Слово на Святую Пасху (О таинстве Пасхи). Святого Амвросия, епископа Медиоланского

The sacrament of Easter brings to all believers in Christ, reborn by faith, the annually returning joy and glory of the bliss of faith, although its sacred name (Easter) comes from the suffering of the Savior Himself, as can be seen from the words of the blessed Apostle: for our Easter was quickly devoured for us, Christ (1 Cor. 5:7). Christ the Lord, having accepted a human body, dedicated Himself, in the sacrament of Easter, to suffering, so that everyone who through faith received participation in this gift could rightly recognize himself as worthy of participation in the bliss of the Lord. Man, whom God deigned to create in a special way, received the appointment to be the ruler of earthly creatures so that He himself would obey the Divine decrees and fulfill the will of only Him who, out of nothing, made him ruler over so many creatures. But he (earth-born) at the very beginning, having desired, not out of ignorance, but out of envy, to become, contrary to his nature, higher than what he was created by the grace of God, he lost the grace that the love of the Creator had given him. And the criminal for lusting after what the devil deceived him with, immediately being condemned to death, extended (this condemnation) to his offspring, so that in this case the Divine saying was completely fulfilled: through envy of the devil death came into the world (Wis. 2:24). Thus, due to the Fall, the devil received the power of death over all sinners, and took possession of all those who had departed from God, binding them with the bonds of sin and imprisoning them in the dungeon of stinking Tartarus. Grieving over their destruction, God, according to Divine vision, did not send a Prophet, not a slave, and not an invisible Angel, but, having accepted true human flesh, He Himself came and dwelt with man in order to give mortals an example of holy life, and by the example of His death and His resurrection to show eternal life to the temporary ones who believe in Him (for just as unbelief and idolatry closed the entrance to heaven, so treachery cast the treacherous ones into the abyss of hell, where the devil reigned over them through death, torturing them until the coming of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ - until He, having united the being of human flesh with God, put the immaculate body to death). Not involved in sin, Christ, descending into the underworld of Tartarus, crushed the faiths and gates of hell, and, destroying the dominion of death, called souls bound by sin from the jaws of the devil to life - and the Divine triumph is inscribed in the eternal letters of Scripture, saying: where is the sting of death? where is the victory (1 Cor. 15:55; cf. Hos. 13:14)? Discussing this blessedness of restored salvation, (the Apostle) Paul says: “Just as through Adam death entered into this world, so through Christ salvation was restored to the world” (1 Cor. 15:22), - and in another place: the first man, from the earth, fingered; the second man, the Lord from heaven, and adds: as we have put on the image of the earthy, that is, the old, sinful man, may we also be clothed in the image of heavenly things (1 Cor. 15:47, 49), that is, may we receive the salvation of man accepted, redeemed, renewed and purified in Christ. This is because, says the same Apostle, that the Firstfruits, the Author of resurrection and life is Christ, and then those of Christ (1 Cor. 15:23), that is, those who, imitating in life the purity of Him (the Savior), will achieve the hope of His resurrection, in order to receive with Him the promised heavenly glory, as the Lord Himself testifies in the Gospel: “Whoever follows Me will not perish, but will pass from death to life” (John 5:24). Thus, the suffering of the Savior is the salvation of human life: for He wanted to die for us so that we, believing in Him, would live forever - He wanted to be for a while what we are (i.e., human), so that we, having received the eternity He promised, would forever abide with Him. Such is the gift of Easter!.. That is why the earthly people sing with the Prophet the song of the annual festival: this day, which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad on it (Ps. 118:24). What day is it? The same one who brought us the Author of life, the Source of light, the Author of enlightenment, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who said about Himself: I am day: whoever walks in days will not be stumbled (John 11:9). This means: whoever follows Christ in everything will follow in His footsteps to the throne of eternal light, just as He Himself, while still in the body, prayed for us to the Father, saying: Father, I will, that where I am, these, that is, those who have believed in Me, may be with Me (John 17:24): just as You are in Me, and I in You, so may these also be in us. (John 17:21). This is the day of joy and gladness, on which, having achieved the promised perfect glory, we (the people, truly holy), even in this age, like the angels, sing with the Prophet to the Lord the sacrament of future praise: this day, which the Lord has created, we will rejoice and be glad in it - the Lord, that is, the Author of restoration, redemption and eternal life, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the King of kings and Lord rulers, reigning without beginning and without end in the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen 14. Ambros. Episc. Mediolan. Opera. Benedict. Wenetiis 1751 ann., tom. IV. Append, ad Opera, col. 39–41; compare Christ. Read 1841, part II, pp. 40–47. You might be interested in: