“How dost Thou die, O Life,
And how dost Thou dwell in the tomb?
Yet Thou destroyest the kingdom of death
And raisest the dead from Hades.”
On the evening of Holy and Great Friday, April 10, 2026, with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of Chișinău and All Moldova, His Grace Siluan, Bishop of Orhei and Metropolitan Vicar, celebrated the service of Matins of Holy Saturday with the Lamentations (Prohod) of our Lord Jesus Christ at the Metropolitan Cathedral “Nativity of the Lord” in Chișinău.
Holy and Great Friday is the day on which the Orthodox Church commemorates two awe-inspiring events: the Crucifixion of the Savior on the Cross and His burial. The central moment of the services of this day, as well as of the entire period leading to Holy Pascha, is the Matins of Holy Saturday, during which the Lamentations of the Lord are chanted.
The Lamentations are hymns of mourning for the incarnate Son of God, Who willingly offered Himself in sacrifice for the salvation of all mankind. Beyond the sorrow of this service, the faithful are called to look toward the hope of the Resurrection, when Christ, the Conqueror of death, tramples it down and grants life to those in the tombs, being Himself the Giver of Life.
At the conclusion of the service, the traditional procession symbolizes the burial of the Savior. The faithful passed beneath the Holy Epitaphios, placed at the entrance of the church; it was then carried into the Holy Altar and placed upon the Holy Table, where it remains until the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
Source: https://manastireacurchi.md/
