beauty and a heavenly wealth which is beyond words, and it is won with pains, and sweat, and trials, and many conflicts, and all by the grace of God." --St. Macarius the Great

"Prayer is a remedy against grief and depression. --St. Nilus

Penitential Stanzas (Tone 7)

King and Master, the angels praise You without ceasing, and I fall before You crying out like the Tax-Collector:  God be merciful to me and save me [Luke 18:13]!

My soul, because you are immortal, be not overwhelmed by the waves of this life.  But return to sobriety and cry out to Your Benefactor: God be merciful to me and save me!

Grant me tears, O God, as You once gave them to the woman who had sinned, and count me worthy to wash Your feet which have delivered me from the path of error.  As sweet-smelling ointment, let me offer You a pure life created in me through repentance.  And may I also hear the words which I long to hear:  Your faith have saved you, go in peace [Luke 7:37-50].

When I call to mind the many evils I have done, and I think about the fearsome day of judgement, I am seized with trembling and I flee to You for refuge, the God Who loves mankind.  You alone are free from sin and I beseech You not to turn away from me.  But before the end comes grant compunction to my humbled soul and save me.

Words from the Saints -- March 6, 2018

"God wants only one thing from us--humility. Nothing else." --St. Paisios the Athonite

"The only person who is free is the one who lives for Christ." --St. John Chrysostom

"Above all let us be convinced that nothing can happen to us apart from the providence of God."
 --St. Dorotheos of Gaza

"Let listening to worldly news be bitter food for you, and let the words of saintly men be as combs filled with honey." --St. Basil the Great

"Intelligent men have no need to listen to much talk, but should attend only to that which is profitable and guided by God's will." --St. Antony the Great

"Unbelievers, those who believe with difficulty, or believe in part, are those who do not show their faith through works. Apart from works the demons also believe (James 2:19) and confess Christ to be God and Master. 'We know who You are' (Mark 1:24), they say, 'You are the Son of God' (Matthew 8:29), and elsewhere, 'These men are servants of the Most High God' (Acts 16:17). Yet such faith will not benefit the demons, nor even humans. This faith is of no use, for it is dead." 
--St. Symeon the New Theologian

Penitential Stanzas (Tone 6)

I have no repentance and no tears. Therefore, Savior, I entreat You: Before the end comes convince me to turn back and grant me compunction, that I may be delivered from torment. 

Christ, at Your fearsome Second Coming may we not hear the words: I do not know you (Matthew 25:12).  For we have put our trust in You, Savior, though in our negligence we do not keep Your Commandments.  Still we entreat that You save our souls.

Savior and Physician of Our Souls and Bodies: Heal the wounds of my heart inflicted on me through my many sins.  For You always grant forgiveness of transgressions to those who ask.  Lord, grant me tears of repentance and remission of my transgressions, and have mercy on me.

Finding me naked, stripped of virtues, the Enemy wounded me with the arrow of sin.  But God, Physician of Our Souls and Bodies, heal the wounds of my soul and have mercy on me.

Words from the Saints -- February 6, 2018

"Establish yourself in God and then you will be helpful to others." --St. Seraphim of Sarov

"If man remembered that it is written: 'By your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned,' (Matthew 12:37) he would choose to remain silent." --St. Poemen

"When a bad or gloomy thought, fear or temptation threatens to afflict you, don’t fight it to try and get rid of it. Open your arms to Christ’s love and he will embrace you, then it will vanish by itself." --St. Porphyrios

"Do not be always wanting everything to turn out as you think it should, but rather as God pleases, then you will be undisturbed and thankful in prayer." --St. Nilus

"Every Christian should find for himself the imperative and inventive to become holy. If you live without struggle and without hope of becoming holy, then you are Christians only in name and not in essence." --St. Philaret of Moscow

Words from the Saints -- January 30, 2018

"When pride retreats from a man, humility begins to dwell in him, and the more pride is diminished, so much more does humility grow. The one gives way to the other as its opposite. Darkness departs and light appears. Pride is darkness, but humility is light." --St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

"Cry out, O sinner, with all your might; for your Lord is merciful and loves those who repent. As soon as you return, your Father will come out to meet you. He will slaughter the fatted calf , clothe you in a fine robe, and rejoice in you." --St. Ephraim the Syrian

"The soul that loves God has its rest in God and in God alone. In all the paths that men walk in the world, they do not attain peace until they draw nigh to hope in God." --St. Isaac the Syrian

"Be ever more obedient to God and He will save you." --St. Pachomius

"So in every test, let us say, 'Thank you, my God, because this was needed for my salvation." --St. Paisios

Words from the Saints -- January 23, 2018

"Do not forsake prayer, for just as the body becomes weak when it is deprived of food, so also the soul when it is deprived of prayer draws nigh to weakness and spiritual death." --St. Gennadius of Constantinople

"The Lord Himself commanded that we pray unceasingly, not just with the tongue to be heard by men, but rather enclosed in the cell of the heart, so that the Lord can hear and see us." --St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"What I see around me would drive me insane, if I did not know that no matter what happens, God will have the last word." --St. Paisios

"A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he will listen, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he replies like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism." --St. Paisios

"'Seek' (He says) 'and you shall find': but how can we find the Lord? Consider how gold is found - with much labor…that is, just as we seek what is lost, so let us seek God. Do we not concentrate our mind thereon? Do we not enquire of every one?" --St. John Chrysostom

"The beginning on the right path is knowing and recognizing one's own inabilities." --St. Porphyrios

Words from the Saints -- January 16, 2018

"As salt is needed for all kinds of food, so humility is needed for all kinds of virtues." --St. Isaac the Syrian

"Sin has reigned over us and the inventor and father of sin has lorded it over all who dwell under the sky, provoking the transgression of the divine laws. But in Christ we see human nature, enjoying freedom of access to God." --St. Cyril of Alexandria

"The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God." --St. Clement of Alexandria

"This is the mark of Christianity—however much a man toils, and however many righteousnesses he performs, to feel that he has done nothing, and in fasting to say, 'This is not fasting,' and in praying, 'This is not prayer,' and in perseverance at prayer, 'I have shown no perseverance; I am only just beginning to practice and to take pains'; and even if he is righteous before God, he should say, 'I am not righteous, not I; I do not take pains, but only make a beginning every day.'" --St. Marcarius the Great

"When you are insulted by someone or humiliated, guard against angry thoughts, lest they arouse a feeling of irritation and so cut you off from love and place you in the realm of hatred." --St. Maximus the Confessor

"Do not claim to have acquired virtue unless you have suffered affliction, for without affliction virtue has not been tested." --St. Mark the Ascetic

"Let not one think, my fellow Christian, that only priests and monks need to 'pray with out ceasing' (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and not laymen No, no; every Christian without exception ought to dwell always in prayer." --St. Gregory Palamas

"Whatever you may be seeking, seek it with all your strength, but do not expect your own search and efforts to bear fruit of themselves. Put your trust in the Lord, ascribing nothing to yourself, and He will give you your heart’s desire." --St. Theophan the Recluse

St. John Chrysostom: On the Feast of Theophany, Part 9

Here these also are in imitation of him, who leave before the final blessing! If he had not gone, then he would not have made the betrayal; if he did not leave his co-disciples, then he would not have perished; if he had not removed himself from the flock, then the wolf would not have seized and devoured him alone; if he had separated himself from the Pastor, then he would not have made himself the prey of wild beasts. Wherefore he (Judas) was with the Jews, and those (the apostles) went out with the Lord. Dost thou see, by what manner the final prayer after the offering of the sacrifice is accomplished? We should, beloved, stand forth for this, we should ponder this, fearful of the coming judgement for this. We should approach the Holy Sacrifice with great decorum, with proper piety, so as to merit us more of God’s benevolence, to cleanse one’s soul and to receive eternal blessings, of which may we all be worthy by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom with the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, and worship now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom: On the Feast of Theophany, Part 8

Having made mention about the Body of the Lord, I shall also say a little about this, and then the conclusion of the talk. Many now will approach the Holy Table on the occasion of the feast. But some approach not with trembling, but shoving, hitting others, blazing with anger, shouting, cursing, roughing it up with their fellows with great confusion. What, tell me, art thou troubled by, my fellow? What disturbeth thee? Do urgent affairs, for certain, summon thee? At this hour art thou particularly aware that these affairs of thine that thou particularly rememberest, that thou art situated upon the earth, and dost thou think to mix about with people? But is it not with a soul of stone naturally to think, that in such a time thou stand upon the earth, and not exult with the Angels with whom to raise up victorious song to God? For this Christ also did describe us with eagles, saying, “where the corpse is, there are the eagles gathered” (Matthew 24:28)—so that we might have risen to heaven and soared to the heights, having ascended on the wings of the spirit.  But we, like snakes, crawl upon the earth and eat dirt. Having been invited to supper, thou, although satiated before others, would not dare to leave before others while others are still reclining. But here, when the sacred doings are going on, thou at the very middle would pass by everything and leave? Is it for a worthy excuse? What excuse might it be? Judas, having communed that last evening on that final night, left hastily as all the others were still reclining.

St. John Chrysostom: On the Feast of Theophany, Part 7

Consider, that the commandments of the law are the main point of the two denarii.  Our race needed to pay this debt; but we did not pay it, and we, falling under such an accusation, were embraced by death. Christ came, and finding us afflicted by it, paid the debt, fulfilled the necessary and seized from it those who were not able to pay. Wherefore He does not say: “It is necessary for us to do this or that,” but rather “to fulfill every righteousness.” “It is for Me, being the Master,” says He, “proper to make payment for the needy.” Such was the reason for His baptism—wherefore they should see that He had fulfilled all the law—both this reason and also that, about which was spoken of before. Wherefore also the Spirit descended as a dove, because where there is reconciliation with God—there also is the dove. So also in the ark of Noah the dove brought the branch of olive—a sign of God’s love of mankind and of the cessation of the flood. And now in the form of a dove, and not in a body—this particularly deserves to be noted—the Spirit descended, announcing the universal mercy of God and showing with it, that the spiritual man needs to be gentle, simple and innocent, as Christ also says: “Except ye be converted and become as children, ye shalt not enter into the Heavenly Kingdom” (Matthew 18:3). But that ark, after the cessation of the flood, remained upon the earth; this ark, after the cessation of wrath, is taken to heaven, and now this Immaculate and Imperishable Body is situated at the right hand of the Father.