Слово на Святую Пасху. Святого Амвросия, епископа Медиоланского

This day, which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 117:24). Brothers! These psalm words with which St. The Prophet calls us to joy and gladness. The Holy Spirit Himself moves all creatures to the corporate triumph of this day: for on this day, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, hell is closed, heaven is opened, the defeated hell returns its dead, the thief is introduced into paradise, the bodies of the saints enter the holy city, the dead soar to the living. On this day, hell releases its prisoners to the mountain villages, the earth conveys its buried ones to heaven, heaven presents to the Lord those whom it has received, and (in the same way) the suffering of our Savior raises from the underworld, excites from the depths of the earth, places in the heavenly. The resurrection of our Lord is life for the dead, forgiveness for sinners, and glory for saints. Therefore, Saint (King) David urges every creature and all creation to the most joyful triumph of this day, saying: this day, which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! But someone will say: “If we should rejoice on this day, then, of course, it is fitting to rejoice at those who feel the light of that day. Meanwhile, heaven and hell cannot feel the light of this day: how can these elements participate in the joy of this day without participating in the illumination of it? - But this day, which the Lord created, penetrates and illuminates everything, heaven and earth and the underworld: for the light of Christ is not blocked by walls, is not divided by the elements, is not darkened by darkness. The light of Christ is a day without evening, an endless day: it shines everywhere, illuminates everywhere, nothing is hidden from it. What more can I say? That day is Christ Himself, as the Apostle says: the night has passed away, and the day is drawing near (Rom. 13:12): the night has passed, it is said (and will not follow), so that we understand that, with the approach of the light of Christ, the darkness of the devil is driven away, and the ignorance of sins has passed away, and that by this radiance, former delusions have been destroyed, and deceitful wickedness discontinued. That this day (of course), Christ, illuminates heaven, earth and hell, the (Holy) Scripture testifies to this. That this day, that is, Christ, illuminates the earth, is written about by (the Evangelist) John: “This is the true Light, which enlightens every man who comes in the world” (John 1:9). That this day Tartar itself is illuminated, we read about this from the Prophet: living in the land and shadow of death, the light will shine on you (Is. 9:2). And that this day shines in heaven, read about this from the prophet David: I will set his seed in the age of the world, and his throne as the days of heaven (Ps. 89:30). Who is the day of heaven, if not Christ the Lord, about whom the Prophet says: the day of days vomits the verb (Ps. 18:3)? He is the day Son, to whom the day the Father reveals the mystery of His Divinity; He is the day about which it is written (by Solomon): I have created that unceasing light may shine in heaven... And since the day of heaven will never be followed by night, then after the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the darkness of sins disappears. Since the day always shines and cannot be enveloped by any darkness, the light of Christ shines and is not covered by any darkness of sins, which is why the Evangelist John says: the light shines in the darkness, and His darkness is not enveloped (John 1:5). So, in the resurrection of our Lord all the elements will triumph. On this day, the sun itself (I think) is clearer than usual: it is fitting that the sun should rejoice at His resurrection, since during His suffering it was covered with the darkness of lamentation. Whose death (once upon a time) the sun was saddened, His resurrection greeted him with greater radiance of light, and (like a good servant) as much as it was darkened then (at the burial of the Lord), so much now, in the celebration of the resurrection, it must shine. During the suffering of its Creator, it was apparently covered with the darkest night, as if grieving over the atrocity of the Jews (so that the whole world saw it): for some sign of sadness in the sun was that, with such an atrocity, it did not give its light and, as if in some kind of vengeance, plunged the Jews into darkness, so that the eyes of those whose souls were darkened by blindness were struck with blindness, and so that the light peace did not shine on those from whom the light of salvation was taken away. So, some condemnation was predetermined for the Jews, so that while still on earth they would endure the darkness intended for sinners during the judgment. Therefore, brothers, let us all rejoice on this holy day! Let no one exclude himself from the general joy, being convicted by his conscience of his sins; Let no one avoid the most solemn prayers, being aggravated by the multitude of his iniquities. Today, the sinner must be reliable in the forgiveness of sins: since he has a great guarantee in the One through whom the thief was awarded paradise. And how can a Christian not hope for forgiveness (of sins)? If during the crucifixion Christ (the Savior) had mercy on that (thief), then how will He not have mercy on this (Christian) after the resurrection? And if the humble Sufferer showed so much mercy to the repentant: then what kind of mercy will the Risen One in glory show to the one who asks? You yourself know that a triumphant winner is more generous than an unfortunate captive. Amen 15. Bibliot. Patr. Concionator. Fr. Combefis. Parisiis., 1662 an., vol. IV, pag. 23. Selected instructive words of St. Ambrose Bishop. Mediolansky, translated into the Slavic-Russian language in 1806 Kyiv. 1853, pp. 84–89. You might be interested in: