25. (6) <Here the manuscript breaks off.> ... "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" <Matt. 21:9>, and so on. They have to go slowly for the sake of the monazontes who are on foot, so they arrive in Jerusalem almost at daybreak, but just before it is light, at the moment when people can first recognize each other. (7) When they arrive, the bishop goes straight into the Anastasis, and everybody goes with him. Extra lamps have been lighted there. Then they have one psalm and a Prayer, and the bishop blesses first the catechumens, and then the faithful. He then retires, and all the people return to the places where they are staying to have a rest, but the monazontes stay there to sing hymns till daybreak. (8) Just after seven in the morning, when the people have rested, they all assemble in the Great Church on Golgotha. And on this day in this church, and at the Anastasis and the Cross and Bethlehem, the decorations really are too marvellous for words: All you can see is gold and jewels and silk; the hangings are entirely silk with gold stripes, the curtains the same, and everythmg they use for services at the festival is made of gold and jewels. You simply cannot imagine the number, and the sheer weight of the candles and the tapers and lamps and everything else they use for the services. (9) They are beyond description, and so is the magnificent building itself. It was built by Constantine, and under the supervision of his mother it was decorated with gold, mosaic, and precious marble, as much as his empire could provide, and this not only at the Great Church but at the Anastasis and the Cross, and the other Jerusalem holy places as well. (10) But I must get back to the point. On the first day they have the service in the Great Church on Golgotha, and all the preaching and all that they read or sing is appropriate to the day. Then, after their dismissal the church, they go with singing to the Anastasis m the usual way, and the dismissal there takes place at about noon. (11) Lucernare that day takes place in the way which is usual every day. On the second day they assemble in the church on Golgotha, and also on the third, and their rejoicing lasts until noon in Constantine's church on all those three days. On the fourth day they decorate everything and celebrate in the same way on the Eleonan (the very beautiful church on the Mount of Olives), on the fifth at the Lazarium, about a mile and a half from Jerusalem, on the sixth on Sion, on the seventh at the Anastasis, and on the eighth At the Cross. The decorations and rejoicing continue for eight days in all these places I have mentioned. - - -
26. Note that the Fortieth Day after Epiphany is observed here with special magnificence. On this day they assemble in the Anastasis. Everyone gathers, and things are done with the same solemnity as at the feast of Easter. All the presbyters preach first, then the bishop, and they interpret the passage from the Gospel about Joseph and Mary taking the Lord to the Temple, and about Simeon and the prophetess Anna, daughter of Phanuel, seeing the Lord, and what they said to him, and about the sacrifice offered by his parents. When all the rest has been done in the proper way, they celebrate the sacrament and have their dismissal.
(transl. Wilkinson)
| Bibliography |
|---|