I greet you all, my dear Fathers, Brothers and Sisters, by the universal joyful Paschal greeting of The Holy Gospel: Christ is Risen! Христос Воскресе! Χριστος Aνεστη! Christus resurrexit! Christ est ressuscité!
Christ is risen – and the gloomy hellish fortress of satan is collapsed! Christ is risen – and the enslaved mankind steps out into freedom! Christ is risen – and death, like snow in the spring, disappears: it becomes the door to the Heavenly Kingdom! Christ is risen – and we celebrate the Victory of Life!
Saint Nikolai of Serbia says that “…the victory of Christ is the only victory, which all human beings, starting from Adam and including those living at the end of times, can rejoice in. Any other victory on earth has always been separating people. When one king here on earth gains victory over another king, one of them rejoices, but the other one grieves. Only Christ’s victory is similar to the sun that is distributing its bright beams, streaming with light, on everybody, who stands under it. Only Christ’s victory makes all human hearts bream with the fullness of joy. This is the only victory in which there is no gloating and spite. Jesus Christ won this battle not for His own sake, but for ours. His victory did not make Him neither greater, nor richer, nor more alive than he was before, but made us such. His victory – is not self-centered egoism, but pure love, not an appropriation, but a gift. Any earthly winner snatches his victory; Christ is the only One, Who gives his victory away. There is no such a conqueror, a king or a ruler on earth, who wishes his victory to be taken from him and to be assigned to somebody else. Only the Risen Christ, with both His hands, stretches His victory to each of us and it does not bring him anger, but joy – when His triumph makes us victorious, makes us greater, more alive and richer than what we usually are…”.
Let us allow our Lord Jesus Christ to conquer our hearts with His Heavenly love and let Him stay within us till the end of times! Let Him overcome all our sinful passions and vices that had already taken root in us! Rejoicing and glorifying Our Resurrected Saviour, let us become the united spiritual Body of Christ!
Let the light of Resurrection that had shined from His Holy Sepulchre, always stay with us and become the source of unending joy that nobody can steal from us, joy that only in Christ reaches its fullness and perfection. Let the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead strengthens our belief in immortality! Let the grace of Holy Spirit help us to revive our hearts and to resurrect our souls from the sinful slumber. Let us become the uplighters of Christ’s Truth in our world and let the light of our Easter joy “shine before people”, so that when they see our good deeds, they would “glorify Our Heavenly Father!” (Matthew 5:16)!
Let us fervently pray that Our Holy Orthodox Church – foundation of which was laid by Saint Equal-to-the Apostles Prince Vladimir, who enlightened with the Christ’s Faith all people of Kievan Rus, – was able to stand against and overcome all hostility and hatred on the burning and tortured by the fire of war Ukrainian land! Let us pray that Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the prayers of All our Saints, grant us true and permanent peace!
From all my heart I wish to every one of you always to continue glorifying the Victory of Christ over the devil, sin and death and to answer to the Easter preaching with the joyful ecclesiastical exclamation: In truth He is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! Воистину Воскресе! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!
With the paschal greeting and love in the Risen Lord,
+Iov,
Bishop of Kashira,
Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada
Holy Pascha * April 12, 2015 * Edmonton
