About Easter

The essay “On Easter” is composed of fragments of the “Catechism” of St. Theodora Studite. The treatise reveals the spiritual meaning and significance of the holiday of the Resurrection of Christ. Beginning with reflection on the saving Passion of the Lord, the monk calls for sobriety, contrition of the heart and mortification of passions, emphasizing that the true celebration of Easter is not reduced to a one-day event, but should become a continuous spiritual state. This “daily Easter” is manifested in the cleansing of sins, the acquisition of virtues and the constant remembrance of the suffering and resurrection of Christ. Likening the spiritual renewal of man to the spring rebirth of nature, the saint calls for internal decoration with virtues, becoming the “fragrance of Christ” to God. He recalls Adam in paradise as a “fragrant and many-colored lemon tree” and calls on every Christian to become a skilled perfumer, collecting spiritual incense that pleases God, attracts Angels and drives away demons. St. Theodore calls for tireless spiritual struggle, constant vigilance and the fight against carnal desires, comparing the life of a Christian with the continuous Pentecost. The word ends with the contemplation of eternal Easter, towards which the whole life of a Christian is directed. The example of the saints who courageously endured earthly suffering serves as a call to perseverance and fidelity, so that we too may be worthy to enjoy this heavenly Easter. Brothers and fathers, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ have the power to give birth to sobriety in our souls always when we reflect on them, but especially in these days, when they are carried out gradually one after another: a conference on putting to death, being taken into custody by the Jews, trial before Pilate, condemnation, strangling, spitting, mocking, ridicule, crucifixion, piercing hands and feet, drinking vinegar, perforating a rib, and much more. another, which not only human, but also all angelic languages cannot properly describe. O great and super-wonderful mystery! The sun saw what was happening - and faded away, the moon saw - and darkened, felt the earth - and shook, felt the stones - and settled. So, if the soulless and insensitive elements bowed down and changed from the fear of the Lord and the sight of what was being done, then will we remain absent-minded and indifferent in these days, worthy of the thoughts for whom Christ died? How can we, being more senseless than animals and more insensitive than stones, remain aloof from what is happening? No, my brothers, no! But let us acquire godly sobriety, let us shed tears, be changed by a kind change, and let us mortify our passions. Isn’t it clear how much suffering Divine love prompts us to do this? Has anyone ever been imprisoned for their friends or sacrificed themselves for their loved ones? And our good God endured not one or two, but myriads of sufferings for those condemned for us. And since the Saints had nothing with which they could repay for this love, they offered Him their bodies and blood, becoming ascetics and martyrs and singing the song of David: “What shall I repay to the Lord for all His good deeds to me?” (Ps.115.3) We, brothers, repeat this song constantly, working for the Lord with an unquenchable feeling of love. And we tirelessly strive for the highest, to become imitators of Christ and the Saints. The Holy Resurrection has come. Let us be careful that we spend this holiday brightly and magnificently, because this Easter is the first and greatest gift of God’s economy. With the help of reverence, let us curb our body so that, although the food changes, our spiritual state does not change. The soul rejoices at the arrival of Easter, because it brings it peace and relief from many labors. Why do we wait so impatiently for Easter, which comes and goes? Haven't we celebrated it many times before? And this one will come and go - in the present age there is nothing permanent, but our days pass like a shadow, and life runs like a messenger gallops. And so on until we reach the end of real life. So, someone might ask, is there no need to rejoice at Easter? – No, on the contrary, let’s enjoy it a lot more – but that Easter that happens every day. What kind of Easter is this? – Cleansing of sins, contrition of heart, tears of vigil, clear conscience, mortification of earthly members: fornication, impurity, passions, unkind desires and all other evil. Whoever is worthy of achieving all this celebrates Easter not just once a year, but every day. However, one who does not have the above, but is a slave to passions, is unable to participate in the holiday. How can one who has a stomach for God, or one who is inflamed by carnal desires, or one obsessed with the love of money, a slave of vanity and a captive of other passions, celebrate? However, I believe, brothers, that you are not like that. Our life is nothing more than preparation for the holiday: psalmody is replaced by psalmody, knowledge by knowledge, teaching by teaching, prayer by prayer - like a certain circle that leads and connects us with God. Oh, how wonderful the monastic life is! How blessed and blessed! So, brothers, let us hasten towards Easter and celebrate it every time as best we can, mortifying passions and resurrecting virtues, imitating the Lord, who “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Together with the resurrection, the creature, throwing off its winter gloominess, like some kind of deadness, blooms and comes to life again. And so we see the earth turning green, the sea calm, animals jumping and everything changing for the better. It was no coincidence that I said this. I would like to emphasize that if even the soulless and without reason so celebrates the blessed resurrection and adorns it, then how much more do we, who are privileged to have reason and be the image of God, need to adorn ourselves and be fragrant! The true aroma of Christ is the one who is constantly adorned with virtues, as the Apostle convinces us of, saying: “For we are the aroma of Christ to God” (II Cor. 2:15). Let us also add that Adam, before he fell, was a fragrance to God, adorned with immortality and incorruptibility and abiding in heavenly contemplations. Therefore, he, like a certain fragrant and multi-colored lemon tree, was planted in paradise. Let us, brothers, be fragrant with the spiritual fragrance that each of us, like the most skillful perfumer, can create for himself by collecting virtues. This incense is blessed; this fragrance is pleasing to God; this incense attracts angels and repels demons. When Easter passes and the holiday ends, let us not think that joy and celebration are over, because we have the opportunity to rejoice and celebrate constantly. How can this be? – This is possible if we always have within us the living memory of the passion of our Savior Christ, that is, that the Lord of glory was crucified for us, descended into the tomb and rose again on the third day, co-resurrecting and co-living us, so that we can say with the Apostle: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). This is the meaning of the sacrament for us: to die for the world and live only for God. So, even after Easter it is necessary to stay awake, pray and be sober, cry and be enlightened, every day to die freely, constantly alienating oneself from the body and assimilating oneself to the Lord, putting to death carnal desires. Don’t say: Lent is already over. – For the ascetic, the Pentecost always continues. Don’t say: I’ve been struggling for many years and now I’ll rest a little. - There is no rest in this life. Do not say: I have already grown old in virtue and am not afraid of anything. – There is always a danger of falling. Satan plunged many who grew old in virtues into sin at one moment. So “if anyone thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Therefore, caution and moderation are necessary both in sleep and in eating, drinking and everything else, so that the body is enslaved and does not plunge us - like a wild foal that has bitten the bridle - into the abyss of sin. If we ever fall from inattention, then let us immediately look at the crucified Jesus and the Lord of glory, and our soul will be healed. Just as the Israelites once, when they were bitten by poisonous snakes, looked at the bronze serpent and were healed. You know that evil thoughts bite like snakes, introducing poison into the soul, which must be removed immediately, because if it remains in the soul, we face death. In addition, you yourself see how spring gives birth to blood and desires in a person. “The flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Gal. 5:17) and if one wins, the other suffers defeat. So, let us be careful that our soul is not enslaved by the flesh, but triumphs over it. A runner is not considered a winner if he runs one or two stages, but the entire distance. And it is not enough for us to strive only during Lent or Pentecost, because if we do not live our entire lives in asceticism, avoiding the traps of the devil, we will not receive the crown of victory. Therefore, my brothers, let us continue our good deed, let us shed more sweat, acquiring virtues, let us temper the flesh even more, enslave the body, put passions to flight, always carrying “in the body the death of the Lord Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:10). And let the memories of Easter not stop just because the holiday has already passed, but let us always have before us the saving passions of our Lord, His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, so that we may remain in constant memory of them with unenslaved passions. Our whole life looks with hope to the eternal Easter, because the real Easter, although great and important, is, as the Holy Fathers say, only an image of that Easter. This one is celebrated on one day and passes away, but that one is eternal. “There will be no more crying, no crying, no sickness, for the past has passed away” (Apoc. 21:4). There is eternal joy, joy and rejoicing, there is the voice of those celebrating, the face of those triumphant and the contemplation of eternal light. There is the blessed table of Christ with an abundance of eternal blessings. Bearing all this in mind, the Saints courageously endured all suffering, turning deprivation into happiness, hardship into consolation, torment into pleasure, exploits into pleasure, death into life. And we, striving for that eternal Easter, will complacently and courageously endure - I ask you, brothers - the present, and our Benefactor and Master God, if we faithfully work for Him to the end, will deign us to enjoy that eternal and heavenly Easter, which may everyone enjoy in the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and buried and risen, His is the power and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever. You might be interested in: