”I see Your bridal chamber adorned, O my Saviour, and I have not the garment, to enter therein; O Giver of Light, make radiant (λάμπρυνόν) the vesture of my soul, and save me.” (Exaposteilarion-Hymn of “Bridegroom Matins” on Holy Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday)
Some of us have not fasted enough, or prayed enough, to be well-prepared for the upcoming celebration of Pascha. But in fact the hymns of this Holy and Great Week, like the one quoted above, speak of and for all of us, as ill-prepared for the ”bridal chamber” that is the upcoming celebration. – Like the man in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, who is found to have no “wedding garment,” and is thrown out for his impropriety (Mt 22: 1-14).
But today let me let go of any preoccupation with my ill-preparedness and join the celebration, handing over “the vesture of my soul” to the Giver of Light, Who “clothes” me with His Self-offering presence. All of us, who have been baptised in Christ, are “clothed” in Christ, because we have a Bridegroom Who overcomes our nakedness by taking it on, having been stripped naked, crucified, and both vanquishing and “making radiant” all that in His death and resurrection. O Lord, as You head toward Your cross for my sake, please do for me what I can’t do for myself: “Make radiant the vesture of my soul, and save me.”
