Melito of Sardis, writing in the second century, gives us one of the earliest and most powerful reflections on the mystery of Easter. His homily, poetic and theological, offers not just a celebration of the resurrection but a sweeping vision of salvation history fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The tone is triumphant and exultant—fitting for the season of Easter—but the substance is rich with meaning. At its heart, the homily proclaims a profound truth: that in Christ, death is not the end, but the beginning of new and eternal life [ … ]
Daily Bible Verses For Holy Week
Office Of Readings | Holy Saturday | A Reading From An Ancient Homily For Holy Saturday | Harrowing Of Hell
Holy Saturday is unlike any other day in the liturgical year. It is a day suspended between death and life, darkness and light, silence and song. This ancient homily for Holy Saturday enters deeply into that liminal space—the moment when Christ, having died on the cross, descends to the realm of the dead. In doing so, it invites us into the mystery of the Harrowing of Hell: Christ’s triumphant entry into the underworld to liberate those held captive by death since the dawn of time [ … ]
Office Of Readings | Good Friday | A Reading From The Instructions Of Saint John Chrysostom To Catechumens
In this deeply moving catechesis, St. John Chrysostom leads us into the mystery of Christ’s Passion, focusing our attention on the extraordinary power and significance of his blood. For Chrysostom, this blood is not just a historical detail or a symbol of suffering—it is life itself. It is protection, healing, rebirth, and nourishment. It is the very source from which the Church is born [ … ]
Office Of Readings | Thursday Of Holy Week | Maundy Thursday | A Reading From The Homily Of Saint Melito Of Sardis On The Pasch
On Holy Thursday, the Church gathers to remember the Last Supper—the evening when Jesus, in a quiet upper room, gave his friends the gift of the Eucharist, and with it, a new covenant sealed in his blood. The reading from Saint Melito of Sardis, a bishop from the second century, helps us understand the deeper meaning of what took place that night and how it connects to the cross and the resurrection that followed [ … ]
Jesus Washes The Disciples’ Feet | The Last Supper | Holy Week | Holy Thursday | Christian Faith | Love | Be Clean From Sin | Washed Pure By God | The Devil Satan
John speaks of the Last Supper in a different way from the Synoptic Gospels. He omits, for example, the institution of the Eucharist, because the other Gospels and Paul have already spoken of this in their accounts of the Last Supper. Through chapters thirteen to seventeen, John gives an extensive account of Jesus’ teaching at the Last Supper, in which Jesus builds on his teachings so far and leads his disciples to a greater understanding of the love that they must share and of the way ahead [ … ]
Treachery Of Judas | Disciples’ Desertion Foretold | Tuesday Of Holy Week | King James Audio Bible
This is the third day of Holy Week. Through these verses of John’s Gospel, Jesus experiences great emotion, great sorrow, as he prepares for his betrayal and passion. He has given everything to Judas. He has washed his feet along with those of the other disciples. He shares an intimate and important meal with him. Judas has been one of the closest with Jesus for three years. Even now he shows compassion and does not name his betrayer to the other disciples. Instead he says: ‘One of you shall betray me.’ [ … ]
Office Of Readings | Monday Of Holy Week | A Reading From The Sermons Of Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine begins by naming the Passion of Christ as ‘the hope of glory and a lesson in patience’. In other words, it is both a promise and a pattern. The Cross, he tells us, is not only what saves us—it also teaches us how to live. It shows us how God loves, and how we are called to love in return: not with power or prestige, but with endurance, humility, and self-giving [ … ]
Holy Week | Good Friday | The Passion And Death Of Jesus | King James Audio Bible | KJV
This is the Passion and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. For us all, this is a tremendously saddening and painful part of our Easter journey, as, in a sense, we die again with Jesus to be reborn on Easter Sunday. The church is dark. There is an emptiness to the building as Jesus rests. Through this time, we acknowledge our need for Jesus and pray that he may come again to be with us [ … ]
Holy Week | Holy Saturday | The Easter Vigil | Between Cross And Resurrection | A Theology | Death And Jesus | Christian Faith | Jesus Died | God Died
It is a time of vigil while Jesus rests and we await his resurrection on Easter Sunday. Jesus has died to free us from our sins. While he rests, the church is a quiet and sombre place. We think of Jesus’ first followers and of what they must have felt and thought through this time. They must have felt very alone and abandoned, and indeed at risk of losing their own lives [ … ]
Meditations On The Love Of Jesus Christ | Jesus’ Entrance Into Jerusalem On Palm Sunday | King James Audio Bible KJV
The meditation on the love of Jesus Christ on Palm Sunday is struck by the imagery of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, though on a donkey. Crowds of people gathered around Jesus, laying down their cloaks and palm branches before Jesus, shouting ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’ (Matthew 21:9, KJV) [ … ]
Easter Sunday | The Resurrection Of Our Lord Jesus Christ | God The Son Is Risen | Mary Magdalene And Peter | Audio KJV
Easter! Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus has conquered death and sin. This is the proof of our salvation in Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus lived. We have his teachings and the clear evidence of the miracles he worked. We know he died. Now we have the proof of our faith in Jesus. He lives again. He did not know corruption. He raised himself from the dead to be near us always and to sit, as he promised, at the right hand of his Father in heaven. We have passed through darkness and the light of our lives is with us now and always [ … ]
Preparations For The Last Supper | Judas’ Treachery Announced
In these Bible verses, Matthew recounts the betrayal by Judas in a slightly different way from yesterday’s reading from the Gospel of John. Firstly, we see Judas go to the chief priests to see what they will give him to betray his Lord. This is calculating treachery, the love of money putting such evil into Judas’ heart as will outweigh all love and all obligation. Through Judas, we see the absolute evil to which greed and the love of money can drive a person [ … ]
Mary Anoints Jesus At Bethany | Monday Of Holy Week
As we have heard in our Palm Sunday reading, Mary anoints Jesus. In John’s account, she anoints Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair. This is a sign of great love and humility, which Jesus will offer to his followers in John’s account of the Last Supper. The ointment she uses is very precious, costing a year’s wages for a labouring man, and the whole house is filled with the beautiful scent [ … ]
Palm Sunday | Passion And Crucifixion Of Jesus Christ | From The Gospel Of Saint Mark
Jesus has come to Jerusalem before, but previously he has not wanted to be recognized as the Messiah. Now he accepts the acclaim of the crowd and presents himself triumphantly. He chooses a fine young donkey to carry him, an honest beast of burden, and in so doing he recalls the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, telling us that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a donkey [ … ]
Mystery Of Jesus In The Garden Of Gethsemane | Reflections On The Heart Of Christian Faith | King James Audio Bible
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays and struggles desperately with the weight of his coming Crucifixion. He sweats blood – he is in agony. Jesus enters into his Passion fully cognizant of the horror of it [ … ]
A Bishop’s Lenten Homily | Holy Week | Extracted From The Gospel According To Tomàs | Part 6
We process. Glass exhibition cases, old reliquaries. A forearm here; here a nun’s fingertip. In chapel, at a glance, there are the usual faces. But they all stand to attention. [ … ]