Christ is Risen!
"Proclaim, O earth, the glad tidings of great joy,
"Proclaim, O earth, the glad tidings of great joy,
and ye heavens, praise the glory of God."
"The Angel cried to the Lady full of grace: Rejoice, O pure Virgin!"
What kind of joy does the Archangel announce? About the one that the whole earth is called to evangelize. The Son of God, the Son of the Virgin, empties Himself, and therefore Gabriel preaches grace.
But now, on the day of the Annunciation, the Virgin weeps bitterly, seeing her Son crucified on the Cross. Where is the joy when the Son Himself cries out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
But joy is born out of that sorrow, the humiliation of the Son of Man is transformed into His Divine glory. The rays of the Sun of Truth, which had gone underground, had not yet faded, as the dawn of His Resurrection had already shone. Again an angel stands before the Virgin, again proclaims to Her - "Rejoice! Your Son is risen from the tomb," and not only is He risen, but also the dead are raised up from the tomb. Be glad O people!
For our sake, the Son of God was incarnated from the Virgin, for our salvation He tasted death on the Cross, descended into hades with his soul, and destroying it, rose from the dead.
Oh, how great is the wisdom of God, how incomprehensible are His ways! What seems mournful to us is the beginning of great joy, humiliation precedes glory, life shines from the grave, the mortal is clothed in the splendor of incorruption.
Let us all rejoice now, the good-hearted and the sad, the healthy and the sick, those who begin their lives on earth and leave it for eternity.
Now everything is filled with light, heaven, earth and hades. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life!
Christ is Risen!
Brussels-Paris, 1961
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.