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I am hoping to attend some of the Holy Week Rites att he Ukrainian Cathedral here, but am totally unfamiliar with what they include.

Would someone be so kind as to give me a run down of the full Holy Week liturgies (from Palm Sunday through Easter Day) and services of the Byzantine Rite (or direct me to a website with more info)? My Ukrainian Hand Missal from the 1960s only has the Liturgy of the Twelve Gospels on Passion Thursday and Matins of Easter Morning.

I'd be grateful for any info.

Unfortunately you are in Philadelphia and I am in Pittsburgh, what is Ukrainian �our way� here may not be �our way� there, especially date and time. Most of what I grew up with in the AM is now conducted in the PM or the next day. Also remember the Greek Orthodox who are Greek will do it differently then the Greek Catholics who are not Greeks.

My favorite service is Jerusalem Matins which is done here Saturday morning but use to be done late Friday evening, or may be done in someplaces Saturday afternoon or evening. Regardless it is a baptized version of Ukrainians sitting Shiva. The music used by the Ukrainian Greco Catholics is from the melodies the Jews of Lviv (western Ukraine) chant. Ten men officially join the priests who does not represent Christ this time but His mother. In hats sitting on benches the laments are wailed, in front of the tomb is placed a single light floor candleholder so all be kosher (see icon of the Dormition). Remember in Europe seating was an exception not the rule. From Lviv traveler�s journals come the lore the local Jews came to participate. In reality like at a renascence fair or ethnic festival those parishioners simply dressed the part. Men wore black suites with white shirts and fedoras while the women were also in black and white while shawls covered their heads of unbraided hair. There is a procession ending with all filing in a low stance beneath the Holy Shroud, as one would enter the low doorway of the Church of the Resurrection in Israel. At the end apples or some other round food is distributed for sustenance, in contrast to the customary eggs the Jews used due to the fast. The Mother of God must be pleased with this requiem custom of her people conducted for her deceased Son. I hope those who complain our churches are too ethnic will not get upset with these ways of hers.

If you know what you will be participating in we may be able to let you know what to expect. In any case an envelope with a monastery gift is always in good form.

Dear Byzantophile,

Since you are in Philadelphia, perhaps I may offer a suggestion or three.

Most parishes will provide booklets to enable the worshippers to follow the various Holy Week services - you might ring the cathedral and ask what they have available and what their schedule of services will be. I would expect them to have a Pontifical Divine Liturgy (including the Washing of the Feet) on Holy Thursday. The "12 Gospels" service is apt to be lengthy.

This year, there is a difference of five weeks between the Western dating of Easter and the traditional dating of Holy Week and Pascha. This offers an opportunity to take advantage of the plethora of churches in Philadelphia without too much rushing around. Good Friday (Old Calendar) evening, try a nice GREEK Orthodox church: the service and procession are splendid and, believe it or not, joyful.

For Old Calendar Pascha, you might try either the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish in Jenkintown (the only Greek-Catholic parish in Philadelphia maintaining the Old Calendar) or Saint Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Fifth and Fairmount (you can see the cross on the church spire from the Ben Franklin Bridge). The services at Saint Michael's are largely in English.

And there are other possibilities. Enjoy, and light some candles for all of us!

Fr. Serge

Many thanks. The Jerusalem Vespers sounds fascinating!

Having things in Ukrainian doesn't bother me as I can read a wee bit of Russian and can at least follow along.

As for what the Cathedral will be offering here is their schedule according to the Archeparchy's paper The Way [ukrarcheparchy.us] :

HOLY THURSDAY, MARCH 20
6:30 p.m. CATHEDRAL. Matins of the Passion (12 Gospels) �Strasti� (UKR/ENG)

GOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 21
3:00 p.m. CATHEDRAL. Vespers, Procession, Entombment of Jesus Christ (UKR/ENG)

HOLY SATURDAY, MARCH 22
1:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food � CATHEDRAL HALL
Confession � CATHEDRAL
3:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food � CATHEDRAL HALL
Confession � CATHEDRAL
5:00 p.m. Blessing of Easter Food � CATHEDRAL HALL
Confession � CATHEDRAL
5:30 p.m. CATHEDRAL. Services at the Grave. Nadhrobne (UKR/ENG)

EASTER SUNDAY, MARCH 23
8:00 a.m. CATHEDRAL. Procession, Resurrection Matins
9:00 a.m. CATHEDRAL. Hierarchical Easter Divine Liturgy (UKR)
Blessing of Easter Food � in Church
11:30 a.m. CATHEDRAL. Easter Divine Liturgy (ENG)

They will be having a hierarchical Vespers, Divine Liturgy, and washing of the feet on Passion Thusday/Holy Thursday, but it will be held at St. Josaphat's in Bethlehem, PA which is rather far from here. As well, I still have to check what the local Ukrainian Catholic parish near me is doing.

As for other churches, I have been to the Easter Vigil before at both the Greek Cathedral and the local ROCA/ROCOR parish, where I know the priest and a parishioner (a fellow blogger), but never any other Holy Week Service for some reason. I think I will take your advice Fr. Serge and try to attend the full round of services since there is such a gap between the calendars. As for St. Michael's (at 5th & Fairmount) I have heard (from both Anglican and Roman Catholic friends) that the priest there compresses the Easter Vigil down to a little over an hour. They all agree that Our Lady the Joy of All Who Sorrow [churchofourlady.org] is the best place for the "full bit" in the Slavic Recension.

Would the Nadhrobne on Saturday evening be Nocturns(Mesonyctis,Polunoshnitsa)?I remember reading on some Czech Orthodox Website in the Czech Republic,that the Nocturns began at the usual 11:30 PM(presumably with the bringing back of the shroud to the Altar;the Greeks bring it back after the procession at the Holy Saturday Matins and I would guess that the Melkites do this also).Here also,the Matins followed by Liturgy began at 7:00 or 8:00 AM .I've always done Paschal Matins and Liturgy at Midnight,but if I had to choose,I'd go with the Ukrainian way of doing everything in the morning as opposed to the Matins at Midnight and Liturgy seperately in the morning.Just one priest's opinion.

Yes, I also agree. The Church of Our Lady would be most traditional.

Fr David Straut