The First Day of Pascha: Teaching 4 (Explanation of the Origin of the Paschal Greeting)

The First Day of Pascha:
Teaching 4

A Homily for Vespers on the First Day of Pascha

(Explanation of the Origin of the Paschal Greeting)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

Christ is risen! – Truly He is risen!

I. Thus, brethren, briefly but joyfully do we greet one another today. We cannot think of a better greeting.

II. a) Do you wish, brethren, to know where our present joyful greeting comes from?

The custom of Christians to greet each other in this way, or simply to exchanging Christ's greetings, is an ancient custom, dating back to the Apostles.

The first half of the greeting: "Christ is risen!" appeared almost in the very first minutes after the resurrection of Christ, and was heard from the lips of an angel. The angel who appeared at the tomb of the risen Christ was the first to greet the Myrrhbearing women with the bright resurrection of Christ, the first, so to speak, to exchange the greeting of Christ with the Myrrhbearing women. The angel, turning his speech to the women, narrates the Evangelist Matthew (28:5, 6), said: "Do not be afraid; for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here: he is risen." The angel of the Lord, having greeted the Holy Myrrhbearing women with the joy of the resurrection of Christ, commanded them to take this greeting immediately to the disciples of Christ: "Go quickly," he said to them, "tell his disciples that He (Christ) is risen from the dead" (Matt. 8:7). And the Holy Myrrhbearers, according to the story of the Evangelist Luke, returned from the tomb, announced all this to the eleven and to all the others. Thus this joyful news, this joyful greeting: "Christ is risen!" flew from mouth to mouth, carried through eighteen centuries, was heard in the most numerous nations of the globe and is now pronounced by our lips with the greatest joy.

You may also want to know when and how the second half of today’s greeting was formed: "Truly He is risen!"

On that same day of Christ's resurrection, the other half of the Lord's greeting was formed in the language of the Apostles: "Truly He is risen!" The Holy Apostles who were in Jerusalem greeted Luke and Cleopas, who had returned from Emmaus, with the resurrection of Christ; they said (Luke 24:34) that the Lord is risen indeed! Truly He is risen! Thus, the second half of the greeting: Truly He is risen came from the lips of Christ's disciples, and on that same day of Christ's resurrection.

b) It is very opportune to explain to you, brethren, our mutual kissing, which we usually combine with the greeting of the resurrection of Christ.

How did it come to you Christians?

Remember what the Savior especially commanded the Apostles before His suffering, and in their persons to all of us Christians? "This is My commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. This I command you, that ye love one another" (John 15:12), the Lord commanded His disciples more than once in His last conversation before His suffering. This love, commanded to us by our Savior, we now express by a visible external action – kissing, and in this action we forget the difference in sex, age and condition. This mutual kissing of ours also serves as an expression of our social inner joy in the resurrection of Christ. And it is impossible to express the joy of the resurrection of Christ better than by mutual love; no other expression of this joy can be so pleasing to the Savior as our mutual, brotherly love for one another.

III. Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, this is where the custom of Christians exchanging the greeting of Christ on the days of Holy Pascha originated. This is how important and sacred is the greeting with which we now congratulate one another. A short greeting, not a great sermon, but we cannot think of a better greeting. Greet then, Orthodox Christians, each and everyone with this heavenly joy; proclaim to everyone the resurrection of Christ, for it is the feast of feasts and the triumph of triumphs; kiss one another, but kiss with a holy kiss. Amen. 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.