THE SERVICE OF GOOD FRIDAY – THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTMAS -EPPIPHANY RITUAL  (ON THE EXAMPLE OF GEORGIAN LITURGICAL PRACTICE)

TAMAR CHKHEIDZE; NUN NINO SAMKHARADZE

TAMAR CHKHEIDZE PhD in Art Studies Professor at Giorgi Mtatsmindeli University of Chant http://orcid.org/0009-0000-4965-1152
NUN NINO SAMKHARADZE Doctoral Student at V. Sarajishvili Tbilisi State Conservatory http://orcid.org/0009-0008-4595-5974

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the theological and musical-hymnographic connections among the services of Good Friday, Christmas, and Theophany, and to highlight the primordial liturgical-symbolic significance of Holy Friday as the “archetype of the divine services,” based on the Georgian ecclesiastical tradition.

The study relies on Georgian and Greek liturgical sources from various periods, the so-called “Lists of Chreli” (verbal musical notation), and notated chant manuscripts. These materials reveal shared hymnographic and musical features among the three feasts, including identical psalmic refrains, common poetic structures, and rhythmic-melodic models.

The article also examines the relationship between the three-ode canon (Triodion) of the pre-Christmas and Theophany days and the canon cycle of Holy Week, as well as the interconnections among the “Chreli” verses of Holy Friday, Christmas, and Theophany.

Furthermore, it explores the links between St. Theophanes Graptos’s Canon of the Supper of Holy Friday, Catholicos Anton’s Canon of the Savior’s Tunic for Matins, and St. Cosmas of Jerusalem’s three-odes of Good Friday. Finally, the cycle of “Shekhvetiliani,” the hymns of the Matins of Good Friday, is discussed as a unifying musical framework interweaving the Heirmoses of various echos and services.

Keywords: Good Friday, Christmas, Epiphany, Royal Hours, Three Odes, Kosmas of Maiuma, Georgian Liturgical Practice.