Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Liturgical Color: Violet
Palm Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God, in your tender love for us you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon himself our nature, and to suffer death upon the Cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and come to share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy Week
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. For our sins he was lifted high upon the Cross, that he might draw the whole world to himself; and by his suffering and death he became the author of eternal salvation for all who put their trust in him.
Most liturgical texts are from the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America.
The New Coverdale Psalter, © 2019 by the Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.
Red Letter Day
Apostle and Enlightener of Armenia
Ecumenical Commemoration
Known as Spy Wednesday, recalling Judas Iscariot's agreement to betray Jesus. The last ordinary day before the Triduum begins at sundown on Thursday.
Wednesday of Holy Week carries the informal name 'Spy Wednesday' — a medieval English designation recalling Judas Iscariot's agreement to betray Jesus to the chief priests (Matthew 26:14–16, Mark 14:10–11, Luke 22:3–6). The Synoptic Gospels place this arrangement two days before Passover, and the tradition of associating Wednesday with Judas's treachery is attested from at least the early medieval period. In the Byzantine tradition, this day is called 'Holy and Great Wednesday' and is associated with the anointing at Bethany (Matthew 26:6–13), where the woman's lavish devotion stands in deliberate contrast to Judas's calculating betrayal — the one pouring out costly nard, the other selling his Master for thirty pieces of silver. The Western lectionary tradition has varied over the centuries in which Gospel passage it assigns: some years emphasizing the anointing, others the conspiracy. The day also holds typological significance as the last 'ordinary' day before the Triduum begins at sundown on Thursday. In the early Church, Wednesday and Friday were already established as station days — days of fasting and prayer — which gave Wednesday of Holy Week a natural intensification of the regular Wednesday fast. The overlap with Passover preparation in Jesus's own time adds a further layer: as the Jewish community prepared lambs for slaughter, the Lamb of God was being handed over by one of his own.
The liturgical observance of Wednesday in Holy Week has been shaped by two parallel streams. In the East, the emphasis falls heavily on the anointing at Bethany and the contrast between devotion and betrayal; Byzantine hymnography for this day is rich with references to 'the sinful woman' who recognized Christ while Judas did not. In the West, the medieval tradition gave the day its popular name 'Spy Wednesday,' and the focus shifted more toward the conspiracy narrative. The BCP 2019 places this day within the protected days of Holy Week — no other observance can displace its propers. When the Annunciation (March 25) falls during Holy Week, it is transferred, illustrating the absolute liturgical precedence of these days. Some parishes observe Tenebrae services on Wednesday evening as anticipatory preparation for the Triduum, though the BCP itself assigns the principal Tenebrae elements to Maundy Thursday. The day serves as a hinge between the teaching ministry of Holy Week's earlier days (when Jesus taught in the Temple) and the Passion narrative that begins in earnest at the Last Supper.
Gregory the Illuminator was the apostle who brought Christianity to Armenia, converting King Tiridates III around 301 — making Armenia the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion, over a decade before Constantine's Edict of Milan. His story is inseparable from Armenian national identity: the Armenian Apostolic Church traces its founding to Gregory, and the title 'Illuminator' (Lusavorich) reflects the Armenian conviction that he brought the light of Christ to their nation. The historical core of his mission is reliable, though hagiographic tradition has been heavily embellished.
According to the Armenian historian Agathangelos, Gregory was born the son of Anak, a Parthian nobleman who assassinated the Armenian king Khosrov II. The infant Gregory was smuggled out of Armenia and raised as a Christian in Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he was baptized and educated.
As an adult, Gregory returned to Armenia and entered the service of King Tiridates III, seeking to atone for his father's crime. When Gregory refused to offer sacrifice to the goddess Anahit, Tiridates subjected him to prolonged torture and eventually threw him into a pit — Khor Virap ('deep prison'), near Mount Ararat — where he languished for thirteen years, sustained by a widow's secret supply of bread.
Meanwhile, Tiridates was afflicted with a mysterious illness (tradition describes him being transformed into a wild boar) that no physician could cure. His sister dreamed that only Gregory could heal the king. Gregory was brought from the pit, healed Tiridates (through prayer, not medicine), and the king was converted. Armenia officially adopted Christianity around 301 — a century before most of the Christian world.
Gregory was consecrated bishop by Leontius of Caesarea and systematically destroyed pagan temples and built churches across Armenia. He established his see at Etchmiadzin, where the cathedral he founded remains the spiritual center of the Armenian Church. After organizing the church, he withdrew to a hermitage and died around 331.
Gregory's descendants served as Catholicos (chief bishop) of Armenia for generations, establishing a hereditary ecclesiastical dynasty.
Traditionally, Gregory's thirteen years in Khor Virap were sustained by divine providence — a pious widow secretly brought him daily bread without anyone discovering her. His emergence from the pit, healthy and luminous, was taken as a miraculous sign. According to Agathangelos, Gregory had a vision in which Christ descended from heaven and struck the ground at Etchmiadzin with a golden hammer, marking the site of the mother cathedral.