www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Midnight Pascha Service--Byzantine Catholic

When I lived in Phoenix, Arizona I have memories of attending various Orthodox Midnight Pascha services (OCA, GOA, Antiochian) but I don't recall the various Byzantine Catholic jurisdictions having a Midnight Service. I've wondered if perhaps this was due to our parishes being smaller?

Do Byzantine Catholic parishes have the Midnight Pascha service? I've always thought it was a beautiful service with the priest coming out with the lighted candle and all of us receiving from his light.

So, are there Byzantine Catholic parishes which have this tradition?

Glory to Jesus Christ!

St. Basil's (Basilian Salvatorian Monastery/Melkite in Methuen, MA) has a midnight Easter liturgy.

When I lived in Iasi, Romania, the midnight Easter liturgies around town were something to behold!

A blessed Easter to everyone.

Christopher

Thanks! I imagine that Holy Resurrection Monastery near Barstow, California also has the midnight service.

Any Byzantine Catholic parishes?

There are some parishes which serve at midnight - it would be interesting to do a survey and ascertain which parishes, and how many of them, but this is the wrong week to take such a survey (perhaps in mid-May?). The Russian parishes certainly would have it at midnight; the Romanian and Melkite parishes probably would have it at midnight; some Ukrainian parishes would have it at midnight.

Incognitus

Glory to Jesus Christ!

We do not do the midnight Pascha service. We anticipate it and start Matins at 9 PM.

However, Orthodox parished do have it at midnight. The reason I know this is that there are Greek resturants here with specials at 3 AM on Sunday. I understand they are quite full at that time.

Deacon El

Glory to God for the restoration of proper tradition!

For many years it had been become common practice for people to leave right after midnight and the lighting of candles to: 'Christ is Risen/Christos Anesti'.

Those who stayed for the whole liturgy were usually only a handful in churches that were bursting at the seams and even into the streets at midnight.

Our priests started bringing attention to this, and slowly, our churches retain about half of those who were there at midnight.

Many churches offer the traditional Paschal breaking of the fast meals after liturgy, and this has definitely helped retain our people. It allows for nice family and community fellowship too!

It is especially nice for people like me, who are generations removed and who never experienced these traditions as a child.

It also makes it much easier for women to attend church, as women do not need to stay home (as past generations did) to prepare and attend to the meal.

So now Orthodox of the Greek tradition are offered the best of two worlds: their religious tradition AND their culinary/food tradition!

It is a win/win situation...and for those churches that do not have the manpower to offer the meals, diners and restaurants owned by Greeks and Americans of Greek descent, meet the need at that early, early (or late-it is all how you look at it) hour!

In Christ,
Alice

Thanks for the responses!

Fr Deacon El,

Does your anticipated Matins at 9 pm include the darkened church with the priest coming out with a lighted candle that all receive from?

Are there any Ukrainian or Ruthenian parishes (on the new calendar) who will have a midnight service tomorrow night?

Here at St. Georges Melkite, Fr. Frank has the Divine Liturgy for the Lighting of the New Light at 5pm. At that time he gleefully soaks us with Holy Water and throws the Laurel leaves in abundance over/at everyone. Allowing those who are infirmed or parents with small children who don't feel compelled to keep them up so late.

Then at 7:30 Matins begins and follow through with the Ressurection Liturgy. The tomb is so awesomely beautiful. Fr. blesses the baskets that have been gatherd around the tomb. I guess we finish around 2am after we have broken our red eggs(can't cleave the curch till it is cracked).

Then everyone excitedly decends downstairs as the youth of the parrish has made breakfast for us. Ususally kibbee, scrambled eggs, grits, bacon/sausage, cereal, juice, coffee, tea, OH MY, my mouth is watering all ready.

It is funny you will see baskets containing McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, whatever was given up for the fast will be there for breakfast.

It is such a wonderful time, for we gather as a parish family to celebrate with a meal the Ressurction of our Lord.

Pani Rose

A couple of additional questions:

1) Are there Orthodox parishes which do not have the midnight Pascha service or is this pretty universal amongst Orthodox?

2) Due to the absence of responses indicating that Ruthenian parishes in this country do have a midnight Pascha service...could a parish start that tradition or would they need to get permission?

For those interested, an audio of the Orthros Service of Pascha sung by the group Eikona (GOA) can be heard at:

Midnight Matins Service of Pascha sung by Eikona [realserver.goarch.org]

You'll need Realplayer for it to work. It begins with the "Come receive the light," when the priest comes out from the darkened sanctuary with the light of Pascha.

There are some Orthodox parishes which do not serve Pascha at midnight, although this is exceptional. Reasons include specific traditions in the area of origin, specific problems arising from the location of the church building (a friend who is pastor of a large parish located in a bad part of an inner city has tried for years to convince his faithful to return to the midnight tradition - and they've told him flatly that no one will park their cars in that neighborhood in the middle of the night, and still less will they process around the streets, leave the church doors open, or, if it comes to that, use taxis or any other form of public transportation. So they serve at sunrise), and perhaps a local tradition - I've occasionally run into the argument that the children cannot come at midnight, but I've never noticed any problem with the children in parishes where the midnight service is the norm.

Incognitus

LOL! Do all of you know what the first thing my now 33yrs. young priest eats downstairs after Liturgy? Not any of the traditional ethnic stuff--no siree! Nor does he wait for Easter day lamb and other meat dishes.... He has an altar boy go out to bring him a McDonald's Hamburger!

At St. John Chrysostom Melkite temple in Atlanta, this is the liturgical schedule for Holy Saturday:

At 10:00 AM there is the Blessing of the New Light, Divine Liturgy, and Victory Procession with Laurel Leaves.

At 10:00 PM there is the Service of Haste*, Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection, Blessing of Eggs, and refreshments to follow.

It's interesting that the Blessing of the New Light is in the mornin and is separate from the 10 PM Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection.

Logos Teen

*What is the Service of Haste, anyway?

I thought I would just post this sence there may be some reading who are not familiar with how our services run.

Matins (Hajmeh; Procession of Triumph; First Announcement of the Resurrection; Paschal Orthros; Divine Liturgy of Our Father among the Saints Basil for Pascha) of Pascha is celebrated on Great and Holy Saturday evening

Hajmeh or Procession of Haste

In the darkened church, the priest comes out from the Holy Doors holding his lighted Paschal candle and solemnly sings, "Come and take light from the Light that never fades; come and glorify Christ who is risen from the dead!" All the people come forward and light their candles from the priest's candle, then go out of the church to the front door, where a table is prepared for the Holy Gospel. The priest and the altar servers come out of the church to the table. The priest incenses the Gospel and reads the Resurrection Gospel according to St Mk. (16:1-8). After the Gospel, the priest holds his Paschal candle and the censer and sings the troparion of Pascha--"Christ is risen from the dead and by His death He has trampled upon death and has given life to those who are in the tombs"--for the first time very majestically. The people repeat the troparion two more times and repeat it after every verse the priest chants as he incenses the four directions and the people. After the Great Litany, the priest knocks on the door of the church, announcing that "the King of Glory shall come in!" At the third knock, the doors open and everyone processes into the church, now ablaze with light, singing the Easter Canon: "Today is the day of the Resurrection!"

Procession of Triumph

After the reading of the Epistle, the Procession of Triumph happens. As the choir sings Psalm 81 with the verse "Arise O God, and judge the earth, for You shall inherit all nations," the priest goes around the inside of the church strewing laurel leaves and rose petals as symbols of Christ's victory over death. The reading of the Holy Gospel follows the Procession of Triumph.
First announcement of the Resurrection

The priest proclaims chapter 28 of the Gospel of St Matthew--the first announcement of the Resurrection.

Paschal Orthros

After the reading of the Gospel, the service of Orthros of Pascha proceeds. Hymns of praise to the Resurrection are chanted.

Divine Liturgy of the Pascha

This leads into the Divine Liturgy of the Pascha, with special verses and repeated singing of "Christ is risen!" Instead of the Trisagion ("Holy God, Holy Mighty One . . . ") we sing "All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ! Alleluia!" The Gospel is the first chapter of St John: "In the beginning was the Word . . . " The Easter Sermon of St John Chrysostom, written about 1,500 years ago, preaches the meaning of this Great Feast better than any modern priest could do so. At the end of the Liturgy the priest raises the Paschal candle and greets the people by saying "Christ is risen!" three times, in Greek, Arabic, and English. Each time, the people answer, "He is truly risen!" Finally the priest says, "Glory to His resurrection on the third day!" and the people respond, "We glorify His resurrection on the third day!"

At the end of the Divine Liturgy of the Pascha, the priest blesses the Holy Artos (Pascha bread and eggs(hard-boiled, dyed red)). Everyone comes forward to kiss the cross, to venerate the ikon of the Resurrection, to receive a piece of the blessed bread, a flower, and an egg.
Pascal Greeting, Pascal Troparion, Feasting, the Doors and Curtains of the Ikonostasis are Open, Paschal Candle from the Feast of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha until the beginning of the Vespers of the Great Feast of the Ascension into Heaven of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

For the Forty Days from the Feast of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha (Feasts of Feasts) to the Great Feast of the Ascension, we celebrate the Holy and Glorious Resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. By His death He has trampled upon death and given life to the world. By breaking down the gates of Hades, He has opened Heaven to all.

We greet each other by saying "Christ is risen! He is truly risen!" or "Al Masiah Qaam! Haqqan Qaam! / Al Massihu Qam! Haqqan Qam!" or "Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!".

Also, we say "Glory to His Resurrection on the Third Day! We glorify His Resurrection on the Third Day!".

Finally, we sing the Troparion of Pascha repeatedly in the Divine Liturgy ("Christ is risen from the dead and by His death He has trampled upon death, and has given life to those who are in the tombs!"),

We feast for Forty Days! We do not fast, not even on Fridays. Fasting is forbidden.

The doors and curtains of the ikonostasis remain open. This action is to symbolize how Christ's Resurrection has opened Heaven.

The Paschal Candle, the first one lit by the New Light of Pascha, burns brightly on the Holy Table.
Standing from the Feast of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha until the Great Feast of Pentecost

We stand! We do not kneel. Kneeling is forbidden until the beginning of the Vespers of the Great Feast of Pentecost.

These prayers ask the Lord Jesus Christ to send the Holy Spirit also upon us, to empower us to do His will in all aspects of our lives. They are called the "Kneeling Prayers" because they mark the first time we kneel after the 50-day celebration of the Resurrection.
Kontakion, Troparion, Exapostilarion, and Vespers Sticheron or Doxastichon

TROPARION
CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD, AND BY HIS DEATH HE HAS TRAMPLED UPON DEATH AND HAS GIVEN LIFE TO THOSE WHO ARE IN THE TOMBS!

TROPARION (TONE 1)
After the stone was sealed by the Jews, and while the soldiers were watching Your spotless body, You rose, O Savior, on the third day, bestowing life on the world. Therefore the heavenly powers cried out to You, O Giver of Life: "Glory to your resurrection, O Christ, glory to your Kingdom, glory to your Economy, O You who alone are the Lover of All People."

TROPARION (TONE 2)
When You descended to death, O Immortal Life, You put Hades to death by the splendor of Your Divinity. And when You raised the dead from below the earth, all the Heavenly Powers cried out to You, "O Giver of Life, Christ our God, glory to You!"

TROPARION (TONE 5)
Let us, 0 faithful, praise and worship the Word, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit. Born of the Virgin for our salvation, He was pleased to be lifted in the flesh upon the Cross and to endure death, and to raise the dead by His glorious Resurrection."

Each Sunday and its weekdays have a different tone. The tones are in numberical success beginning with tone 1 on the First Sunday after Holy and Glorious Pascha - Thomas Sunday or New Sunday or Bright Sunday.
Resurrectional Troparia

Resurrectional Troparia Melkite Greek Catholic Church Eparchy of Newton
Trisagion

All of you who have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!
or
As many as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!
Readings

On SAT., BLESSING OF THE NEW LIGHT and PROCESSION OF TRIUMPH
Apostolos: Rom. 6:3-12 First Gospel: Matthew 28:1-20
Gospel of Hajmeh Mark 16:1-8
Trisagion: "All of you who have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!"
Apostolos of the Liturgy: Acts 1:1-9 Gospel of the Liturgy: John 1:1-17
At the end of the Liturgy Christ is risen! He is truly risen! (Arabic, Greek, English)
Priest: Glory to His Resurrection on the third day!
People: We glorify His Resurrection on the third day!

ON SUN., DIVINE LITURGY OF ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
Troparion of Pascha 3 times: Arabic, Greek, English, Hypacoi of Pascha, Kontakion of Pascha
Trisagion: "All of you who have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!"
Apostolos: Acts 1:1-9 Gospel: Mark 16:1-8 and John 1:1-17
At the end of the Liturgy Christ is risen! He is truly risen! (Arabic, Greek, English)
Priest: Glory to His Resurrection on the third day!
People: We glorify His Resurrection on the third day!

The Resurection Homily of St. John Chrysostom, the people respond repeating what the priest prays when he says the "Christ is risen..."

RESURRECTION HOMILY

Saint John Chrysostom

LET ALL PIOUS MEN and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first : yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort.


Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness. Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh.



When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world."

Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and, lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?

* Christ is risen and you are abolished,
* Christ is risen and the demons are cast down,
* Christ is risen and the angels rejoice,
* Christ is risen and life is freed,
* Christ is risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead:

for Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Eparchy of Newton web site [mliles.com]

Now for the Ruthenains to answer your question about the services, and for those who are reading and are not familar with our Churches...

The glorious resurrection of our Lord in the Byzantine Rite is solemnly proclaimed at the Easter morning services, called the Matins of Resurrect/on or, simply, Resurrection Services, celebrated shortly after midnight or early in the morning. These services were composed at the beginning of the eighth century by the renown Byzantine hymnographer, St. John Damascene (d. 749). He was inspired in their composition by Holy Scriptures and by two famous Easter Orations of St. Gregory of Nazianz (d. 389).

The Matins of Resurrection are constructed around the Paschal Canon, in which the Risen Christ is repeatedly extolled and glorified for his final victory over sin and over death. Because of its enchanting beauty and its deep spiritual meaning, it is called The Golden Canon, since by it St. John Damascene inaugurated the Golden Age of Byzantine hymnography.

The Easter Canon of St. John Damascene is a magnificent liturgical poem in honor of Christ�s victorious resurrection and its leading theme is given to us in the first hymn-irmos: "It is the Day of Resurrection, 0 people be enlightened by it.

It is the Passover of the Lord, the passover from death to life, by which Christ our God has brought us from earth to heaven. Therefore, we are singing the hymn of victory."

The Resurrection Services begin with the removal of the Holy Shroud, the Plaschanitsa, from the grave. The celebrant, vested in his festive robes, incenses the Holy Shroud, takes it from the grave and places it on the altar where it remains until Ascension Day in testimony that our Saviour, after His glorious resurrection, remained on earth for forty days.

Having prepared the altar, the priest, altar boys, and the faithful, with lighted candles, process once around the church repeatedly singing the resurrectional stichera, "Your resurrection, 0 Christ our Savior, is praised with the angelic voices in heaven; make us also worthy here on earth to praise You and to glorify You with a pure heart." After all the faithful leave in procession, the main doors of the church are closed. The procession symbolizes the Myrrh-bearing Women who, "very early in the morning on the first day of the week" (Jn. 20:1) came to the tomb to anoint the sacred Body of Christ, and found the tomb empty. For this reason the procession is made only once around the church.

The procession stops before the closed doors at the main entrance to the church. Here the celebrant, after having incensed the doors and the people, begins the Matins of Resurrection.

The Matins of Resurrection start with a customary benediction of the celebrant, intoning:

"Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-creating and indivisible Trinity, always, now and ever, and forever." After the response, "Amen.", the priest with a solemn voice sings the Easter hymn: "Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquered death, and to those in the graves He granted life." In this part of the Matins, the celebrant represents the Angel, announcing the glorious resurrection of our Savior to the Myrrh-bearing Women at the grave. While the people jubilantly repeat the Easter hymn, the church bells carry the glad tidings to the rest of the world.

At the conclusion of the responsorial psalm, the celebrant once again intones the hymn and, at the words: "by death He conquered death," signs the doors with the sign of the cross and opens them with the cross in his hand. In doing so, he symbolizes Our Saviour Who, by His death on the cross, has "conquered death" and has opened the gates of heaven for all of us.

Ascending the altar, the celebrant chants the Ekteny of Peace, which is immediately followed by the Golden Canon of St. John Damascene. The entire canon is pervaded by a certain triumphant mood, perhaps best expressed by the third Troparion of the first ode: "Let the heavens properly rejoice and let the earth exult, let the whole world, both visible and invisible, celebrate for Christ, our eternal joy, is risen."

It is interesting to note that the Byzantine Church keeps alive the ancient traditional belief about the Angel announcing the resurrection of Christ first to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as described by St. John Damascene in the prelude to the ninth ode of his canon: "The Angel exclaimed to her, Full of Grace: Rejoice, 0 pure Virgin, again I say: Rejoice! For Your Son after three days is risen from the grave and has raised the dead. Therefore, all you people, rejoice!"

The second part of the Matins of Resurrection begins with the Psalms of Praise (Pss. 148-150), which are followed by four Sticheras of Praise (Tone One), reminding us to praise Christ�s "saving passion and to glorify His resurrection" in songs. These four resurrectional sticheras are followed by four Paschal Sticheras. In them the triumphant joy of Easter reaches the highest point. Let us direct our attention, in the way of example, to the fourth stichera:

"A delightful Pasch, the Pasch of the Lord, the venerable Pasch has dawned upon us. Because of this Pasch, let us joyfully embrace one another. O Pasch, you are our deliverance from all sorrow, since today Christ has come out from the grave as radiant as He would come out from the bridal chamber, and He filled the Women with joy, saying: "Announce (the glad tidings) to the Apostles."

This personal "announcing" of the glad tidings of the resurrection takes place exactly during the chant of these paschal sticheras, as the people approach the celebrant to kiss the Holy Cross, the Book of Gospels and the Icon of Resurrection. The celebrant stands outside and invites the faithful to venerate the cross which he holds in his hand, while the assisting clergy or the altar boys hold the Book of Gospels and the Icon of Resurrection. As the faithful kiss the cross, they are greeted by the priest with the words: "Christ is risen!" The people, in confirmation of their personal belief, answer: "Indeed He is risen!"

During the Resurrection Services the Holy Cross is venerated, because by His death upon the cross our Savior "conquered death," the Holy Gospel proclaims the glorious resurrection of our Lord, and the Icon reminds us of the descent of

Christ into Limbo, liberating the souls of the just:

Easter greeting: "Christ is risen!�Indeed He is risen!" is our personal proclamation of Christ�s glorious resurrection, and is the greeting used by the faithful until Ascension Thursday.

The old Greek Synaxarion (the Prolog) gives the following explanation of the joyous celebration of Easter in the Byzantine Rite:

"On this glorious and the most holy day, the whole Church celebrates the joy of the final victory and life-giving resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. After the long period of darkness brought about by sin, after the endless expectation of the prophets, after the glad tidings of Christ�s birth when the designated time had come, after the thirty years of Christ�s hidden life and the three years of His public life, after the frightful passion, death upon the cross and three days in the tomb, behold�Christ is risen!

"Indeed, indeed He is risen! And all is true, every promise of God has been fulfilled: the Savior has come, the Lamb of God has been sacrificed for the sins of the world, and totally triumphant He crushed death by His death, restoring to us everlasting life through His glorious resurrection. The time of weeping is over. Now is a time of joy. Now that we have repented and atoned for our sins during the penitential season of Lent; now that we have been cleansed by the Passion of Christ; now let us rejoice, let us give to one another the Christ-like kiss of peace, thus confirming our love towards all and celebrating the end of all enmity . . . Christ, our Savior, is risen!"

+ Ruthenain Byzantine Pascha services [byzantines.net]

Thanks, Rose, for posting this from the Melkite tradition:

Do Ruthenian or Ukrainian parishes ever do this?