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PASCHAL MESSAGE OF PATRIARCH KIRILL OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA TO THE ARCHPASTORS, PASTORS, DEACONS, MONASTICS AND ALL FAITHFUL CHILDREN OF THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Eminent fellow archpastors, reverend pastors and deacons, all-honourable monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Addressing you with these life-asserting words, I extend to all of you my heartfelt greetings on the great and world-saving feast of Pascha. On this chosen and holy day so overwhelming is our spiritual joy and profound gratitude to God and so distinct is the feeling of the might and depth of the Creator’s love for human beings that, when trying to express our emotions, we can hardly find other words than those of the myrrh-bearing women who ran to the apostles to tell them about the miraculous event – that they had seen the Lord.

One can only imagine how hard it was for the Saviour’s disciples to believe in the reality of His Resurrectionю It was not long ago that they had seen their beloved Teacher being tortured and crucified. Still fresh in their minds were the memories of how His dead and lifeless Body had been laid in the tomb, with a heavy stone rolled to its door. And now sorrow gives place to the firmness of faith and the triumph of life, and tears of affliction turn into tears of joy.

What a marvellous change! What a great sign of God’s might! The tomb is open and empty. The burial shroud is thrown aside, and the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head is rolled up in a place by itself. Indeed, the Lord is risen and tells His disciples to place their fingers in the deep marks of the spear and nails, so that they finally may cast away even the slightest doubts that it is He Himself (cf. Lk. 24:39).

Experiencing the real communion with the Risen Christ and the unfading Paschal joy inspired and lent wings to the apostles who went to the ends of the earth to preach the forgiveness of sins and salvation which we received through the Lord Jesus risen from the tomb. Unafraid of adversities and severe persecutions, suffering hardships and tribulations, the apostles tirelessly and bravely bore witness to Christ the Vanquisher of death.

God fulfilled the promise He had given to people in ancient times: I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death (Hos. 13:14). And in the light of Easter morning we rejoice with St. Paul that death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54)! From now on, nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:39), for the deadly effect of sin is brought to naught by the power of the Risen Lord. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), reveals to us the true riches of God’s grace – the radiance of eternal life with God and in God, when, according to the prophetic words of the Apostle, God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:28).

For two thousand years now, the Church has been living in the unfading joy of the Resurrection, striving to make every man that cometh into the world (Jn. 1:9) a partaker of this joy. In the light of Pascha everything is different: we are not afraid of any mundane sorrows, afflictions and worldly troubles, and even difficult circumstances of these troubled times do not seem so important in the perspective of eternity granted unto us.

St. Ephraim the Syrian had a remarkable thought that during the creation the Lord had put into the depths of man the entire Heavenly Kingdom which only waits for us to discover it like a precious pearl. The Kingdom is written in the soul and placed therein as a dowry, in order that, when the Heir of the Kingdom comes, He may take it with Him into the bridal chamber (Commentary on “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth…”). And this Heir – Christ – did come and rise from the dead, saving people from sins and giving us power to become the sons of God (Jn. 1:12), that we may walk before the Lord in holiness and truth, live in chastity, worthy to be called Christians, and be the salt of the earth,.. the light of the world (Mt. 5:13-14).

To bear witness to the Risen Saviour, we do not have to go somewhere far, like the apostles did, who spread the marvellous Paschal light all over the world. Many people around us are in need of a living model of Christian faith working through love (Gal. 5:6). God does not demand of us some heroic deeds that are beyond our strength. He just asks us to show love to one another, to remember that by doing so we also show love to Him. A kind smile, attention and sympathy to those who are near, as well as timely words of consolation and support can become our most important deeds for the sake of our Lord.

Greeting all of you on the feast of Pascha, I invoke upon you the blessing of the Risen Christ and wish you, my dears, the inexhaustible radiant Easter joy that strengthens us in faith, hope and love. God willing, may this light never fade in our hearts, always shining in the world (cf. Mt. 5:14). And may we, illumined by the word of God, by reading the Gospel, and partaking of the Divine grace in the Sacraments of the Church, grow steadily in the knowledge of the Lord and in fulfilling His commandments, so that people, seeing our good works, glorify our Father which is in heaven (cf. Mt. 5:16) and join us in joyfully proclaiming that

CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED!

+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Pascha of Christ,
2022

Great Lent. BEFORE THE FAST

Photo: syl.ru

” The doors of repentance are opening, Great Lent is beginning. It is repeated every year, and each time it brings us great benefit if we spend it the right way. Great Lent is preparation for the future life, while in the shorter term it is preparation for the Bright Resurrection.

Just as in a tall building the staircase is constructed in a way that makes it easier to ascend to the building’s heights, so are various days of the year steps for our spiritual upliftment and ascent.

The days of Great Lent and Holy Pascha are just such days.

By Great Lent we are cleansed of sinful defilement, and on Holy Pascha we feel the blessedness of the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. When people are climbing a high mountain, they try to free themselves of all extra weight. The less someone is burdened, the easier it is for him to climb, and the higher he can ascend.

So, in order to spiritually ascend we first of all need to free ourselves of sinful burdens. They are removed from us through repentance under the inalienable condition that we ourselves would cast off from ourselves all enmity and forgive everyone we consider guilty before us. Then we will greet Christ’s Bright Resurrection cleansed and forgiven.

What is the precious gift of God we receive at conclusion of our Lenten podvig? We are told of this in the first hymns that begin the daily chanting of the Lenten stichera: “And we shall be given as food the Lamb of God, brought to the slaughter for our sakes and communed by the disciples at the Mystical Supper, on the sacred and light-bearing night of the Resurrection.”

Communion of the Body and Blood of the Resurrected Christ in life eternal—this is the goal of the holy Forty Days. We receive Communion not only on Pascha. To the contrary, those who receive Communion on Pascha are those who prepared themselves, went to confession, and received Communion during Great Lent. Right before Pascha itself there is no opportunity to confess well and thoroughly—the time and the priests are too occupied with the services of Holy Week. We therefore need to prepare ourselves for this ahead of time.

Every Communion of Christ’s Mysteries is union with Christ Himself, and salvific for us. Why is Communion on the night of Holy Pascha of such significance? Because then, we are given to especially feel Christ’s Kingdom. We are then especially illumined with the Eternal Light and strengthened for spiritual ascent.

That irreplaceable gift of Christ is an incomparable good. Let no one deprive himself of this joy, running to eat meat and other repasts instead of hastening to receive Communion. Then our partaking of the Holy Mysteries will prepare us for the feast in the eternal Kingdom of God.”

St. John of Shanghai
Translation by Nun Cornelia (Rees)

Azbuka.ru

3/14/2021

Source: https://orthochristian.com/137992.html

Christmas Message by Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia to the archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics and all the faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church

Beloved in the Lord archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters,

I extend my cordial greetings to all of you on the great Feast of the Nativity of Christ.

On this radiant night the whole creation rejoices, for the Lord now draws nigh and comes, expectation of the nations and salvation of the world (Forefeast of the Nativity, Compline Canon). Living in hope for many years of the Saviour’s coming were people who after their expulsion from paradise had lost connection with their Creator and forgotten how joyful it was to sense the presence of God every single day, hear His voice close by, be able to address Him and immediately receive an answer, and know that they were perfectly safe – because the Lord was near them.

This feeling of safety, protection and peace is what we lack for today, when the pernicious pestilence still exerts its effect on our life, when it is difficult to make prognoses and plans, when the uncertainty of the morrow keeps people on their toes and causes alarm. However, in these adverse circumstances we have experienced with particular acuteness the fragility of human life. We have realised that we should appreciate every new day as the greatest gift from God, that enforced solitude may become a heavy burden and that it is of utmost importance to be able to regularly communicate in person with our relatives and friends.

Beholding now the Infant Christ lying in a manger, His Most Pure Mother and the Righteous Joseph the Betrothed, we become aware that only love for God and people can strengthen us in various ordeals, drive fear out of our hearts and give us strength to perform good works.

For at one of the most important moments in her life, the Most Holy Theotokos also found herself in trying circumstances – in a strange town, at a deserted place, in a cave used for keeping cattle. However, the poor cave became a beautiful palace for Her (Forefeast of the Nativity, Troparion), because her heart was overfilled with love for her Son and God: this love transfigured everything around Her, and the Most Pure Virgin noticed neither inconveniences nor the abject poverty of the cave. Gratitude to the Maker and tenderness for the new-born Infant allowed her to disregard any difficulties and see the good Divine Providence in every circumstance sent down by the Lord. It stands in stark contrast to our attitude towards God-given trials, to how, for instance, during the lockdown many people even thought of their own home as prison, lost heart and was pessimistic about everything.

As today in our minds we are standing before the manger of the Saviour, at which alongside the Creator there is the whole creation – people, animals and angels, servants of the all-holy and three-Sunned Radiance (Monday Matins, Canon, Tone 5) – let us feel that we abide in God’s love and are united around Christ. Let us free our souls from the shackles of fear, distrust, alarm and desperation, and hear the voice of the Son of God Who comes down to the sinful earth and calls unto Him all that labour and are heavy laden, promising to give them rest (Mt. 11:28). He comes – and teaches us how to live so that the lost heavenly bliss could again become a reality, and, what is even more important, so that we, people, could be united with the Lord in an unfathomable and mysterious way.

The Heavenly King Who was born on earth (Sticheras of the Nativity) has already done everything for our salvation. All that remains for us to do is to accept His love and respond to it by our deeds – by living according to the commandments, by acts of mercy, by firm faith and wish to be with God, and by willingness to not only receive abundant mercies from His Fatherly hands, but also, having great hope and trust in Him, surmount various difficulties.

My dears, time and again I extend to you my Nativity greetings. No one is shut out from this joy, St. Leo the Great writes, all share the same reason for rejoicing… Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness (Sermon 1 on the Nativity of Christ). May the Lord grant unto all of you spiritual and bodily health, inexhaustible joy and fortitude, and strength as you continue to work and follow the path of salvation. Amen.

+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Nativity of Christ
2021/2022

Moscow