ASCENSION OF THE LORD ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

BISERICA ORTODOXĂ ROMÂNĂ „ÎNĂLȚAREA DOMNULUI”

5201 Park Blvd, Piedmont, CA 94611

A Call to Attend the Holy Services of Holy Thursday and Great and Holy Friday

addressed to the faithful of the Ascension of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church

Piedmont, California

Beloved faithful of the Ascension of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church in Piedmont, California,

With reverence and love in Christ our Lord, we address this spiritual exhortation to you on the threshold of the most solemn and salvific services of the ecclesiastical year: the Service of the 12 Gospel Readings on Holy Thursday and the Lamentations at the Tomb of Christ (Prohod) on Great and Holy Friday — two sacred nights, filled with mystical light and divine grace, in which every faithful soul is called to participate, not as a mere observer, but as a living witness to the Passion and Sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Holy Thursday – The Service of the 12 Gospels (Thursday, 6:00 PM)

Holy Thursday is a day of profound theological and mystical significance. According to Holy Tradition and Holy Scripture, four fundamental events took place on this day that are central to the liturgical and dogmatic life of the Church:

1. The washing of the disciples’ feet by Christ, as the supreme model of humility and service;
2. The Mystical Supper, during which the Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist — the mystical transformation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood;
3. The High Priestly Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, teaching us total obedience to the will of the Father;
4. The beginning of the Passion of the Lord, marked by His arrest in the garden and the commencement of His unjust trial.

Participation in the Holy Thursday service is akin to remaining in Gethsemane with Christ during the hour of His suffering. The reading of the 12 Gospels constitutes a liturgical anamnesis of the entire economy of the Passion, and every faithful person who hears these readings becomes a witness and participant in the Crucifixion of the Lord.

We warmly invite you to take part in this holy service, holding a lighted candle in your hands — and we kindly inform you that special candles, prepared specifically for these services, are available at the church. These candles have been ordered to meet current safety standards and to support and symbolize the sacredness of these moments.

Great and Holy Friday – The Lamentations at the Tomb (Friday, 6:00 PM)

Great and Holy Friday is the day when the Church is wrapped in the silence of cosmic sorrow. It is the day of the Crucifixion and Death of the Lord on the Cross, the day on which the Son of God completed the work of salvation through His supreme sacrifice. From a dogmatic perspective, the death of Christ is the death of death itself, and His burial marks the beginning of the victory over hell and sin.

At the Lamentations service (Prohod), the faithful sing with the Church the funeral hymns of the Heavenly Bridegroom — not merely songs of mourning, but theological poems of glory and anticipation of the Resurrection. The Prohod is a sung catechesis, a confession of the Orthodox faith in the redeeming death of Christ.

During this sacred evening, all who are present are invited to pass beneath the Holy Epitaph — the sacred shroud that symbolizes the Tomb of the Lord. This liturgical act, established by the Church since the earliest centuries, carries profound theological meaning: those who pass beneath the Epitaph symbolically unite themselves with Christ in His death, so that through this mystical union, they may also partake in His Resurrection. Bowing under the Epitaph is an act of humility, repentance, and hope, an entrance into the mystery of saving death, so that our very bodies, too, may be covered in the grace of eternal life.

A Pastoral Invitation

Therefore, with love and pastoral responsibility, we call upon you to participate in these two holy services — Thursday and Friday at 6:00 PM, at the chapel of our Ascension of the Lord Church in Piedmont, California.

Let us pray together, let us hold in our hands the specially prepared candles for these sacred nights, and let us bow together under the covering of divine mercy, so that our souls may taste the joy of the coming Resurrection.

Do not let these holy days pass without being present. Together, through prayer, repentance, and active participation, let us live the Passion of the Lord as a living testimony of our faith and longing for salvation.

With love in Christ, the Crucified and Risen Lord,

† Father Gabriel Curpene

Parish Priest

Ascension of the Lord Romanian Orthodox Church – Piedmont, California