Sunday of Holy Pascha (1-2 of 15)

Sunday of Holy Pascha

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

1. The Bright Resurrection of Christ

There are many bright and solemn feasts in the Holy Orthodox Church; but none is brighter and more solemn, none more joyful and comforting than the great day of the Resurrection of Christ, when all is clothed in light, the heavens rejoice, the earth is glad, and the whole world celebrates the great victory of our Savior over death and Hades.

This is what the Gospel relates about this glorious and great event. Great Saturday had passed, on the night of which Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemos buried the Body of Jesus. The tomb in which He was laid was sealed with a great stone; a guard stood by it — the chief priests and Pharisees persuaded Pilate and set it there to guard the tomb until the third day, lest the disciples of Christ come by night, steal His body, and say to the people: 'He has risen from the dead" (cf. Matt. 27:64). But on the third day after His sufferings on the Cross and His death, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, according to the writings of the prophets. This took place after midnight from Saturday to the following day (now Sunday). The soldiers who stood guard saw that after the Resurrection of the Savior an Angel rolled away the stone from the tomb, and they were witnesses of the earthquake that occurred at that time. The appearance of the Angel who rolled away the stone, according to the Evangelist Matthew, was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow (cf. Matt. 28:3). This appearance of the Angel, his radiant garment, was a living expression of his heavenly joy and the bright triumph in heaven, which on this great day, according to the testimony of the Holy Church, was filled with a special light. Struck and terrified by this miracle, the soldiers fell down and for some time remained as if senseless. Coming to themselves, they went and told everything that had happened to the chief priests. And they, bribing the soldiers, instructed them to say to the people that during the night, while they were asleep, the disciples of Jesus Christ came and stole the body of their Teacher. But this malicious and absurd invention of the enemies of Christ did not succeed: the truth of Christ’s Resurrection was in a short time testified to the whole world and became its possession.

Renewal Monday - Let Us Be Radiant (Fr. George Dorbarakis)

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“It is the day of Resurrection; let us be radiant, O peoples; Pascha, the Lord’s Pascha; for from death to life, and from earth to heaven, Christ God has led us across, as we sing the hymn of victory” (First Ode of the Resurrection Canon, Tone 1).

Saint John of Damascus, in the festal and triumphant first tone, offers us the outburst of his heart — an outburst of every believer who truly knows — for the feast of feasts, the Resurrection of the Lord. This is not, of course, the Passover of the Jews, during which they celebrate their passage through the Red Sea and thus their liberation from the slavery of the Egyptians — this event functioning as a prefiguration and prophecy of the Christian Pascha — but rather the Passover of the Lord, His Resurrection. By it the Lord, as the almighty God, having destroyed the kingdom of death by entering into it, granted eternal life to all the sorrowful souls of the dead — that is, He transferred them from death to life; and even more, He transferred all people from the earth, to which they were exclusively oriented, to heaven, where one can behold the face of God, where one now lives one’s true homeland, the Kingdom of God. For, according to the Apostle, after the redemptive work of the Lord, “we have no abiding city, but we seek the one to come,” which coming city is already experienced by the Christian in this world within the Church. “Therefore you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.”

April: Day 13: Teaching 2: Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome

April: Day 13: Teaching 2:
Saint Martin the Confessor, Pope of Rome*
 
(On the Right Faith)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. To Saint Martin, whose memory is celebrated today, the Lord granted to be archshepherd in Rome at a time when the so-called Monothelite heresy was very strong. It consisted in this: that in Jesus Christ they acknowledged only one will — the divine — although they recognized in Him two natures, both divine and human. This false teaching had infected even Emperor Constans himself and even the Patriarch of Constantinople. But what does all this mean for a man firmly devoted to the truth? For him it is all the same — even if the whole world should fall away from the truth, he will not betray it. Such also was Saint Martin. The emperor demanded that Saint Martin accept the false teaching, but Martin did not agree and said: “Even if my body were torn into pieces, I will not depart from the orthodox teaching.” And indeed he did not depart. He was deprived of his rank and exiled into imprisonment, but his faith was not harmed. He remained Orthodox in belief until death. For this God rewarded him. When he departed, many miracles occurred from his relics.

Prologue in Sermons: April 13

The Lord Saves the Innocent From Slander and Punishes the Guilty

April 13

(A Word from the Paterikon about Daniel the Monk, how he raised a murdered man.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

People who have plunged into the depths of evil, when committing some wicked deed with every precaution, often think that, while carrying out their crime, no one has seen them, and therefore they are free from all responsibility for their sin. But they are grievously mistaken. From the all-seeing and just Lord they will not escape; and He, in one way or another, will find them and punish them, while those who have suffered innocently because of them He will justify and will make their innocence known.

Once the Venerable Daniel, passing by a certain place, saw that several men had seized and were holding one of the monks. The elder approached the detained man and asked: “For what reason have you been seized, and what is the cause of your detention?” The monk answered that he was being accused of murdering a man, of which he was completely innocent and knew nothing. Then the Venerable one asked: “Where, then, is the slain man?” They showed him.

Oration on the Lord's Resurrection (St. Amphilochios of Iconium)

Oration on the Lord's Resurrection 

By St. Amphilochios of Iconium

(Bright and great and wondrous is the present day,) ...a day of joy and gladness, beloved, a day of rejoicing and salvation, a day of illumination and sanctification, a day of peace and reconciliation; a day of restoration and renewal of our souls, a day truly great and wondrous and manifest. On this day Christ raised us up, cast down by sin; on this day Christ made us alive together, who had been dead in our transgressions; on this day He opened paradise, that we might partake of the tree of life — which is His precious and life-giving Body and Blood, through which we are cleansed and sanctified and illumined and renewed. For Christ gave Himself as a ransom for us all, and led us forth from death to life, from darkness to light, from slavery to freedom, and from enmity to true friendship; He redeemed us from the curse and from sin, becoming a curse for us, so that we might receive adoption as sons, so that we might no longer be slaves but free, no longer impassioned but dispassionate, no longer lovers of the world but lovers of God, no longer walking according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection (Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris)

Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection 

By Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris (+ 1258)

Christ is risen from the dead; this the angel said; this the women saw; this even the seals of Pilate testify; the empty tomb proclaims it loudly; the rolled-away stone bears witness; the guards are exposed by their flight; the watch confesses it and receives money; the high priests (Annas and Caiaphas) are proven guilty; Pilate feels shame; the centurion, at the tearing of the veil, believes; the sun had already shown it beforehand by darkening at the Cross; the resurrected bodies of the dead proclaimed the truth; all creation bore witness to the Resurrection, which took place at the end of the Sabbath, toward the beginning of the first day.

Rejoice, O people; Christ is risen from the dead; the testimony is entirely true. Be glad, you have been set free. Hades has been bound — rejoice; it is the day of Resurrection — lift up your voice; the Author of our salvation has risen from the dead. Let heaven and earth rejoice; behold, harmony between angels and men through the Resurrection. Rejoice, O plants; the death of Christ took place on the Cross, but through it the Resurrection was accomplished. He raised up Adam with Himself; Eve has been freed from her bonds; the prophets go before the Master; the kings, Solomon and David, offer hymns of victory.

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2026 (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Paschal Pastoral Encyclical 2026

Christ is Risen!

The day of Christ’s Resurrection is a day of light, because Christ is the true Light, according to His unfailing declaration: “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12), and this Light is His divinity. It is the uncreated Light, not the created light of the sun. If the created light of the sun gives life to creation, the uncreated Light of the divinity grants true life to those who are united with it. The Evangelist John constantly speaks about the Light of Christ, which illumines all creation, both spiritual and perceptible. He himself was the beloved disciple of Christ and was called the Theologian; he remained until the very end at the Cross of Christ on Golgotha, received the Mother of Christ at His command, saw the Risen Christ, and indeed, according to his own testimony, “he came first to the tomb,” since “he outran Peter” (John 20:4).

In his Gospel he continually speaks of Christ as the true Light. He knew this from his presence on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:1–13), and, of course, from his encounters with the Risen Christ. Therefore, he writes at the beginning of his Gospel: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:4–5). And he adds: “And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This glory is the Light.

Prologue in Sermons: April 12

Night Prayer

April 12

(A Homily of Saint John Chrysostom on how to rise at night to pray.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

We usually pray every day in the morning and in the evening. During the day, few among present-day Christians pray, and at night even fewer. Yet, according to the word of the Apostle, who commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17), it would be good to set aside some time for prayer during the day — and at night as well. Let us now speak about the night.

A worthy example of night prayer is found already in the Old Testament. “At midnight,” says David, “I arose to give thanks to You for the judgments of Your righteousness” (Ps. 118:62). We also find it in the New Testament, among the Apostles. “At midnight,” we read in the Acts of the Apostles, “Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25). The Lord Himself, our Savior, loved during the night to withdraw into solitude for prayerful communion with God His Father. All the saints prayed at night. The Holy Fathers also command us to practice night prayer. Let us take, for our instruction, Saint John Chrysostom.

Homily on the Holy Sabbath (St. John of Damascus)

Homily on the Holy Sabbath 

Discourse 4

By St. John of Damascus

“Who can speak of the mighty works of the Lord and make His praises heard?” (Ps. 105:2). Who can describe the vast sea of His goodness? Who can express His boundless love for His servants? Who can speak of His condescension, which surpasses all understanding? Who can describe His compassion toward us and the unspeakable care that flows from it?

There is no one — even if he speaks the tongues of angels and of men, even if he has gathered within himself all human knowledge. For though the spirit is willing, the tongue is weak to speak and the mind dim to comprehend. Truly great is the mystery of the divine economy: the mind cannot contain it, but only faith can receive it — and it requires purity of soul, accompanied by fear of God and longing for Him.

For it is not possible to attain purification of the soul in any other way than through divine fear and love. Nor is it possible to receive divine illumination unless the faculty of the soul’s vision is first purified. For the divine is inaccessible to the profane, and only those who are pure in heart will see God, as Christ, who is Truth itself, said (Matt. 5:8).

Likewise, at the Theophany granted long ago to Moses in the burning bush, he is first commanded to remove his sandals, and only then to approach the symbol he beheld (Ex. 3:2). The removal of the sandals signifies the casting off of dead and earthly-minded thoughts (Gregory, Oration II on Pascha). And again, when Mount Sinai was enveloped in smoke during the giving of the Law, not all ascended, but the ascent was regulated according to each one’s purification. If, then, even in the symbols purification from every stain was required, how pure and God-like must those be who are to approach the true and original realities?