April 9, 2012

Orthodox Christian Holy Week (documentary)



"Pascha - The Resurrection of Christ," is a one-hour special highlighting portions of Orthodox Christian Holy Week. Produced by Greek Orthodox Telecommunications, the television ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and funded by FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism, the program features the celebration of Pascha (Easter) with deeply moving and ancient services that recount the Gospel narrative leading to the Death and the joyous Resurrection of Christ, including the Burial of Christ and the Resurrection Service. The Service of Holy Friday includes a procession with the embroidered tapestry of Christ in the grave (the Epitaphios). The Resurrection Service on Saturday evening at midnight, the liturgical apex of the Orthodox Church year, is filled with awe-inspiring hymnology and rich visual symbolism. The climax of the Resurrection Service is a procession to the exterior of the Church, where, after proclaiming the Gospel of Resurrection, the faithful, led by Archbishop Demetrios of America, take up the joyous hymn Christ is Risen!