In the parishes of the Metropolis of Austria and the Exarchate of Hungary, the Holy Week Services and the Holy and Life-giving Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ were celebrated this year with great solemnity and devotion.
Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria and Exarch of Hungary, on the 16th of April 2022, presided over the Divine Liturgy in Vienna and with his sermon prepared the faithful for the coming Holy Days. On Palm Sunday, April 17, 2022, the Metropolitan officiated at the solemn Divine Liturgy and discussed the significance of the triumphal entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. From the evening of Palm Sunday until Holy Thursday, in the Church of St. George, Metropolitan Arsenios presided over the Bridegroom Service.
On Holy Wednesday, the Metropolitan also presided over the Holy Unction Service accompanied by the clergy of Vienna. This was followed by Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of the Saint Basil the Great on the morning of Holy Thursday, and in the evening of the same day by the Holy Service of the Passion of the Lord with the reading of the Twelve Gospels of the Divine Passion, which was also attended by Bishop Ägidius of Eisenstadt. The Bishop did not fail to thank the Metropolitan and recall the bonds of friendship that link them.
The rest of Holy Week Services were celebrated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. On the morning of Holy Friday, the Great Hours were read and the Holy Service of the Descent from the Cross was followed, during which the Metropolitan, with solemnity and devotion, accompanied by the clergy and the choirs of the Hierophants, placed the Epitaph in the canopy decorated with flowers. In the evening of the same day, the Metropolitan and the Clergy officiated the Epitaph Lamentation Service and chanted the “Praises” and the Orthros, in the presence of a crew of the state television ORF III which broadcast live the service of the Epitaph, arousing the warm interest of numerous viewers.
The Epitaph was then carried through the streets of Vienna to St. George’s Church and returned to the Cathedral. The procession was accompanied by hundreds of believers with lit candles in their hands. On the morning of Holy Saturday, during the so-called “First Resurrection”, the Vespers was held, and while the Metropolitan was reciting the “Rise, God judging the earth…” the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great continued. In the evening of the same day, the Metropolitan presided over the Pannychida of the Resurrection. After lighting their Easter candles with “Receive the light from the unquenched Light”, hundreds of believers followed the clergy and in procession, in front of the Church of St. George, heard from the Metropolitan the Gospel reading of the Orthros and the first “Christ is Risen”. The Troparion was chanted by the faithful in the surrounding streets while the procession was returning to the Cathedral for the solemn Resurrection Service which lasted until the early hours of the morning.
During the Pannychida, the Patriarchal “Evidence of the Holy Easter 2022” was also read. The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said that the Resurrection is at the center of our Faith and Easter is the feast of freedom, joy, and peace. As the joyful news of Christ’s Resurrection is heard simultaneously with the terrible noise of weapons, the cry of the victims of war violence and refugees, among whom are innocent children, the Ecumenical Patriarch expressed his solidarity with the Ukrainian people and appealed for peace: “By its nature, the Church of Christ is a peacemaker and prays not only for ‘peace from above’ and for ‘peace throughout the world’ but also stresses the importance of people working for peace. It is unthinkable for Christians to remain silent in the face of the mockery of human dignity.”
In his resurrection message, Metropolitan Arsenius of Austria and Exarch of Hungary also stressed the importance of the Peace that the Risen Lord left to His disciples. The peace of Christ is not related to the attitude of greed and arrogance that leads to warfare, heartbreak, and lost lives, but it is true reconciliation and Life itself, as the divine Fathers of our Church emphasize. The Risen from the dead is the great peacemaker. He, by the blood, shed on the Cross, “pacified” all things, earthly and heavenly. Only Christ truly and completely pacifies man: his heart, his thoughts, his feelings. The more the Christian draws near to the Risen Lord and lives with Christ in the heart, the more the peace of the Lord fills his being.”
On Easter Sunday morning, the Vespers of Love and the Holy Vespers of the Great Martyr George the Trophy Bearer, who was celebrated on Easter Monday, was celebrated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. As a sign of the universal significance of the Resurrection, the Gospel passage was read in twelve different languages.
The Holy Week Services and the Service of the Resurrection from the dead of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were also celebrated with great solemnity and devotion in the parishes of the Austrian Metropolis of Graz, in Kufstein, Klagenfurt, Linz, Leoben, Mödling, in Salzburg, in the German-speaking and Ukrainian parishes of Vienna and the Holy Monastery of St. Skepi (Burgenland), as well as in the parishes of the Hungarian Exarchate.
