The death and burial of Jesus Christ is remembered by the Orthodox Church on Good Friday (last Friday before Easter). On this day in all Orthodox churches special services are held.
Good Friday Day is perhaps the most eventful time during which several different services are held per day. Liturgical day begins in the morning at eight or nine in the morning by reading the Royal Clock, in which the psalm reader reads certain psalms, as well as passages from the Old Testament (parimia), telling about the prophecies concerning the sufferings of the Messiah. A priest on the Royal Clock reads passages of the Gospels that tell of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On Friday afternoon (usually between 12 a.m. and 2 p.m.) a Vespers service is performed, to which a small supper is added with the reading of the canon called the cry of the Most Holy Theotokos. Before reading the canon, the shroud of the Savior is brought to the center of the temple, which depicts the position in the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. The canon itself tells of the sufferings that the Mother of God suffered, seeing the crucifixion of her son and God.
On Friday evening, Matins of Great Saturday are celebrated, during which the rite of the burial of the shroud of Jesus Christ is carried out. It is this worship service that is the historical memory of the Church about the burial of the Savior. In some parishes, this service is performed on Saturday night.
The service of Matins of Great Saturday is unique. Such a service is sent only once a year. One of the main features of worship is the reading of verses of the seventeenth kathisma in turn with special troparia, reminding a person of the death and burial of the Savior.
At the end of divine service of Matins of Great Saturday, the rite of burial of the shroud of Jesus Christ is performed. The priest raises the shroud over his head and begins a procession around the temple. Ahead is the clergy with the shroud, then the choir and all the believers. During the procession, a funeral bell ringing is carried out. This procession is a symbolic memory of the burial of the Savior. As you know, after the death of Jesus Christ, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus removed the body of the Savior from the cross, prepared it for burial, and buried it in a cave located near Calvary.
After the procession, the shroud again rests in the center of the temple. The shrine is entered into the altar already the night before Easter at the end of the reading on the midnight of the canon of Great Saturday.
Good Friday is the strictest fasting day for Orthodox believers. The charter of the Church presupposes abstinence from food on this day until dinner (until the holy shroud is taken out for daily worship).
