Great Friday: Teaching 3 (Prayerful Appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ, Before the Epitaphios)

Great Friday:
Teaching 3

(Prayerful Appeal to the Lord Jesus Christ, Before the Epitaphios)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. With a heart filled with sorrow, gazing upon Your pure body wrapped in the shroud, Lord Jesus, the only sinless one – bowing before this sacred image of Yours, Christ who have died and been buried, with deep emotion and tears, I kiss these wounds inflicted upon You by our sins, O Healer of our souls and bodies. What shall we say and what shall we cry out to You from the depths of our soul, if not the repentant and prayerful voice of the prudent thief: "Remember us, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom?"

II. Remember us, O Lord, Creator of angels and Maker of all creatures, by whom all things came to be; who has brought us from non-existence into being, and who, O God, has honored us, men, with Your image. Remember that we are dust and ashes, and like nothing before You, yet Your immortal Spirit lives within us, and our souls yearn for You, finding no comfort in this valley of tears, except in You, Source of life and immortality, radiant glory of the Father, and the image of His hypostasis!

Remember us, O Lord, You Who, for the salvation of Your perishing creation, infinitely beloved by You, yet once ensnared by the wicked serpent in the sin of pride and disobedience, descended from heaven to earth, becoming man, yet never ceasing to be God – visiting our poverty and not forsaking the depths of the Father, that You may renew the image, corrupted by passions, and seek out the straying sheep, to carry it upon Your shoulders to the Father and unite it with the heavenly powers. Remember us, O Lord! for we are those straying sheep whom You, the Good Shepherd, sought, laying down Your life for us.

Remember, Master, Lover of mankind, Lord of heaven and earth, remember us, wanderers and pilgrims on earth, for whose sake You Yourself wandered for thirty-three years on the earth created by Your hand, but which did not provide You with a suitable place to lay Your head - wandered among a wayward and corrupt generation, in order to lead us lost ones to the heavenly homeland, illuminating all our paths with the light of Your Holy Gospel, and by the example of Your most holy life preceding us in the attainment of the Heavenly Kingdom.

Remember, O Master, Lover of mankind, remember us sinners, for whose salvation You endured indescribable sufferings, unjust condemnation, a slap and a blow on the cheek from the hand of an impious slave, spitting from lawless lips, terrible and inhuman scourging, nailing to the cross, tasting bile and vinegar, mockery and ridicule from passers-by and even from a thief, mortal torments, and the most grievous of the torments of hell, abandonment from God the Father, to Whom You were obedient to death, death on the cross. For my sake - each of us cries out to You - for my condemned sake You endured all this, my Deliverer and my God! O, remember us, Lord, for whose salvation You brought to divine justice this immeasurable, infinitely great sacrifice. Let it not be lost to us, do not reject us, sinners, wayward, obstinate, disobedient, lazy, impatient, in a word - unworthy of Your love, but still dear children to You, whom You redeemed at a high price, not with corruptible silver or gold, but with Your precious blood, like that of a lamb, blameless and most pure, Christ (1 Peter 1:19).

In the living feeling of heartfelt repentance, we bow to the dust before You, O Lord, and from the depths of our souls we cry out to You: we have sinned, our Father, against heaven and before You, and we are no longer worthy to be called Your children; but You Yourself, O most merciful Lord, have depicted Your love for us, the repentant, in the most touching and endearing features – the love of a Father who greets the lost with open arms upon their return from the paths of frivolity, vanity, and carelessness of their own well-being. O Lord, accept us, we who turn to You, into Your first love, and, having prepared the heavenly feast, grant us for the labor of repentance and the feats of self-denial, which Your grace will enable us to accomplish, to abundantly partake of the fruits of Your redeeming sufferings and Your life-giving resurrection. Remember us, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom, that we, having purified our senses, may behold Your glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

III. Beloved in the Lord, brothers and sisters and children! Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ lying in the tomb, with thoughts and feelings worthy of the followers of Christ, let us kiss these wounds on His most pure body, more beautiful in beauty than the sons of men, but for our sins was diminished, humiliated, mocked and killed!

Come, let us worship and weep before the Lord, who created and redeemed us, and, firmly deciding to dedicate our lives to Him, let us cry out to Him with prayerful sighs in the voice of the prudent thief who repented on the cross: "Remember us, O Lord, when You come into Your Kingdom."

Let us remain in the undoubted hope that the Lord will truly remember us, will remember our sincere repentance, will not forget even one drop of tears, not even a drop of a certain part, shed over His tomb for our sins, will grant us the grace to live holy, according to the teaching of the Holy Gospel, and at the hour of our death will say to us: “Today you will be with Me in paradise, enter into the joy of your Lord,O soul, who has loved Me and is faithful to Me until death!” Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.