Dr. Taylor Marshall

So it's a very solemn, very beautiful liturgy.

And then the next day is Good Friday.

And there is a service, a liturgy in which the cross of Jesus Christ, which has been veiled previously, is now unveiled.

And there are some very beautiful signs.

prayers to Christ and the faithful come up to the front of the church and kneel and kiss the cross.

And the deacon or the priest says, you know, behold the wood of the cross.

You know, this is the sign of our salvation.

So what we're doing is we're reliving those key events from the four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Palm Sunday, the commemoration of the Passover and the institution of the Eucharist, Good Friday,

um the recognition that christ is on the cross and the cross is is the the pathway to our salvation holy saturday is the longest liturgy of the year it could be three sometimes five hours some of the greek liturgies and this is a very long ceremony with lots and lots of old testament readings reminding us that christ is descending to the people of the old testament

And usually at the end of that liturgy, towards the end, was the baptism of new Christians.

In the early church, they would go through all of Lent and what's called catechesis.

They'd be catechumens.

And then on that evening, on Saturday evening, after this long liturgy and fasting, they would be baptized.

And then Sunday morning, wake up early.

It's the resurrection of Christ.

And of course, the faithful have been fasting and doing penance and avoiding certain foods.

Finally, on Easter Sunday, it's just, you know, it is the highest and holiest day for Christians.

And it's marked by family, feasting, prayer, hymns, liturgy, of course, the Holy Sacrifice, the Mass, the Eucharist.

And so it's the most intense part of the whole year for Orthodox, Catholic, many Protestants.

And it's hard.