Hymns of Holy Week
As the Lord was going to His voluntary Passion, He said to His apostles on the way: Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed by guile, as it is written of Him. Come then, let us also go with Him with purified minds, and be crucified with Him and die with Him, and hear Him crying: No longer to this earthly Jerusalem to suffer, but I ascend to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God, and I will raise you up with Me to the Jerusalem on high, in the kingdom of heaven.
Remember the hour of thy departure, O my soul; tremble at the cutting down of the fig tree, and multiply the talent given thee by labour and love, O wretched one; be watchful and cry with compunction: O most merciful Christ, cast me not out of Thy bridal chamber.
The sleep of sloth hath stubbornly mastered my soul, O Good One, and I have no lamp kindled by the virtues, for I have become like the foolish virgins and have wasted the time for work in idleness; shut not against me, O Master, the bosom of Thy mercy, but deliver me from bitter sleep and rouse me, and bring me in with the wise virgins into Thy bridal chamber, where the pure voice of those who keep the feast crieth unceasingly: O Lord, glory to Thee.
I have sinned more than the harlot, O Good One, yet I have brought Thee no streams of tears; but praying in silence I fall down before Thee, kissing with love Thy most pure feet, that as Master Thou mayest grant forgiveness of debts to me who cry, O Saviour: Deliver me from the filth of my deeds.
The harlot spread out her hair to Thee, the Master; Judas stretched out his hands to the lawless: she to receive forgiveness, he to take the silver. Therefore we cry to Thee, who wast sold and hast set us free: O Lord, glory to Thee.
When the glorious disciples were enlightened at the washing of the Supper, then Judas the ungodly was darkened with the sickness of avarice, and to lawless judges he delivered Thee, the righteous Judge. Behold, O ye faithful, this lover of money, who for its sake hanged himself! Let us flee that insatiable sickness which dared such things against its own Teacher. O Thou who in wisdom orderest all things, Lover of mankind, glory to Thee.
The uttermost abyss of sin hath encompassed me, and I can no longer bear the billows; but like Jonah, O Master, I cry to Thee: Bring me up from corruption.
Thy face is full of guile, O lawless Judas: sick with the love of money, thou didst gain hatred of men; and if thou didst love riches, why didst thou become the disciple of the Teacher of poverty? And if thou kissest Him, why didst thou sell the All-priceless and deliver Him to foul murder? Be amazed, O sun; groan, O earth, and cry out in brokenness: O boundless God, glory to Thee.
Let none, O ye faithful, unworthy of the divine Supper, let none, like Judas, approach the table with guile; for he, having received the bread, lifted up his heel against the Bread: in appearance a disciple, in deed a bloodthirsty murderer, rejoicing with the Jews and dwelling with the apostles; hating, he kisseth; kissing, he selleth Him who redeemed us from bondage, the God and Saviour of our souls.
Now the council of the Jews is gathered to deliver to Pilate the Maker and Creator of all. O the lawless, O the faithless! For Him who cometh to judge the living and the dead they give over to judgement; Him who healed our passions they give over to the Passion. O long-suffering Lord, great is Thy mercy: glory to Thee.
The Lamb whom Isaiah foretold, behold, cometh of His own will to the slaughter; He giveth His holy back to the scourges and His divine cheeks to buffeting, and turneth not away His sovereign, creating face from the shame of spitting; and the sinless God of His own will accepteth for our sake a shameful death without judgement, that He may grant mercy to all, raise us from the dead and save us.
Today Judas forsaketh the good Teacher and taketh the devil to himself; he is blinded by the passion of avarice and falleth away from the Light into darkness: for how could he see, who by guile sold the priceless Luminary for thirty pieces of silver? But He who suffered for all the world hath shone upon us; to Him let us cry: O merciful One who wast crucified, O Lord who lovest mankind, glory to Thee.
He who clotheth Himself with light as with a garment stood naked at the judgement and received blows on the cheek from the hands that He had formed; and the lawless people nailed the God of glory to the Cross today: then the veil of the temple was rent, the rocks were split, the earth trembled and the day was darkened, unable to bear the sight of God insulted, before whom all things tremble; Him let us worship.
Thus didst Thou say, O Lord, to the Jews: My people, what have I done unto you, or wherein have I wearied you? I gave light to your blind, cleansed your lepers and raised up the paralytic lying on his bed. For manna ye give Me gall, for water vinegar, and for love ye nail Me to the Cross; now I shall call the nations, and they shall glorify Me with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and I shall give them life eternal.
The assembly of the Jews asked Pilate for Thy crucifixion, O Lord, for they found no guilt in Thee; but they begged for the guilty Barabbas, and Thee, the Righteous One, they made guilty, and they inherited the sin of murder. Render to them, O Lord, the reward of their ungodliness, for they devised vain things against Thee; but have mercy on us who glorify Thee.
Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung upon the tree; the King of the angels is crowned with thorns; He who wrappeth the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery; He who freed Adam in the Jordan willingly receiveth blows; the Bridegroom of the Church is pierced with nails; the Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear. We worship Thy Passion, O Christ; we worship Thy Passion, O Christ; we worship Thy Passion, O Christ: show us also Thy glorious Resurrection.
Thou hast redeemed us from the curse of the Law by Thy precious blood; Thou wast nailed to the Cross, O Good One, and pierced with the spear, and hast made immortality spring forth for men, O Saviour and Deliverer; O long-suffering Lord, glory to Thee.
Through a tree Adam, led astray, was driven out of paradise, and through the tree of the Cross the thief entered paradise; for the one despised the command of his Creator, but the other, crucified with Thee, cried out in confession: Remember me, O Deliverer, in Thy kingdom.
When Thou wast crucified, O Christ, creation was struck with awe: the earth was shaken to its foundations and the rocks were split, the luminaries were darkened and the veil of the temple was rent, trembling seized the mountains and day was turned into night; but we say with the thief: Remember me, O Deliverer, in Thy kingdom.
For fear of the Jews Thy beloved friend Peter denied Thee, O Lord, and with lamentation he said thus: Be not silent at my tears, for I said I would keep Thy commandment, O Good One, and I did not keep it; accept our repentance likewise, O God, and have mercy on us.
When the man of Arimathea took down the Saviour of all from the tree, he anointed Him with myrrh as one dead and wrapped Him in linen; then was fulfilled the law ordained for the corruptible dead; and seized with trembling he kissed Him and cried with joy: Glory to Thy condescension, O Lover of mankind.
When Thou wast laid in the tomb, O Saviour of all, hell trembled, and the bolts of its gates were shattered with fear, the graves were opened and the dead arose from their tombs; then Adam cried out: Glory to Thy long-suffering, O Christ, incomprehensible in Godhead, who in mercy hast delivered me, O Lover of mankind.
The noble Joseph, taking down Thy most pure body from the tree, O Christ, wrapped it in clean linen, anointed it with spices and laid it in a new tomb.
When Thou didst go down into the tomb, O immortal Life, then Thou didst strike hell with terror by the lightning of Thy Godhead; and when Thou didst raise the dead from the nethermost depths, then all the powers of heaven cried out: O Christ God, Giver of life, glory to Thee.
Weep not for Me, O Mother, beholding in the tomb the Son whom thou didst conceive in the womb without seed; for I shall rise and be glorified as God, and shall exalt in glory those who in faith and longing sing to thee unceasingly.
Today the tomb holdeth the Creator who holdeth all things in His hand, and a lowly stone in the tomb covereth Him who covereth the heavens; Life sleepeth and hell trembleth, and Adam is wholly loosed from his bonds. Glory to Thy dispensation, O Deliverer, whereby Thou hast accomplished all things and, as God, hast granted us an eternal sabbath rest, Thy Resurrection from the dead: O Lord, glory to Thee.
By Thy Passion, O Christ, we have been freed from the passions, and by Thy Resurrection we have been delivered from corruption: O Lord, glory to Thee.
Let all mortal flesh keep silence and stand with fear and trembling, and ponder nothing earthly within itself; for behold, the King of kings and Lord of lords cometh to be slain and given as food to the faithful; before Him go the choirs of angels, the many-eyed Cherubim and six-winged Seraphim, covering their faces and crying with trembling the angelic hymn: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
