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Thomas Sunday (Antipascha)

” The first week after Pascha is called Renewal week, or the week of Antipascha (the Greek prefix, anti, means “in place of”)—that is, the renewal of Pascha. On this Sunday, the Lord repeated and renewed for all eleven of the Apostles His appearance on the first day after the Resurrection. But because the renewal of the Savior’s appearance was especially for the sake of the Apostle Thomas, the eighth day after Pascha is called Thomas Sunday, the reason being as follows: On the day of the Resurrection, when Christ showed himself to the Disciples in the evening, Thomas was not present, because he had not yet joined the other Disciples for fear of the Jews. When he rejoined the others, not only did he not believe what they told him about the Resurrection of Christ and the fact that they had seen Him, but he absolutely refused to believe that Christ had risen, even though he himself was one of the Twelve. God the good Master, in His true economy, waited eight days to make His love more perfect, firmly willing to truthfully verify the Resurrection and also the events that had occurred after the Resurrection. Thus, Thomas did not believe so that he could more truthfully proclaim to all the belief in the Resurrection. Therefore, the Lord came to the Apostles again while Thomas was among them. Though the doors were shut as before, He entered and granted them peace according to the custom. He then turned toward Thomas and said, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing” (John 20:27). Then Thomas intentionally scrutinized the Lord’s side more attentively, and receiving faith through the examination, he cried, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). He said “Lord” in witnessing to the bodily form of Christ and “God” in witnessing to His Divinity. Then Christ said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). This was the second appearance of Christ.”

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Paschal Greeting of His Grace Matthew, Bishop of Sourozh, Interim Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in Canada, 2025

Beloved in the Lord, all-honorable fathers, dear brothers and sisters!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

With great joy, I congratulate you on the Saving Feast of

THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

On these holy days, the entire Universal Apostolic Church rejoices and glorifies the Risen Savior, Who opened for mankind the way to eternal life and everlasting joy: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25).

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (1 Cor. 5:7) These words of the holy Apostle Paul reveal the depth of the Divine economy of our salvation. The suffering, the Cross, and death of the Son of God are not an accidental, tragic event in history, but the eternal plan of Divine love, revealed for the sake of the salvation of the entire human race. This is a Victory accomplished not by the sword, but by the Cross; not by the power of this world, but by the all-powerful and voluntary Sacrifice of the Divine Lamb, Who “taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It was in the sacrificial death of Christ that the light of the Resurrection shone – the light of the final Victory over sin and death.

The Resurrection of Christ is the triumph of life over death, light over darkness, truth over lies, and love over enmity. In Him the meaning of existence is affirmed, “for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22).

The holy myrrh-bearing women were the first to hear the Good News from the Angel: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.” (Matt. 28:5-6). Since then, these words of Easter joy have not ceased to sound in the hearts of believers, inspiring them to a renewed life and filling their hearts with the light of faith, hope, and love. In them is our consolation, our strength, and joy, given to everyone who lives with the Risen Christ and in Him finds the fullness of being.

The light of Christ’s Resurrection illuminates the path of everyone who follows Him, not only transforming our nature, making us partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4), but also opening for us the path to the Kingdom of Heaven, where God Himself will be “all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28), and the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father (Matt. 13:43).

Sharing with you the bright joy of the Easter celebration, I prayerfully ask the Risen Lord that the ineffable light of the Resurrection of Christ illuminate you every day, strengthen you in faith, console you in sorrows, and inspire you to deeds of love and mercy.

May the Risen Christ always be among us, as He once was among His disciples, saying: “Peace be with you!” (John 20:19) and lead us to eternal rejoicing in the Kingdom of Heaven.

TRULY CHRIST IS RISEN!

+ Matthew
Bishop of Sourozh,
Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada

Pascha of Christ, 2025 London

Paschal 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 Most Reverend archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

It is with these life-affirming words filled with great spiritual power that from the depths of my heart I greet and congratulate you all on the great and radiant feast of Holy Pascha.

It is not fortuitous that church tradition calls this day the “feast of feasts” and the “triumph of triumphs”, for Christ’s Resurrection is the solid foundation of our faith and hope. At the heart of it we find the transformation and renewal of every human being, the light of life everlasting and the fount of constant joy. Christ’s Resurrection has vanquished the most terrible enemies of the human race, which are sin and death, it has torn down the barrier between God and people and delivered us from the power of evil.

Glorifying the Resurrection of the Saviour, a Serbian saint, Bishop Nikolaj (Velimirović) of Ohrid and Žiča, wrote: “Christ’s victory is the sole victory in which all human beings can rejoice, from the first-created to the last. All other victories on earth have divided and continue to divide people… Yet only Christ’s victory can be likened to the sun pouring forth its bright rays upon all those who stand beneath it” (Conversations. The Gospel on the Vanquisher of Death).

This means that every human being who strives for salvation, every believer and follower of Christ, has been granted the opportunity to obtain victory over sin and become, as the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John says, one of the beloved “children of God” (1 John 3.1).

We celebrate Pascha not as a passage from one land to another, even a Promised Land, as the ancient Hebrews celebrated the Old Testament Passover, rejoicing in their liberation from the long years of Egyptian captivity. Our Pascha has a different meaning, for the Lord has delivered us from the “darkness of sin and the shadow of death” (Luke 1.79) and granted to us the kingdom of heaven.

“Out into the light of freedom did Christ lead the despondent captives; to the heavenly heights of Paradise led them He, rejoicing” (Hymn XXXVIII). These inspired words of Saint Ephrem the Syrian express our profound experience of the Paschal mystery, which is the mystery of salvation of the human person from the influence of evil. Evil has not disappeared, yet we have found a way, by the power of God’s grace, of combating and vanquishing it through repentance, prayer and through partaking of the Body and Blood of the Saviour in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. For this reason, we may affirm, along with the Apostle Paul, that “he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in us” (Romans 8.11).

Christ’s Pascha heralds the passing over from earthly corruption to life eternal with God, to union with our Maker and Redeemer. Thus, as we rejoice in Jesus, who has risen for us, and with thanksgiving “lift up the cup of salvation” (Psalm 116.13) through which the Church gives us the true food and drink of immortality which is the Body and Blood of Christ, we shall tirelessly and without ceasing glorify the Lord with deeds of love and kindness, thereby showing ourselves to be his true disciples.

And although our striving for good and growth in God’s cause may at times seem to be the modest “widow’s mite” (Mark 12.42), let us always try to ensure that our strong faith and hope does not weaken, “because we know that in the Lord our labour is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15.58).

Let us, then, render praise and glory to the Risen Saviour, let us embrace each other with love and let us share the unfading Paschal joy with every person whom God brings to us on our path through life, testifying in word and deed that

CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED!

+KIRILL

PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Pascha

2025