Tonight the Lamentation Matins of the Lord was celebrated in all places of worship. Hundreds of faithful attended the religious service celebrated at the Patriarchal Cathedral. His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church delivered a sermon.
His Beatitude showed that the Lamentation service has saving spiritual significance: “This Friday night Matins, which is the morning service of the Holy Great Saturday, shows us three great truths. First of all it is a confession of the divinity of Christ. Secondly, it is a glorification of His devoted unlimited love, beyond understanding, of His love stronger than death and than any separation. Thirdly, the chants of the Lamentation Matins show an expectation in vigil state of the Resurrection of the Lord. This triple entwinement makes the three dimensions present in the tens of stanzas of every state of the Lamentation Matins.
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also emphasised the symbolism of the Procession of the Holy Epitaph: “This procession is not only a procession for prayer, for remembering the leaders of the Church and of the country, the late founders, the clergy and faithful, those who travel far away on the sea, but this procession of the Holy Epitaph which symbolizes the grave of the Lord is also an announcement in the world, outside the Church as place of worship of the death of Christ. On the morning of the Resurrection we shall announce it outside the place of worship, not inside. Why that? It is because both the Resurrection of the Lord is not only for Christians, but also for the entire humankind. When Christ comes in glory to judge the living and the dead, He will resurrect, through His power, all those from the graves, all the dead of all times and places. The universal Resurrection is an exclusive gift of God for all humans. Those who loved God and their fellow beings ever since their lifetime will enjoy the love of Christ. Those who refused His love live the sufferance of the regret in their conscience because they have not answered the love of God.”
To end with the Doxology, the traditional procession around the Patriarchal Cathedral took place symbolising the Lord’s taking to the grave. There were four stops with a litany said every time. After procession, all the faithful present passed under the Holy Epitaph, entering the place of worship. Then, the Holy Epitaph was laid on the Holy Table singing the troparion entitled “Joseph with good image…”
The Lamentation Matins comprises a series of chants or hymns divided into three states, with a different number of stanzas. These chants express the sorrow for the crucifixion and death of the Saviour. The composition of the Lamentation service is ascribed to the Byzantine hymn writer Iosif Studitul. In our country, this religious service was printed for the first time in Buzau, in 1836.
