A prominent feature of the main Paschal service is the outdoor midnight procession. The faithful sing repeatedly, “Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior…,” while circling the Church three times. Some have described this procession as “a dramatic liturgical reminder” of the myrrh-bearing women coming to Christ’s tomb very early in the morning.
A similar approach to religious symbolism is used to explain particulars of Palm Sunday, especially in non-Orthodox communities. Tree branches, processions, donkeys, men dressed as centurions on horses, and shouts of “Hosanna,” are said to portray – recreate – the Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
Orthodox Church services, however, are not theatre, in spite of what some call “the pageantry of liturgy.” Believers, on occasion, may certainly participate in religious plays conducted outdoors, in parish halls or auditoriums for entertainment and educational purposes. In their worship, however, the faithful never pretend to be something or someone they are not. Icons, processions, hymns, festal decor and the like, these are not simply vivid reminders of history. Neither are they used to help congregants “get a feel” for what things must have been like in Jesus’s day. Instead, such symbols indicate the power of the unseen in our midst, our participation – here and now – in the works of the Lord, accomplished centuries ago for the salvation of all.
Thus, each Spring, we recall that Pascha was the time in the early Church for receiving catechumens into the Faith. After their immersion in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which took place typically in a lake, stream or baptistry, the newly illumined would walk in procession to the Church for their first experience of the Paschal Divine Liturgy.
In our day, the midnight procession can indeed serve the same purpose for those received into the Faith at Easter. For most Orthodox Christians, however, it is a beautiful reaffirmation of their personal participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. It recalls the triple procession around the fount at their own baptism years ago and is, therefore, a point of rededication, a forward movement circling the House of God, indicating a desire to advance in the Faith.
The timing of the procession – the stroke of 12:00 – in the dark of night, the faithful returning minutes later to a brilliantly lit Church, makes strikingly clear the ongoing battle in this world between the powers of good and evil, the dark forces that led to our Lord’s crucifixion, followed by His glorious victory over Satan. It serves to highlight Jesus’s words, “the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not” (John 1:5), and the words of St. Gregory the Theologian who referred to Pascha as, “the night that is brighter than any day.” We also recall the Parable of the Maidens, referenced at Matins during Holy Week, “Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is he whom He shall find watching, and again, unworthy is the one whom He shall find heedless” (Matthew 25:1-13).
The meaning of Palm Sunday for modern Christians is affirmed with equal strength throughout the liturgy. A week prior to Pascha we celebrate the presence of an eternal Kingdom, revealed on this day in the Person of Christ, as He entered the Holy City, riding on “the foal of an ass.” We stand with branches in hand during the services and, “commemorate this event with exactly the same joy as those who greeted Jesus, as if we ourselves were standing on the street of Jerusalem, waiting, welcoming, exulting and repeating the very same words…” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann). And yet, we are not those people, but the presence of the Lord – His Kingdom – is every bit as real for us in 2024, as it was for them in 33 A.D.
So, we take the Palms each year, and mindful of the past we raise them high in the air, decorate our Churches and make processions, celebrating the meaning – today – of these colorful rituals. “(As we experience) once again the thunder of that royal Hosanna, we say to ourselves and to the world: Christ’s Kingdom lives. The Kingdom that shone so brightly on that day in Jerusalem has not died, it has not perished, it has not disappeared from the face of the earth. We say to God (here and now) “You are the one Lord, You are our only King; we know and believe and affirm that this Kingdom of Your love will be victorious over sin, evil and death. The joy of this faith no one can take from us, even if others put all their hope in power and violence, even if their only belief is in bullets, prisons, terror and torture. No, this kingdom of violence, evil and lies will not stand. It will collapse, as every previous kingdom has collapsed, as every previous tyrant has vanished. But Your Kingdom, Lord, will remain. And the time will come when with Your love You will wipe every tear from our eyes, dissolve every sorrow in Your joy, and fill the world You created with the light of immortality” (Fr. Alexander Schmemann).
So, as Orthodox Christians enter the latter days of Lent, approaching Holy Week with the special hymns, rites, symbols, decorations, dimly lit chapels giving way to the light of victory on Pascha night, the eternal, and eternally relevant meaning of all this has to be remembered, and thus, entered into. How often have people mistakenly likened our Church, our Faith, to a museum of beautiful relics, ancient rituals, interesting artifacts and teachings having little significance for modern man. Orthodox Christians themselves are sometimes guilty – unconsciously – of describing Orthodoxy in these terms. Well-meaning “Church tours,” for instance, can give such impressions as the glories of the past are enthusiastically described. Centuries old architecture, hymnography, styles of music, vestments and icons are explained in detail – symbolically – without relevance for the present, without application given for our present-day world.
The power of the Faith, however, lies in the ability of believers to make clear the contemporary meaning of all that we do and teach. The past is brought into the present while anticipating the Kingdom to come, already given in the Person of Christ.
Let’s recall that on Palm Sunday we will sing, “Like the children with the palms of victory, we cry out to Thee (now) O Vanquisher of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord.” And on Pascha night, “Thy Resurrection, O Christ our Savior, the angels in Heaven sing, enable us on earth (now) to glorify Thee in purity of heart.” The continual dwelling in our midst of Christ the King – and our faithful response – remains the constant experience of Orthodox Christians, the ultimate relevance and power of our beautiful and colorful worship.
(Quotes herein are taken from, Celebration of Faith: Sermons, Volume 2: The Church Year, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann and published by St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary Press.)