International Orthodox Christian News

While “Trisagon” was being recited during the service, His Holiness and members of the Cilician Brotherhood knelt before the flower-laden platform, which signified Jesus Christ’s tomb and carried out the Savior’s burial order. Covered with valuable cloths, the tomb was also decorated by a relic of the Holy Cross.

Addressing the faithful, the Pontif conveyed the strength of Jesus Christ’s empty tomb and the breath of resurrection and immortality bursting from it. “This is not a usual burial service; God’s Son went to the grave for humanity, as an expression of love, as a full-fledged commitment to save humanity. Today it is not only the memory of this even that we remember. Jesus Christ’s burial is an invitation to all of us to participate in the salvation that Jesus Christ brought to humanity,” the Pontiff said.At the end of the service, His Holiness blessed the faithful with the relic of the Holy Cross placed on Christ’s tomb. According to an old tradition, people passed from under the empty tomb. The faithful were given the flowers laid on the Holy tomb taking home with them the hope of resurrection and immortality.