The death and burial of Jesus Christ are remembered by the Orthodox Church on Good Friday (the last Friday before Easter). On this day, special services are held in all Orthodox churches.
The day of Good Friday is, perhaps, the busiest time, during which several different services are held per day. The service day begins in the morning at eight or nine o'clock in the morning with the reading of the Royal Hours, during which the psalmist reads certain psalms, as well as passages from the Old Testament (parimia) telling about the prophecies concerning the suffering of the Messiah. The priest at the Tsar's clock reads portions of the Gospels, narrating about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On Friday afternoon (usually from 12 to 2 pm) Vespers is served, to which is added Little Compline with the reading of the canon, called the lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos. Before the reading of the canon, the Shroud of the Savior is brought to the center of the temple, which depicts the position in the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. The canon itself tells about the sufferings that the Mother of God endured, seeing the crucifixion of her son and God.
On Friday evening, the Matins of Great Saturday is celebrated, on which the rite of burial of the Shroud of Jesus Christ is performed. It is this divine service that is the historical memory of the Church about the burial of the Savior. In some parishes, this service is performed on Saturday night.
The service of the Matins of Great Saturday is unique. This service is dispatched only once a year. One of the main features of the divine service is the reading of the verses of the seventeenth kathisma alternately with special troparions, reminding a person of the death and burial of the Savior.
At the end of the service of Matins on Great Saturday, the rite of burial of the shroud of Jesus Christ is performed. The priest raises the shroud over his head and the procession begins around the temple. Ahead is the clergy with the shroud, then the choir and all the believers. During the procession, a funeral bell ringing is carried out. This procession is a symbolic memory of the burial of the Savior. As you know, after the death of Jesus Christ, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus removed the body of the Savior from the cross, prepared it for burial and buried it in a cave located not far from Calvary.
After the procession, the shroud is again placed in the center of the temple. The shrine is entered into the altar on the night before Easter at the end of the reading at the midnight office of the canon of Great Saturday.
Good Friday is the strictest fast day for Orthodox believers. The Church's charter presupposes abstinence from food on this day until lunchtime (until the removal of the holy shroud during the day's service).
