On this Holy and Great Saturday, when all of creation stands in mystical silence before the majesty of Christ’s rest in the Tomb following His all-saving work, the Sacred Monastery of Bigorski enters into the height of sacred expectation—the moment just before the cosmic brilliance of Life bursts forth.
On the evening of Great Friday, with sacred awe and inexpressible spiritual beauty, the service of the Lamentations at the Tomb was prayerfully celebrated. Before the flower-woven epitaphios bearing the embroidered icon of the Lord’s immaculate Body, the entire church of the Forerunner was filled with sorrowful joy and deep compunction.
Led by our beloved Elder, His Grace Bishop Partenij of Antania, the monastic brotherhood and sisterhoods, together with a great multitude of the faithful, poured out their hearts in prayerful song as they chanted the sublime verses of the Lamentations, laying their sorrow before the entombed Lord.
And though the hymns were soaked with the tears of the Mother of God and of all the faithful, still, within their sacred verses the first glimmers of victory could already be discerned. For in the Tomb lies not a mere man, but the very One Who fashioned the world—and Who now renews it through His death. Through the grave, He prepares a new heaven and a new earth—a new beginning for us all.
And so, in that mystical stillness, where everything breathes with inexpressible hope, the night of Holy and Great Saturday arrived. According to the sacred tradition of the Church, on this day Christ rests bodily in the tomb, but with His soul He descends into Hades, to shatter its dominion. Hades—that darkest cavern of human exile—was shaken at the very moment of His descent, and in terror released all its captives. Christ destroyed the gloom of death with the radiance of His Divinity.
In the sacred temple of Bigorski, this ineffable mystery was celebrated in the Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, led by His Grace Bishop Partenij and concelebrated by the clergy of the monastery. Amid the fragrance of lilies and the scent of incense, the soul of the Elder, inspired and aflame with resurrectional grace, resounded with the great Paschal Prokeimenon:
“Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit all the nations!”
—a victorious cry echoing from the depths of history, resounding through centuries in the temples of the faithful and in the innermost chambers of their souls.
Standing before the Holy Altar, the Elder bore both the pain of Golgotha and the joy of the Resurrection. His prayerful chanting and liturgical service became a solemn proclamation of the inevitable triumph: Christ is rising!
“O Hades, where is thy sting? O death, where is thy victory?”
In this sacred night, while the earth still holds the silence of the buried Christ, His descent into Hades assures us that even in the deepest darkness of human existence, the love of God remains stronger. Expectation becomes certainty: The Resurrection is near! The victory is assured! Christ, Who descended into death, will soon trample it beneath His most pure feet and bestow upon us everlasting life.
With this boundless hope, the Bigorski Monastery awaits the moment when, together with all the faithful, it will cry out for the first time—and forever—“Christ is Risen!”
The faithful and humble pilgrims of the Risen Savior throughout the world had the opportunity during these Holy and Great Days to follow most of the divine services live and to witness the beauty of sacred moments through breathtaking photographs.
For this, we offer heartfelt thanks to our beloved brothers and collaborators: Stojan Stojanovski and his team from 2S Studio, as well as Aleksandar Paunovski and Stefan Trajanoski, who labored with dedication and love. We extend to them our deep gratitude and fervently entreat the Lord to grant them His divine blessings.
