Syros, Archbishop of the Cycladic Islands, commemorates Holy Week,
Megali Evdomada.
Orthodox liturgies lead the people in commemorating the events of Holy
Week, from Christ’s sentencing to the Resurrection. It is a week of
catharsis, preparing worshippers to receive the New Light, a symbolic
victory of life over death, and the Purification of the old world.
From the Sunday before Easter, two services are celebrated each day,
morning and evening. At the start of the week, the congregation
consists mainly of the elderly, but come Maundy Thursday, the ardour
has spread to the rest of the population and reaches its apotheosis the
following day, Good Friday, when a crowd of people process through the
heart of the village behind the Epitaph (the tomb of Christ) re-living
the Passion of Christ; and the crowd then eagerly await the great
festival of the resurrection at midnight on Easter Saturday.
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