Слово в день Пасхи

A real holiday, obviously, is the most joyful. What makes him like this? Joy about the Resurrection of our Savior? Yes, for this reason it would be most appropriate for us to rejoice on this day. For, wasn’t it for us that our Lord suffered! How can we not rejoice when this suffering is over, and ended with such triumph as the resurrection from the dead! But it seems to me that if this reason pleases us, it is not as much as another, namely, that the Resurrection of the Lord serves as a guarantee of our resurrection, that in the example of Him rising from the grave, we see how we ourselves can rise from our graves. Although this last joy is clearly not as pure as the first, for it has its own benefit, it is not contrary to the Risen Lord, nor to the purpose of His Resurrection. For just as He suffered for us, so He rose again for us. Therefore, instead of condemning and belittling it, we want to promote it and, if possible, increase and spread it. Isn’t it true that if this joy were extended from one day or week to the rest of our lives, then through this our life would take on a completely different form, we would become more cheerful in spirit, we would endure temptations more courageously, and we would be especially more complacent in the midst of illnesses and would not go to the grave with such despondency? What prevents us from doing this? Impossible? But the example of people who rejoiced in the joy of the Resurrection of Christ all their lives shows that this is absolutely possible. Look, for example, at Saint Job: he is covered with wounds and blesses the name of the Lord. Where does this complacency come from in such trouble and temptation, where we would not know what to do, or would begin to curse the day of our birth? With joy about the resurrection. “We know,” says Job, “as if He is ever present, who can redeem me and resurrect my skin that suffers this” (Job 19:25–26). Look also at Saint Paul. “I rejoice,” he says, “in my sufferings” (Col. 1:24). What made these sufferings sweet for him, which, let us note in passing, were sometimes so great that he no longer wanted to live? - Hope of resurrection. “We have faith,” he says, “and know that I am able to keep my tradition on that day” (2 Tim. 1:12). Do you still want to see joy and joy among the most severe torments, among blazing fires, in the jaws of lions and tigers, under the executioner’s axe? Remember the martyrs, not just one, not two, but whole groups. What made death not terrible for them, even torment tolerable? Joy about the resurrection. “You are taking away,” they said to the tormentors, “our mortal body, which is never dead?” He will become the seed of the grave, and an incorruptible body awaits us; you deprive us of peace, and we go to our Christ and Savior. Like Him we suffer, like Him we will be glorified. He did not remain in the tomb, nor will He leave us, who are going to death for His name.” After this, there is no need to doubt that the joy of the resurrection can be extended throughout life; All that remains is to find a way to do this. Of course, not with words alone, no matter how eloquent they may be; of course, not just festive clothes; of course, not just by being present in the church, even if it was frequent; of course, not just one confession before the holiday and fasting, no matter how diligent. Whoever wants to rejoice in the joy of the resurrection all his life, and not just one day or week, needs to take care of this not a day or a week, but more. What exactly is needed for this here? “What is required is what it takes to be a true Christian.” What is needed for this? You need to “put aside dark deeds,” you need to “put on the armor of light” (Rom. 13:12). In whom this spiritual resurrection has taken place, or at least is taking place, as it was in the holy men of God, he can no longer help but feel his resurrection, and sincerely feeling it, he cannot help but rejoice unceasingly. Whether he encounters happiness in life, he will not be blinded, he will not be carried away by it, for inside him there is a hundred times more and better than what he sees around him. His heart is not attached to perishable goods, for he is already anticipating higher blessings. Whether misfortune meets him, he will not lose heart, for within him is One who is stronger than the whole world. It is a great thing, he will say, to endure earthly humiliation and poverty when eternal joy and glory await me. Whether illness visits him, he will not shudder, for this is a fair wind to the Fatherland. Whether he meets death itself, he will not run away from it, for this is the door to the house of joy. You might be interested in: