Andreas Moran
24-07-2009, 04:27 PM
In the services of Holy Saturday, we mark the descent of Christ into Hades where He tramples down death by death. This especially so in the Praises which alternate with the verses of Psalm 118 (LXX), for example:
10. How could hades bear Thy coming and not shatter at once? Death is blinded by Thy splendour, O Lord.
54. Willingly, O Saviour, Thou didst descend into hades. There Thou didst restore the dead to new life, and lead them back to the Father's house.
In the Canon of Matins for Holy Saturday, we have:
. . . Thou didst descend into the depths of the earth to fill all with Thy glory
. . . When hades encountered Thee, O Word, it was embittered
. . . Hades was wounded in heart when it received Him whose side was pierced by a spear, and it groans, consumed by divine fire
In the vesperal liturgy of Holy Saturday, we have:
Today hades cries out with groaning: I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary. He came to destroy my power. He shattered the gates of brass
and other verses chanted by the choir.
After Holy Saturday, during Pascha, after the cross procession, there is (in many Russian churches) an enactment of the verses from Psalm 23, 'Lift up your gates , O ye princes . . . and the King of Glory shall enter in . . . ' In the Paschal liturgy, we have:
Thou didst descend, O Christ, into the deepest parts of the earth, and didst shatter the everlasting bars which held fast those that were fettered.
The source for the celebration of Christ's descent into hades seems to be the Acts of Pilate from the Gospel of Nicodemus. Here are some extracts:
ACTS OF PILATE
PART II. THE DESCENT INTO HELL
3 And when Karinus and Leucius heard this adjuration, they trembled in their body and groaned, being troubled in heart. And looking up together unto heaven they made the seal of the cross with their fingers upon their tongues, and forthwith they spake both of them, saying: Give us each a volume of paper, and let us write that which we have seen and heard. And they gave them unto them, and each of them sat down and wrote, saying:
V (XXI)
1 And as Satan the prince, and Hell, spoke this together, suddenly there came a voice as of thunder and a spiritual cry: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. When Hell heard that he said unto Satan the prince: Depart from me and go out of mine abode: if thou be a mighty man of war, fight thou against the King of glory. But what hast thou to do with him? And Hell cast Satan forth out of his dwelling. Then said Hell unto his wicked ministers: Shut ye the hard gates of brass and put on them the bars of iron and withstand stoutly, lest we that hold captivity be taken captive.
2 But when all the multitude of the saints heard it, they spake with a voice of rebuking unto Hell: Open thy gates, that the King of glory may come in. And David cried out, saying: Did I not when I was alive upon earth, foretell unto you: Let them give thanks unto the Lord, even his mercies and his wonders unto the children of men; who hath broken the gates of brass and smitten the bars of iron in sunder? he hath taken them out of the way of their iniquity. And thereafter in like manner Esaias said: Did not I when I was alive upon earth foretell unto you: The dead shall arise, and they that are in the tombs shall rise again, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice, for the dew which cometh of the Lord is their healing? And again I said: O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?
3 When they heard that of Esaias, all the saints said unto Hell: Open thy gates: now shalt thou be overcome and weak and without strength. And there came a great voice as of thunder, saying: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up ye doors of hell, and the King of glory shall come in. And when Hell saw that they so cried out twice, he said, as if he knew it not: Who is the King of glory? And David answered Hell and said: The words of this cry do I know, for by his spirit I prophesied the same; and now I say unto thee that which I said before: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, he is the King of glory.
VI (XXII)
2 Then did the King of glory in his majesty trample upon death, and laid hold on Satan the prince and delivered him unto the power of Hell, and drew Adam to him unto his own brightness.
VIII (XXIV)
1 And the Lord stretching forth his hand, said: Come unto me, all ye my saints which bear mine image and my likeness. Ye that by the tree and the devil and death were condemned, behold now the devil and death condemned by the tree. And forthwith all the saints were gathered in one under the hand of the Lord. And the Lord holding the right hand of Adam, said unto him: Peace be unto thee with all thy children that are my righteous ones. But Adam, casting himself at the knees of the Lord entreated him with tears and beseechings, and said with a loud voice: I will magnify thee, O Lord, for thou hast set me up and not made my foes to triumph over me: O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me; Lord, thou hast brought my soul out of hell, thou hast delivered me from them that go down to the pit. Sing praises unto the Lord all ye saints of his, and give thanks unto him for the remembrance of his holiness. For there is wrath in his indignation and life is in his good pleasure. In like manner all the saints of God kneeled and cast themselves at the feet of the Lord, saying with one accord: Thou art come, O redeemer of the world: that which thou didst foretell by the law and by thy prophets, that hast thou accomplished in deed. Thou hast redeemed the living by thy cross, and by the death of the cross thou hast come down unto us, that thou mightest save us out of hell and death through thy majesty. O Lord, like as thou hast set the name of thy glory in the heavens and set up thy cross for a token of redemption upon the earth, so, Lord, set thou up the sign of the victory of thy cross in hell, that death may have no more dominion.
Finally, our icons of Pascha which actually depict Christ's descent into hades show Christ taking hold of the hand of Adam as this text says.
Is it not surprising that material for this central event in the Church's liturgical calendar was taken from an apocryphal source? Does this place the Gospel of Nicodemus/Acts of Pilate at a high level of importance?
10. How could hades bear Thy coming and not shatter at once? Death is blinded by Thy splendour, O Lord.
54. Willingly, O Saviour, Thou didst descend into hades. There Thou didst restore the dead to new life, and lead them back to the Father's house.
In the Canon of Matins for Holy Saturday, we have:
. . . Thou didst descend into the depths of the earth to fill all with Thy glory
. . . When hades encountered Thee, O Word, it was embittered
. . . Hades was wounded in heart when it received Him whose side was pierced by a spear, and it groans, consumed by divine fire
In the vesperal liturgy of Holy Saturday, we have:
Today hades cries out with groaning: I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary. He came to destroy my power. He shattered the gates of brass
and other verses chanted by the choir.
After Holy Saturday, during Pascha, after the cross procession, there is (in many Russian churches) an enactment of the verses from Psalm 23, 'Lift up your gates , O ye princes . . . and the King of Glory shall enter in . . . ' In the Paschal liturgy, we have:
Thou didst descend, O Christ, into the deepest parts of the earth, and didst shatter the everlasting bars which held fast those that were fettered.
The source for the celebration of Christ's descent into hades seems to be the Acts of Pilate from the Gospel of Nicodemus. Here are some extracts:
ACTS OF PILATE
PART II. THE DESCENT INTO HELL
3 And when Karinus and Leucius heard this adjuration, they trembled in their body and groaned, being troubled in heart. And looking up together unto heaven they made the seal of the cross with their fingers upon their tongues, and forthwith they spake both of them, saying: Give us each a volume of paper, and let us write that which we have seen and heard. And they gave them unto them, and each of them sat down and wrote, saying:
V (XXI)
1 And as Satan the prince, and Hell, spoke this together, suddenly there came a voice as of thunder and a spiritual cry: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. When Hell heard that he said unto Satan the prince: Depart from me and go out of mine abode: if thou be a mighty man of war, fight thou against the King of glory. But what hast thou to do with him? And Hell cast Satan forth out of his dwelling. Then said Hell unto his wicked ministers: Shut ye the hard gates of brass and put on them the bars of iron and withstand stoutly, lest we that hold captivity be taken captive.
2 But when all the multitude of the saints heard it, they spake with a voice of rebuking unto Hell: Open thy gates, that the King of glory may come in. And David cried out, saying: Did I not when I was alive upon earth, foretell unto you: Let them give thanks unto the Lord, even his mercies and his wonders unto the children of men; who hath broken the gates of brass and smitten the bars of iron in sunder? he hath taken them out of the way of their iniquity. And thereafter in like manner Esaias said: Did not I when I was alive upon earth foretell unto you: The dead shall arise, and they that are in the tombs shall rise again, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice, for the dew which cometh of the Lord is their healing? And again I said: O death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?
3 When they heard that of Esaias, all the saints said unto Hell: Open thy gates: now shalt thou be overcome and weak and without strength. And there came a great voice as of thunder, saying: Remove, O princes, your gates, and be ye lift up ye doors of hell, and the King of glory shall come in. And when Hell saw that they so cried out twice, he said, as if he knew it not: Who is the King of glory? And David answered Hell and said: The words of this cry do I know, for by his spirit I prophesied the same; and now I say unto thee that which I said before: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, he is the King of glory.
VI (XXII)
2 Then did the King of glory in his majesty trample upon death, and laid hold on Satan the prince and delivered him unto the power of Hell, and drew Adam to him unto his own brightness.
VIII (XXIV)
1 And the Lord stretching forth his hand, said: Come unto me, all ye my saints which bear mine image and my likeness. Ye that by the tree and the devil and death were condemned, behold now the devil and death condemned by the tree. And forthwith all the saints were gathered in one under the hand of the Lord. And the Lord holding the right hand of Adam, said unto him: Peace be unto thee with all thy children that are my righteous ones. But Adam, casting himself at the knees of the Lord entreated him with tears and beseechings, and said with a loud voice: I will magnify thee, O Lord, for thou hast set me up and not made my foes to triumph over me: O Lord my God I cried unto thee and thou hast healed me; Lord, thou hast brought my soul out of hell, thou hast delivered me from them that go down to the pit. Sing praises unto the Lord all ye saints of his, and give thanks unto him for the remembrance of his holiness. For there is wrath in his indignation and life is in his good pleasure. In like manner all the saints of God kneeled and cast themselves at the feet of the Lord, saying with one accord: Thou art come, O redeemer of the world: that which thou didst foretell by the law and by thy prophets, that hast thou accomplished in deed. Thou hast redeemed the living by thy cross, and by the death of the cross thou hast come down unto us, that thou mightest save us out of hell and death through thy majesty. O Lord, like as thou hast set the name of thy glory in the heavens and set up thy cross for a token of redemption upon the earth, so, Lord, set thou up the sign of the victory of thy cross in hell, that death may have no more dominion.
Finally, our icons of Pascha which actually depict Christ's descent into hades show Christ taking hold of the hand of Adam as this text says.
Is it not surprising that material for this central event in the Church's liturgical calendar was taken from an apocryphal source? Does this place the Gospel of Nicodemus/Acts of Pilate at a high level of importance?