The Weekly Festal Cycle
The Lord's Day (Kyriaki-Sunday)
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
The Lord's Day (Kyriaki-Sunday)
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
The Lord's Day (Kyriaki-Sunday) is the first day of the week. Unfortunately, we consider in our daily conversation that the week begins on the Second Day (Deutera-Monday), perhaps because it is the first working day, and then we wish others a "good week". However, as the word indicates, it is the second day of the week, since the first day is the Lord's Day.
The Jews called it the "first of the Sabbath" (Matt. 28:1), since the Sabbath was the last, the seventh day of the week and the Lord's Day was the first. The first Christians who adopted the division of the week from the Jews called "first of the Sabbath", i.e. the first day of the week, as Kyriaki, which means the Lord's Day, the day of the Risen Christ and is dedicated to Him, and therefore for Christians it is a day of rest and prayer.
When you visit the Middle East, where the three monotheistic religions coexist, you will see that the Muslims have Friday as their day off, the Jews on Saturday and the Christians on Sunday, and this shows the difference between them. We stand firm on the Crucified and Resurrected Christ and that is why on Sunday we celebrate the Resurrectional Divine Liturgy, we have a day off of work for church attendance, we pray to Christ, we rest our bodies and souls, and in general we dedicate this day to Christ.
This is clearly seen in the book of Revelation, in which it is written: "I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,... I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet" (Rev. 1:9-10), and he goes on and describes the appearance of Christ and the heavenly Divine Liturgy that he was found worthy to see.
It is obvious that the Lord's Day is the day of the Resurrection of Christ, at the same time it is also the first day on which God created light, but it is also the day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit came down to the Disciples and Apostles as a tongue of fire, and it also reminds us of the day of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead and to bring about the resurrection of the dead and the great day of the Kingdom of God, the eternal and infinite and non-sunset day of the uncreated Light.
In this sense, the Lord's Day is the oldest first feast celebrated by Christians and is the weekly Pascha. As we have the feast of Pascha, which we celebrate once a year, so, if we consider one week as a year, then the Lord's Day is the "weekly Pascha", during which the Resurrectional Divine Liturgy is celebrated and all the resurrection troparia are chanted.
After the New Testament, we find the value of the Lord's Day as the pre-eminent festive day in a letter that is said to have been written by the Apostle Barnabas, who even calls it the eighth day: "Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead." It is called this because the Lord's Day also refers to the future Kingdom of God, after the end of the world.
Also, Saint Ignatius the God-bearer in his letter to the Magnesians, writes that after the Resurrection of Christ we no longer sabbath, "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness;... after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's Day as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days of the week."
In addition, Saint Justin, the martyr and philosopher in the middle of the 2nd century AD, testifies that "on the day of the sun, everyone gathers together." Here it can be seen that the Lord's Day is described as the day of the sun, that is, of the Sun of justice, of Christ, and with this meaning the Lord's Day also passed in other languages, such as in the English language as Sunday which means "day of the sun".
In the middle of the 3rd century AD, "The Constitutions of the Apostles" clearly orders Christians to gather on the Lord's Day to hear the word of God and to be nourished by the divine food, the Body and Blood of Christ.
Thus, the value of the the Lord's Day was established and in fact the Synod of Laodicea with the 29th holy Canon orders it: "Christians should not behave like Jews and keep Saturday as a day off of work, but they should also work on that day, so that as Christians they keep the Lord's Day, if of course they can, so that they have a day off of work. And if there are Christians who Judaize, let them cut themselves off from their relationship with Christ."
This is recommended because at that time the Lord's Day had not yet been established as an official day off of work, so Christians must consider it a day off to go to church. However, Constantine the Great in the 4th century AD established the Lord's Day as a day off from work.
Later, Saint John of Damascus wrote the resurrection troparia that are chanted on Saturday evening and Sunday morning, which are amazing, full of resurrection theology.
Therefore, for us Christians, the Lord's Day is the first day of the week, during which we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, His victory over sin, death and the devil and we are invited to participate in this victory of Christ. That is why going to church on this day is absolutely necessary, our preparation for the communion of the Body and Blood of Christ is necessary, and rest and good works are necessary. Then the name of Christian that we have received in Baptism is recognized and we are the Lord's, that is, people of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Source: Delivered on July 14, 2024. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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