Depending upon the date of the beginning of Great Lent, this feast has a longer or shorter afterfeast. Since this year Pascha is late, the afterfeast lasts a full week.
On the feast itself, the Vigil was served as usual. On the day itself, the Divine Liturgy was served by the monastery clergy. This feast is a relatively latter feast in its establishment in the Church. When it was instituted, it was given characteristics of both a feast of the Lord and of the Mother of God. There is an entrance verse at the Small Entrance, which is typical of a great feast of the Lord. Also among those of the Byzantine tradition and in Slavic churches in some cases, special antiphons are sung as is also typical of great feasts of the Lord
In the Russian Church, this feast is usually considered a feast of the Theotokos, and blue is used as the color of vestments.
|  |
| ||||||||||||
