This, the Sunday After Pascha, is known as the Antipascha and is dedicated to St. Thomas the Apostle. The three most important themes that stand out in the reading for this Sunday are that of mission, peace and the theme of faith and doubt; thus the term Doubting Thomas.
This Sunday we celebrate the Great Feast of Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entrance of Christ into the city of Jerusalem. Christ enters the city as King with the people holding in their hands Palm branches fit for a true King of old, but this is the Christ who comes triumphantly and comes voluntarily to die.
This Sunday we commemorate the Sunday dedicated to St. Mary of Egypt, a harlot who became a Saint of the Church.
Today we commemorate the 4th Sunday of Great Lent dedicated to the memory of St. John of the Ladder (Climacus). Primarily, the theme of this Sunday is that of faithfulness which is expressed in the many hymns prescribed for this day. “Let us not labor for the sake of food and drink but through prayer and fasting, let us attain to Christ like virtues”.
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