(18 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northern suburb of Chalandri, Athens, Greece – 18 April 2025
1. Various of priest censing during the Good Friday re-enactment of the Deposition of Jesus Christ, at Agios Antonios Church in the northern suburb of Chalandri
2. Crucifix adorned with flowers
3. Various of faithful praying
4. Various of faithful kissing crucifix
5. Various of Greek Orthodox priest removing depiction of Jesus Christ from cross
6. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Father Antonios Passaris, Agios Antonios Church of Chalandri:
"We repeated a custom that we began when the Chalandri cemetery opened, the procession of the bier. Christ, the leader of life, entered the tomb to give life to those lying in the tomb. Christ forged a Pascha, that is a passage, from death to life and from the Earth to the heavens. Us, the sad people, still earthbound but placing our hopes with the resurrected Lord, pray together and take the decorated bier around and we say a prayer for those in slumber, for their rest in peace. We conduct blessings in the graves, for today is the day that Christ descended underground to vanquish Death. (This is symbolized) by the opening of the doors when the biers return from the nightly procession."
7. Faithful throwing flowers as priests pass by
8. Various of priests and believers decorating Epitaph with flowers
9. Various of people lighting candles
10. Various of procession of Jesus’ funeral bier, known as the "Epitaph" in Greek, at cemetery
11. Close-up of epitaph
12. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Panos Sakellariou, doctor from Athens:
"Today is a big celebration for Christendom and me personally because Christ was buried but with the hope for resurrection, which means we believe that, beyond the present life, there is another, at a higher spiritual level, which must be eternal. We do not know it by experience, but we believe."
13. Various of procession of Jesus’ funeral bier, known as the "Epitaph" in Greek, at cemetery
STORYLINE:
The faithful gathered at the Church of Agios Antonios in the Athens suburb of Chalandri on Friday morning to witness the Descent from the Cross — one of the most solemn moments in Christian worship.
The ceremony commemorates the Gospel account of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus lowering the body of Christ from the cross after the crucifixion to bury him.
Despite hundreds of thousands having already left the capital for the countryside – an annual tradition – and the warm spring weather, the service was well attended.
Good Friday morning is the only day in the Orthodox calendar where no mass is celebrated.
But the hymns sung in this special service are some of the most emotionally charged, and popular, in Orthodox liturgy, especially "Life In the tomb" and "Oh, My Sweet Spring," the Virgin Mary’s lamentation for her dead son.
The congregation then proceeded on foot to the local cemetery.
Also early on Good Friday (called Holy Friday in Greece) women at each parish start decorating biers (epitaphs) with fresh flowers.
These often elaborate structures represent Christ’s coffin.
The church’s bier was ready for the service and it was carried with the procession to the cemetery.
On Friday evening, biers become the centerpiece of candlelit processions.
In several localities, outside of the biggest cities, all parish bier processions converge into the central square.
AP video shot by Srdjan Nedeljkovic
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