Marking Good Friday with Epitah Procession

Anyone with kids knows that Holy Week can be a challenging yet extremely rich experience!  Although the night services postpone bed time, we try to remember, it’s just for one week, and nothing else quite seems to matter. Yes, the services can be long, so this post is dedicated to the “something special” in each night that makes it all worth it for young and old. Here’s our list of things not to miss with your kids and teens.

Maundy Thursday

The ceremony of washing the feet of the poor, especially commemorating Jesus’ washing of His disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday. Also called maundy money. money distributed as alms in conjunction with the ceremony of maundy or on Maundy Thursday conducted by Fr. Constantinos Eliud.

Good Friday

The Friday of Holy Week, traditionally called Good Friday, is a day of mourning in Christianity. It commemorates the execution of Jesus by crucifixion.  The Epitaph or Epitaphios, as it is called in Greek, is an elaborate wooden bier adorned traditionally by young girls and women with fresh flowers which symbolizes the tomb of Jesus after he has been crucified and taken down from the cross.

In the middle of the bier an icon of Christ is placed. Good Friday, we commemorate the events leading up to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. For the Greek Orthodox Church, Good Friday is a day of mourning. The drama of Jesus Christ’s death is followed with great devoutness. The icon of Jesus is taken off the cross, wrapped in linen and put it in the Epitaph, symbolizing his tomb.

Today we honored Good Friday and attended a sermon officiated by Fr. Constantinos Eliud, at St. Irene Orthodox Mission Center & Orphanage before making the procession of the Epitaph as part of Orthodox Easter celebrations.

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