The Procession of the Holy Shroud and The Burial service of the Holy Shroud 2018

The Vespers, celebrated in the Church on Holy Friday afternoon, brings to mind all of the final events of the life of Christ: the trial, the sentence, the scourging and mocking, the crucifixion, the death, the taking down of His body from the Cross, and the burial.

At this service, the Holy Shroud occupies the place in the church that is otherwise occupied by the icon of a feast. The Holy Shroud is a cloth depicting the Savior lying in the tomb. This Icon (and the Shroud is regarded as an icon) has its own iconographic traditions.

The central scene on the Holy Shroud depicts the “Deposition of Christ in the Tomb”, either completely or only showing the body of the buried Christ.

The icon, “The Deposition in the Tomb”, represents the scene of the burial of the crucified Savior as related in the Gospels. His body was taken down from the cross and wrapped in the Shroud—that is, the linen cloths with the spices. Next Christ was laid in the tomb, cut out of the rock, and a large stone was rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb.

Great Friday (also called Holy Friday or Passion Friday) is the most sorrowful day in the Church’s liturgical year for all Christians worldwide. On this day we commemorate the Passion of Jesus Christ on the cross and His death.

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