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These are the seven statements that Jesus Christ made on the cross:

1. Matthew 27:46 tells us that about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, Lema Savahtani?" which meant, "My God, My God! Why did you leave me?" Here Jesus expressed His feeling of loneliness, as God laid the sins of the world on Him - and because of this, God had to "turn away" from Jesus. Feeling the weight of sin, Jesus felt separated from God for the only time in all eternity. This also fulfilled the prophetic statement in Psalm 21:1.

2. “Father! Forgive them, they don't know what they're doing!" (Luke 23:34). Those who crucified Jesus did not fully realize what they were doing because they did not recognize Him as the Messiah. Their ignorance of divine truth does not mean that they deserve forgiveness, and the prayer of Christ during their mockery of Him is an expression of the boundless compassion of Divine grace.

3. “I promise you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). In this statement, Jesus convinces one of the criminals hanging on the cross that he will be with Jesus in heaven when he dies. This right was granted because, even before death, the criminal expressed his faith in Jesus by acknowledging Him (Luke 23:42).

4. “Father! Into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Here Jesus voluntarily gives his soul into the hands of the Father, indicating that he was about to die and that God accepted his sacrifice. He “offered himself to God as an immaculate sacrifice!” (Hebrews 9:14).

5. "Woman, here is your son" and "Here is your mother." When Jesus saw His mother standing at the cross with the apostle John, His beloved disciple, He placed the care of His mother in John's hands. From that time on, John took her to his home (John 19:26–27). In this verse, Jesus, the most compassionate Son, provides care for His earthly mother after His death.

6. "Drink!" (John 19:28). Jesus here fulfilled the messianic prophecy from Psalm 69:22: "Instead of food they give me poison, I'm thirsty - they give me vinegar to drink." Saying that he was thirsty, Jesus prompted the Roman guards to give Him vinegar, which was customary at the crucifixion, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

7. "It's Done!" (John 19:30). Jesus' last words meant that His suffering was over and all the work given to Him by the Father was to preach the gospel, perform miracles, and achieve eternal salvation for His people, was fulfilled. The debt of sin has been paid.

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Today I want to talk to you about the cross and the seven words that Christ spoke on the cross. Christ preached a lot, He preached, healed, resurrected and performed many miracles through the word, i.e. He said. And on the cross he almost fell silent, barely uttering a few phrases. These phrases are counted, collected, arranged, and they represent the Seven words that Christ spoke on the cross. A lot of music was written on this topic in the 17th - 18th centuries, many sermons were delivered. And we should talk with you, when the cross is brought before us, about what Christ said on the cross, no longer preaching. That He walked, preached, taught, healed, resurrected and gained very few followers, i.e. The efficiency was very low, and on the cross it was generally silent. And He could speak! For example, Andrew the First-Called spoke on the cross, he hung for several days and spoke. And Christ did not speak much on the cross, He spoke little. But everything He said has nothing to do with our salvation and our faith. I do not pretend that all the words that I remember and quote will be arranged in exact chronological order. Let us remember the first: “Forgive them,” Christ prayed to the Father, “they do not know what they are doing.” They create, not just do, but create, i.e. the verb "create" is stronger than the verb "do". People usually do something mundane, say, “fry an egg”, “brush their teeth”, “start a car”, etc. And they are doing something new. "Create" means to do something that has never happened before in life. People used to sin in every way, mixed the flesh among themselves. Men were inflamed with passion for men, women for women. This is what we call the norm today. People have been stealing all their lives. How much the world is worth - people stole, offended one another, oppressed the rich poor, the noble inglorious. It all means to commit sins, not to create, but to do. But to create - it means to do something that no one has ever suspected. When people crucified Christ, they did not commit sin, they did it. They have done things that no one has ever done before. Christ had patience with His villains and murderers, asked the Father to forgive them for this, for they do not know what they are doing. Although Christ Himself has full judicial power, Christ is the judge. Who will judge mankind? Christ. Not the Father, but the Son. He has complete power over mankind, judicial and legislative. Because He gives the law, He also judges. And executive, because He fulfills it. He asks the father to forgive His crucifiers in order to clearly show us the attitude towards sinners who sin out of ignorance. This does not mean at all that we, the people of today, are obliged, for example, to consider ISIS terrorists who cut off the heads of Christians normal people. Forgive them, forget about everything and do not punish them. No, that doesn't mean. But this means that Christ has the power and strength to pray to the Father, to ask the Father for forgiveness of those who sin out of ignorance, out of misunderstanding. Those people who sin - they have their own truth. When Stephen was stoned, everyone thought that they were killing an atheist. However, a righteous man was killed. And Paul, who was Saul then, approved of the murder, and he didn't do anything at all. He sat, guarded the clothes and said: right, you need to kill the wicked. Therefore, the sinner has his own truth, i.e. he doesn't know what he's doing. This is the first word that Christ spoke from the cross: "Forgive them, Father, they do not know what they are doing." Then there are several dialogues, a dialogue with the Mother. Almost everyone fled from the cross. Christ, in fact, was alone on the cross. And who was there? Mother was, but Mother could not help being, Mother is always near her son, John the Theologian, Mary Magdalene and several other myrrh-bearing women. And here are some dialogues, the first one we have already given: “forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” Second: “Woman! this is your son. Behold your Mother." It's about about John the Evangelist. And since then, John the Theologian took Her to him, and She was in his care, She lived with him. And He took care of her, kept, protected, carried with him and in every possible way rendered her filial service. “Woman! behold thy son" - these words are indirectly important to us in order to oppose blasphemers who believe that the Mother of God had more children after the birth of Christ. There are some wicked people whose tongue was not ashamed to declare that when the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus, then after that She still lived in the flesh, like a simple wife, with Joseph, and gave birth to some more children. So these words are: “Woman! behold thy son” are related to this topic, because if there were still children besides Christ, then, of course, these words would not exist. Mary wouldn't have needed to adopt John if She still had children. Here the spiritual adoption of the most beloved by Christ disciple of His beloved Mother took place. Both of them maximally corresponded to the idea of ​​Christ regarding holiness, i.e. he is a saint, and she is the most holy. “Woman! this is your son. Behold your Mother! is the second word of Christ from the cross. The dialogues didn't end there. The next dialogue was with a robber who was crucified on the right side of Christ. There was a dialogue between them, between the robber on the right and the robber on the left. And the thief on the left thought that if you are Christ, then remove yourself and us. Like this robber, all other people think today. If there is a God, then why do we have so many problems, illnesses, troubles? You are the Christ, so why do we suffer, what's the matter? And the second thief had repentance, and he said: “Or are you not afraid of God? You and I deservedly received according to our deeds, but He has no sins, He is sinless. And then he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified between both of them: "Remember me, Lord, in Your Kingdom." To which Christ said to him: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” The prudent robber, hanging on the right side of the Lord, whose name we do not know for sure, with certainty, there are various traditions, but we do not have reliable knowledge, they do not write in Scripture. The thief who hung to the right of the Lord Jesus Christ is the man who showed the greatest faith in the world. To his left hung a man just like him, beaten and exhausted. I want to remind you that Jesus Christ, according to the Shroud of Turin, had a broken nose, a twisted cheekbone, one eye was completely covered with a hematoma. Have you ever seen people being beaten so hard? They didn’t give voiced and fearless slaps in the face, but like this, like a peasant, firmly, with a fist, for example, in the forehead, in the eye and in the eyebrow, and in the nose, and in the teeth, so that the teeth crumble? If you have ever seen how people beat people, then remember all this and understand that Christ was beaten that way. He was beaten with hands, feet, elbows, knees. He was mutilated, i.e. on the cross, when Christ hung, He was mutilated. He was a man who could not be looked at without tears, moreover - He was crucified. Blood flowed from him, He was exsanguinated. And this means that the thief, hanging on the cross to the right of Jesus Christ, no longer had human thoughts, here there were thoughts from God. It was the work of the Holy Spirit. The thief, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, suddenly said to him: “Lord,” to this humiliated one: “Remember me in your Kingdom,” and Christ was still crowned with thorns. The thieves did not have crowns of thorns, but Christ did. And he says to Him: "My King, remember me in Your Kingdom." Well, what kind of Kingdom can a person in a crown of thorns, with a broken nose, bloody, with broken teeth and crucified on a cross have? The thief recognized God in Christ and called him Lord. He did not ask for anything so big, he asked: You remember me in Your Kingdom. You see, when a person asks for a lot, he gets a little, and when he asks for a little, he gets a lot. The robber asked for little, but received a lot. Christ said to him: "Today you will be with me in paradise." Recall the first: “Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing,” the second: “Zheno! behold, thy son." “Behold thy mother,” the third: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Then Christ felt thirsty and said short word "Thirst", i.e. I am thirsty. In response to this request, they brought him a whole sponge filled with vinegar, i.e. a Roman soldier went up to a certain vessel, wetted a sponge with vinegar, stuck it on a spear and poked Christ in the face: “Here, drink.” So in response to the word "thirst" He received vinegar. Then he said the most terrible words in the history of the world. There are many terrible words in the history of the world, but there are none more terrible than these. These are the words that He said in Aramaic, we do not know this language, it is not taught in schools, we do not learn it. Now everyone is learning English, German, but no one is learning Aramaic. So, Christ said in Aramaic: “Either, Or! lama savakhfani?” it means: "My God, My God, why did you leave Me?". These words are taken from Psalm 21, i.e. Christ did not say anything from Himself. Everything He said was from the Old Testament, because the whole Old Testament is divinely inspired, and the Gospel is hidden in it. In Psalm 21 of King David it is written: “My God, My God, beware of me,” i.e. "Hear me, why did you leave me, why did you leave me?" Christ quoted the words of this psalm on the cross because He is the son of David and because David prophesied about Him. In this cry, in these words, all the cries of humanity are contained. Mankind has been screaming and crying ever since they sinned. Eve screamed over the corpse of Abel, the people who were dying in the waters of the flood screamed, those screamed, these screamed. We will still scream until the end of time. All our cries are collected, compressed into a small area, into a small volume. And here are these cries for you: “My God, My God, why did You leave me?”. This was said by a man who did not have a single sin. The man Jesus Christ, who is our Lord, but at the same time a real man. He has our liver, our heart, our lungs, our kidneys, our blood, our veins, our bones, our nerves. And when they nailed Him to the cross, He was in pain like any other person who is being tortured and mocked. When He shouted on the cross: “Either, Or! lama savakhfani? He gathered all the cries of suffering people together and brought them to God and the Father. This is the fifth word. Then He said, "Into Your hands I commend My spirit." And we need to remember these words, because it’s not clear when you and I are going to die, but what to die is for sure. And when we die, we will say something. Well, you can’t be silent when you die, but you can’t be silent at all. Try to be silent for half a day, you will not succeed. People do not know how to be silent, people are talkers and talkers. They talk if they talk about something good, they talk about all sorts of nonsense. They cannot even be silent for half an hour, they chat about all sorts of rubbish from morning to evening, all their lives from birth to death. Therefore, when we die, we will also say something: "What a horror, I'm scared" or "Doctor, save me." When Pushkin was dying, he said: “In the mountains, in the mountains”, i.e. up, up, up, up. When Suvorov was dying, he said before his death: "Everything is vanity, the peace of the soul is before the Throne of the Most High." When Goethe was dying, he said: "Light, more light" "Licht, Licht, mehr Licht." When Voltaire was dying, he said: “I am going to hell, and I am very scared. I want to live at least another six months.” People say a variety of words before death, we will also speak before death or think about something before death. Before Christ died, he said to the Father: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” This was the sixth word spoken on the cross. The seventh word is: "It is done," i.e. it's over, now it's over. A wonderful film by Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ, in my opinion. Beautiful, because he made a huge missionary movement in the world, returned our consciousness to Christ, to His sufferings. There is such a nuance when they beat Christ, and they beat him hard, godlessly, cruelly. On purpose, the Romans sewed buttons into whips, beat them in the eyes, in the stomach, in the buttocks, in the legs. They beat me terribly, from one beating you could die. In the film, the Mother of God looks from the side and says: “My son, when will You decide to stop all this?”. According to the film, She understands that He is the Lord. The fact that He is beaten, tortured, humiliated - He can stop everything in a second. She does not understand why He endures all this, why all this is necessary. And there are such great words: “When will You want and decide to stop everything?” Christ endured voluntarily, He was not just caught, tied, beaten, tortured, humiliated, dishonored, crucified and buried. Nothing like that, it's not about Christ. Christ is stronger than all. He can turn us all into dust and garbage in one second. But, nevertheless, He took upon Himself voluntary suffering, and when it ended, He said: “It is finished,” i.e. it's all over. Seven words that the Life-Giver uttered from the cross “Forgive them, they do not know what they are doing”, “Woman! behold, thy son,” and to the disciple, “behold, thy mother,” the thief, “now thou shalt be with me in paradise,” “I thirst,” “Into thy hands, I betray my spirit,” “Either, Or! lama savakhfani”, “My God, My God, why did you leave me?” and the last "It's done". Haydn has music: "The Seven Words of Christ from the Cross." Medieval preachers have one hundred, five hundred sermons about the seven words of Christ from the cross. Our holy fathers have preaching words about the seven words of Christ from the cross. Passion is served in many churches - this is the Passion Service. This is the Good Friday service good friday. Passion Gospel- this is an akathist to the Passion of Christ, worship of Christ. We will renew everything written and said in our soul. And we will try to understand at what cost we are saved.

Hello, father. I wanted to ask you, where is the information about such horrors that happened to the Lord God, that He was so mutilated? I didn't read it anywhere, I just saw the movie.

O. Andrey Tkachev: "The Law of God" Fr. Seraphim Slobodsky describes in sufficient detail what happened to the Lord. The Shroud of Turin, the authenticity of which is hardly questioned by anyone, provides detailed anatomical information about what was actually done to Christ, how much He was beaten, tormented, mutilated. For example, the crown of thorns, which is kept in the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris. Communists, revolutionaries, the Convention, those first archatheists who set half the world on fire, trampled, crushed, and scolded this crown. They burned a lot of relics. So, the crown of thorns, the real one, which is kept in the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, shows us what thorns on this crown are the thorns of the Palestinian thorn. This crown can only be put on with sticks, you can’t even take it in your hands - it’s so prickly. You need to take a stick on one side, a stick on the other side and pull this wreath of thorns on the person’s head. And these spikes, strong as nails, tear not only the skin, they pierce the flesh on the head to the bone. They dig even into the very bones of the skull. If only this wreath was worn, it would be enough, it was real torture. We never specifically thought about this and did not focus our attention on how they mocked the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine, for example, a man was dragged into the barracks, where a company of drunken soldiers was left and left: do with him what you want. Your task is to beat him half to death, but only to be alive tomorrow, you still need to crucify him in the morning. They threw him into the barracks and in this barracks they trampled him like I don't know who. Filaret Drozdov, our saint, metropolitan of Moscow, wrote: in order to make bread from grain, what is done with the grain? It is washed into dust on millstones. And in order to make wine from grapes, what do they do with it? He is trampled into blood, trampled on, pressed under pressure or trampled underfoot so that he gives his all. She is such a holiness, those who are saints - they were erased into dust, trampled under their feet so that everything leaked out of them. This is what happens to saints. Nothing happens to sinners, they massage sinners, and grind saints to dust. That's the essence of life. So all this is true, and there is nowhere to escape from this truth.

Hello, father. I would like to thank you for your book Great Lent' is a wonderful book. And I would like to recommend to all listeners to read your wonderful book in the post. Then I also want to say that Shroud of Turin They don't call it the Fifth Gospel for nothing. And I also want to say: the most amazing thing is not that the Lord performed miracles, but the most amazing thing is how the Lord tolerates us. This is the most amazing miracle. Because the Lord came in the form of a helpless baby. And what have people left to God? Nothing, just a barn, the animals, one might say, accepted the Savior. And when the Lord left, people turned Him, their God, into a bloody mess. And how does the Lord endure this? This is the most amazing miracle that happens on earth.

O. Andrei Tkachev: - You are absolutely right, I agree with you completely. And one should not be surprised that the dead are resurrected, because God tolerates humanity. This is the absolute truth. Everything else can be disputed. But for a believer, it is obvious that if God had included a strict penalty regime, then we would not be very happy - both the believer and the unbeliever, and who knows who else. Everything would change places there, it is not clear what would have happened. They met Him, He became a refugee from birth, and at the end of his life - a victim. And he lived only for only 30 years. Christ was a young man. Healthy, beautiful, smart, sinless, perfect. Old Testament forbade sacrificing an animal with a defect to God. For example, a calf with an eyesore, or a lame one. Or a bald, lousy kid with lichen. They sacrificed only whole, healthy, beautiful, full-fledged animals. It was all a reference to Christ, who was beautiful, blameless, and perfect. He had no hump, no baldness, He could not be humpbacked, one-legged, one-eyed, toothless. He was a handsome, intelligent, sinless young man who was mutilated by people and nailed to a cross, and they rejoiced at this, and rejoice to this day. Indeed, today there are many people who rejoice in this. Those who, when they notice the cross, are killed, the same ISIS, for example, in Iraq, in Syria. There, heads are cut off not on a confessional basis, they don’t ask there: are you Orthodox or Catholic? They say: do you have a cross on your neck? There is. Do you believe in Christ? I believe. - On your knees, and head off your shoulders! To this day, not only Christ himself, but even those who love Him, cannot be tolerated. And He tolerates us so that some of us become saints, while others repent, enter the Kingdom of God, and still others - something else, etc. There is God's providence for mankind, this is the most amazing thing. His patience is incomparable. None of us would have the patience, having all the power, not to exercise power over everything that happens. If I had even a drop of power over the world, I would punish many, many would not exist in the world. Because I don't have the patience and this God's foresight, I don't know the future, I don't understand what's what. Any of us would do a lot of unnecessary things if we give him power over the world. Thank God that the power over the world is not with us, but with the Lord, who loves humanity. Great is the Lord, glorious is His name.

Hello dear father. I would like to ask a question about the gospel. Tomorrow parent. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but passes from death to life.” I'm wondering if this person does not pass the ordeal? Or is every person going through the ordeal?

Father Andrei Tkachev: - According to the word of God, a person is not obliged to go through ordeal. A person who believes with complete faith can go to God like a rocket, i.e. soar up, up - and that's it, with God. I think that the ordeal concerns other people who lived lukewarmly, frivolously, inattentively, and then there will be a serious analysis with them. In general, the Gospel, especially the Gospel of John - it is very bright, hot, heavenly, fiery - it tells us: do not love anyone but the Lord, i.e. love only the Lord, no one else. And if you go to God with all your soul, then you don’t think about anything at all, don’t be afraid of anyone. You will immediately go to Him after death, but where will you go? If only he loved him. And all the rest, who have life sloppy, nakos, they have other things there. According to the Gospel, you will not come to judgment, but go straight to God if you believe the word of Jesus Christ and worship Him as sent from the Father. One must have the faith of God, one must not hope for anything else, only for Christ Himself, for His mercy, and to love Him. This is the door that is open eternal life. This is the 16th beginning of the Gospel of John, it is bold. The gospel is a wonderful book. There is nothing more wonderful than the gospel. Love God and do not be afraid of ordeals, I would say so. Ordeal - okay, you love God and then like a rocket once - and you will go to the Kingdom of God.

Good evening, father, servant of God George. I want to ask a question about the Mother of God, the Theotokos. First, where did the dogma come from? I believe in this unconditionally, but nevertheless - I wonder where the dogma came from that She is the Ever-Virgin? I heard that from one of the apocryphal gospels. Is this so, if so, why is it taken from the apocrypha, and the apocrypha itself is rejected? Second question. We consider her absolutely sinless, but even in the litia at the memorial service it is said that there is no person who will live and not sin. Did She not even have sinful thoughts? Third question. At Catholic Church where did the dogma about Her supernatural conception from the Holy Spirit come from, what is its justification for them, for Catholics?

O. Andrey Tkachev: We have the so-called Protoevangelium of James, which is not considered a gospel. However, we take from it a certain set of sacred events. For example, we know the names of the parents of the Theotokos from the Protoevangelium of James. As for the dogma of the ever-virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I will the exact date I will not say, you need to search and read it. Generally officially mother of God named Ever-Deva on III Ephesus Ecumenical Council. Virgin Mary Mother of God - She is a Virgin before Christmas, at Christmas and after Christmas. This is the same paradoxical truth as the fact that God is trinity in persons and one in essence, i.e. The virgin gives birth, three equals one. This is all within the framework of the paradoxical nature of Christianity, because Christianity is a paradoxical religion, it is not invented, i.e. Christianity is so complex that it is impossible to invent it, you can accept it and then try to understand it. The dogmas of Ever-Virginity are the Council of Ephesus, but not before that. Because there was a Christological dispute, they dealt more with questions about Christ, and already the Council of Ephesus called Mother God's Mother of God. Accordingly, there was already condemned by history who called her the Mother of God, and She was exalted above all. The Son taught Her virtues. If Her Son is so great, then She is worthy of this greatness. Everything connected with the greatness of the Mother of God is based on the greatness of Her Son. Because She herself is not honored by the Church, She is honored precisely as the Mother of Christ our God, as the Mother of Light. And notice that Catholic tradition suggests separate figures of the Mother of God without the Son. A Orthodox tradition, as a rule, with rare exceptions, depicts the Mother of God always with the Son, because He sanctifies everyone, including Her. She is not holy in Herself, She is holy as the Mother of Christ our God. As for mental sins, I will refer to St. Silouan of Athos. He had a question that alarmed you. And he also thought, maybe there were such cases when She, as a man, mentally sinned, She was in the flesh, She was a man, She did not know marriage, etc., but she was a man. Maybe she had an idea? Silouan of Athos writes that the Holy Spirit told him right there, in his mind: no, the Blessed Virgin Mary did not commit a single mental sin. Here is such an answer regarding Her possible or impossible, rather, mental sins. And I offer you patristic writing. As for the Catholics, I would refer you to reading, there is such a word of John of Shanghai (Maximovich) about the Catholic dogma of immaculate conception Virgin Mary. It explains and describes in some detail the logic of Catholic thinking. catholic dogma about the immaculate conception is a later dogma. In fact, after that, they no longer had dogmatic innovations. They love the Mother of God, and they wish her glory. But the desire for fame for Her sometimes leads to excessive myth-making. For example, people who love Christ, in order to give him more glory, introduced the Filioque into the Creed. That the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and from the Son. This is to raise the Son, to exalt. But instead of exaltation, it turned out that they created big problem. It is the same with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. The father and mother of the Virgin Mary were ordinary people, they knew marital intimacy, they knew this human sweetness mixed with sin, they knew all this. And she was born from ordinary people they were not gods or sinless people. It was a mistake. In the 19th century, Catholics made another mistake by attributing Virgin Mary some kind of holiness, which She already has. But She does not need false excuses, She is a saint. Not because she was conceived without a vice, but because she was an ascetic from her mother's breast, from young nails, from the first steps in life.

On March 11, in the Hall of Spiritual Conversations of the Church of the Nativity of Christ, a musical and educational conversation "Seven Words of the Savior, spoken by Him from the Cross" was held. Archpriest Alexander Ignatov, rector of the Church of the Nativity of Christ, accompanied by the Blagovest instrumental ensemble, spoke about Joseph Haydn's work "The Savior's Seven Words Spoken from the Cross", as well as about each phrase of the Savior and its meaning.

James Braga, the author of a well-known homiletics textbook (from which more than one generation of clergy have studied), wrote: “Every priest should be familiar with the “seven last words”, that is, the phrases uttered by Christ after the crucifixion. It is very important to prepare at least two or three sermons on the basis of these words of Jesus..."

However, musicians came up with such an idea much earlier.

The first work on this subject was written by the outstanding German composer, Protestant G. Schutz (1585-1672). Well, then ... In the 18th century, the same thought lit up a Spanish priest, whose name, unfortunately, is unknown to historians. This minister suggested to several composers of his time, including Joseph Haydn.

By this time, Haydn had already become a recognized, well-known composer. However (which is more important for us!), he was an innovator, he was looking for other ways for a fundamentally new type of musical worship, and the idea captured him completely. According to the plan jointly developed by the composer and the rector, this composition was to be performed once a year, on the week before Paschal. From then until now, this unique work of Haydn has caused almost the same reaction, and not only from convinced Christians, but also from skeptical music critics. Some attribute this work to the composer's weakest opus, others consider it the brightest, simply the most ingenious of all Haydn's heritage.

Holy divinity!

Wouldn't you like to stay with the Savior crucified on the Cross

ours and hear His last sweetest words,

which He spoke on the Cross, and which are seven in number?

First.

Praying for those who crucify, He thus said to His Father: “Father! Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).Remembering this, God-loving person, forgive your enemies the sins, praying that their sins be forgiven. Also, with tenderness and tears, ask God for forgiveness, saying: I have sinned, forgive me!

Second.

When passers-by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads, and said, “Hey! Destroying and in three days creating! If you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the Cross” (Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29), then the thieves who were crucified with Him reviled Him. Jesus, hearing how the ungrateful people and His enemies, even on the Cross, insulted Him with their ingratitude and reviled Him, cried out loudly, saying: “My God, My God! Why did you leave me!” (Matthew 27:46). Remembering these words of Christ, and you exclaim to Him in great tenderness of heart, exclaim to God, saying: “God the Son, the Word of God, Christ my Savior, suffering for me on the Cross in the flesh, hear me crying out to You: My God, why are You left me? Raise the fallen! Revive the one slain by many sins, so that I do not perish in sins! Accept my repentance and have mercy on humanity!”

Third.

One of the villains hanged with Him blasphemed Him, saying: “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us” (Luke 23:39). Another stopped him, saying: “Or are you not afraid of God when you yourself are condemned to the same thing? And we are justly condemned, because we received what was worthy according to our deeds, but He did nothing wrong. And he said to Jesus: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom! And Jesus said to him: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Reflecting on this merciful word of Christ to the penitent thief, let us also approach Him with fervent repentance, confessing our sins just as the prudent thief did not hide his sins, but confessed that he suffers according to his merits and for sins. In addition, he also confessed that the Son of God was innocent, and believed that He was not just a man, but the Lord. He directed his cry to Him, because he believed in Him as in the King and Lord of the True God. Therefore, the execution inflicted on him was imputed to him as a punishment for his sins, and he departed, according to the Lord, into His kingdom. So, let us cry out to Him with repentance, and we, like a robber: “Remember me, Lord, when you come to Your kingdom!" (Luke 23:42)

Fourth.

Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing at the Cross, “says to His Mother: “Woman! This is your son." Then he says to the student: “This is your Mother!” (John 19:27). Here I will quote the word of St. John Chrysostom about the crucifixion of the Lord, for weeping Holy Mother of God. “Why did the Mother suffer unbearably when she gave birth to the Most Pure One? For what reason?! Because she is a mother! What sting has not pierced her soul?! What arrows did not pierce her heart? What spears did not torment Her whole being! Therefore, She could not resist with her friends, standing with Her near the Cross, condoling and crying with Her about misfortune, She could not stand even close. Not having the strength to endure a heart tremor and wanting to hear last words her beloved Son, fell down to Him and, standing at the Cross and sobbing, exclaimed with a groan: “What does this horror, unbearable for My eyes, My Lord, mean? What is this miracle that eclipses the light of the sun, O My Son? What is this bewildering sacrament, sweet Jesus? I cannot see You naked, dressed in light like robes! And now what do I see? Warriors cast lots about Your clothes, about the clothes that I wove with My own hands. My soul is tormented, seeing You hanging in the middle of the whole universe on a high tree between two villains. You bring one into paradise, showing the image of pagan conversion, and long-suffering another blasphemous, showing the image of the bitterness of the Jews. Oh envy! You have gone around all the righteous who have lived from time immemorial and touched My Sweetest Child. Oh premium and ethereal Forces! Connect with Me and weep. Oh the sun! Have compassion on my child; turn into darkness, for soon the light of my eyes will descend under the earth. O moon! Hide your rays, for the dawn of My soul is already entering the tomb. Where has your beauty gone, O most beautiful of all the sons of men (cf. Ps. 44:3)? How has the brightness of your eyes dimmed, O eye that dries up the abyss?” Having said this, the Theotokos was exhausted and, standing before the Cross, covering her face with her hands, she was perplexed in despair. Jesus, bowing His head to the right side and quietly turning away His mouth, said: “Woman! This is Your son,” pointing to His disciple John the Theologian. Thinking about all this, faithful soul, pray to God with tears, saying: "Lord, have mercy."

Fifth.

After that, Jesus, knowing that everything had already happened, said, let the Scripture come true: I thirst (John 19, 28). A vessel full of vinegar stood nearby. The soldiers, having filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a cane and pushed it to His lips. Remembering this, with tenderness of heart let us exclaim to Him: “Crucified for us, Christ our Savior, our sweetness, give us drink from the abundance of Your house with a drink of sweetness, and when You come to judge with glory, let us be satisfied, how Your glory will appear. Here, do not despise us, hungry and thirsty, but make us worthy partakers of the Most Pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood that You shed for us, make us worthy and not condemned forever and ever.

Sixth.

When Jesus took the vinegar, He said, "It's done!" (John 19:30). Remembering this word, say this: “Christ, our Savior and Redeemer! Make us perfect in Your sight, so that as we walk in the way of Your commandments, we may be perfect in good deeds and would have heard this supreme call: “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Se
shit.

With a loud cry, Jesus said, “Father! Into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Having said this, He bowed His head and gave up his spirit. Here, holy contemplation, meditate thus. Who betrayed the spirit? Son of God, our Creator and our Redeemer. Therefore, with a great desire of the heart, speak to Him: “When the terrible hour of the separation of my soul from the body comes, then, my Redeemer, take it into Your hands and keep it free from all disasters, so that my soul does not see the gloomy gaze of crafty demons, but yes the saved will go through all these ordeals. Oh our Savior! We firmly hope to receive this from Your philanthropy and mercy.

Since it was Friday then, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on Saturday, “for that Sabbath was a great day” (John 19, 31), the Jews prayed to Pilate to kill the hanged legs and remove them. The soldiers, having come, broke the legs of the first, and then of the other, who was crucified with Christ. But they did not break Jesus' legs, for they saw that He had already died, but one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately Blood and water flowed out: Blood for our sanctification, but water for washing. Then the whole creation was struck with fear, seeing the dead and hanging on the tree Life of all. Then Joseph of Arimathea came to ask for the body of Jesus, and taking it down from the tree, laid in a new tomb. "Rise up, O Lord our God, and deliver us for Thy name's sake" (Ps. 48:27). Amen.