Maundy Thursday - from the first Eucharist and the Passion Gospels to prejudices. About reading the twelve gospels on the evening of Maundy Thursday 12 chapters of the gospel on Maundy Thursday

Service of the 12 Gospels.Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

In the evening of the same day, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service. In it, the Church reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Passion Gospels:

1) John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His prayer at the Last Supper).

2) John 18:1-28 (The taking of the Savior into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering before the high priest Annas).

3) Matthew 26:57-75 (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and Peter’s denial).

4) John 18:28-40, 19:1-16 (The Lord’s suffering at Pilate’s trial).

5) Matthew 27:3-32 (Despair of Judas, new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and condemnation to crucifixion).

6) Mark 15:16-32 (The Lord’s Path to Calvary and His Passion on the Cross).

7) Matthew 27:34-54 (About the Lord’s suffering on the cross; the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).

Luke 23:23-49 (The Savior’s prayer for his enemies and the repentance of the prudent thief).

9) John 19:25-37 (Words of the Savior from the cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John, death and perforation of the rib).

10) Mark 15:43-47 (The Descent of the Lord's Body from the Cross).

11) 19:38-42 (Nicodemus and Joseph bury Christ).

12) Matthew 27:62-66 (Putting guards at the tomb of the Savior).

Between the Gospels they sing antiphons, who express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. - Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic presence? Or did he deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, he did not allow you to join the meal? Or did he wash the feet of others and despise yours? Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with.” And then, as if on behalf of the Lord, the choir addresses the ancient Jews: “My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? He opened the sight of your blind, you cleansed your lepers, you raised a man from his bed. My people, what did I do to you and what did you repay Me: for manna - gall, for water [in the desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, you nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you any longer, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life.”

After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the “blessed” with troparia follows canon three-song, conveying in a condensed form the last hours of the Savior’s stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord and is sung thrice luminaries. We present here the irmos of this canon.

Song one:

To You, the Morning One, who has immutably exhausted mercy for Yourself, and who has bowed down to the passions, the Word of God, grant peace to those who have fallen, O Lover of Mankind.

Canto Eight:

The Divine Fathers denounced the pillar of malice; On Christ, the reeling lawless congregation advises in vain, the belly of the One who holds the length is taught to kill. All creation will bless him, glorifying him forever.

Song Nine:

We magnify Thee, the most honorable Cherub and the most glorious without comparison, the Seraphim, who gave birth to God the Word without corruption.

After the canon the choir sings touching eszapostilarium , in which the repentance of the robber is recalled.

You have vouchsafed the prudent thief in one hour to heaven, O Lord, and enlighten me with the tree of the cross and save me.

For Anythingbreath stichera:

Each of His most pure flesh endured dishonor for our sake; the head is thorns, the face is spitting, the jaws are strangled, the lips are bile and vinegar dissolved in the father, the ear is wicked blasphemy, the shoulder is beating, and the hand is a cane, the whole body is stretched on the cross, the limbs are nails and the ribs are a copy.

Before the end of the service (empty) the choir sings the troparion: Thou hast redeemed us from the legal oath (Thou hast delivered us from the curses of the [Old Testament] law) with Thy honest blood, having been nailed to the cross and pierced with a spear; Thou hast exuded immortality to man, O our Savior, glory to Thee.

There is an ancient custom after the last Gospel not to extinguish your candle, but to bring it home burning and with its flame make small crosses at the top of each door of the house (to keep the house from all evil, Ex. 12:22). The same candle is used to light the lamp in front of the icons.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, the very day of the Savior’s death, as a sign of special sorrow, the Liturgy is not celebrated. Instead, the Royal Clock is served, which is completely dedicated to the events of this day.

About three o'clock after lunch it takes place Vespers with take-out shrouds(image of the Savior taken from the cross). At the beginning of Vespers, after Psalm 103, stichera are sung on “Lord I cried:”

All creation, changed by fear, beheld You hanging on the cross, Christ: the sun was darkened, and the foundations of the earth shook. All to the compassion of the Creator of everything. You suffered for our sake, Lord, glory to You.

During the entrance with the censer, the choir sings:

The terrible and glorious mystery is now being seen in action: the Intangible is held; fits in Resolving Adam from the oath; Test the hearts and the bellies are tested unrighteously; he shuts himself up in prison, like the one who shuts the abyss; Pilate will stand, He will stand in awe of the heavenly powers; the Creator is strangled by the hand of creation; the tree is condemned to judge the living and the dead; The Destroyer of Hell lies in the coffin.

After entering, three proverbs are read. The first of them tells about the revelation of the glory of God to the prophet Moses (Ex. 33:11-23). Moses, who prayed for the sinful Jewish people, served as a type of the worldwide Intercessor of Calvary, Jesus Christ. The second proverb tells how God blessed Job for his patient endurance of suffering (Job 42:12-16). Job served as a prototype of the innocent Divine Sufferer Jesus Christ, who returned to people the blessing of the Heavenly Father. The third proverb contains Isaiah's prophecy about the redemptive suffering of the Savior (Is. 53:1-12).

The Apostle's reading speaks of the Divine Wisdom revealed in the Cross of the Lord (1 Cor. 1:18-2:2). The Gospel reading, composed of several Gospels, tells in sequential order about the events in connection with the crucifixion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. After the litanies, the choir sings verses. During the last stichera below, the priest censes the shroud lying on the throne three times.

To you, dressed in light like a robe, Joseph fell from the tree with Nicodemus, and Vadev was dead, naked, unburied, let us accept the compassionate cry, sobbing with the words: Alas for me, Sweetest Jesus, His sun hanging in the smallness on the cross, having seen it was covered with darkness, and the earth shook with fear , and the church curtain was torn; but behold, now I see You, for my sake death has risen by will. How will I bury Thee, my God, or what kind of shroud will I wrap around Thee? With which hand will I touch Your incorruptible body; or cue songs I will sing to Your exodus, O Generous One; I magnify Your passion, I sing songs and Your burial with the Resurrection, calling: Lord, glory to You.

After “Now You Let Go” and “Our Father,” the clergy carry out the shroud from the altar, thereby symbolizing the burial of the Savior. They lift the shroud from the throne and carry it through the northern gate to the middle of the temple. The servants go ahead with candles, the deacon with a censer, and the worshipers meet the shroud with lighted candles in their hands. The shroud is placed on a special “tomb” standing in the middle of the temple and decorated with white flowers. At this time, the choir sings the funeral troparion in a special chant:

“The noble (noble) Joseph took down Your Most Pure Body from the tree, wrapped it in a clean shroud, and covered it with odors (fragrances) in a new tomb.”

“An angel appeared to the myrrh-bearing women at the tomb, crying out: peace is fitting for the dead, but Christ is alien to corruption” (they anoint the dead with fragrant ointments, but Christ is completely inaccessible to corruption).

After burning the shroud, everyone kneels and kisses the image of the wounds on the Savior’s body, thanking Him for his endless love and patience. At this time, the priest reads the canon “Lamentation of the Virgin Mary.” The Holy Shroud is left in the middle of the temple for three incomplete days, recalling the three-day stay of the body of Christ in the tomb. From this time, the bells stop ringing until the start of the Easter service in order to maintain reverent silence while the Body of the Savior rests in the tomb. On this day, the Church prescribes complete abstinence from food.

In the evening of this day it is served Matins of Holy Saturday with the rite of burial of the Savior and a religious procession around the temple. At the beginning of the service, during the singing of the troparion “Blessed Joseph,” the believers light candles, and the clergy from the altar go to the shroud and burn incense on the shroud and the entire temple. The burial ceremony takes place in the middle of the temple. The singers sing verses from Psalm 119, and the next priest reads the troparion after each verse. The troparion of the burial order reveals the spiritual essence of the redemptive feat of the God-man, remembers the sorrow of the Most Pure Mother of God and professes faith in the Savior of mankind. The rite of singing the 118th Psalm with funeral troparions is divided into three parts, called articles. Small litanies are inserted between the articles.

After the third part, anticipating the upcoming resurrection of the Savior, the choir sings “The Council of Angels was surprised...”- a chant that is sung at all-night vigils on Sunday.

The choir sings the irmos of the canon "By a wave of the sea,” which depict the horror of all creation at the sight of the Creator in the tomb. This canon constitutes one of the most perfect creations of church-Christian poetry. At the end of the brochure there is a Russian translation of this canon. Ninth Irmos “Don’t cry for me, Mati” ends the funeral hymn.

At the end Great Doxology the shroud, while singing “Holy God,” accompanied by lamps, banners - and with the burning of incense, rises from the tomb and reverently, with rare strikes of the bell, is carried around the temple in memory of the burial of Jesus Christ. At the same time, the descent of Jesus Christ into hell and the victory of Christ over hell and death are also depicted here: With His Suffering and Death, the Savior again opened the doors of heaven for us, and the shroud, after being brought into the temple, is brought to the Royal Doors. After the exclamation of the priest “forgive wisdom” (forgive - stand simply, straight), the singers sing the troparion “Blessed Joseph,” and the shroud is placed again on the tomb in the middle of the temple. Before the shroud the proverb, the Apostle and the Gospel are read. The proverb contains Ezekiel's prophetic vision of quickening dry bones (Ezek. 37:1-14). The apostolic reading calls for celebrating Easter “not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened leaven of purity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:6-8; 3:13-14). The short Gospel speaks of putting seals on the Savior’s tomb and assigning guards (Matt. 27:62-66).

Service with reading of the 12 Gospels of the Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated: it is all dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of Jesus Christ.

The beginning is usual, [after the first litany we do not read prayers];

Come, let us worship our King, God.

Come, let us bow down and prostrate ourselves to the ground before the King Christ, our God.

Come, let us bow down and cast ourselves to the ground before Christ himself, our King and God.

Save, Lord, Your people and bless Your inheritance, granting victories to Orthodox Christians over their opponents and preserving Your people through Your Cross.

Glory:

Having ascended to the Cross voluntarily, Christ God, grant Your mercies to the new people named after You, exult with Your power Your faithful people, giving them victories over the enemies who have Your help - a weapon of peace, an invincible sign of victory.

And now:

Terrible and shameless protection, do not despise, O Good One, our prayers, O all-glorified Mother of God; establish the Orthodox people, save your faithful people and grant them victory from heaven, for you gave birth to God, the only blessed one.

Glory to the Holy One, who has a single essence, which is the beginning of all life, and the indivisible Trinity, every day: now, and always, and in eternity.

The reading of the Six Psalms is being performed(psalms: 3, 37, 62, 87, 102 and 142).;

After the Great Litany [prayer 1; and] Hallelujah with verses, tone 8.

Verse 1: From the night to the dawn, my spirit strives for You, O God, for light is Your commandments on earth.

Verse 2: Learn the truth, you who live on earth.

Verse 3: Jealousy will befall an uneducated people.

Verse 4: Add more disasters to them, O Lord, add more disasters to the glorious ones of the earth.

Troparion, tone 8

When the glorious disciples were enlightened during their washing at the evening, then the wicked Judas, sick with the love of money, became darkened and betrayed You, the Righteous Judge, to the lawless judges. Look, lover of acquisitions, at the strangulation of the one who acquired them because of them! Flee from the insatiable soul that dared to do such a thing against the Teacher! Lord, good to all, glory to You! (3)

Then the small litany, [prayer 9], and the exclamation:

For You are holy, our God, and You rest among the saints, and We ascribe glory to You:

Priest: So that we may be worthy to hear the holy Gospel, we pray to the Lord God.

Choir: Lord have mercy. (3)

Priest: Wisdom! Let us become reverent. Let's hear the Holy Gospel. Peace to all.

Choir: And to your spirit.

Priest: Reading from the Holy Gospel from John.

Choir: Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee.

Priest: We will listen.

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Matins with reading of the 12 Gospels of the Passion of Christ:
*
(Synodal translation)
(Church Slavonic translation)
priest Gennady Orlov

Service “ Twelve Gospels” – Lenten, celebrated on the evening of Holy Thursday.

Its content is the gospel of suffering and death, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening, like those who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.

The reading of the Passion Gospels has some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: “Glory to your long-suffering, Lord,” announced by the gospel, listened to by believers with lit candles.

The reading of the Passion Gospels on this day is already mentioned.

On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service.

It reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “ Glory to Your long-suffering, O Lord!“After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

In between the Gospels, antiphons are sung that express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. " What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior?- it says here. – Has He excommunicated you from the apostolic presence? Or did he deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, he did not allow you to join the meal? Or did he wash the feet of others and despise yours? Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with?.»

« My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? He opened the sight of your blind, you cleansed your lepers, you raised a man from his bed. My people, what did I do for you and what did you repay Me: for manna - gall, for water[in a desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you any longer, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life.»

After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the “blessed” with troparia, the canon of the three songs follows, conveying in a condensed form the last hours of the Savior’s stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord, and the thrice luminary is sung.

Passion Gospels:

1) (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).

2) . (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).

3) . (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).

4) . (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial).

5) . (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion).

6) . (Leading the Lord to Golgotha and His Passion on the Cross).

7). (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).

March 19 / April 1. Thursday of Holy Week of Great Lent. Remembrance of the Holy Saving Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sretensky Monastery. Matins with reading of the 12 Passion Gospels. Choir of the Sretensky Monastery.

At this serviceread: 1 Cor.11, 23-32. Matthew 26, 1-20. John 13, 3-17. Matthew 26.ju 21-39. Luke 22:43-45. Matthew 26, 40-27, 2.

And on the evening of Maundy Thursday, in all Orthodox churches, the Reading of the Twelve Gospels is heard among candles shedding tears. Everyone is standing with large candles in their hands.

This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service.

In this very special and mournful service, which occurs only once a year, the Church reveals to the believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior.

Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.

Here the last mysterious speeches of Christ are collected and compressed into a short space all this suffering of the God-man, to whom the soul listens, “confused and marveling.” The earthly is in contact with the heavenly eternity, and everyone who stands with candles in the temple this evening is invisibly present at Calvary.

We will clearly see how the night of prayer arrived in that very Garden of Gethsemane, the night when the fate of the whole world was decided for all time. How much internal torment and what near-death exhaustion He must have experienced at that time!

It was a night, the like of which has not been and will not be among all the days and nights of the world, a night of struggles and sufferings of the most fierce and indescribable kind; it was a night of exhaustion - first of the most holy soul of the God-man, and then of His sinless flesh. But it always or often seems to us that it was easy for Him to give His life, being God who became man: but He, our Savior, Christ, dies as a Man: not by His immortal Divinity, but by His human, living, truly human body. ..

It was a night of cries and tearful kneeling prayer before the Heavenly Father; this sacred night was terrible for the Celestials themselves...

In between the Gospels, antiphons are sung that express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. - Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic presence? Or did He deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, He did not allow you to join the meal? Or He washed others’ feet, but despised yours “Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with?”

“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? I opened the sight of your blind, I cleansed the lepers, I raised up a man on a bed. My people, what have I done to you and what have you repaid Me: gall for manna, gall for water [in the desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, they nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you anymore, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life."

And now we are standing with lit candles... Where are we in this crowd of people? Who are we? We usually avoid answering this question by placing blame and responsibility on someone else: if only I had been there that night. But alas! Somewhere in the depths of our conscience we know that this is not so. We know that it was not some monsters who hated Christ... in a few strokes the Gospel depicts poor Pilate to us - his fear, his bureaucratic conscience, his cowardly refusal to act according to his conscience. But doesn’t the same thing happen in our life and in the life around us? Isn’t Pilate present in each of us when the time comes to say a decisive no to untruth, evil, hatred, injustice? Who are we?

And in memory of this hour, when the human heart merged with the suffering heart of the Divine, people bring burning candles with them, trying to bring them home and place them burning in front of their home icons, in order to consecrate houses for them according to pious tradition.

Crosses are drawn with soot on the door frames and on the window.

And these candles will then be kept and lit at the hour of separation of the soul from the body. Even in modern Moscow on the evening of Maundy Thursday you can see streams of fire from burning candles that Orthodox parishioners carry home from church.

The entire temple begins to shine with the light of many candles. And the whole temple is illuminated, the windows are all on fire: you look from afar - the windows are on fire. Why? The Word of God sounds. The Word of God, the Lord speaks.

And the reading of the Gospel ends, and everyone blows out their candles, and the temple is again in complete darkness. In complete darkness. And here on the right and on the left, and on two choirs, and psalm-readers, they tell and explain, share and ponder: what was said in the Gospel, what the disciples did, and how the lawless Judas “did not likee intelligence e are you?"

And then again: “And be worthy of us...” - and again the whole temple lights up

I can’t convey anything to you if you don’t feel it yourself, if you yourself don’t stand, if you yourself don’t put aside all everyday concerns and listen and participate. Such a grace-filled thing happens in the church with people: when the Gospel is read, the Lord gives those listening real participation in these great holy events.

I just want to read the dismissal, that is, the last words of the priest when he bows to his parishioners, such wonderful words

The Service of the Twelve Gospels is a Lenten service held on the evening of Holy Thursday.
Its content is the gospel of the suffering and death of the Savior, selected from all the evangelists and divided into twelve readings, according to the number of hours of the night, which indicates that believers should spend the whole night listening to the Gospels, like the apostles who accompanied the Lord to the Garden of Gethsemane.
The reading of the Passion Gospels has some peculiarities: it is preceded and accompanied by singing corresponding to their content: “Glory to your long-suffering, Lord,” announced by the gospel, listened to by believers with lit candles.
John Chrysostom already mentions the reading of the Passion Gospels on this day.
***
On the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday Matins, or the service of the 12 Gospels, as this service is usually called, is celebrated. This entire service is dedicated to the reverent remembrance of the saving suffering and death on the cross of the God-Man. Every hour of this day there is a new deed of the Savior, and the echo of these deeds is heard in every word of the service.
In it, the Church reveals to believers the full picture of the Lord’s suffering, starting from the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane to the Calvary crucifixion. Taking us mentally through past centuries, the Church, as it were, brings us to the very foot of the cross of Christ and makes us reverent spectators of all the torment of the Savior. Believers listen to the Gospel stories with lighted candles in their hands, and after each reading through the mouths of the singers they thank the Lord with the words: “Glory to Your long-suffering, Lord!” After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck accordingly.
In between the Gospels, antiphons are sung that express indignation at the betrayal of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jewish leaders and the spiritual blindness of the crowd. “What reason made you, Judas, a traitor to the Savior? - it says here. – Did He excommunicate you from the apostolic presence? Or did he deprive you of the gift of healing? Or, while celebrating the Supper with the others, he did not allow you to join the meal? Or did he wash the feet of others and despise yours? Oh, how many blessings have you, ungrateful one, been rewarded with.”
And then, as if on behalf of the Lord, the choir addresses the ancient Jews:
“My people, what have I done to you or how have I offended you? He opened the sight of your blind, you cleansed your lepers, you raised a man from his bed. My people, what did I do to you and what did you repay Me: for manna - gall, for water [in the desert] - vinegar, instead of loving Me, you nailed Me to the cross; I will not tolerate you any longer, I will call My peoples, and they will glorify Me with the Father and the Spirit, and I will give them eternal life.”
After the sixth Gospel and the reading of the “blessed” with troparia, the canon of the three songs follows, conveying in a condensed form the last hours of the Savior’s stay with the apostles, the denial of Peter and the torment of the Lord, and the thrice luminary is sung.

Passion Gospels:
1) John 13:31-18:1 (The Savior’s farewell conversation with his disciples and His high priestly prayer for them).
2) John 18:1-28. (The capture of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering at the hands of the High Priest Anna).
3) Matthew 26:57-75. (The Savior’s suffering at the hands of the high priest Caiaphas and the denial of Peter).
4) John 18:28-40,19:1-16. (The Lord's suffering at Pilate's trial).
5) Matthew 27:3-32. (The despair of Judas, the new suffering of the Lord under Pilate and His condemnation to crucifixion).
6) Mark 15:16-32. (Leading the Lord to Golgotha and His Passion on the Cross).
7) Matthew 27:34-54. (Continuation of the story of the Lord’s suffering on the cross, the miraculous signs that accompanied His death).
8) Luke 23:32-49. (Prayer of the Savior on the Cross for enemies and repentance of a prudent thief).
9) John 19:25-37. (Words of the Savior from the Cross to the Mother of God and the Apostle John and repetition of the legend about His death and perforation)>.
10) Mark 15:43-47. (Removal of the Lord's body from the Cross).
11) John 19:38-42. (Participation of Nicodemus and Joseph in the burial of the Savior).
12) Matthew 27:62-66. (Attaching guards to the tomb of the Savior and sealing the tomb).

S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for clergy

Word from Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh on Maundy Thursday and the service of the twelve Gospels

In the evening or late at night on Holy Thursday, a story is read about the last meeting of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples around the Easter table and about the terrible night He spent alone in the Garden of Gethsemane awaiting death, the story about His crucifixion and His death...

Before us is a picture of what happened to the Savior out of love for us; He could have avoided all this if only he had retreated, if only he had wanted to save Himself and not complete the work for which He came!.. Of course, then He would not have been Who He really was; He would not be Divine love incarnate, He would not be our Savior; but at what price does love cost!

Christ spends one terrible night face to face with coming death; and He struggles with this death, which comes at Him inexorably, just as a man struggles before death. But usually a person simply dies helplessly; something more tragic was happening here.

Christ had previously said to his disciples: No one takes life from me - I give it freely... And so He freely, but with what horror, gave it away... The first time He prayed to the Father: Father! If this can pass me by, yes, a blowjob!.. and I struggled. And the second time He prayed: Father! If this cup cannot pass Me by, let it be... And only the third time, after a new struggle, He could say: Thy will be done...

We must think about this: it always - or often - seems to us that it was easy for Him to give His life, being God who became man: but He, our Savior, Christ, dies as a Man: not by His immortal Divinity, but by His humanity , a living, truly human body...

And then we see the crucifixion: how He was killed with a slow death and how He, without one word of reproach, surrendered to torment. The only words He addressed to the Father about the tormentors were: Father, forgive them - they do not know what they are doing...
This is what we must learn: in the face of persecution, in the face of humiliation, in the face of insults - in the face of a thousand things that are far, far removed from the very thought of death, we must look at the person who offends us, humiliates us, wants to destroy us, and turn around soul to God and say: Father, forgive them: they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t understand the meaning of things...

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