Holy Week
for Busy Greeks
April 17, 2006
Holy Week provides a unique challenge for the busy Greek-American young
adult. Between Palm Sunday and the Anastasi there are more services than there
are days in that span. Unless you’re a student or decide to take the week off
there are only a number of evening services that most of us can make during the
week. For those of you out there with a little bit of time looking for the best
way to schedule your Holy Week, we present, Holy Week for Busy Greeks.
Good Friday or Holy Saturday
If you can’t imagine spending both Friday and Saturday night at church and
have to choose between the two, hit Friday night’s service. The lighting of
the lambades, the hymns, and the procession of the Epitaphios out and around the
church are unique even for a church that celebrates so many elaborate
traditions. It is the most interactive service of the year. Contrast this with
Saturday night – a service that typically starts at 11:30 and climaxes at
midnight with the Resurrection. This means that if you show up on Greek time,
you’ve missed the point of the service. By 12:15 or so, some of the Greeks
that came early enough to find a seat inside the church start to leave and most
of those who never made it inside have already started an early coffee hour. For
those who do stick around until the end, most churches don’t let out until
2:00 A.M. For all these reasons, Friday night’s Epitaphios service just works
better for most Greek-American young adults.
Holy Wednesday for Holy Unction
Celebrating one of the most rare of Sacraments should be a blessing of
attending services during Holy Week. Holy Unction is offered at Wednesday night’s
service of the Last Supper. (Holy Unction is where the priest anoints the
believer with oil on the head and hands for physical and spiritual healing.) As
many Greek-American young adults receive Holy Communion at Easter, Holy Unction
complements this Sacrament well at this time of the year.
Taking Friday Off
If you’ve got enough vacation time or sick days to use during the year,
consider taking Good Friday off. Not only will it allow you to attend another
service on Friday morning and really treat Holy Friday with the reverence we’re
seldom allowed to in our secular society, but it may make attending Thursday
night’s Passion service (a.k.a., the 12 Gospels) much easier. Thursday night
is by far the longest service of the week usually ending around 10:00 at most
churches. After working a full day and going straight to service, it may be a
lot to ask for many of Greek-American young adults to get up and put in a full
day of work on Friday and make it to service on Friday night. By taking Friday
off, the Greek young adult can relax on Friday afternoon between services and
also take some time to fully appreciate the meaning of the day.
Receiving Communion
The longest Communion lines during the Paschal Season are typically on Palm
Sunday and Saturday night at the Anastasi. If you don’t want to wait until
1:30 on Saturday night and missed Palm Sunday, consider Saturday morning’s
Liturgy. If you don’t mind more young children per capita than you’ll see at
most services (they’ll be asleep and not at the Resurrection service that
evening), then this is one of the best times to receive Communion during Holy
Week.
Go When You Can
One of the best things about the Greek Orthodox church is its tolerance for
its followers Holy Week attendance. The regular church-goers know that they may
lose their seat to someone who may not come but once a year. Church services are
not like the opera – the ushers will let you in even if you come 20 minutes
before the end, and you can always figure out where you are in the service and
what’s going on. Everyone involved would rather see you there for an hour on
Tuesday night than not at all.
Read
past feature articles.