Strumica, Great and Holy Friday ( 29.04.2005 )
“When Joseph with Nicodemus took You down from the cross, and saw dead, uncovered and unburied You, Who dress Yourself with Light as with clothes, deep did he cry and weeping he spoke: ‘Woe to me, my sweetest Jesus, seeing Whom on the cross the sun put on darkness, and the earth shook from fear and the church curtain was torn apart. But now I see You, Who received death for my sake – how shall I bury You, my God, or what sheet shall I wrap You in? What hands shall I touch Your incorrupt body with? Or what song shall I sing, O Merciful, on Your leaving? I magnify Your Passion, I praise Your burial and Resurrection, crying out: glory to You, Lord!”
Today, in the Strumica
“When You were lain in a new tomb for our sake, O Redeemer of all, the powerless hades was in fear seeing You, the locks were broken, the gates torn apart, the tombs did open, and the dead rose up. Then Adam in gratitude rejoiced, crying out: Glory to Your condescension, O philanthropic Lord!” (stichera at Vespers on the Great and Holy Friday)