Why in some temples during Divine Liturgy Is the gospel read in Russian? Isn't this a violation of the statute of the Church?

11/17/2008, Elena, Valdai

Dear Elena!

Statutory services in the Russian Orthodox Church should be performed in the Church Slavonic language, which more adequately conveys to the worshipers the grace-filled Gospel message. Unfortunately, this situation does not suit everyone, and some theologians, clergymen and laity believe that many of the worshipers do not understand the services in Church Slavonic. Therefore, they make attempts to celebrate the service in Russian. This issue was widely discussed at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917-18. Part of the cathedral demanded “to allow ... to read the Holy Gospel, St. Apostolic epistles and others in native Russian”. But at the same time, reasonable calls for caution were also heard, for they were afraid that “people would come to the Church, hear new words and say: this is not the church that we honor, that we love and know, and will leave us” . The point in this dispute has not yet been put. The Council of Bishops in 1994, discussing the missionary service of the Church in our day, decided to continue the work begun, but not completed by the Local Council of 1917-18. works on streamlining liturgical practice. This should be dealt with by a special commission of the Holy Synod. But some priests, apparently, arbitrarily introduce the reading of the Gospel in Russian into the service, which causes embarrassment to their flock.

GREAT DAYS

Since apostolic times, the days of Holy Week have been in deep reverence among Christians. They spent them in the strictest abstinence and fervent prayer. According to St. John Chrysostom, the first Christians in Passion Week aggravated the ordinary feats of fasting. They, imitating the Lord, tried to be kind and condescending to the infirmities of their neighbors and to do more works of mercy. Christians of the first centuries considered it indecent not only to condemn anyone, but also stopped all litigation, trials, punishments these days, and even released for this time from the chains of prisoners in dungeons who were not guilty of criminal offenses.

On these holy days, neither the memory of the saints, nor the commemoration of the dead, nor prayers are performed. Because, as if participating in the sufferings of the Savior, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10), church services take on the character of sorrow and contrition - “compassion” with the sufferings of Christ.

According to the greatness and importance of the events that took place, each day of this week is called great. Church services represent all the events of the last days of the Savior taking place before us, and we mentally go through the whole majestically touching and edifying story of the sufferings of Christ. The Holy Church calls us this week to leave everything vain and worldly and follow our Savior.

The temple alternately represents either the Zion Upper Room and Gethsemane, or Golgotha. The divine services of Holy Week are distinguished by sublime, inspired hymns and a whole series of deeply significant rites that are performed only on this week. Therefore, whoever constantly abides these days at worship in the temple, he apparently follows the Lord, who is coming to suffer.

For each day of the week, a special remembrance is assimilated, expressed in hymns and gospel readings of matins and liturgy. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are dedicated to remembering the last conversations of the Savior with the disciples and the people.

THE FIRST THREE DAYS

In a historical sense, the last week of the Savior's earthly life begins with the Lord's entry into Jerusalem. The inhabitants of Jerusalem met Christ with cries of “hosanna to the Son of David” - the conqueror of death, who resurrected the four-day Lazarus - they did not yet suspect that a conspiracy had already been drawn up - “a fierce council of the lawless” - about the murder of the One Who is now for them the expected earthly king . And, probably, some of those who shouted "hosanna" in just five days will also loudly repeat after the embittered high priests - "crucify."

The Savior foresaw the terrible consequences of such a retreat for His native Jewish people, and His heart was so filled with sorrow that He could not hold back the tears. In the midst of the general joy and rejoicing around His procession, Christ, seeing the city of Jerusalem ... wept over it (Luke 19:41).

Therefore, although the Week of Vaii, or Palm Sunday, is the master's twelfth feast, but on the evening of this day, not a great, but an all-day vespers is performed, at the end of which for the first time sounds, foreshadowing the beginning of the memories of the Savior's suffering, a liturgical dismissal first three days of Passion Week: "The Coming Lord on our free passion for the sake of salvation ...".

On the first three days of Passion Week, the Church prepares the faithful for a worthy contemplation of the Savior's suffering on the Cross. In the hymns of the Triodion these days, the Church encourages believers to follow the Lord, to be crucified with Him, and with Him to be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In the worship of these days, a general penitential character is still retained.

On Great Wednesday. The Lord spent Wednesday night in Bethany (Matthew 26:617). Here in the house of Simon the leper, at a time when the council of the chief priests, scribes and elders had already decided to take Jesus by cunning and kill Him, a certain sinner woman poured precious ointment on the head of the Savior and thereby prepared Him for burial, as He Himself judged her act . Here, in contrast to the selfless act of a woman sinner, the ungrateful soul of Judas, one of the twelve, was born in the criminal intention to betray his teacher and Lord to the lawless "Council". Therefore, in the church service of the Great Wednesday, a sinner woman is glorified and the love of money and betrayal of Judas are condemned and cursed.

How to avoid this condemnation, the Church invites us to learn from the troparion performed after the peace litany at Matins on Great Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is that servant whom He finds awake, but, on the contrary, unworthy is he whom He finds heedless. Look, my soul, do not be overcome by sleep, so that you will not be put to death, and imprisoned outside the Kingdom, but rise up, crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy are You, God, through the prayers of the Mother of God, have mercy on us!

In this hymn, which, according to the Typicon, should sound “loudly and with sweet singing”, a reference to the gospel parable of the ten virgins indicates that our meeting (that is, the end of our earthly existence) with Christ (the Bridegroom of our soul) can happen at any moment : “... and blessed is the servant, He will be found by the vigilante”, “He is not worthy of the pack, He will be found despondently”. With the words of this troparion we address our soul: “Observe my soul, do not be burdened with sleep, but you will not be given over to death”- and so that this does not happen: “rise, calling: Holy, Holy, Holy God, have mercy on us with the Mother of God.” And at the end of the canon of Matins, also on all the first three days of Holy Week, the so-called exapostilary sounds, or, in Russian, luminary:

I see your chamber, my Savior, adorned, but I have no clothes to enter it. Lighten the garment of my soul, Giver of Light, and save me.

It continues to reveal a deep liturgical image of the relationship between Christ the Savior and human soul like the relationship between the bride and groom. The marriage of the soul with Christ is the mysterious union of God and man in eternity, in the Kingdom of Heaven. And the Christian already sees this heavenly marriage “chamber”, but laments about the fact: “the clothes are not imam”, that is, the fruits of spiritual life (see: Gal. 5:22), “let me enter into it” (in order to enter into it) ; and then a direct petition to God for the gift of spiritual purity necessary for salvation: “enlighten the robe of my soul, Giver of Light, and save me.”

Also, according to the Charter, on the first three days of Holy Week at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, the entire Four Gospels should be read. However, in practice, only the Gospel of John is often read in full, which is specially divided into nine parts for this purpose.

Great Wednesday is the last day of fasting and repentance, and it ends a number of Lenten services. This is expressed in some features of the church service, namely: at the leave of hours, the prayer “O Lord, many-merciful” is read over the people bowing to the ground, which is usually read at Great Compline; Liturgy is celebrated for the last time Presanctified Gifts and general prostrations on it. On Great Wednesday, the celebration of Great Compline and the reading of kathismas also ends.

The Gospel Read at Matins - John, Chapter 12, Verses 17 to 50

The people who were with Jesus when He raised Lazarus from the dead by calling him from the tomb told about it (everywhere),

and many went out to meet him, because they had heard of the miracle that he had done.

And the Pharisees said to each other: we did not have time to do anything; Look, the whole city is following Him.

Among the pilgrims who came to the feast were Hellenes.

They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him to help them see Jesus.

He came up and told Andrew about it, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus about it.

Jesus said to them, The time is drawing near when the Son of Man will be glorified.

I assure you: if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone, and if it dies, it will bring many new grains.

Whoever values ​​his life will lose it, and whoever neglects his life in this world will gain Eternal Life.

Let the one who wants to serve Me follow Me, and where I am, there will be My servant, and My Father will reward the one who will serve Me.

Now My soul is in turmoil. What should I say? Father, deliver me from what lies ahead of me? But that's why I came here. (Ps. 41:7)

Father! Glorify Your name! Then a voice came from heaven: and glorify, and still glorify.

Among the people who stood and heard this, some said: thunder rumbled; and others said: It was an angel who spoke to him.

Jesus said to them, This voice was not for me, but for you.

The judgment of this world will soon take place; soon the ruler of the world will be driven out.

And when I am lifted up above the earth, I will draw everyone to Me. -

This He said, making it clear by what death He was to die. -

To this the people said to him, We know from Scripture that Christ will abide forever; why do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? And who is this Son of Man?

Jesus said to them, “It will not be long before the Light remains among you; go until you have the Light and the darkness has not overtaken you. And whoever walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

And while the Light is among you, you have time to believe in Him in order to become sons of the Light.
With these words, Jesus departed and hid from them.

He did so many miracles in front of them, but they still didn't believe in Him!

In this came true the words of the prophet Isaiah, who said: Lord! Did anyone believe what they heard from us? Was it given to anyone to see the power of the Lord? (Isaiah 53:1)

But they could not believe because, as Isaiah said again:

their eyes are blinded and their hearts hardened, and therefore they do not see with their eyes and do not feel with their hearts; but they do not want to repent, so that I have mercy on them. (Isaiah 6:10)

These words were spoken by Isaiah when he saw His glory and spoke to Him.

However, even among the elders, many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not admit it, so as not to be excommunicated from the synagogue, for the glory of people meant more to them than the glory of God.

And (earlier) Jesus declared: Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in the One who sent Me.

And whoever sees Me sees the One Who sent Me.

I am the Light, and I came into the world so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness.

I do not condemn those who do not act according to My words, for I did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world.*

Those who reject Me and do not heed My words have a judge - the doctrine that I preached; it will judge them on the last day,

because I did not teach in my own name, but taught what the Father who sent me commanded me to speak.

And I know that His commandments lead to Eternal Life, so I preach what the Father told Me.

* lit.: "And if anyone hears My words and does not keep, I do not condemn him."

The resurrection of Lazarus was the pinnacle of all the great deeds of Christ. Many people turn to the Lord with faith, and therefore the hatred of the Jewish authorities towards Him flares up even more. They seek to kill not only the Giver of Life, but also the one who is a living witness to His power. “Do you see,” they say to each other, “that you do not have time for anything? The whole world follows Him." The Jewish authorities speak more truthfully than they think. “Of those who came to worship on the feast, there were some Greeks.” The Gospel of John gives the first faint hint that the good news of salvation goes beyond Israel. They come with a request to see Jesus to Philip, a disciple of the Lord with a Greek name. Philip does not know what to do and goes to Andrey. After some reflection, Andrew leads them to Christ. He knew that the Lord never rejects any person who comes to Him. So, when the Lord's ministry reaches its peak among the Jews, He is told that the Gentiles are looking for Him. One might think that a wave of the gospel of Christ is beginning to spread from Jerusalem all over the world. But it is not. The saving work of God, by which “the prince of this world will be driven out” and all peoples will return to the One God, is not a consequence of the Jewish religious upsurge or the tireless search for Hellenic wisdom. They cannot open a direct road to God and His glory. Rather, on the contrary: there is an insurmountable gap between life and death, which nature constantly reminds us of with a living parable.

The image of the Kingdom of God is given in the Gospel through the seed, which must fall into the ground before it bears fruit. Christ is the presence of this Kingdom, and therefore He must, like a grain of wheat, die and be buried. Only in this way will the great harvest of the nations be reaped. And the hour when this should happen has struck. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." The coming of inquirers from the Gentiles to the Lord is a sign of this hour. But their desire to see Jesus will not be fulfilled - the way they expect, the way the Jewish crowds wanted it, who greeted the solemn entry of the King of Israel into Jerusalem with cries of "Hosanna". Soon they will see that His Kingdom is completely different from their expectations. The revelation of God's glory will appear in His dying on the Cross. And both Jews and Gentiles will share in the putting to death of Him. But His death will truly be the glorification of the Son of Man, because God will be glorified in it. The fact that the crucifixion of a person can be the highest manifestation of the glory of God is a temptation for Jewish religious messianism and an absurdity for Hellenic philosophy (1 Cor. 1:22-24). But this is the truth, for the glory of God is an outpouring of His love. It is revealed in its fullness in the obedience of Christ until death and in the giving by the Heavenly Father of His Only Begotten Son for the life of the world, and in being with Him to the end in His obedience (John 17:1-5). Here is God's glorification of His name and the glorification of Him Who became a true man, the Son of Man. The parable of the grain of wheat is the parable of the Cross. This life is unprotected, as if thrown away, and at the same time life, constantly appearing as a new gift from the Source of all life. In this ever-overflowing love is the assurance that death has lost its dominion.

But now the Lord stands before the face of death, and His soul trembles - like the souls of the saints, whose prayers were so often on His lips. “My heart is troubled within me and the fear of death attacks me. Fear and trembling came upon me and darkness covered me. And rech: whoever gives me krill like a dove, and I will fly and rest ”(Ps. 54:5-7). In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle Paul writes that "He, in the days of his flesh, with a strong cry and with tears, offered prayers and supplications to Him who was able to save him from death" (Heb. 5:7). The day after tomorrow at Matins we will hear the Gospel of the Lord's prayer until the bloody sweat in Gethsemane. Death is not just a natural event, otherwise man would be just a part of nature. Death is a visible sign of God's Judgment on our lives and our deeds - as evidence that they will not stand before eternity. Death is the outward expression of God's Judgment on sin. The sinless Son of Man, who takes away the sin of the world, stands before this Judgment. The psalmist's prayer, "I will fly and rest," trembles on His lips, but He immediately rejects it. He will not ask for deliverance from this terrible hour, for it was precisely for the sake of this hour that He came - to bear the sin of the world, to lay down His life for the sheep, including those who are not yet "of this court." “Father, glorify your name” is a prayer that contains the whole meaning of His life. And this is the prayer that He taught His disciples to repeat, because its meaning is exactly the same: "Hallowed be Your name."

As at Baptism, when He took upon Himself the sin of people, as on the Mount of Transfiguration, when He spoke with Moses and Elijah about His departure, a voice from Heaven answers His prayer. This voice is not for consolation, not for His strengthening, for He knows that His every prayer is heard and answered, "but for the people." As evidence of the acceptance by the Father of the obedience of the Son, even if the people are not now capable of understanding this. As the apostle John the Theologian writes: “If we accept the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater, for it is the testimony of God, by which God testified of His Son” (1 John 5:9).

“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself,” says Christ. The cross of Christ will be the hoisting of a banner under which all the people of the earth can gather to become one in communion with the life of God Himself. The Son of Man will become like nothing on the Cross - and this will be the place where the sons of men will unite with Him and with each other, because here they will learn to forget about their glory and will seek the glory of the One God. "He said this, signifying by what death He would die." Christ will not die at the hands of the Jews who stone Him on religious charges of blasphemy, He will die at the hands of the Romans who crucify Him on the Cross on the political charge of calling Himself King. Indeed, He was a King. And by His reign, the power of Caesar and the power of Pilate will significantly change their meaning, although they will not be abolished. He is truly the King and Head of the human race - Hellenes and Jews - and He will be raised by them to the Cross in order to exercise His authority from the Cross, as from the Throne.

“Who is this Son of Man,” the Jews ask. If He is the victorious Messiah, where is the fulfillment of the promises of God for God's chosen people? Light, which is the light of God Himself, has come into the world. The only true answer to this gift is to accept it, to aspire to it, to walk in this light. The light shines in the darkness, if we do not receive it, the darkness will swallow us up, "but he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going." Darkness is the absence of meaning, reign is nothing. And the more people persist in their delusions, the more difficult it is for them to get out of the darkness. “As long as the light is with you,” says the Lord, “believe in the light, that you may be sons of light.” “Having said this, Jesus departed and hid from them.”

How can truth be comprehended by a world lying in evil and falsehood? How can the glory of God be known to those for whom the only glory is the glory they receive from one another? On the Passover of the Lord we will hear: “The world was, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. And to those who received Him, He gave the power to become children of God. And today, from the mouth of the Lord, the word of the prophet Isaiah sounds: “Lord! who believed what they heard from us? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” “However,” the Gospel adds, “many of the rulers also believed in Him; but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they be excommunicated from the synagogue.” For the sake of confidence in the future, they preferred to be with people than with God, and considered themselves wise and prudent. But they forgot that people's opinions matter only during those few years that a person lives on earth, and God's Judgment lasts for endless eternity.

And we hear the last words of the Savior, with which His public ministry ends. There will also be a confidential conversation with the disciples at the Last Supper and standing before Pilate, but these are the last words addressed to all the people: “He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me.” How they echo with all His words in all the Gospels! The whole life of Christ consists in the fact that in Him people stand before God. To listen to Him is to listen to God. To see Him is to see God. In Him God meets man and man meets God. He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He came in love, but nevertheless His coming means Judgment. In His light, each person reveals himself to the end. Each person determines his earthly and eternal destiny by his attitude to Christ. “And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I will not judge him,” says the Lord, “the word that I have spoken, it will judge him on the last day.” Whoever knows the truth and does not live by it will be condemned. Everything that we heard in the Gospel, in prayers, in the teachings of the holy fathers, all the opportunities that were given to us for knowing the truth, will in the end testify for us or against us. Everything that we hear on these Holy Days, especially today and on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Good Saturday and Easter of the Lord, is a judgment on all people, and first of all on us, on those who are in the Church.

As we meet the Lord now, so will we meet Him when He appears in glory. His command is eternal life, an invitation to all to walk in the light and have life. He addresses this word of His to everyone without exception, He does not speak in his ear, but proclaims it on the roofs. It contains the sound of the trumpet of the Day of Judgment, an offer of salvation to the whole world.

Archpriest Alexander Shargunov

The gospel read at the Liturgy - from Matthew, chapter 26, verses 6 to 16

And so, when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,

and was having dinner, a woman came up to him, bringing a small vessel of very expensive ointment, and began to pour ointment on His head.

Seeing this, the disciples began to say in indignation: why such a waste of peace?

After all, it could be sold for a lot of money and distributed to the poor.

When Jesus heard this, he said to them, Why do you grieve the woman? She did a good deed for me.

For the poor will always be with you, but I will not always be with you.

Pouring the world over My body, she thereby prepared Me for burial.

I assure you that in all the world, wherever the gospel is preached, in her memory it will be said about what she did.

Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests

and asked, How much are you willing to pay me for my betraying him to you? They counted out thirty pieces of silver for him.

And from that time on, he began to look for a convenient opportunity to betray Him.

* mvro (read: múro) - oil squeezed from the root of a nard plant native to India. Usually kept and sold in tightly sealed alabaster vessels. Due to its very high cost (1 gram was worth 1 denarius), it was often mixed with other vegetable oils and presented as “pure”, “real” (cf. Mk 14:3; Jn 12:3).

Judas stretched out his hands to the wicked; she sought remission of sins, but this one took pieces of silver. The sinner brought chrism for the anointing of the Lord; the disciple agreed with the lawless. She rejoiced at spending precious worlds; this one cared to sell Priceless. She knew the Lord, but this one moved away from the Lord. She was freed from sin, and this one became his prisoner.

While all the other women came only to receive bodily healing, she (the sinner) came solely to honor Jesus and receive spiritual healing. She did not have any damage in the body, and therefore everyone should be especially surprised by her. And not as a simple person she approaches Jesus, otherwise she would not have wiped His feet with her hair, but as a person who is higher than a man. Therefore, she brought her head to the feet of Christ, a part of the body, which is more precious than the whole body ...

They (the disciples) heard Jesus say: I want mercy, not sacrifice, and reproved the Jews for leaving the most important thing - judgment and mercy and faith, how on the mountain he argued with them about almsgiving, and from all this they drew conclusions and They reasoned with each other: if he does not allow burnt offerings and ancient worship, then all the less will he allow anointing with oil. But the disciples thought so, but Jesus, seeing the thoughts of the wife, allows her to approach. And, since her reverence was great and her zeal was inexpressible, He, in His greatest condescension, allowed her to pour peace on His head. If He did not refuse to become a man, was carried in the womb, fed on milk, then why be surprised if He does not reject this either? As His Father accepted incense and smoke, so He accepted the harlot, approving, as I said before, her disposition...

Silent about the exploits of countless kings and commanders, whose monuments are still preserved; those who built cities, built walls, won victories in wars, erected trophies, subjugated many peoples, are unknown either by ear or by name, although they erected statues and issued laws; but that a harlot woman poured out oil in the house of a certain leper in the presence of ten men is sung by all in the world. So much time has passed, and the memory of this event has not been exterminated; and the Persians, and the Indians, and the Scythians, and the Thracians, the Sarmatians, and the tribe of the Moors, and the inhabitants of the British Isles tell of what the harlot's wife did in Judea—secretly, in the house. Great is the love of God! He accepts a harlot, a harlot who kisses her feet, pours out oil and wipes her hair, accepts and reproaches those who accuse her ...

Judas was not moved by this and was not afraid when he heard that the Gospel would be preached everywhere (and what was said contained inexpressible power); while the wives, and the wives of the harlot, gave such honor to Jesus, he did the devil's work ... What a great evil is the love of money! It made Judas both a blasphemer and a traitor. Hear all the money-lovers who suffer from the illness of Judas - hear and beware of this passion. If one who was with Christ worked miracles, used such a teaching, fell into such an abyss because he was not free from this disease, then all the more so you, who have not even heard the Scriptures and always cling to the present, can conveniently be caught by this passion, if you do not exert unceasing care. Judas was daily with the One Who had no place to lay his head, was daily taught by deeds and words that he should have neither gold, nor silver, nor two garments - and for all that he did not come to his senses. How do you hope to avoid this disease when you do not use strong medicine and do not make great efforts? Terrible, truly terrible this beast. However, if you want, you can easily defeat him. This is not innate lust, as those who have freed themselves from it prove. Natural inclinations are common to all; and this lust comes from negligence alone; it is born from it, it grows from it, and when it catches those who are addicted to it, it forces them to live unnaturally. In fact, when they do not recognize fellow tribesmen, friends, brothers, relatives, in a word - everyone, and together with them they do not know themselves, does this not mean living unnaturally? From this it is clear that both malice and the disease of the love of money, subjected to which, Judas became a traitor, are unnatural. How did he become a traitor, you ask, when he was called by Christ? God, calling people to Himself, does not impose necessity, and does not do violence to the will of those who do not want to choose virtue; but he admonishes, gives advice, - he does everything and tries in every possible way to induce them to become good; but if some resist it, He does not force it. If you want to know why Judas became like this, you will find that he perished from the love of money. Why, you ask, is he caught in this passion? Because he was careless. From carelessness such changes occur, while from jealousy the opposite changes occur ...

All this I have said in order to show that if we keep watch, no one can harm us, and that it is not from poverty, but from ourselves that harm comes to us. Therefore, I implore you with all your might to exterminate the disease of the love of money, so that we can become rich here too, and enjoy eternal blessings, which may we all be vouchsafed to the grace and love of mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Saint John Chrysostom

SYNAXARUS ON GREAT WEDNESDAY

The woman, having anointed the body of Christ with myrrh,

Anticipates myrrh and aloe Nicodemus.

On Holy and Great Wednesday, the divine fathers commanded to create a remembrance of the harlot woman who anointed the Lord with peace, because this was not long before the saving sufferings. For this purpose, it is now established to commit her memory, so that, according to the word of the Savior, everywhere and to everyone her zealous deed would be proclaimed.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem and was in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to Him and poured precious ointment on His head. What prompted her to decide to come? - Since she observed Christ's compassion and generosity to all, especially now, seeing that He entered the house of a leper, whom the law commanded to consider unclean and forbade communication with him, she thought that Christ would heal her spiritual impurity as well as Simon's leprosy . And so, while the Lord was reclining at the supper, a woman poured peace from above on His head at a cost of about three hundred denarii, that is, sixty assarii, ten penyazei, or three pieces of silver. The disciples, and above all Judas Iscariot, rebuked her, and Christ protected her so that they would not interfere with her good intentions. Then He mentioned His burial in order to avert Judas from betrayal, and vouchsafed the woman a reward - that this good deed would be preached everywhere in the world.

Some people think that all the evangelists mention the same woman. - You need to know it's not. Only three evangelists, as St. Chrysostom says, speak of the same one, who is called a harlot, and in John it is no longer about her, but about some other wonderful wife, a holy life, about Lazarus' sister Mary, who, not being a harlot, she was loved by Christ.

Of these, the last, Mary, six days before Easter in her house in Bethany, when the Lord was reclining at the supper, she performed the anointing, pouring ointment on His most pure feet and wiping them with the hair of her head. She brought him, as God, peace, bought at a great price, for she knew well that in sacrifices oil is offered to God, and priests are anointed with peace, and Jacob in ancient times poured oil on a stone monument, dedicating it to God. She brought it openly as a gift to the Teacher, as to God, also for the resurrection of her brother. That is why she is not promised a reward, but then only Judas murmured, because he was greedy.

Another, indeed a harlot, two days before Pascha, when Christ was still in Bethany and reclining at the supper in the house of Simon the leper, poured precious ointment on His head, as Saints Matthew and Mark tell. The disciples were indignant at this harlot, for they constantly heard the teachings of Christ about diligence in almsgiving; but the reward was given to her - in the glorification of her good deed throughout the world.

Christ God, anointed with spiritual peace, free us from the passions that find us and have mercy on us, for You alone are Holy and Lover of mankind. Amen.

Divine Liturgy: Explanation of the meaning, meaning, content Archpriest Alexei Uminsky

Gospel Reading

Gospel Reading

The centerpiece of the Liturgy of the Word is, of course, the gospel itself. It can even be said that this part of the Liturgy is dedicated to the Gospel, and everything that happens in it is a kind of preparation for the Gospel to be revealed and read.

In the Liturgy of the word, which is also called the Liturgy of the catechumens, there is a kind of independent life and completion, because for the catechumens it ends precisely with the reading of the Gospel, after which, according to the rules of the ancient Church, they should leave the temple.

The Four Gospels that we are now reading were written in the period from 60 to 110-115, that is, for several decades the Gospel was only Holy Tradition, which the apostles transmitted orally to their followers. And yet it was the true gospel, it was the word of God. Nevertheless, the Gospel as Holy Scripture appeared in the life of the Church quite early and the attitude towards it was exceptionally serious.

At Easter we read: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"(John 1:1). Very often and Holy Scripture, and in the creations of the holy fathers, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is called the Word of God, the Divine Logos (from the Greek. ????? - “word”). Opening the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis, we see that its beginning is very similar to the first lines of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.(Gen. 1:1). It then describes how creation takes place: “And God said, Let there be light. And there was light(Gen. 1:3). God speaks his Word, and the whole world is created through it. This is what the psalmist says "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host"(Ps. 32:6).

The world, so to speak, is "verbal" - it really accepts its being through the Word. The Word of God is so omnipotent and omnipotent that through the second hypostasis of the Holy Trinity the whole world from non-existence comes into being.

The Apostle Paul defines the word of God “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword: it penetrates to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart”(Heb. 4:12).

And so the Word became flesh: the Lord appeared into the world and brought into it His word, sealed in the Gospel. This word is alive and active.

The gospel is not just phrases lined up in lines, divided into chapters and carrying some information. An ordinary text cannot be fully identified with its author, even if it is an autobiography. What is created by man - a book, an artistic canvas or music cannot be the author himself, the creator himself. But the Gospel is left to us by the Lord as a miracle of God's presence in the Word. This is also indicated by some moments of worship. For example, during the hierarchal service, Vladyka takes off his omophorion and miter - signs of his high priesthood, signs that he leads the Liturgy, as Christ led the Last Supper. He goes aside, because now the Lord Himself is present and He Himself speaks.

When the Gospel is brought out at Vespers, we venerate it instead of the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, because this is the Word of God, incarnate and resurrected, this is the presence of Christ Himself at the Liturgy. The gospel is an icon, an image of God. The priest incenses the gospel, we kiss the gospel when the Lord forgives our sins at confession.

Sometimes they say that if the Gospel, like a book, suddenly disappeared, it could be restored according to the writings of the early fathers of Christianity, they quote it so accurately and completely. And what is surprising is that the Church in those days was spreading like the gospel of the gospel that no one read, and perhaps even never held in their hands!

The book was one of the greatest treasures of the ancient world, and not all even rich people could afford to buy them. For centuries, Christians only in the church during divine services could partake of the word of God, learn it, so that later they could live, suffer for it and embody it in their lives.

The gospel is the banner of the Church, her spiritual treasure. The bringing of the Gospel into the temple was considered to be an entry into the temple together with Christ, and the sound of the Gospel itself was considered the culmination of the Liturgy of the word. We can say that this was truly a communion with Christ Himself: the word of God sounds, you perceive it, unite with it, it pierces you like a double-edged sword, and judges your thoughts and intentions of the heart.

It is not surprising that in the lives of the saints there are stories similar to the one that happened to the early Christian ascetic Anthony the Great. He came to the church, heard the Sunday gospel reading about the rich young man, left the temple, gave away his possessions, and went into the wilderness. Anthony realized that what he had read directly related to him, joined the word of God and completely changed his life, becoming a different person.

The gospel resounding in the temple, in its grace-filled power, is in no way inferior to the living preaching of Christ, resounding two thousand years ago in Galilee. It's the same Word that created the world. With this word, the dead were raised, the blind received their sight, the deaf gained their hearing, the lame began to walk, and the lepers were cleansed. Nothing has changed since then, because Christ is the same forever, and His word cannot depreciate in time, lose its power.

That is why we call the Church holy, because every moment of its existence it is identical with itself. Everything that happens in it happens exactly the same as it has always been. Christ teaches us by his word, and it depends only on us how we hear this word, how we accept it, how we live by it.

Unfortunately, during the Liturgy, for some reason, we are waiting for the beginning of the “most important thing” - the Great Entrance, the Eucharist, Communion. "That's when we'll start praying!" - we think. But in fact, it all started a long time ago! When the priest proclaims, "Blessed is the Kingdom," that Kingdom is already coming!

For the catechumens, the reading of the Gospel is main meeting with the word of God, because the rest is not yet available to them. They have not yet been born in Christ, but the word of God is already transforming them.

Even when this word came from the mouth of the Lord Himself, people perceived it differently. Seven thousand people went into the wilderness, leaving everything and forgetting to take food with them, just to hear Jesus. The Lord spoke to them about the bread that came down from heaven, but some expected Him to satisfy their immediate needs and, not having waited for this, left disappointed. “What strange words! - they were perplexed, - What is it about? But the apostles remained with the Lord, because only He has verbs eternal life. These verbs of eternal life are the gospel.

The Word of God at the Liturgy is without a doubt a true Epiphany. But we must know the Lord, we must hear Him. This is a necessary stage through which we must come to the communion of His Body and Blood.

Reading the Gospel in the temple is an opportunity for our meeting with God. What is happening to us at this moment? How do we live this word then? How do we leave the temple? These are the most important questions to which we must give truthful answers.