After the first stern awakening of Great and Holy Monday, Great and Holy Tuesday continues the journey toward the Passion in an even more inward tone. The Church does not yet stand before the outward events of the arrest and Crucifixion. She keeps us just before them, at the words of Christ Himself, where the Lord speaks to His disciples about vigilance, expectation, and man’s responsibility before the gifts of God.
This day is chiefly connected with two great parables: the Parable of the Ten Virgins and the Parable of the Talents. Both share the same inner core. Man is not called merely to wait for God, but to be ready to meet Him. Nor is he called merely to receive God’s gifts, but to cultivate them.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins: The Light That Must Not Go Out
According to the Gospel passage, ten maidens awaited the coming of the Bridegroom so as to accompany him to the marriage feast. Five of them were wise, and the other five foolish.
All held lamps, but the wise maidens also took with them vessels of oil. As the Bridegroom delayed, all of them fell asleep. Suddenly, at midnight, the cry was heard: “Behold, the Bridegroom comes.” The virgins rose to prepare their lamps. But the foolish saw that theirs were going out, for the oil had run low. They asked the wise to share with them, but the wise refused, saying there would not be enough for all. While the foolish went to buy oil, the Bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready entered the bridal chamber, and the door was shut. When the others returned and cried, “Lord, open to us,” he answered, “I do not know you.”
The Passage (Matt. 25:13)
“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.”
Translation
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man comes.
Read & listen to the excerpt from the Holy Gospel here →
The Bridegroom is Christ. The night is the present life, and sleep is death. The oil signifies active love and mercy. The parable teaches us that faith, the lamp, without works of love, the oil, is dead and does not suffice to bring us into the Kingdom of God.
The Parable of the Talents: The Use of Divine Grace
In the second parable, a man going on a journey entrusted his property, his talents, to his servants. To one he gave five, to another two, and to another one, according to the ability of each.
When he returned, he required an account. The first two had labored and doubled their talents. Their master praised them, saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” But the third, out of fear and laziness, dug a hole in the ground and hid his talent, returning it exactly as he had received it. The master called him wicked and slothful, commanded that the talent be taken from him, and that he be cast into outer darkness.
The talents are the gifts and opportunities God gives to each of us. Great and Holy Tuesday reminds us that we shall be judged not only for the evil we have done, but also for the good we failed to do. The spiritual life requires creativity, diligence, and offering.
Thus this day carries forward the message of Great and Holy Monday. There we heard of the barren fig tree and the sloth of the soul. Here we see more clearly what spiritual readiness means. It is not only to wake up. It is to keep the oil burning and not to bury the talent entrusted to us by God.
The Hymnography of the Day
The hymns of Great and Holy Tuesday are a continual call to awakening, making use of the images found in the parables.
The Idiomelon at the Praises
“Woe is me for my sloth. Yet grant me repentance, O Saviour, and save me, lest I be delivered over to death and shut out from the Kingdom...”
Translation and Meaning
Woe is me for my sloth. Yet grant me repentance, O Saviour, and save me. Beware, O my soul, lest thou be delivered over to spiritual death and remain outside the Kingdom of God. Here the believer recognizes himself in the foolish virgins and asks for the mercy of God before the door of the bridal chamber is closed.
The Doxastikon at the Aposticha
“You to whom the talents have been entrusted, why do you hide in the earth the talent given to you?... Rather, having boldness, ask of Him forgiveness of sins...”
Translation and Meaning
You to whom the talents have been entrusted by God, why do you hide in the earth the gift that was given to you? Yet having boldness in prayer, ask of Him the forgiveness of your sins. The hymn rebukes our inactivity. It calls us not to bury our spiritual life beneath earthly cares, but to multiply it through repentance.
Theological Meaning: The Hour of Judgment
Great and Holy Tuesday is not a day of terror. It is a day of seriousness. The Church does not wish to crush man, but to awaken him before it is too late. She reminds him that waiting for the Bridegroom is not a theory and that faith is not idleness. Whatever has been given to man calls for an answer.
Thus, just before the dramatic events that are about to follow, Great and Holy Tuesday leaves the soul before two questions: will it be found watchful when the voice of the Bridegroom is heard? And what has it done with all that God entrusted to it?
The participation of the faithful | Great and Holy Monday and Great and Holy Tuesday: Spiritual Preparation
- In church: The Bridegroom Services, celebrated on the evening of the preceding day, call us to vigilance. In the morning, the Presanctified Divine Liturgies are served.
- Fasting: Strict fasting.
You can find Lenten Monastic Recipes here → - Practice: These are days of inward cleansing. The faithful prepare for the Mystery of Confession, so as to approach purified the dread Mysteries that follow.
