Today, the church is open from the morning as the Holy Wednesday Vespers and the Presanctified Divine Liturgy are celebrated.
Every Holy Wednesday before the Ceremony of the Baptism, the Holy Anointing of the Sick is performed in all Churches. This is an extremely important service for the Church, which is why it has included it in its sacraments. Today, the Holy Anointing of the Sick is performed in churches, however, many people throughout the year do it in their homes.
The first record of the significance of anointing is found in a letter by James the Elder. "Is any sick among you? Call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in his name. And the prayer of faith will save the one who prays, and the Lord will raise him up, even if the sin committed is left to him" (James 14:15-XNUMX).
That is: "Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him."
Therefore, according to the hagiographic passage, the purpose of the sacred mystery of the Eucharist is primarily the healing of physical illness.
The Morning Prayer of Holy Thursday
In the afternoon, the Service of the Holy Blessing of Oil takes place, followed by the ceremony of the Niptiros, which is also the Morning Prayer of Holy Thursday, which refers to four events.
The Holy Basin, that is, the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus Christ.
The Last Supper
The Lord's Prayer on the Mount of Olives
The betrayal of Judas, which marks the beginning of the Passion of Christ.
Also on Holy Wednesday, four days before Easter, the church commemorates the event of the anointing of the Lord with myrrh by a prostitute. Although the prostitute's action was criticized by many, Jesus defended her as she always showed great zeal for alms to the poor, but also to those who were not accepted by the wider social classes.
The Evangelist John speaks not of a prostitute, but of another woman, admirable and modest, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who anointed His immaculate feet by wiping them with the hairs of her hair. The Holy Chrysostom maintains that there were two women who anointed the Lord with myrrh. The first three Evangelists mention one and the same woman, who was called a prostitute.
