Great tuesday

On Tuesday morning, Jesus came from Bethany to Jerusalem and taught the people. On this day he was told to his disciples about the second coming ( Matthew 24 ), the parable of the ten virgins ( Matthew 25: 1-13 ), the parable of the talents ( Matthew 25: 14-30 ). The high priests and elders tempted him with questions ( Mark 11: 27-33 ), wanted to arrest him, but were afraid to do so openly because of the people who revered Jesus as a prophet ( Matt. 21:46 ), admired his teachings ( Mark 11 : 18 ) and listened carefully to him ( Mark 12:37 ).

Orthodox Church

Matins

Matins are performed according to the order of Lenten, that is, after the sixth psalm, Hallelujah is sung with verses. Then the special troparion of the first three days of Holy Week “ Behold the Bride is Coming at Midnight ” is performed three times:

Behold the Bridegroom is coming at midnight, and the slave is blessed, the watchful one will show him: he is not worthy of the pack, but the one who is discouraged will see him. watch for my soul, you shall not be burdened with sleep, and you shall not be put to death, and the kingdom will be shut up outside, but perceive those who call: Holy, Holy, Holy God, have mercy on the Virgin Mary ^[2] .

Transfer

Now, the Bridegroom ( that is, Christ ) comes at midnight. Blessed is the slave whom He finds awake, and unworthy the one He finds sleeping. Be careful, my soul, so as not to be weighed down by sleep, to be put to death, and to remain outside the closed doors of the Kingdom. But rise, calling out: Holy, holy, holy, God bless us, by the prayers of the Virgin have mercy on us.

This troparion, being a reminiscence of the parable of the ten virgins , reminds believers of the Last Judgment and calls them to spiritual wakefulness. During the singing of the troparion, the censorship of the temple and worshipers is performed according to the custom (absent from the Typicon ).

After reading the rank-and-file kathisma from the Psalter, the gospel story is offered to the prayers about Jesus' answers to the tempting questions of the Herodians (about paying a tribute to Caesar ), the Sadducees (about the resurrection of the dead ) and the Pharisees (about the greatest commandment in the Law ), as well as about the subsequent denunciation of the Pharisees and scribes by Jesus ( seven times “ woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ”) (Conception 90: Matthew 22:15 - 23:39 ).

The canon of Matins of Great Tuesday is a bimodule (that is, it contains only two songs out of nine possible: the eighth and ninth) of Cosmas Mayumsky . After the ninth song of the canon, the expostillarium (luminaries) of the first four days of Holy Week is sung three times: “ Your hall, I see my Savior ” (reminiscence of the parable of the marriage feast ).

Thy Hall Your Savior, my dear, is adorned, and there is no imam, but I will go within it: enlighten the garment of my soul to the Sovereign, and save me.

Transfer

I see Your decorated ( marriage ) chamber, the Savior, but I do not have ( worthy ) clothing to enter it. Enlighten the clothes of my soul, Giving light, and save me.

The palace mentioned in the exapostillarium is, according to the interpreters, the chamber of the Last Supper , and the prayers are invited, therefore, to think about how worthy they are to be witnesses and participants in the events of Holy Week. The charter stipulates that this important expostillary should be performed by the canonarch in the middle of the church with a candle in his hands, and worshipers will bow down.

Clock

On Great Tuesday (like Great Monday and Wednesday ), the clock is modeled after the Lenten - with earthly bows on troparia every hour and at the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian . The features of these three days are:

• Reading the gospel every hour. The typicon proposes to read the four Gospels in full during these three days (with the exception of the account of the Passion of Christ ). In modern parish practice, reading the Gospel on a watch begins much earlier - on the second week of Lent, so on Great Tuesday the Gospel of John is read.
• At the sixth hour, it is not the Book of Isaiah (as on the weekdays of the six previous weeks) that is read, but the first chapters of the prophet Ezekiel . On Great Tuesday, a passage from Ezek is read . 1: 21-28 - visions of the glory of God in the image of a mysterious fire-retardant Seated on a sapphire throne over a crystal-like vault.

Liturgy

The liturgy of the blessed gifts is celebrated . As paremias are offered:

• the story of the salvation of the baby of Moses ( Exodus 2: 5-10 )
• Job's first test ( Job. 1: 13-20 ).

Both paremias speak of tribulations and trials for the faithful , and also prepare worshipers for the thought of Christ 's future suffering . The tradition of reading the book of Job for edification and affirmation of the faithful is traced in the Church until the apostolic times, it is indicated by the apostle James in the Cathedral Epistle ( James 5:11 ). The book of Exodus , which tells the story of the Old Testament Easter, directly predicts the events of the New Testament Easter.

Then the Gospel is read of the second coming, the parable of the ten virgins , talents and the Last Judgment (conception 102: Matthew 24:36 - 26: 2 ). The verses on “ Lord Cry ” (they are also sung in the morning “at praise” and “at the verse”) urge the worshipers to apply the content of these parables to themselves and take them as a lesson for themselves. The most famous are the first and last of these stichera:

In the light of thy shrines, what is unworthy of all? As soon as I am boldly imprisoned in the chamber, my clothes convict me, as if I am not married, and I will be bound out of the angels. Cleanse, Lord, the defilement of my soul, and save me as a Humane lover
Vladyka entrusts this talent to you, my soul. Accept the gift with fear, borrow the one who gave it, give it to the poor, and get the Lord’s friend, let him be at His right hand, he will always come in glory, and hear the blessed voice: enter into the joy of your Lord. Thou art worthy of me to do, Savior, astray, great for the sake of Your mercy.

Transfer

How will I enter, unworthy, into Your bright and holy chamber? Even if I dare to enter there, I will be bound by the angels, since my non-holiday clothes will convict me. Purify, Lord, the defilement of my soul and save me, O Philanthropist!
My soul, your Lord entrusts you with talent. With fear, accept this gift as a loan and give it to the poor to find a friend in the Lord, stand at His right hand and hear His blissful voice: enter into the joy of your Lord! Make me astray, worthy of this honor, by Your great mercy.

At the end of the service, a special leave is read: “The Coming Lord for our free passion for the sake of salvation, Christ, our true God, through the prayers of our Most Holy Most Holy Mater, the holy glorious and universal apostle, the holy righteous God-Father Joachim and Anna and all the saints ... ”.

According to A. Jaubert ^[3] , which also adheres to V. M. Lurie ^[4] , Great Tuesday was the day of the Lord's Supper and the first day of Easter in one of the ancient Christian calendars. Traces of this understanding of Great Tuesday are visible from the Easter interpretation by Methodius of Olympus of the parable of the ten virgins in his essay "Feast of the Ten Maidens, or On the Virgin", and more specifically, in the hymn of St. Thecla of Iconium . According to Deacon Vladimir Vasilik, “the two-descent of Great Tuesday is filled with Easter Eucharistic content and is associated with the early Christian understanding of Great Tuesday as a kind of Easter festival. The absence of a mournful second song in it is not an innovation, but an archaic ” ^[5] .

Catholic Church

The first reading of the Liturgy of the word - the prophecy of the Messiah from the book of Isaiah ( Isaiah 49: 1-6 ), the gospel reading of this day ( John 13: 21-33, 36-38 ) tells of the betrayal of Judah and the prediction of the renunciation of Peter . On the morning of Great Tuesday, a mass of consecration of the world and the blessing of the oil (Missa Chrismatis) is usually held in those cases when, for pastoral reasons, it cannot be served on Great Thursday .

In the Ambrosian rite, a passage is read (both before and after the liturgical reforms of Paul VI ) in the Mass . 11: 47-54 (the high priests plan to arrest and kill Jesus) ^[6] .

Ancient Eastern Churches

In the Western Syrian, Eastern Syrian , Coptic , Armenian rites, the worship of the Great Wednesday, as well as the previous Great Monday and Tuesday, is characterized by an abundance of biblical readings. So in the East Syrian rite on Great Tuesday read Genesis. 37: 23-36 (brothers sell Joseph to Egypt), Nav. 22: 30-33 (the tribes of Reuben , Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh leaving for Jordan are blessed by Phinehas ). The Armenian Church , emphasizing the special mourning character of Great Tuesday, as well as the two days framing it, does not perform the liturgy. In the Western and East Syrian rites on these three days, the liturgy of the blessed gifts is served ^[6] .

• The service of the Orthodox Church (reprint edition of 1912). - M .: Dar , 2005 .-- S. 367.
• Great Tuesday of Holy Week of Lent
• Chanting and reading Triodi Lenten on Great Tuesday on the site Orthodoxy.Ru
• Great Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday // Orthodox Encyclopedia