Cultural aspects in Christian and Islamic religions - unesdoc - Unesco

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Sundays of Lent
Fasting season in the Maronite liturgy consists
of Sundays and weeks. The Sundays are: Cana
Sunday, The Leper Sunday, the Hemorrhaging
Woman Sunday, the Prodigal Son Sunday, the
Paralytic Sunday and Bartimeus the Blind Sunday.
Lent season officially ends on Good Friday before
Lazarus Saturday and Hosanna Sunday. The
Church then reads the chapter on the Temptation
of Christ (Matthew 4 /1 - 11 ). Weeks on the other
hand, include liturgically the first week, called the
Week of Lent, which is repeated in the second and
third weeks, the fourth week called the Week of
Miracles and that is repeated in the fifth week,
and Hosanna Week, which is the sixth week and
is never repeated. In Chalcedonian Orthodox
Churches, there are two particular Sundays: the
first, ‘The Triumph of Orthodoxy’ and the third,
‘Adoration of the Cross’ Sunday.
The Triumph of the Orthodoxy [on Iconoclasm]:
Orthodox Churches are particularly known for
honoring Holy icons that the faithful put up in
churches and homes to help them in always
remembering God, in praying and in living piously.
The Byzantine Church witnessed in the Seventh
and Eighth Centuries a war that lasted 120 years. It
was launched by the Emperor on Holy icons trying
to remove them from churches, monasteries, and
homes. This war ended in 843 when Empress
Theodora approved the decisions of the Seventh
Ecumenical Council (787 AD) which stipulated that
icons and the Cross should always be honored
and put up in churches and homes. The faithful in
Constantinople carried icons and held a procession
carrying them. This was on the first Sunday of the
Great Lent which was henceforth called sunday
of the Orthodoxy which is ‘The Triumph of the
Orthodoxy’. The faithful bring icons from their
homes to the church to Holy Mass and carry them
in procession inside the church.
Adoration of the Cross Sunday: on this Sunday
the faithful prostrate before the Cross, drawing
from it strength and hope to proceed with their
fasting. At Matins [early morning prayer service],
the priest brings the Cross out of the sanctuary.
He sets the Cross on a tray decorated with flowers,
and surrounded with three candles and incenseburners
and takes them in procession to the center
of the church, where he sets the Cross rests on a
Holy Table where it remains for a week. The Priest
leads the faithful who prostrate before the Cross
and kiss the feet of Christ on the Cross. They take
one flower as a symbol of Christ’s victory over
death and carry it with them back home. Some
keep these flowers year after year placing them in
the Bible or in prayer books or in spiritual books.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday or Hosanna Sunday is taken from the
cry of acclamation and adoration used to welcome
Christ upon His entry into Jerusalem, “Hosanna”.
Palm Sunday, that precedes Passion Week,
commemorates a major event, the peak of Christ’s
ministry, namely: His entry into Jerusalem, the
Holy City, on a donkey as a victorious king. Christ
appears in this event as a humble king entering the
capital of his kingdom, Jerusalem, amidst a great
crowd. The people, the Apostles and children were
chanting ‘Hosanna’, meaning ‘O Savior, O Savior’.
They waved olive and palm branches. Thus, Palm
Sunday prefigures Resurrection from the dead and
the final kingly victory!