Holy Thursday, at the Liturgy.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 108

In the days when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vessel of precious ointment and poured it on His head. Seeing this, His disciples were indignant and said, "Why such a waste? For it would be possible to sell this myrrh for a high price and give it to the poor. But Jesus, understanding this, said to them, "Why do you trouble a woman? she has done a good deed for me: for you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me; having poured this myrrh on My body, she prepared Me for burial; Verily I say unto you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, it shall be spoken in remembrance of her and of what she has done. Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me, and I will deliver him to you?" They offered him thirty pieces of silver; and from that time on he sought an opportunity to betray Him.

Matthew 26:6-16

Great Wednesday, at the Liturgy.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 109

In those days, the soldiers who had taken Jesus took Him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered. And Peter followed him from a distance, to the court of the high priest; And going in, he sat down with the attendants to see the end. The chief priests and elders and the entire Sanhedrin sought false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death, but did not find it; And, although many false witnesses came, they did not find them. But at last two false witnesses came and said, He said, I can destroy the temple of God, and build it in three days. And the high priest arose, and said to him, Why do you answer nothing? why do they bear witness against Thee? Jesus was silent. And the high priest said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, tell us, art thou the Christ, the Son of God? Jesus said to him, "You have spoken; even I say unto you, From henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest tore his garments and said, "He blasphemes! What else do we have witnesses for? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy! What do you think? And they answered and said, I am guilty of death. Then they spat in His face and shook Him; and others smote Him on the cheeks, and said, "Prophesy unto us, O Christ, who smote Thee?" Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maidservant came to him, and said, "And thou wast with Jesus of Galilee." But he denied it before all, saying, "I do not know what you say." And when he was going out of the gate, another woman saw him, and said to those who were there, "This one was also with Jesus of Nazareth." And he again denied with an oath that he did not know this Man. And it came to pass that those who stood there came near, and said unto Peter, Surely thou art also one of them, for thy speech also convicts thee. Then he began to swear and swear that he did not know this Man. And suddenly a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had spoken to him, "Before the crows, thou shalt deny me three times." And when he went out, he wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:57–75

Great Friday, 3 Gospel at Matins.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 110a

In the days when morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel concerning Jesus, to put him to death; and having bound him, they led him away and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He was condemned, and repented, and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said to him, What have we to do with this? See for yourself. And he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple, and went out, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury of the church, because it is the price of blood. And when they had taken counsel, they bought with them the potter's land for the burial of the strangers; for this reason that land is called "the land of blood" to this day. Then came to pass what was said through the prophet Jeremiah, who said, "And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of the Priced One, whom the children of Israel valued, and gave them for the potter's land, as the Lord told me." And Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus said to him, "You speak." And when the chief priests and elders accused him, he answered nothing. Then Pilate said to him, "Do you not hear how many testify against you? And he did not answer him a single word, so that the governor was greatly astonished. On the feast of Easter, the governor had the custom of releasing to the people one prisoner whom they wanted. At that time there was among them a well-known prisoner, called Barabbas; And when they were assembled, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus, who is called Christ? for he knew that they had betrayed him out of envy. While he was sitting in the judgment seat, his wife sent him to say, "Do nothing to that Righteous One, for I have suffered much this day in a dream for His sake." But the chief priests and the elders stirred up the people to ask Barabbas, and to destroy Jesus. Then the governor asked them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, Barabbas. Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ? Everyone said to him: let him be crucified. And the governor said, What evil has he done? But they cried out even more loudly: let him be crucified. Pilate, seeing that nothing helped, but the confusion increased, took water and washed his hands before the people, and said, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous one; See you. And all the people answered, saying, His blood be on us and on our children. Then he released Barabbas to them, and having beaten Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. Then the soldiers of the governor, taking Jesus to the praetorium, gathered the whole army against Him, and having undressed Him, put on Him a scarlet robe; and having wove a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and gave Him a reed in His right hand. and kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! and they spat on him, and took a reed, and smote him on the head. And when they mocked him, they took off his scarlet robe, and clothed him in his garments, and led him away to be crucified. As they went out, they met a certain Cyrenean, named Simon; they compelled him to bear his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means, the place of the skull, they gave him vinegar mixed with gall to drink; and when he had tasted it, he would not drink. And those who crucified Him divided His garments, casting lots; and they sat there to watch over him; And they put an inscription over His head, signifying His guilt: This is Jesus, King of the Jews. Then two thieves were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And those who passed by cursed Him, shaking their heads, and saying, "He who destroys the temple, and builds in three days! save thyself; if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise, the chief priests, with the scribes, and the elders, and the Pharisees, mocking, said, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself; if He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and let us believe in Him; he trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he is pleasing to him. For He said, I am the Son of God. Likewise, the thieves who were crucified with Him reviled Him. And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour; and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice: Eli, Eli! Lama Savakhfani? that is: My God, My God! why hast thou forsaken me? And some of those who stood there, hearing this, said, He is calling Elijah. And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. and others said, "Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him." And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones were scattered; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep rose from the dead, and having come out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. And the centurion, and those who were with him, seeing the earthquake and all that had happened, were greatly afraid, and said, Truly he was the Son of God. There were also and looked from afar many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to serve Him; among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Josiah, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

Matthew 27:1–56

Good Friday, at 1 o'clock.

The Gospel of Matthew, conceived 110b