Fr. Michael Gillis: The Bridegroom Matins of Holy Week

Originally posted on the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America website, the following homily by Fr. Michael Gillis is provided for the edification of the reader.

On Sunday night of Holy Week, we pray the first of three Bridegroom Matins. For Holy Week, all of the services are done half a day earlier than normal out of heightened anticipation (for example, on Sunday evening we are praying the service for Monday morning).

The main hymn of Bridegroom Matins is a reflection based on Matthew 24:42, "Watch, therefore, for you know not the hour when the Lord will come," and Matthew 25:6, "At midnight the cry was made, 'behold the Bridegroom comes.'"

Behold the Bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant whom He shall find vigilant; and unworthy is he whom he shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul that you not be overcome by sleep, lest you be given up to death and be shut out of the Kingdom. Wherefore, rouse yourself crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy are you our God, through the intercessions of the Theotokos: save us! (The ending changes slightly each time.)

This hymn, sung three times in a row at each Bridegroom Matins service, reminds us that each of us must remain vigilant in our relationship with God. Sleep represents the attitude of not caring, of not anticipating or longing for the awareness of God's presence in our life. This hymn specifically, and all of Holy Week generally, reminds us that just as the same crowd that shouted "Hosannah" on Palm Sunday morning will five days later be shouting "Crucify Him." If we are not vigilant and attentive to our souls, then we too can fall away and miss the coming of God in our lives.

Each Bridegroom Matins service has different themes focusing on various aspects of the last week of Christ's ministry. The first night we focus on the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph (Genesis 37-50), who is considered the most perfect prefiguring of Christ's innocence and unjust suffering. We also remember the cursed fig tree (Matthew 21:18-20). The fig tree represents the Jewish nation to whom Jesus had come (for Jesus is a Jew). However, when Jesus came to His people, He found only the outward forms of religion (leaves) but not the fruit of true religion: mercy, truth and compassion. And so we are reminded that just as many years ago Jesus cursed the fig tree with leaves and no fruit, so today we are not safe if we have only the outward appearance of piety and religion but are not also cultivating its fruit, especially of repentance.

On the second night (Monday, in anticipation of Holy Tuesday), we hear the gospel reading (Matthew 22:15-23:39) in which the Pharisees plotted to entangle Jesus in His talk. Of course, He confounded them and condemned them for their hypocrisy and disbelief. 

The liturgical texts refer chiefly to the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:13). It tells the story of the five virgins who filled their lamps in preparation for receiving the bridegroom while the other five allowed their lamps to go out, and hence were shut out of the marriage feast. This parable warns us that we must always be prepared to receive our Lord when He comes again.

The theme of the day is reinforced by the exaposteilarion hymn that we sing in all Bridegroom Orthros services: "I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, O my Savior, but have no wedding garment that I may enter. O Giver of Light, enlighten the vesture of my soul, and save me."

In the Presanctified Divine Liturgy the next day, we read this parable as part of the gospel reading (Matthew 24:36-26:2) that also includes the Parable of the Talents and our Lord's explanation of The Last Judgment, the latter of which we had also read two Sundays before the start of Great Lent. These accounts serve as reminders of how our Lord will judge us on the last day.

The theme of the third night (Tuesday, in anticipation of Holy Wednesday), is repentance and forgiveness. We remember the sinful woman who anointed our Lord in anticipation of His death (Matthew 26:6-16, read in the Presanctified Divine Liturgy the next day). Her repentance and love of Christ is the theme of the wonderful "Hymn of Kassiane" which is chanted in the final Bridegroom Orthros, reminding us one more time, before it is too late, to repent of our sins and forgive others so that Christ and others may forgive us.

A second theme contrasts the first: the agreement of Judas to sell and betray the Master to the Jews. The hymns make clear that Judas did not perish simply because of this agreement, but because he refused to repent and believe in the possibility of forgiveness. We do not deplore his actions because of self-righteousness, but with being conscious of our own guilt and sins that crucify Christ anew.

These are somber themes, but they are meant to be somber. We are going with Christ to the Cross. But even so, the shouts of "Hosannah!" are still ringing in our ears from the morning of Palm Sunday. The anticipation of the resurrection is beginning to glow in our hearts.

Fr. Michael Gillis, host of the podcast Praying in the Rain on Ancient Faith Radio, is the parish priest of Holy Nativity Orthodox Church in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.

Read also