OR Great Tuesdaythe third day of her Long weekit’s not just a link in the chain of passions. Is a one spiritual challenge To man – the tired, the repentant, but also the proud. It is the day that the Church brings us before us two great parables and an immortal anthemcausing us to stand honestly with ourselves.
Parases: The mirror of consciousness
The parable of ten virgins
Her night Tuesdaythe Orthodox Wednesday is chanted in the churches. The latest trophy in the sequence is that of the pious and kind of Byzantine poetry, Cassian.
OR parable It is one of the most powerful and symbolic narratives of Jesus Christ, which is included in the Gospel by Matthew (25: 1–13). It is an excerpt that is part of Jesus’ eschatological teaching, that is, the teaching related to the end of the world and the final crisis.
The content of the parable
Christ presents the image of ten virgins waiting for the groom’s arrival to participate in the wedding. Five of them are wise and have been supplied with sufficient oil for their lamps. The other five are characterized as babybecause they had not predicted the need for extra oil. As the groom is delayed, they all fall asleep. But when he suddenly arrives “in the middle of the night”, only the wise virgins are ready to welcome him and enter the marriage. The other five, while running to buy oil, find the doors closed and the groom rejects them by saying: “Amen I say hymin, no one of us”.
The meaning and eschatological dimension
This parable has a clear eschatological character. The oil possessed by the wise virgin is considered by the fathers of the church as a symbol of faithher loveher by God alert and of their project. The groom is the Christwho will come again, “As a thief at night”. Virgins, according to interpretive tradition, represent the souls of people, who must be in constant preparation for the arrival of the bridegroom, that is to say final judgment.
The phrase “You are fasting, that you are in the day of the day” (Matt. 25:13) is the culmination of the parable message and reminds every believer that the alertness It is not an option, but a duty.
Impact on art and cultural heritage
In Middle Agesthis parable acquired tremendous popularity and inspired artists, hagiographers and architects. The Gothic Cathedral In France and Germany they host scenes from the parable, with ten virgins depicted in sculptures, stained glass and reliefs. At the west gate of Strasbourg Cathedral, for example, the virgin babies are presented with sad faces and empty lamps, while the wise with light and peace, accompanying the groom.
This illustration was intended to remind the faithful not only the dogmatic message of faith, but also the aesthetic and emotional preparation For salvation.
Ten souls. Ten lamps.
Five filled with love, faith and alert oil.
Five permission, forgotten by negligence, indifference, spiritual indignation.
Five wise, who made sure to have their light ready for the big time.
Five babies, who did not care, did not prepare, did not really expect the bridegroom.
The Church brings us this parable not only as a narrative, but as a bell.
Invites us to think:
Me, which of the two sides do I belong to?
How much do I take care of the flame of my soul every day?
How much I am preparing – not only for the end, but for every little and great encounter with Christ in my life?
Because the kingdom of heaven does not come with fanfare. There comes the moment when no one is waiting for her – “in the midst of the night”.
And then, there is no time for last -minute preparations.
There is only the closing door. And a voice that says:
“The bridegroom came. The ready to enter with it. And the door was chosen. “
The parable is not a threat. It is an invitation.
It is a light in the dark that invites us to prepare our lamp.
With repentance, with prayer, with love, with hope.
And the question remains alive in our hearts:
“Me, how ready am I to meet the bridegroom?”
The parable of the talents: gifts waiting to be fruitful
In the parable of the talents, Jesus presents God as the Lord who trusts his slaves valuable gifts: money, abilities, gifts. Everyone receives according to their potential. But the essential question is What does everyone do with what was given to him.
One developed them and increased them. But another hid them, hid them for fear. The result? The former is praised, the second loses what he had.
It’s not just a moral teaching. Is a one existential challenge. God trusts us gifts, time, opportunities. Will we use them or be afraid of them? We will waste them or multiply them with acts of love, creation and offer;
The hymn of Kassiani: The silent scream of repentance
On the evening of Great Tuesday, the Church shakes us with the Hymn of Hosea Cassian. It’s not just a religious poem. Is shocking confession.
The repentant woman of the city – the “sinful” – kneels in front of Christ and with tears washes his legs. He doesn’t say much; he lets tears talk. As the hymn writes:
“If many sinfuls I have been fond of a woman, I felt the deity …”
It is the lament of every soul that once escaped, but wants to return. Is the Song of forgiveness.