Today we celebrate Holy Wednesday of Holy Week or the Week of Passion, which is the last of the life of Jesus Christ. It begins with his solemn entry into Jerusalem and ends with his resurrection on Easter.
Every day of this week is called great - Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and so on. It is the last of the Easter fast and on every single day of it, special services are performed by the church.
In Old Bulgarian, passion means suffering. For this reason, the days of Christ's suffering from the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem for Passover until his death are called Passion Week.
On Holy Wednesday, Christ is visited by a penitent sinner who, in her worry, breaks the vessel with the precious peaceó. The Last Supper of the Son of God takes place with the Apostles, during which He tells them that one of them will betray Him.
On Holy Wednesday, when Jesus is in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, a penitent woman enters, carrying ointment in an alabaster vessel. To show her reverence for Christ, she pours it on the Savior's head. The ointment was precious, and so that no one would interfere with her, she broke the vessel so that it would spread more quickly.
The ointment was worth three hundred dinars, so people started scolding the woman that instead of wasting it, it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Here Christ said: "You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. She did a good deed for Me by hastening to anoint My body for burial. And this zeal of hers will be heard all over the world."
Thus, like the prodigal son, the sinner came to her senses and realized her sins. This story should remind us to remember our spiritual condition and repent of our sins.
But on that day Judas Iscariot promises to betray the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. There is a great difference between the saved sinner and the perished Judas, previously chosen as an apostle: she gave all her wealth for Christ and kissed His feet, while he sold his Master for money with a kiss.
Today it is good to think about whether we are betraying Christ through our actions.
All dioceses of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church will celebrate the Presanctified Holy Liturgy.