On Thursday, April 17, 2025, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the Matins of Holy Friday at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church in Flushing, NY alongside the parish’s clergy: recently retired Rev. Protopresbyter Paul C. Palesty, Proistamenos Rev. Presbyter Aristidis Garinis, and Rev. Presbyter Alexandros Douvres.
At this service we hear twelve Gospel readings, beginning with the Soliloquy of Love, and ending with the Burial of our Lord in the Tomb of the Rich Man, Joseph, from Arimathea. These 12 readings bring us not only the most important words spoken by Jesus, but also the details of his Arrest, Trial, Torture, Crucifixion, Death and Burial.
His Eminence reflected on the last words of Christ, because these words speak speak to us in a profound way today. “In His pain and unspeakable suffering, our Lord Jesus Christ cried out: ᾿Ελωῒ ᾿Ελωΐ, λιμᾶ σαβαχθανί; This is not Greek, but Aramaic, His native tongue, and it means: O My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?” Rather than being a personal cry of agony, these words are “an invocation, an entreaty, an appeal on behalf of us all.” This is because “he is the God-Man, Who is fully Divine and fully Human, as the definition of the Fourth Ecumenical Council says of His Two natures which exist in One Divine Person.” Christ’s words on the cross remind us that “he felt all our loneliness, all our sense of desertion and despair…And because He experienced all of this out of His infinite love for us – for each and every one of us, we have the blessed assurance that no one will ever face death alone.”
Archbishop Elpidophoros concluded with the hope that “we always remember our Lord Jesus Christ’s willing sacrifice of perfect love for us, and hold this promise of hope in our hearts, to attain the Holiest Pascha of our lifetimes.”
Photos: Orthodox Observer/Brittainy Newman
