Russian Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, 16th century. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Within the body of Christian beliefs the resurrection of Jesus is a core event on which much of Christian doctrine and theology depend Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed "

Bright Week or Renewal Week is the name used by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Rite for the period of seven days beginning on Pascha (Easter) and continuing up to (but not including) the following Sunday, which is known as Thomas Sunday. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world This article refers to Eastern Churches in full communion with the Holy See The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite, is the liturgical rite used currently (in various languages Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. The Octave Day of Easter, sometimes known as Low Sunday (and also known historically as White Sunday Whitsunday St Latin rite and other Christian groups such as Anglicans refer to this period as Easter Week, not to be confused with the Octave of Easter, which includes the following Sunday. The Latin Rite is one of the 23 Sui iuris Particular Churches within the Catholic Church. Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs Easter Week or Bright Week is the period of seven days from Easter Sunday through the Saturday following The Octave Day of Easter, sometimes known as Low Sunday (and also known historically as White Sunday Whitsunday St

The entire week following Pascha is to be set aside by Orthodox Christians for the celebration of the Resurrection. According to the 66th canon of the Council in Trullo: "from the holy day of the Resurrection of Christ our God until New Sunday (i. Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Anglican Communion of churches The Quinisext Council was a church council held in 692 at Constantinople under Justinian II. The Octave Day of Easter, sometimes known as Low Sunday (and also known historically as White Sunday Whitsunday St e. Thomas Sunday) for a whole week the faithful in the holy churches should continually be repeating psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, rejoicing and celebrating Christ, and attending to the reading of the Divine Scriptures and delighting in the Holy Mysteries. The term sacred mysteries generally denotes the area of Supernatural phenomena associated with a Divinity or a religious ideology. For in this way shall we be exalted with Christ; raised up together with Him. For this reason on the aforesaid days that by no means there be any horse races or any other public spectacle". ^[1] In Imperial Russia, the taverns used to be closed during Bright Week, and no alcoholic beverages were sold. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya ^[2]

Liturgical aspects

The entire week is considered to be one continuous day, and the name of each day of the week is called "Bright" (e. g. , "Bright Monday"). Every service during the week is completely different than at any other time of the year. Everything in the services is sung joyfully rather than read. Normally, the entire Psalter is read during the course of a week (and twice a week during Great Lent), but during Bright Week no psalms at all are read. A Psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms and which often contains other devotional material Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important Fasting season in the Church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians Psalms ( Hebrew: Tehilim, תהילים, or "praises" is a book of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament) included Each of the Little Hours is replaced by a special service known as the Paschal Hours. ~The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Chrisitians both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church The Paschal Hours are the form in which the Little Hours are chanted on Pascha (Easter and throughout Bright Week in the Eastern Orthodox Church ^[3] The normal Prayers Before Communion are replaced with the Paschal Canon. Eucharistic discipline is the term applied to the regulations and practices associated with an individual preparing for the reception of the Eucharist. A canon is a structured Hymn used in a number of Eastern Orthodox services

The hymns chanted every day are identical to those chanted on the Sunday of Pascha, with the exception of a few parts that are taken from the Octoechos (the "Book of the Eight Tones"). The Octoechos ( Greek:; Slavonic: Октонхъ Oktoikh, or Осмогласникъ Osmoglasnik)&mdashliterally the book Octoechos (also Octoichos; Greek:, meaning the "Eight Modes" is the fundamental structure for classifying and describing modes ( Each day has a different tone assigned to it: Easter Sunday is Tone One, Bright Monday is Tone Two, and so on through the eight tones (skipping Tone Seven, the "Grave Tone"):

• Sunday of Pascha (Tone One)
• Bright Monday (Tone Two)
• Bright Tuesday (Tone Three)
• Bright Wednesday (Tone Four)
• Bright Thursday (Tone Five)
• Bright Friday (Tone Six)
• Bright Saturday (Tone Eight)

The sanctuary, seen through the open Holy Doors during Bright Week. Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday and is celebrated as a Holiday in some largely Christian cultures especially Roman Catholic Easter Friday or Bright Friday is the Friday after the Christian festival of Easter. Easter Saturday or Bright Saturday is the Saturday after the Christian festival of Easter, also called Saturday in Easter week. Sanctuary has multiple meanings A sanctuary is the consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar The plashchanitza (deep red) is visible on the Holy Table (St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg). The Epitaphios ( Greek: Επιτάφιος epitaphios, or Επιτάφιον epitaphion; Slavonic: Плащаница plashchanitsa An altar is any structure upon which Sacrifices or other offerings are made for religious purposes or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor (Исаа́киевский Собо́р in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest Cathedral Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River

During all of Bright Week the Holy Doors on the Iconostasis are kept open—the only time of the year when this occurs. In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis (the plural is iconostases) also called the Templon, is a wall of Icons and religious paintings The open doors represent the stone rolled away from the Tomb of Christ, and the Epitaphios (Slavonic: Plashchanitza), representing the burial clothes, is visible through them on the Holy Table (altar). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Sanctum Sepulchrum also called the Church of the Resurrection, ( Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως Naos tis Anastaseos The Shroud of Turin (or Turin Shroud) is a Linen cloth bearing the image of a man who appears to have been physically traumatized in a manner consistent An altar is any structure upon which Sacrifices or other offerings are made for religious purposes or some other sacred place where ceremonies take place The doors are closed before the Ninth Hour on the eve of Thomas Sunday. None, or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies However, the Afterfeast of Pascha will continue until the eve of the Ascension. An Afterfeast is a period of celebration attached to one of the Great Feasts celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches (roughly equivalent to The general and most common understanding of the Christian Doctrine of Ascension holds that Jesus bodily ascended to Heaven in the presence

In Bright Week the normal fasting rules are suspended, and the entire week is fast-free, with special Paschal foods, such as pascha (a special dish made of cheese, eggs and other products that were forbidden during Great Lent), kulich and other easter breads being eaten every day. Paskha or Pascha ( Russian: Пасха " Easter " is a festal dish made in Eastern Orthodox countries Kulich Russian кулич meaning "easter cake" is a kind of Easter bread, traditional in the Orthodox Christian faith — Russia, Belarus, In many European countries there are various traditions surrounding the use of bread during the Easter holiday Red Easter eggs are blessed at the end of the Paschal Vigil, and are eaten throughout Bright Week (though some are usually reserved for Radonitza). The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration Radonitsa ("Day of Rejoicing" is a holiday in the Eastern Orthodox Church which falls on the Monday or (more commonly Tuesday of Saint Thomas Week&mdasheight

At the end of Vespers on the Sunday of Pascha there is a Cross Procession three times around the church, at which the Icon of the Resurrection and the Artos are carried. Vespers is the evening Prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Eastern (Byzantine Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, liturgies of the A Crucession, or Cross Procession (Крестный ход Krestnyi khod) is a procession that takes place in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Within the body of Christian beliefs the resurrection of Jesus is a core event on which much of Christian doctrine and theology depend The term Artos ( Greek: Áρτος "leavened loaf" refers to a loaf of leavened bread that is blessed during services in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern On the last circuit, there is a reading from the Gospel and the priest sprinkles the faithful with holy water. The Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels ( Greek:, Evangélion) is a Codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels Holy water can also refer to water that has been blessed, such as by a Priest, and is considered Holy. On Bright Monday through Bright Saturday, this Cross Procession takes place in the same manner after Matins or the Divine Liturgy. Matins (also known as Orthros or Oútrenya in Eastern Churches) is the early morning or night Prayer service in the Roman Catholic The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy.

Traditional Paschal Crucession during Bright Week by Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church in Guslitsa, Moscow region. Easter ( Greek: Πάσχα Pascha or Pasxa) is the most important religious feast in the Christian Liturgical year. A Crucession, or Cross Procession (Крестный ход Krestnyi khod) is a procession that takes place in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern The Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church (or Russian Orthodox Oldritualist Church, Russian Orthodox Old-Ritualist Church) (Русская Православная Guslitsa, Guslica, or Guslicy (Гуслица Гуслицы is a region situated in the eastern part of Moscow Oblast. Moscow Oblast (Моско́вская о́бласть Moskovskaya oblast) or Podmoskovye (ru Подмоско́вье Podmoskovye) is a

The Artos is a loaf of leavened bread that was blessed during the Paschal Vigil, and is symbolic of the physical presence of the Resurrected Christ among the Apostles. The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e This Artos is kept in the church during Bright Week, either in the nave, next to the Icon of the Resurrection; in front of the Icon of Christ on the Iconostasis; or in front of the Holy Doors. In Romanesque and Gothic Christian Abbey, Cathedral Basilica and church Architecture, the nave is the In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis (the plural is iconostases) also called the Templon, is a wall of Icons and religious paintings Throughout the week, whenever anyone enters the church, he or she kisses the Artos, as a means of symbolically greeting the resurrected Christ.

On Bright Friday, in addition to the normal Paschal hymns and the hymns from the Octoechos, special stichera and a canon in honor of the Theotokos (Mother of God) are chanted in commemoration of her Icon of the "Life-giving Spring. Easter Friday or Bright Friday is the Friday after the Christian festival of Easter. Theotokos (Θεοτόκος translit Theotókos) is a title of Mary the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, The Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font is both the Feast day of a historic church in Constantinople and an Icon of the Theotokos "

On Bright Saturday, after the Divine Liturgy, the priest says a prayer over the Artos and it is broken up and distributed to the faithful. Easter Saturday or Bright Saturday is the Saturday after the Christian festival of Easter, also called Saturday in Easter week.

Bright Week begins the liturgical season known as the Pentecostarion, the period of fifty days which begins on Pascha and continues to Pentecost and its afterfeast. The Pentecostarion ( Greek: Πεντηκοστάριον Pentekostárion; Slavonic: Цвѣтнаѧ Трїωдь Tsvyetnaya Triod' Pentecost (πεντηκοστή, pentekostē, "the fiftieth day" is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian Liturgical year, celebrated the An Afterfeast is a period of celebration attached to one of the Great Feasts celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches (roughly equivalent to ^[4] Every day throughout the coming year is dependent upon the date of Pascha for determining both the Tone of the Week (Octoechos) and the Epistle and Gospel readings.

Paschal funeral

If it becomes necessary to celebrate a funeral during Bright Week, even this service is radically different, and follows for the most part the format for Paschal Matins, with only a few funeral hymns being chanted. A Christian burial is the Burial of a deceased person with ecclesiastical rites typically in Consecrated ground ^[5] It is held that those Orthodox Christians who die in penitence during this time are released from the bonds of their sins and are accepted into the Kingdom of Heaven. ^[6]

References

External links

• Holy Pascha: The Resurrection of Our Lord Orthodox icon and synaxarion
• Bright Monday
• Bright Tuesday
• Bright Wednesday
• Bright Thursday
• Bright Friday
• Bright Saturday

• Paschal Week, from Handbook for Church Servers (Kharkov, 1900) by S. An icon (from Greek εἰκών eikōn, "image" is a religious work of art most commonly a painting from Eastern Christianity. Synaxarium, Synaxarion, Synexarium, Synexarion, pl Synaxaria ( Greek: Συναξάριον, from συναγειν V. Bulgakov