Пост и Пасха

“The beginning of hell is already here on earth. Likewise, heaven begins in a person’s soul already in earthly life. Here we already experience touches of the Divine on the day of the Bright Resurrection and when we receive communion worthily.” Archbishop John Jesus entered Jericho and passed through it. And so a certain Zacchaeus, the chief of tax collectors and a rich man, sought to see Jesus who He was. But he could not follow the people, because he was small in stature. And running ahead, he climbed up the fig tree to see Him, because He had to pass by it. When Jesus came to this place, he looked, saw him and said: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I need to be in your house.” And he hastened down and received Him with joy. And everyone, seeing this, began to murmur and say that He had come to a sinful man. Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord: “Lord, I will give half of my property to the poor, and if I have offended anyone in any way, I will repay him fourfold.” Jesus said: “Now salvation has come to this house, because he too is the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:1-10). He is the chief of publicans - “the elder publican.” The usual contrast between the humble publican and the proud Pharisee often obscures the actual outlines of these two images in our consciousness. Meanwhile, in order to correctly understand the Gospel, one must clearly imagine them. The Pharisees were indeed righteous. If in our mouths the name “Pharisee” sounds like a condemnation, then in the days of Christ and in the first decades of Christianity this was not the case. On the contrary, the Apostle Paul solemnly confesses himself before the Jews: “I am a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee” (Acts 23:6). And then to Christians, his spiritual children, he writes: “I am from the family of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Jew from the Jews, according to the teachings of a Pharisee” (Phil. 3:5). And besides St. Apostle Paul, many Pharisees became Christians: Joseph, Nicodemus, Gamaliel. The Pharisees (in ancient Hebrew - perusim, in Aramaic - ferisim, which means “others” - separated, monks) were zealots of God’s law. They “rested on the Law,” i.e. they constantly thought about it, loved it, strived to fulfill it exactly, preached it, interpreted it. And the meaning of the Lord’s reproofs against the Pharisees is that the Lord warns them that all their feats, all their truly good efforts, they depreciate in God’s eyes, turn into nothing and acquire condemnation from the Lord, and not blessing, by their exaltation of the deeds of righteousness, proud self-exaltation, and most importantly, by the condemnation of their neighbors, a vivid example of which is given by the tributary Pharisee, who says: “Thank you, God, for that I am not like other people.” On the contrary, tax collectors are truly sinners, violators of the basic laws of the Lord. Publicans are tax collectors from Jews in favor of the Romans. We must remember that the Jews, well aware of their exclusive position as God’s chosen ones, were famous for the fact that “we are Abraham’s seed, and have never been slaves to anyone” (John 8:33). And here, as a result of well-known historical events, they found themselves subjugated, enslaved by the proud and rude “iron” people, the pagans, the Romans. And the yoke of this enslavement was drawn tighter and tighter and became more and more sensitive. The most tangible, visual sign of the enslavement and subordination of Jews to the Romans was the payment by Jews of all kinds of taxes to their enslavers - tribute. Bringing tribute for the Jews, as for all ancient peoples, was primarily a symbol of submission. And the Romans, without any hesitation with the conquered people, rudely and decisively collected from them both the required and additional taxes. Of course, the Jews paid with hatred and disgust. No wonder, wanting to compromise the Lord in the eyes of their people, the scribes asked Him: “Is it permissible to give tribute to Caesar?” (Matthew 22:17). They knew that if Christ said that it was impossible to give tribute to Caesar, then He would be easy to accuse before the Romans, and if He said that it was necessary to pay tribute, then He would be hopelessly compromised in the eyes of the people. While the Romans ruled Judea through local kings like Herod, Archelaus, Agrippa and others, this enslavement to Rome, and in particular the need to pay taxes, was mitigated for the Jews by the fact that they directly obeyed and paid tribute to their kings, and they already obeyed and paid to Rome. But just shortly before the start of the preaching of Christ the Savior, a change occurred in the system of government of Judea. The general census associated with the event of the Nativity of Christ was the first step towards establishing a poll tax on all Roman subjects in this area. At 6 or 7 according to R.H. after the displacement of Archelaus, when a personal tax was introduced on all residents of Palestine, the Jews responded to this with the uprisings of the Pharisee Zadok and Judas the Galilean (see Acts 5:37), and only with great difficulty did the high priest Jazar manage to calm the people. Instead of local kings, Roman procurators were appointed rulers of Judea and adjacent regions. To more successfully collect taxes, the Romans also introduced the institution of tax collectors, which had existed in Rome since ancient times. But while in Rome and throughout Italy publicans were recruited from the venerable equestrian class, in Judea the Romans had to recruit publicans from moral rejecters, from Jews who agreed to serve them and force their fellows to pay tribute. Accepting such a position was associated with the deepest moral failure. It was associated not only with national, but above all with religious betrayal: in order to become an instrument of enslavement of God’s chosen people by rude pagans, it was necessary to renounce the hope of Israel, its shrines, its aspirations, especially since the Romans did not take into account the spiritual experiences of their agents: when entering service, publicans had to take a pagan oath of allegiance to the emperor and perform a pagan sacrifice of him spirit (the genius of the emperor). Of course, it was not only the interests of Rome that publicans observed by collecting taxes from their fellow tribesmen. But by pursuing their own selfish goals, enriching themselves at the expense of their enslaved brothers, they made the yoke of Roman oppression even more sensitive, even more unbearably heavy. That's what tax collectors were. That is why they were surrounded by justified hatred and contempt, as traitors to their people, who betrayed not the ordinary people, but God’s chosen people, God’s instrument in the world, the people through whom only revival and salvation could come to humanity. All of the above applies to Zacchaeus to a particular extent, because he was not an ordinary publican, but the chief of publicans - architelonis. Without a doubt, he accomplished everything: he made a pagan sacrifice and a pagan oath, mercilessly collected taxes from his brothers, increasing them in his favor. And he became, as the Gospel testifies, a rich man. Of course, Zacchaeus clearly understood that the hopes of Israel were lost for him. Everything proclaimed by the prophets, loved since childhood, from which every “crying out” believing Old Testament soul trembled joyfully, was not for him. He is a traitor, a traitor, an outcast. He has no part in Israel. And then rumors reach him that the Holy One of Israel, proclaimed the Messiah by the prophets, has already appeared in the world and, together with a small group of disciples, is walking through the fields of Galilee and Judea, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and performing great miracles. Joyful hopes flicker in the hearts of believers. How will Zacchaeus react to this? For him personally, the coming of the Messiah is a disaster. The power of the Romans must come to an end, and the triumphant Israel, of course, will take revenge on him for the damage suffered from him, for the insults and oppression he caused. But even if this is not so, for the Messiah, according to the testimony of the prophet, “comes righteous, the one who saves is meek,” then the triumph of the Messiah should bring him, Zacchaeus, only the greatest shame and deprivation of all the wealth and position that he acquired at the terrible cost of his betrayal of God, his native people and all the hopes of Israel. But maybe this is not the case yet. Maybe the new preacher is not the Messiah at all. Not everyone believes in Him. The main enemies of the tax collectors, and in particular of him, Zacchaeus, the Pharisees and the scribes, do not believe Him. Maybe all this is just empty popular rumor. Then you can continue to live peacefully as before. But Zacchaeus does not want to establish himself in such thoughts. He wants to see Jesus in order to find out - to know for sure: who is He? And Zacchaeus wants the Preacher walking by to truly be the Messiah Christ. He wants to say with the prophets: “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!”, even if this is connected with a disastrous catastrophe for him - Zacchaeus. It turns out that in his soul there are such depths that he himself had not felt before; there is in him a burning, fiery, scorching, completely selfless love for the “Aspiration of Tongues”, for the image of the meek Messiah outlined by the prophets, who “took upon himself our infirmities and bore our illnesses.” And when the opportunity arises to see Him, Zacchaeus does not think about himself. In the triumph of the Messiah, for him personally, for Zacchaeus there is disaster and death. But he doesn't think about it. He only wants to see, at least out of the corner of his eye, the One about whom Moses and the prophets foretold. And then Christ passes by. He is surrounded by a crowd. Zacchaeus cannot see Him because he is small. But the thirst, the completely unselfish, extremely selfless thirst of Zacchaeus, to see Christ even from afar, is so boundless, so irresistible that he, a rich man, endowed with position, an official of the Roman Empire, among a hostile crowd that hates and despises him, not paying attention to anything, absorbed only in the ardent desire to see Christ, for this purpose violates all conventions, all external decency, and climbs onto tree, onto the sycamore fig tree growing along the way. And the eyes of the grave sinner - the leader of the traitors and traitors - met the eyes of the Holy One of Israel - Christ the Messiah - the Son of God. Love sees what is inaccessible to an indifferent or hostile gaze. Selflessly loving the image of the Messiah, Zacchaeus was able to immediately recognize Christ the Lord in the passing Galilean Teacher, and the Lord, full of Divine and human love, saw in this Zacchaeus looking at Him from the sycamore branches those spiritual depths that were previously unknown to Zacchaeus himself: the Lord saw that, not at all obscured by any selfishness, the burning love for the Holy One of Israel in this heart of the traitor can revive and renew it. The Divine voice sounded: “Zacchaeus, having labored in tears: today it is fitting for Me to be in your house.” And moral revival, salvation, renewal came to Zacchaeus and to his entire household. The Son of Man truly came to seek and save what was lost. Lord, Lord, we, like Zacchaeus once, have betrayed You and Your work, deprived ourselves of our part in Israel, betrayed our hope! But may Thy Kingdom, Thy victory and Thy triumph come, even to the shame of us and those like us! Let not Thy enemies mock Thy inheritance! Even if it is deserved, because of our sins, Your coming will bring us death and condemnation, come Lord, come quickly! But let us, although from afar, see the triumph of Your truth, even if we cannot be participants in it. And have mercy on us, above hope, as you once had mercy on Zacchaeus! (St. Clement of Rome testifies that Zacchaeus subsequently became a companion of St. Apostle Peter, and together with the holy Supreme Apostle he preached in Rome, where he suffered martyrdom for Christ under Nero. In Christian terms: he paid the Romans with the greatest good for the greatest evil they almost committed to him. To the proud capital of those who once seduced and enslaved him Romans, who forced him to renounce all the sacred things of his soul, he comes, liberated and reborn by the grace of the Lover of Mankind, our Lord, and brings Rome not a curse, but the gospel, giving his very life for it.) An edifying lesson for young men from the Parable of the Prodigal Son “And the youngest said... to his father: Father, give me a worthy part of the estate” (Luke 15:12–14). – The parable of the prodigal son contains the most instructive lesson for a young man. Indeed, in the prodigal son we see the full character of flighty youth: frivolity, thoughtlessness, passion for independence, in a word - everything that usually distinguishes most young men. The youngest son grew up in his parents' house. Having reached his teenage years, he already dreamed that his parents’ house was too small for him. It seemed unpleasant to him to live under the leadership of his father and the supervision of his mother; he wanted to imitate his comrades, who indulged in the noisy pleasures of the world. “I am,” he reasons, “the heir to a rich estate. Wouldn't it be better if I got my share now? I can manage my wealth differently from how my father manages it.” And the frivolous young man was carried away by the deceptive shine of the pleasures of the world and decided to throw off the yoke of obedience, decided to leave his parents’ house. Is it not similar motivations that force many even now to leave, if not the house of their earthly parents, then the house of the Heavenly Father, that is, to leave obedience to the Holy Church? The yoke of Christ seems difficult to immature minds, and His commandments are heavy. They think that there is no particular need to observe what God and His Holy Church commands us. They can serve, it seems to them, God and not give up serving the world. “We,” they say, “are already quite strong in order to resist disastrous temptations and enticements. We ourselves can hold fast to the truth and sound doctrine. Let us improve our minds with multifaceted information! Leave it to us to strengthen our will in the midst of temptations and enticements! And let our feelings be convinced by experience of the vileness of vice!” - Such desires are better than the thoughtless request that the youngest son made to his father: “Father! give me a worthy part of the estate!” ? And so, the frivolous young man ceases to heed the commandments and suggestions of the Holy Church. He stops studying the word of God and the teachings of the holy fathers, but inclines his ears to the wisdom of false teachers and kills the best hours of his life in these studies. He begins to visit the churches of God less often, or stands in them inattentively, absent-mindedly. He does not find the opportunity to diligently practice piety and practice virtue because most of his time is spent attending shows, public entertainment, etc. In a word, every day he devotes himself more and more to the world and, finally, goes “to a distant country.” What does such a distance from the Holy Church lead to? Moreover, what did the prodigal son’s removal from his parents’ house lead to? Frivolous young men very soon waste the wonderful strength and abilities of soul and body and ruin everything that they have done good for the time of eternity. Meanwhile, there is “a strong famine in that country”; emptiness and discontent appear - the necessary consequences of noisy pleasures; there is a thirst for pleasure, which intensifies even more from the satisfaction of vicious passions and, finally, becomes insatiable. And how often does it happen that an unfortunate peace-lover, in order to satisfy his passions, resorts to low and shameful activities, which do not bring him to himself, like the prodigal son, and do not return him to the path of salvation, but complete his destruction, temporary and eternal! Today is the week of the Last Judgment and it is natural for us to talk about the Last Judgment and the signs of the end of the world. No one knows that day, only God the Father knows, but signs of its approach are given both in the Gospel and in the Revelation of St. ap. John the Theologian. Revelation speaks about the events of the end of the world and the Last Judgment primarily in images and in secret, but St. the fathers explained it, and there is a genuine church tradition that tells us about the signs of the approaching end of the world and about the Last Judgment. Before the end of earthly life there will be confusion, wars, civil strife, famine, earthquakes. People will suffer from fear, they will die from the anticipation of disasters. There will be no life, no joy of life, but a painful state of falling away from life. But there will be a falling away not only from life, but also from faith, and when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? People will become proud, ungrateful, denying the Divine Law: along with the falling away from life there will be an impoverishment of moral life. There will be a depletion of good and an increase in evil. St. speaks about this time. ap. John the Theologian in his inspired work called Revelation. He himself says that he “was in the Spirit,” which means that the Holy Spirit Himself was in him when the destinies of the Church and the world were revealed to him in various images, and therefore that is God’s Revelation. He represents the fate of the Church in the image of a woman who was hiding in the desert in those days: she does not appear in life, as now in Russia. In life, those forces that are preparing the appearance of the Antichrist will have a guiding significance. The Antichrist will be a man, and not the devil incarnate. "Anti" is a word that means old, or it means "instead of" or "against." That person wants to be instead of Christ, to take His place and have what Christ should have had. He wants to have the same charm and power over the whole world. And he will receive that power before the destruction of himself and the whole world. He will have an assistant, the Magician, who, by the power of false miracles, will carry out his will and kill those who do not recognize the power of the Antichrist. Before the death of the Antichrist, two righteous people will appear who will denounce him. The magician will kill them and for three days their bodies will lie unburied and there will be extreme rejoicing of the Antichrist and all his servants, and suddenly those righteous will be resurrected and the entire army of the Antichrist will be in confusion, horror, and the Antichrist himself will suddenly fall dead, killed by the power of the Spirit. But what is known about the man Antichrist? Its exact origin is unknown. The father is completely unknown, and the mother is a nasty imaginary girl. He will be a Jew from the tribe of Dan. An indication of this is that Jacob, dying, said that he, in his descendants, “is a serpent along the way, which will smite the horse and then the rider will fall backward.” This is a figurative indication that he will act with cunning and evil. John the Theologian in Revelation speaks about the salvation of the sons of Israel, that before the end of the world many Jews will turn to Christ, but the tribe of Dan is not in the list of tribes being saved. The Antichrist will be very smart and gifted with the ability to deal with people. He will be charming and affectionate. Philosopher Vladimir Solovyov worked hard to imagine the coming and personality of the Antichrist. He carefully used all the materials on that issue, not only patristic, but also Muslim, and developed such a vivid picture. Before the coming of the Antichrist, the world is already preparing for his appearance. “The secret is already in action” and the forces preparing its appearance are primarily fighting against the legitimate royal power. St. ap. John says that “the Antichrist cannot appear until the “Holder” is removed.” John Chrysostom explains that the “Restrainer” is the legitimate godly authority. Such power fights evil. The “Mystery” operating in the world does not want this, does not want to fight evil with the power of power: on the contrary, it wants the power of lawlessness and when it achieves this, then nothing will prevent the appearance of the Antichrist. He will not only be smart and charming: he will be compassionate, will do mercy and goodness in order to strengthen his power. And when he strengthens it so much that the whole world recognizes him, then he will reveal his face. He will choose Jerusalem as his capital because it was here that the Savior revealed the Divine teaching and His Personality, and the whole world was called to the bliss of goodness and salvation. But the world did not accept Christ and crucified Him in Jerusalem, and under the Antichrist, Jerusalem will become the capital of the world, which recognized the power of the Antichrist. Having reached the pinnacle of power, the Antichrist will demand from people recognition that he has achieved what no earthly power or anyone could achieve and will demand worship of himself as a higher being, as a god. V. Solovyov well describes the nature of his activities as the Supreme Ruler. He will do something pleasant for everyone, provided that his Supreme Power is recognized. He will provide the opportunity for the life of the Church, will allow it to worship, promise the construction of beautiful churches, subject to recognition of him as the “Supreme Being” and worship of him. He will have a personal hatred of Christ. He will live by this hatred and rejoice in the apostasy of people from Christ and the Church. There will be a massive falling away from the faith, and many bishops will betray their faith and will point to the brilliant position of the Church as justification. Seeking a compromise will be a characteristic mood of people. The directness of confession will disappear. People will subtly justify their fall and gentle evil will support such a general mood, and people will have the skill of deviating from the truth and the sweetness of compromise and sin. The Antichrist will allow people everything, as long as they “fall and bow down to him.” This is not a new attitude towards people: the Roman emperors were also ready to give freedom to Christians, if only they would recognize his divinity and divine sovereignty, and they tortured Christians only because they professed “Worship God alone and serve Him alone” (Matthew 4:10). The whole world will submit to him and then he will reveal the face of his hatred of Christ and Christianity. St. John the Theologian says that all who worship him will have a sign on their forehead and right hand. It is unknown whether this will really be a mark on the body, or whether it is a figurative expression of the fact that with their minds people will recognize the need to worship the Antichrist and their will will be completely subordinated to him. During such complete – by will and consciousness – subjugation of the whole world, the mentioned two righteous men will appear and will fearlessly preach the faith and denounce the Antichrist. Holy Scripture says that before the coming of the Savior two “lamps”, two “burning olive trees”, “two righteous people” will appear. They will be killed by the Antichrist with the forces of the Magician. Who are these righteous people? According to church tradition, there are two righteous people who did not taste death: the prophet Elijah and the prophet Enoch. There is a prophecy that these righteous people who have not tasted death will taste it for three days, and after three days they will be resurrected. Their death will be the great joy of the Antichrist and his servants. Their uprising in three days will lead them into unspeakable horror, fear, and confusion. That's when the world will end. The Apostle Peter says that the first world was created from water and perished by water. “Out of the water” is also an image of the chaos of physical mass, but it died in the water of the flood. “And now the world is being preserved for fire.” “The earth and everything on it will burn up.” All the elements will ignite. This present world will perish in an instant. In an instant everything will change (2 Peter 3:10). And the sign of the Son of God will appear - that is, the sign of the cross. The whole world, which freely submitted to the Antichrist, will “mourn.” It's over. Antichrist has been killed. The end of his kingdom, the struggle with Christ. The end and responsibility for all life, the answer to the True God. Then the Ark of the Covenant will appear from the Palestine mountains - the prophet Jeremiah hid the ark and the Holy Fire in a deep well. When water was taken from that well, it began to glow. But the Ark itself was not found. When we now look at life, those who can see see that everything predicted about the end of the world is being fulfilled. Who is this man Antichrist? St. John the Theologian figuratively gives his name 666, but all attempts to understand this designation were in vain. The life of the modern world gives us a fairly clear concept of the possibility of the world burning, when “all the elements will ignite.” This concept is given to us by the decomposition of the atom. The end of the world does not mean its destruction, but its change. Everything will change, suddenly in the blink of an eye. The dead will rise in new bodies - their own, but renewed, just as the Savior was resurrected in His Body, it had traces of wounds from nails and spears, but it had new properties and in this sense was a new body. It is unclear whether it will be a completely new body, or the way man was created. And the Lord will appear with glory on a cloud. How will we see? Spiritual vision. And now, at death, righteous people see what other people around them do not see. The trumpets will sound powerfully and loudly. They will sound the trumpet in souls and consciences. Everything will become clear in the human conscience. The Prophet Daniel, speaking about the Last Judgment, narrates that the Elder Judge is on the throne, and in front of him is a river of fire. Fire is a purifying element. Fire burns sin, burns it and grief, if sin is natural to the person himself, then it burns the person himself. That fire will ignite inside a person: when they see the Cross, some will rejoice, while others will fall into despair, confusion, and horror. So people will immediately be divided: in the gospel narrative, before the Judge, some stand to the right, others to the left - they were divided by their inner consciousness. The very state of a person’s soul throws him in one direction or another, to the right or to the left. The more consciously and persistently a person strived for God in his life, the greater his joy will be when he hears the word “Come to Me, you who are blessed” (Matthew 25:34) and vice versa, the same words will cause a fire of horror and torment in those who did not want Him, avoided or fought and blasphemed during life. The Last Judgment does not know witnesses or protocol records. Everything is written in human souls and these records, these “books” are revealed. Everything becomes clear to everyone and to oneself, and the state of a person’s soul determines him to the right or to the left. Some go in joy, others in horror. When the “books” are opened, it will become clear to everyone that the roots of all vices are in the human soul. Here is a drunkard, a fornicator - when the body has died, someone will think - sin has also died. No, there was an inclination in the soul and sin was sweet in the soul. And if she did not repent of that sin, did not free herself from it, she will come to the Last Judgment with the same desire for the sweetness of sin and will never satisfy her desire. It will contain the suffering of hatred and malice. This is a hellish state. “Gehenna of fire” is an internal fire, a flame of vice, a flame of weakness and malice, and “here there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:12) of impotent malice. The time has come for us to prepare for eternal life, the time to meet the Lord who is coming to earth again. The Church calls on all of us to remember that, in addition to daily earthly worries and affairs, there is also eternal life, that we are all called to live forever. What should be the preparation? In purification of the spirit and abstinence of the flesh. “The demonic race,” said Christ, “is defeated only by fasting and prayer.” Therefore, first of all, prayer is needed. Great Lent is a longer service, and prayers include constant prayer for the forgiveness of sins. But in addition to prayer, fasting is also needed. Fasting is like a sacrifice to God from our body. What does the word fast mean? We know that a post means both a high position in the civil service and a place where a sentry stands. Both the high statesman, and especially the sentry on guard, must vigilantly observe everything that happens so that nothing happens to the detriment of what he is entrusted with. So our fasting is standing guard over the soul. Fasting is careful observation so that nothing harms our soul. Fasting is observing one’s thoughts, protecting one’s gaze from harmful sights, one’s hearing from soul-damaging conversations, one’s tongue from foul and empty words, one’s lips from inappropriate food. The time of fasting is a time when all our attention should be paid to the inevitable end of earthly life for everyone and the inevitable Last Judgment. Fasting is especially the curbing of one's will. The sentry, standing on duty, does not have his own will. He must do exactly what he is told, not allow anything to happen that shouldn’t happen, and not let anyone through who doesn’t have the right. Likewise, when we fast, we should not fast as anyone pleases, but as indicated by the Church. “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), said Christ. The Church was created by Christ on earth for this purpose, so that She would lead people from earth to heaven. Listen, children of the Church, to Her voice as the voice of God, for She is headed by the Son of God and led by the Holy Spirit. What is required from everyone is the desire to fulfill what She has written, and the effort to do it, with prayer, may the Lord help him. And whoever is unable to fulfill everything according to the charter, or does not know, should turn to the priests, who are appointed to lead the flock, leading it along the path of salvation. The doors of repentance are opening and Lent begins. It is repeated annually, and each time it will bring us great benefit if we carry it out properly. Great Lent is preparation for the future life, and most immediately preparation for Bright Resurrection. Just as a staircase is built in a tall building so that the steps can easily be used to climb to the height of the building, so different days of the year are steps for our spiritual ascent and ascension. These especially include the days of Great Lent and Holy Easter. During Great Lent we are cleansed of sinful filth, and on Holy Pascha we feel the bliss of the coming Kingdom of Christ. When climbing a high mountain, they try to free themselves from any extra weight. The less someone is loaded, the easier it is for him to climb and the higher he can rise. So, in order to rise spiritually, first of all you need to free yourself from the burden of sin. It is removed from us by repentance on the indispensable condition that we ourselves expel all enmity from ourselves and forgive everyone whom we consider guilty of us. Purified and forgiven by God, we then meet the Bright Resurrection of Christ. What most precious gift of God do we receive then, which is the completion of our Lenten feat? The first hymn, which begins the daily singing of the stichera of Lent, tells us about this: “And the Lamb of God is given to us as food, in the sacred and luminous night of the resurrection, for our sake the slaughter given, which the disciple partook of on the evening of the sacrament.” Communion of the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ into eternal life, this is the goal of the Holy Pentecost. They receive communion not only at Easter. On the contrary, communion should be given to those who fasted, confessed and received communion during Great Lent on Easter. Before Easter itself there is no opportunity to confess everything well; time and priests are busy with Passion Services. You need to prepare for this in advance. Every communion of the Mysteries of Christ is a union with Christ Himself and is saving for us. Why is communion on the night of Holy Easter given such importance and we are all called to this? Especially then is it possible for us to experience the Kingdom of Christ. Especially then we are illuminated by the Eternal Light and strengthened for spiritual ascent. It is an irreplaceable gift of Christ, an incomparable good. Let no one himself be deprived of this joy and, instead of receiving communion on Easter night, do not rush to taste meat and other foods. Communion of the Holy Mysteries then prepares us for a meal in the eternal Kingdom of God. Open the doors of repentance, Life-Giver To repent, to change internally, to be reborn is difficult. You need consciousness of the need for change, a desire for it, and you need gracious help. The more consciously and decisively we begin repentance, the wider we open the doors of the soul, the more successfully we achieve our goal. An example of such a complete rebirth is Saint Mary of Egypt, a sinner known throughout Alexandria since childhood. Where people gather, there she is for sin. Here she is among the pilgrims going to Jerusalem, but not for the sake of God, but for the sake of entertainment and sin, and with her behavior she confuses everyone. The pilgrims go to the church, and she is with them. Everyone enters, but she cannot enter and for the first time in her life she is embarrassed. But she fights with that feeling and tries to force her way into the church, but in vain: bound by a sinful life, she cannot enter the Church of the Holy. Then shame for herself, for her life, enters her soul. Confused, she prays for the first time in repentance before the icon of the Mother of God, and the Most Holy Most Pure Virgin opens the doors of the church to her. In the morning she attends the liturgy and after communion of the Holy Mysteries, straight from the church, having bought three loaves of bread along the way, she goes into the desert. Many years later, the Monk Zosima found her. She told him about her life and about the torment of the struggle with sin and rebirth. Those torments were so severe, the attacks of temptation were so swift, that she beat on the ground. Then came days of peace and light. Now it's easy for her. She asks the Monk Zosima to come to her in a year and give her communion. He came and saw her across the river. She walked across the water to him, took communion and asked him to come again in a year. He came and found her dead and next to her body was written the day when the Monk Zosima gave her communion a year ago. This is an example of a swift determination to change one’s life and repentance, the intensity of the struggle against sins. This is an example of purification and rebirth. “Open the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver.” “Open the doors of repentance, O Life-Giver!” Repentance is expressed by the Greek word metanoia. Literally, this means changing your mind, your wisdom. In other words, repentance is a change in one’s mood, one’s way of thinking, a change in a person within himself. Repentance is a revision of one’s views, a change in one’s life. How can it happen? Just like when a dark room into which a person finds himself is illuminated by the sun's rays: while he looked at the room in the dark, it seemed to him in one form: he did not see much that was there, and did not even imagine that it was there. Many things seemed to him completely different from how they really were. He had to move carefully because he didn't know where the obstacles were. But now, the room has become bright, he sees everything clearly and moves freely. The same thing happens in spiritual life. When we are immersed in sins, and our mind is occupied only with everyday worries, we do not notice the state of our soul. We are indifferent to what we are like inside, and we constantly follow the wrong path without noticing it ourselves. But now, a ray of God’s Light penetrates our soul. How much dirt we will see inside ourselves then! How many untruths, how many lies! How ugly many actions that we imagined beautiful will turn out to be. It will become clear to us that we are going the wrong way. It becomes clear to us which path is correct. If we then realize our spiritual insignificance, our sinfulness, and sincerely wish for our correction, we are close to salvation. From the depths of our souls, let us cry to God: “Have mercy on me, God, have mercy according to Your mercy!” “Forgive me and save me! Grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother!” At the onset of Lent, let us hasten to forgive each other all griefs and insults. May we always hear the words of the Gospel of the Forgiven Resurrection: “If you forgive... their sins, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; If you do not forgive men their trespasses, your Father will not forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15). Orthodox Christianity Soon after the teaching of Christ began to spread among the pagans, those who believed in Christ and became His followers began to be called Christians in Antioch. The word Christian indicated that the one who bore that name had devoted himself to Christ, belonged to Him with his heart and would follow His teaching. The name Christian, which well defined the essence of the followers of Christ, was to their hearts, and calling them Christians from Antioch quickly spread everywhere. Christians treasured that name, being glad to call themselves by the name of their beloved Teacher and Lord. Often, when asked what their name was, Christians answered that their name was “Christian.” Jews and pagans also began to call them by that name, combining with it all the malice and hatred that they breathed against Christ. “Where are you from, what is your name and patronymic?” asks the tormentor Latronian of the elderly presbyter Epictetus and his young disciple Astion (July 7). “We are Christians and born of Christian parents,” they answer. “That’s not what I’m asking you, tell me your names, I know your creed,” says the tormentor. “We are Christians: we worship our only Lord Jesus Christ, and we abhor idols,” continue the saints. martyrs. The tormentor commands to beat them, whittle them with iron claws, scorch them with lighted torches, but nothing could be heard from them except: “We are Christians, may the will of the Lord our God be done in us.” This makes such an impression on one of the pagans, Vigilantius, that for three days he constantly repeats in his mind the words he heard from the martyrs, and on the fourth day he declares in front of everyone: “I am a Christian” and accepts St. Baptism. Even after that, Saints Epictetus and Astion were subjected to many torments, but they did not cease to confess “we are Christians” and, having accepted martyrdom through the beheading of their heads with a sword, they went to Christ, Whom they loved and for Whom they suffered. However, no matter how valuable their name was to Christians, soon after the beginning of Christianity it often began to not correspond to its content. People appeared who, calling themselves Christians, were not Christ’s in spirit. About them, Christ Himself also said: “Not everyone who says Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but do the will of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Christ even predicted that many would pretend to be Himself, calling themselves by His Name. “Many will come in My Name, saying, I am Christ” (Matthew 24:5). The apostles, in their inspired letters, pointed out that false bearers of the name of Christ had already appeared in their time and warned against any communication with them. “As if you heard that the Antichrist was coming, and now the Antichrists are many... They departed from us, but they did not infuriate us” (1 John 2:18-19), writes St. Evangelist John the Theologian. Instructing the disciples to avoid in every possible way disputes and disagreements on issues that do not matter for salvation (1 Cor. 1:10-14), the apostles at the same time commanded them to completely shun those who do not bring the true teaching. They pointed out that a true servant of God is recognized not by name, but by his faith and deeds (Rom. 2:17–29), since if the name does not correspond to them, it is false. The Lord Himself in the Revelation given to St. John the Theologian, threateningly spoke about those who falsely appropriated the name of followers of the Old Testament: “they say about themselves that they are Jews, but they are not, but a synagogue of Satan” (Apoc. 2:9). Likewise, a Christian in the strict sense is only one who professes the true teaching of Christ and lives according to it. “We were left without Christ, we fell from grace” (Gal. 5:4), writes St. Apostle Paul about those who pervert the true teaching. Many such perverters of the true faith, who continued to falsely bear the name Christian, lived during the time of the apostles, and even more appeared in subsequent centuries. “In contrast to such false Christians, those professing the true faith began to be called Orthodox, for true Christianity lies in glorifying God with one’s life.” “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven,” Christ commands (Matthew 5:16). It is possible to glorify God with our lives only when we have the right faith, and we express this faith in what is truly true in words and deeds. “Therefore, Orthodox in the real sense is one who professes the right, i.e., true faith and lives according to it.” By calling our faith Orthodox, we distinguish it from false Christianity, and by calling ourselves Orthodox we indicate that our faith is true, genuine and undamaged Christianity and our duty is to strictly carry out its teachings. And that Orthodoxy does not bear that name in vain, but is a real truth that excludes the possibility of the existence of any other truth, and that the Orthodox Church is precisely the one about which Christ said: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), this is attested and confirmed by many signs that have occurred since the founding of the Church and that do not cease to manifest themselves clearly in the Church. Orthodox, as well as by the miracles not only of the ancients, but also in the times close to us of the shining saints of God. Therefore, it is fitting for us to joyfully proclaim on the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy: “This is the apostolic faith, this is the fatherly faith, this is the Orthodox faith, this is the faith that establishes the universe.” Sermon on the Sunday of Orthodoxy In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! “In the midst of two thiefs, Thy Cross has been found as the standard of righteousness: to one who is brought down to hell by the burden of blasphemy: to another, who is relieved from sin, to the knowledge of theology...” (Lenten troparion of the 9th hour, for glory). - This is what they say about the Cross of the Lord. The standard of righteousness was found in the midst of two robbers; Pilate set up three crosses on Golgotha ​​- two robbers and one Life-Giver. But only the Cross of the Savior was salvation for all humanity, that Cross that stood in the middle, it is an instrument of peace, an invincible victory - victory over the devil and victory over death. The remaining two crosses - one was saving for the one who hung on it, the other was for him a staircase to hell. Two thieves hung on crosses near the Lord Jesus Christ, one blasphemed Him all the time and continued to blaspheme, and the other, who began to blaspheme, then came to his senses, and, having recognized all his sins, cried out to the Lord: “Remember me, Lord, when You come in Your Kingdom! And the Lord answered him: today you will be with Me in Paradise! (Luke 23:42–43) So through the Cross, through suffering, the prudent thief believed in the crucified Christ, believed, as they say, to the knowledge of theology. But when the Lord forgave him for his sins, he recognized in Him the Son of God Himself, understood that the Man Who hangs in ignominy and dishonor is the glorious King of Glory, understood that He Who now seems weak and weak is Himself the almighty Creator and Ruler of the entire universe. So, the intelligent eyes, the spiritual eyes, were opened to that thief who was hanging on the right side, to which he came through repentance, through humility. So Christ humiliated Himself more than all other people, humiliated Himself in order to thereby erase and destroy the sin of Adam’s pride. So the thief, who humbly recognized his sins, asked the Lord for forgiveness, and through this the Lord appeared to him in all His Glory. And that other robber, hanging on the left side, “on the left,” - as they say in Slavic, he blasphemed Him all the time, blasphemed because he realized that he was a sinner, that he was a criminal, that he had violated both human and Divine laws, but did not want to repent, did not want to humble himself, and he blasphemed the very laws that he violated, blasphemed the Lawgiver Himself, Who gave the laws of nature, who put into people conscience, according to which they write their human laws,” although not always agreeing with it, he blasphemed Him and continued to blaspheme until his soul descended to hell through the burden of blasphemy. These are the two paths that lie before people. Before us lies the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. The Lord said: “Whoever wants to walk after Me, let him take up his Cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16 Mark 8 Luke 9:23). Where is it coming? – First, through suffering, just as Christ suffered, then he will enter with Christ into the Eternal Kingdom, into the Kingdom of Heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ sits on His throne. There is no other way but to follow the Lord. And the thief, who was hanging on the right side, knew God and followed Him with his soul. He, of course, could not miraculously change then, this is not necessary, he followed Christ with his soul, recognized God in Him, humbled himself for the salvation of men, humbled himself, recognized his sins and went to heaven with Christ. Before us lies the path of two robbers. Which way will we go? All the time, humanity has been going one way or another. The Cross of the Lord was a temptation to the Jews, but to the Greeks, that is, to the pagans, it was madness. How can one worship an instrument of humility, an instrument of execution? - they did not understand that with this weapon the Lord saved all humanity from the kingdom of the devil, from the kingdom of sin, from eternal destruction. For the Jews, the Cross of the Lord was also a temptation; they wanted to see their messiah as the king of glory, as the king of the earth, who would elevate their Jewish race, and the Cross on which Christ was crucified was a temptation for them. The crucifixion of Christ seemed temptation and madness; and through this, as St. tells us. Apostle Paul: To the Jews there is a temptation, to the Greeks there is foolishness, but to us Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. What was death for some, became salvation for others. The Cross of the Lord divides people into two parts. So some believed in Christ, while others stumbled over a stumbling block and persecuted the Church of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Head of which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The Church of Christ is the Body of Christ, He Himself heads it and with His Divine Body and Blood nourishes the believers, nourishes the children of His Church, so that we are one with Christ both physically and spiritually. We unite body with Christ through Divine Communion, we must spiritually join and immediately follow His commandments. We all sin, but some sin and repent, others blaspheme all the laws that they break. This was the case in ancient times, when Arius and other heretics rejected the dogmas of the Holy Church, and then believers often suffered. Believers suffered when there were wicked rulers who sent them into exile; so St. Athanasius the Great, of the forty-seven years of his priesthood, spent twenty years in exile. And other saints also suffered for the truth, many believers also suffered, but in the purity of Orthodoxy they were saved and opened the gates of eternal life, the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. The unbelievers often triumphed, they often trampled on the Church of Christ, but then their death and fall came, and their souls were sent not to the Kingdom of Heaven, but to eternal torment in the underworld, just as Christ once sent the soul of Herod and others who were looking for His soul to hell. Before us lies the path of salvation, or the path of destruction. Christians also stumbled over the Cross during the Iconoclasm, when they began to persecute St. icons, when other shrines and the Cross of the Lord began to be despised. And these are those who called themselves true believers, even considered themselves Orthodox. So, for one hundred and fifty years the iconoclastic heresy reigned until, finally, it was completely broken. On the day of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, we celebrate the victory of Christ over iconoclasm and over all demons. The Cross of the Lord separated believers and unbelievers, those who walked the path of salvation and those who walked the path of destruction. The Cross of the Lord is also rejected by current Protestant iconoclasts and others who deny holy icons. They are ready to allow beautiful images of some Gospel events in their homes, but they nevertheless reject the veneration of holy icons, which remind us that salvation is acquired through the hard, narrow path that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself walked, by struggling with one’s sins and vices, by fasting and prayers. This is not recognized by those who want to see in Christianity only something rosy and beautiful, when you can enter into eternal bliss without any effort, without any strain on yourself, without any struggle with your sins. They follow the path taken by the thief who was hanging on his left side: they deny all the laws that the Lord gave with His mouth and sent the apostles to preach them throughout the entire universe; they deny those statutes and scriptures that are sacredly preserved by the Holy Orthodox Church. And through the Cross, some are saved to the knowledge of theology, to the knowledge of the eternal Truth, while others, through the burden of blasphemy, descend into hellish torment. Such a long path lies before us Orthodox, and here there are temptations that divide believers if they want and desire to follow the path that Christ showed them. We all sin, we all violate Christ’s commandments and the laws of the Holy Church, but some recognize themselves as sinners in the fact that they violate them and repent of their sins, while others, instead, deny the laws themselves and do not want to obey them, saying that these laws are outdated, the laws are no longer needed, we ourselves are smarter than those who gave the church laws, which the Lord Himself gave through the apostles and His saints. Here are two paths before you - the path of the prudent thief and the path of the one who, through the burden of blasphemy, descended to hell. Here we also have before us those eternal works. Some are ready to recognize images if they are well painted, if they are beautiful and pleasing to the eye, others venerate those icons where the saints are depicted suffering, where their martyrdom, their fasting and prayers are depicted, those external disgraces, but the internal goodness is seen in these sacred images. This, brothers, is the path of two thieves. Some want salvation, others want only pleasure in this world, and when this is not given to them, they blaspheme those laws that were given for our salvation. And now we may also have different divisions. Because the laws of the Church of Christ are immutable, a Christian must obey the laws and statutes of the Church, regardless of how others feel about it, how the surrounding society treats the laws of the Church, favorably or negatively. The faithful of Christ follow Christ along the path of those laws, those statutes. which are sacredly preserved by the Holy Church. And those who want extra comforts and joy in this earthly world, which will perish sooner or later, prefer other laws - not church ones, but those that allow them to live as they want and think as they want, to place their will above the spirit of the Church, the spirit that is given from the Lord God Himself, and call on others to follow their path. Perhaps, brethren, soon there will be unrest here again before you, and some of you will be called upon to follow the path of denying the holy laws and obey only those laws that are given only by human power. Beware of this path! Fear this path that the thief took, hanging on his left hand, for through the burden of blasphemy, the burden of the blasphemy of Christ, he went into eternal destruction. And those who blaspheme the laws of the Church, those who blaspheme Christ Himself, Who is the Head of the Church, for the laws of the Church were given by the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. And local laws are based on the same laws, on the laws and canons of the Church. Let us not consider ourselves wiser than those saints who established the rules of the Church, let us not imagine ourselves to be great wise. Let us humbly cry out to the prudent thief: remember me, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom! Pray for forgiveness of sins. If we deviate from the laws of the Church, if we constantly violate them, pray that the Lord will have mercy and bring us into the Kingdom of Heaven with the thief. Then we will not go the way that the wicked thief went, remaining wicked to the end and descending into the underworld. From which may the Lord deliver us all. Amen. The triumph of Orthodoxy was established in the 9th century under the Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Methodius after the final victory over iconoclasm, as a triumph of victory over all false teachings and heresies. Orthodoxy is pure Christianity, without introducing human inventions into it. It is based on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, coming from the apostles sent by the Son of God Himself after the descent of the Holy Spirit on them to preach the Truth to all nations. Subsequently, the Ecumenical Councils and the Holy Fathers of the Church only established what was consistent with the Holy Scriptures and the teachings of the saints. Apostles. Being Orthodox is important because the Orthodox teaching about God is that which was revealed by the Son of God Himself. The Orthodox guidance for earthly life is also based on the Gospel and verified by the life experience of many ascetics, crowned by God with holiness, witnessed by miracles. To be Orthodox means to have correct knowledge of the Highest, as far as it is accessible to man, and also to know the path to the Upper World. Orthodoxy gives not only abstract knowledge, it gives spiritual strength to lead a correct lifestyle, for through the Church the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given, strengthening us in goodness. Any deviation from Orthodoxy is damage to clear spiritual vision, as well as a weakening of spiritual strength. Therefore, those who not only deviate from Orthodoxy themselves, but also entice others, are cut off by the Church from themselves, just as a part of the body infected with cancer or an equally dangerous disease is cut off in order to protect the healthy part from infection. In Greek this is expressed by the word “Anathema”, which means “separation with ascension upward”, i.e. surrender to the Judgment of God. At the same time, prayers are offered so that all those who err will turn to the truth and “come into the mind of truth,” i.e. knew the Truth and followed it. Homily for the 1st Sunday of Lent Great Lent and all its services are united by the idea of preparing for St. Easter, with a pure heart to meet the Risen Christ. Why are we preparing like this? What is Easter? Easter is a taste of heavenly joy! Where is the joy? It is to see God and His glory! The Church loves the glory of the Lord! When she celebrates the Triumph of Orthodoxy, she celebrates the day of the restoration of the veneration of icons. The icon is a reminder of Christ the God-Man on earth. Icons of saints are reminders of all who followed Christ, who are faithful and devoted to Him, who burned with love for Him. Veneration of St. icons are veneration of the glory of the Lord: whoever rejoices in the glory of God, and in everything that resembles it in this life, will rejoice in the next century. Anyone who has strived for God in life will rush to Him with joy when at the Last Judgment he hears the word: “Come to Me, you blessed.” All those who do not know how to rejoice in the glory of God, in whom the divine world and its laws cause dissatisfaction, who love darkness or twilight, do not like light, will not respond to the call “come to Me.” They will recoil in indignation, discontent, envy and anger at the humble and meek who go to the light, at God Himself, Whom they will blame for being in such a mood; in anger at themselves, with a reluctance, however, to admit their guilt. This mood is true torment. The beginning of hell is already here on earth. Likewise, heaven begins in a person’s soul already in earthly life. Here we already experience touches of the Divine on the day of Bright Resurrection and when we receive communion worthily. We must prepare for confession. The entire infection must be removed, because if a particle is left, suppuration will begin. We must pray for repentance and the joy of purification, so that a ray of light touches the soul and it falls in love with the light. We must pray in order to meet the Risen Christ with a pure heart, in order to then taste at least to a small extent the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven. Homily on the Sunday of the Cross “We worship Your Cross, Master.” Why do we worship the Cross of the Lord? What is the Cross of the Lord? The Cross of the Lord is a weapon. The Cross of the Lord saved us from eternal death. In paradise, a man wanted to become equal to God and he succumbed to the temptation of the devil. When a person allowed this thing into his heart, he lost reverence and love, and violated the commandment of the Lord. Then paradise actually closed for him. The man became proud and believed Lucifer, who dreamed of being equal to the Son of God. The devil was cast out of heaven by Archangel Michael. Man believed the devil-tempter and wanted to become equal to God. He thought, i.e. did not think, but a thought suddenly came to him: what is it worth to taste from that tree - he will know everything and will be perfect like God, perfect not in His properties, but in strength and power. But as soon as man dreamed about this, as soon as he became exalted, he immediately fell into the abyss. He fell away from God and became pernicious. Now the door to the heavenly sweetness and beauty in which he found himself was closed, the Kingdom of Heaven was closed for him. But the Lord did not want death. If Lucifer destroyed us with pride and envy in relation to the Son of God, in relation to God, who was more powerful than him, then the Lord saves us with humility. And now the Son of God descends from heaven. He, the Almighty, the Lord of creatures, its Creator, becomes His creation, becomes equal to us in everything except sin. Moreover, He endures reproach like a criminal, sharing the punishment without complaint. And, rejected by people, He descends into hell to free the souls of the dead from corruption. He, as a man, was awarded the grace of God, became higher than the angels, became higher than all creatures. He takes everyone who approaches Him, who has their own feelings with Him, to heaven with Him. And so the Cross is His instrument of patience. From the instrument on which Christ was humiliated, the Cross became the instrument of our salvation. When we worship the Cross of the Lord, we thereby worship the instrument of His suffering, the instrument of dishonor, and we ourselves worship that with which man has been dishonored from eternity. A sign of dishonor and shame. By worshiping the Cross, we seem to promise the Lord to humble ourselves in the same way, to also endure reproach and reproach for Him. When we worship the Cross of the Lord, we also worship His suffering - neither His honor, nor His glory, but His dishonor. This dishonor of Him as a man is glory in the eyes of God. What seems dishonor to people is often glory in the sight of the Lord, and people receive a crown from Him. The martyrs were dishonored - they were deprived of their awards. The martyrs, whose memory is celebrated with us tomorrow, were deprived of their military rank, their insignia was taken from them, they were put to death as criminals. They were equal to the angels in entering the Kingdom of Heaven. And when the fools for Christ’s sake were insane, they suffered reproach from people, the same thing became their glory, the same thing made them saints of God and they are leaders in the Kingdom of Heaven. When a person suffers deprivation, endures reproach, deprives himself of what is earthly well-being, if only this is done for the glory of God, for the sake of the name of God, then he becomes conformed to Him in feeling, in mood. The Holy Apostle Paul says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). What was He aiming for? To fulfill the word of God. And for this, He was ready to endure everything - He suffered until death, the death of the Cross. Who humbled Himself? King of the Universe. Who was crucified by man? God creating man. More than heaven, more than every name, all the powers of heaven worship Him, the faces of heaven worship Him, worship His human being, glorify Him as God. When man was with God and when He was crucified and when He was mocked, He endured as a man, but at the same time remained God. He remained God with divine nature. But as a man He endured. The Lord is free and He did not take credit for it, did not say: “Father, I have done Your will, glorify Me.” No, He humbly fulfilled the will of His Heavenly Father. We worship the Cross of the Lord, giving thanks for the mockery and reproach. We worship the Cross when we endure reproach, we endure wounds, we endure with thanksgiving for the sake of God. The Apostle Peter says: “If only none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or as someone who encroaches on someone else’s property; and if you are a Christian, then do not be ashamed, but glorify God for such a fate” (1 Pet. 4:15–16). When we worship the Cross of the Lord, we will try to have the same feelings. In His great Kingdom, we will forever glorify Him and enjoy His incomparable beauty and kindness, for He is the King of Glory and the Lord of the whole world. Amen. Holy Week (The Annunciation coincides with the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem) The Annunciation is the joyful news of the incarnation of the Son of God, His descent to earth to save the world. The Holy Spirit then descended on the Most Pure Virgin, and She conceived the Lord. This was the beginning of the New Testament, the beginning of the salvation of the human race, the coming to earth of the Son of God. And the solemn Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem is the beginning of His suffering. With the joyful exclamations of the people, Christ marched to death, to which He was betrayed by the people who had greeted Him so enthusiastically. And the Orthodox Church that day begins, as if following Him, to daily remember the events of the following days. On Great Monday, the Lord on the Mount of Olives, having previously dried up the fig tree with His word, reveals to His disciples the future of Jerusalem, denounces the Pharisees and scribes for only externally fulfilling the prescriptions of the Law of Moses. Continuing His teachings, the Lord first in parables and then clearly depicts the end of the world and the Last Judgment. On Wednesday, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman pours myrrh on His feet, and Judas promises the bishops to betray the Teacher. On Maundy Thursday, the Lord celebrates the Last Supper and the liturgy of that day especially vividly reminds us that, by partaking of the Holy Mysteries with reverence, the apostles and I partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, and those who partake unworthily are likened to Judas. But let everyone strive to receive communion, sincerely repenting of their sins, and receive mercy from the Lord. The Last Supper is followed by Christ's prayer in Gethsemane, Christ is seized and taken to the high priests, where a trial is carried out on Him at night, and in the morning they take Him to Pilate. On the evening of Maundy Thursday, the 12 Gospels of the Passion of Christ are read. Good Friday is coming. The clock also reads the Gospels about the trial of Pilate, the crucifixion and death on the cross of Christ. Christians observe strict fasting on that day. Vespers, celebrated, if possible, at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, contains the remembrance of the death of Christ and ends with the removal of the shroud, depicting the removal from the Cross and burial of the Body of Christ. Then, at the shroud, the canon for “The Lamentation of the Virgin Mary over the Tomb” is read. Matins of Great Saturday depicts the stay of the Body of Christ in the tomb and the descent of the Soul into hell. The procession of the cross at the end mysteriously depicts the procession of Christ into hell (and not His burial, as is commonly said), which was destroyed by the Light of Christ, and the liberated souls of the forefathers joyfully glorified Christ. Having freed the souls of the dead from hell, the Soul of Christ returns to His Body. No one on earth yet knows what is happening in the other world, warriors stand guard at the tomb, the apostles are mourning, the myrrh-bearing women are ready to go to anoint the Body, but the angels with the prophets and the righteous are already glorifying the Conqueror of death. This is depicted by the readings and singing of Vespers on Great Saturday, combined with the liturgy, in which, when singing “Arise, God, judge of the earth...”, black vestments are replaced by light ones. The anticipation of that bright hour comes when everything is illuminated with Light and heaven and earth are filled with the victorious praises of the Risen Christ. At the Easter Liturgy we partake of the Risen Christ. Mournful meeting. A sad sight. Before us is a dead man, and an extraordinary dead man at that. The King of heaven and earth, the Creator of the entire universe, lies before us. He died for us. We sinned, and He suffered. People violated God's commandment, retreated from God, and God, wanting to attract them to Himself with His love, suffers and dies for them. God could not suffer and die as a Divinity, therefore He incarnates, and with His human nature suffers and dies, without ceasing to be God. He does all this for us to show His love for us. How grateful our hearts should be to Him! How can we adequately thank Him? Flowers were brought to His tomb, candles were lit near Him. The Lord does not reject these sacrifices either, but He wants something else from us, and only with that will He accept the rest of the offerings. “Son, give Me your heart” (Prov. 23:26), God said through the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. The Lord is waiting for our hearts; this is what we must give to Him. To love His commandments and teachings and to fulfill them is gratitude to Him who suffered for us, pleasing and pleasing to Him. As we approach to kiss the face of the lifeless Savior, let us make a firm decision to follow the path indicated by Him. And if you have to endure hardships and experience difficulties along this path, Christ Himself will be your Helper, Who will resurrect those who suffered Him with Himself and give them endless benefits in His Heavenly Kingdom, which may we also be worthy of. Amen. “Even though you descended into the grave, O Immortal One, you destroyed the power of hell.” The grave and hell are the consequences of sin. Sin produced death, separating the soul from the body. When a person died, before the coming of Christ, his body went to the grave, and his soul to hell. “I will go down to my son, lamenting into hell” (Gen. 37:35), even the righteous Jacob said when he heard the news of the death of his son Joseph. But then Life Itself comes—the sinless Christ—and takes upon Himself the consequences of sin—death. “Oh a miracle! How death tastes life for everyone!” The unconnected cannot unite. Just as light and darkness cannot exist together, so death and life cannot exist together. Who will win? Apparently, death conquers, for the Life-Giver dies on the Cross. In reality, the temporary victory of death brings eternal death to itself. “Today hell is crying out, saying: it would be better if he had not received the one born of Mary! Death turns pale, struck by the radiance of Life, feels that its end is coming - its sting, which killed everyone, pierced into the sinless Savior of the world, it breaks away, causing death to death itself. By His death, Christ reveals eternal life. Those who die in Christ no longer “descend with sorrow to hell,” but ascend to the Heavenly Kingdom to live forever with Christ. The tomb of Christ becomes a source of life, to which people flock from all over the world in order to find healing and strength of spirit from Him. The tombs of those whose souls reign in heaven with Christ also become sources of healing, from which the mercies of God flow. The coffin, which in ancient times was the personification of hell, now tells us about eternal life. Let us all mortify our sins and lusts within ourselves, in order to live forever with Christ and, without fear of death, now cry out with our lips and hearts: “We celebrate the mortification of death, the destruction of hell, the beginning of another eternal life.” Jesus rose from the grave, just as he prophesied. The Lord has risen... The sealed tomb did not hold back Christ, nor did the soldiers stationed at the tomb block His path. He is risen, as he prophesied. What he said, he did. There is no power that can overcome the Lord, there is no power that can prevent Christ from fulfilling His will. Sampson once allowed himself to be tied up, laughing in his heart at his enemies (Judges 15:13). But then, filled with the Spirit of the Lord, he broke the bonds and defeated his enemies. So the Lord allowed death to bind Himself, but, then breaking the bonds of death, He crushed the gates of hell. The enemies of Christ rejoiced; they thought that Christ was no more. But the Lord arose as if from a dream and destroyed the machinations of His enemies. The one who was thought to be dead has risen alive. He appeared incorruptible, sealed in a coffin. Jesus has risen, giving us eternal life and great mercy. The Source of life, the Conqueror of death, with His Resurrection opens the way to the General Resurrection. By rising from the dead, He gives eternal life to humanity. Jesus gives us great mercy - forgiveness of sins, liberation from slavery to the devil, strength to eradicate our vices and weaknesses. Come, enjoy the mercies, accept the gifts of Christ. Here is the treasury of the Lord's gifts - New Zion - Holy Church. In it is all spiritual wealth given to the faithful. She generously distributes gifts to her children, enlightening their minds, purifying their feelings, strengthening their will. Come, let us enjoy the feast of Faith! The treasures of the Church do not become scarce, and there is no force that could take them away from her. The Lord sometimes allows His Church to endure adversity, but even then it shines with its gracious light! “I am with you,” said the Lord, “always to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). And regardless of whether we enjoy peace with her in favorable years or endure persecution with her in evil days, the invisible Light enlightens the souls of believers. And at a time pleasing to the Lord, He reveals His power, before which the persecutors of the Church cannot resist. God will rise again, and His enemies will be scattered! All the days until the end of the century the Risen One is with us, and especially on the days of Holy Easter! Let's forget temporary sorrows and look forward to the eternal joy of the Kingdom of Christ! “This day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad on it!” “This is the appointed and holy day, one is the king and the Lord of the Sabbath, the feast of feasts and the solemnity of solemnities.” There are days in the year that the Lord exalted and sanctified (Sir. 33:9), days honored by people for the great deeds and glorious events accomplished in them. But none of them can compare with the Bright Day of Christ's Resurrection. On this day, the innocently condemned Teacher rose from the dead, the Savior of the world rose from the grave. On this day death is put to death, the fruits of sin are destroyed, the power of the devil is crushed, his power is overthrown. On this day, by His Resurrection, Christ opened the way to resurrection for all people and granted eternal life to all humanity. The souls of those who died before the Savior descended into it were removed from hell, and those who died after the Resurrection in orthodoxy and piety were delivered from it. Those who will be cast there for sins are also not deprived of hope of deliverance if they have the beginnings of goodness in themselves and trust in God’s mercy; A Bloodless Sacrifice is offered for them in church every day to the Risen One. Joy is now proclaimed to all. And those who have died, and those who live, and those who lived before, and those who have to live afterward. Some are already eating the fruits; for others, the light of the Resurrection illuminates the path through the sea of ​​life. Some have already heard “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. To her, says the Spirit, let them rest from their labors, for Their works go after them!” (Rev. 14:13). Others hear the voice of the Caller - “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). We have already entered the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, into the darkness of the Angels, the Triumph and the church of the firstborn, written in heaven, alone (Heb. 12:22); Others resort to these people, seeking their help. The heavens now rejoice with dignity, the earth rejoices, the whole visible and invisible world celebrates! Great was the day when “God created heaven and earth” (Gen. 1:1). But the heavens were shocked by the indignation and fall of Dennitsa, and the earth was defiled by the sins of men. The sky darkened and the earth shook to its foundations when their Creator was killed by His creation like a villain. And now the sky, the earth and the underworld are filled with light. The prince of this world has been cast out, the Lord says to those in hell: “come again into paradise.” This day restores the primitive goodness of the nature created by God, reveals to people the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world. The blessings and divine joy bestowed by the Resurrection of Christ are eternal and immutable. Therefore, there is no day more glorious than the day of the Resurrection, on which we bless Christ forever! Today every creature rejoices and rejoices, for Christ is risen and hell has been captivated! To the Western European and East Asian flocks and spiritual children “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only Sinless One.” Come, faithful ones, let us worship the Holy Resurrection! Today the world will be saved, let us sing to Him who rose from the grave and is the Author of our life! This day, which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad on it. Today all creation rejoices and rejoices, for Christ is risen and hell has been captivated. Where does this joy come from? The myrrh-bearing wives, who heard this joyful news from the angel, preach about this. This is preached by the apostles who saw the risen Lord Himself. The power of the Risen Christ appears in countless signs and wonders revealed and revealed in the world. The unlearned and formerly fearful fishermen who became apostles received wisdom and fearlessness from the Resurrection. The martyrs showed unshakable patience and strength in their hope in the Risen Christ. The saints, confessors, fathers and teachers of the Church drew the strength of faith and wisdom from the Resurrection of Christ. The joy of resurrection filled the souls of the saints, who turned their gaze away from worldly vanity and conquered passions. The light of Christ's Resurrection illuminated the paths of all who struggle and endure for the Name of Christ, all who trust in Him. The Resurrection of Christ opened the way for us to eternal life. It opened the gates of heaven for us. Christ's Resurrection gives us endless joy in His Kingdom. The righteous who have already died eat it. The Risen Christ, the conqueror of hell and death, the Source of life, invests with invincible power those who believe in Him and those who do His will. The saints of God are abundantly drunk with that power and pour it out on those who come running to them. From the Resurrection of Christ all the blessings in the life to come. From him is true joy and joy in this life. Today is a bright celebration of the whole world! Nowadays only demons weep, their minions are angry. Come, all of you, enjoy the feast of faith! If anyone is pious and God-loving, let him enjoy this good and bright celebration! What prevents someone from rejoicing with all his heart and the light of resurrection illuminating his soul? Are there any sorrows in life? Let us leave and forget now short-term sorrows, let us look forward to the eternal joy that is shining today. Is there separation from loved ones who have passed on to another world? They are now rejoicing and having fun in the bright palaces! Is it lack of faith, sinful temptations? Let us purify our senses and see the shining light of the Resurrection of Christ with the impregnable light. Let us not see with the eyes of our bodies, we will see with the eyes of our hearts, and “Rejoice” our heart will clearly hear the cry of Christ. Now everything is filled with light, heaven and earth and the underworld! May our souls be filled with that light! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen! Bright Resurrection 1954 Brussels-Versailles.” Western European and East Asian flock “If anyone is pious and God-loving, let him enjoy this good and bright celebration.” Now everything is filled with light, the heavens and the earth and the underworld. The Resurrection of Christ is sung by angels in heaven. People on earth praise those who are pure in heart. Today every creature rejoices and rejoices, for Christ is risen. Today Adam rejoices and Eve rejoices. The apostles now rejoice, having seen their Teacher risen. The myrrh-bearing women rejoice, having found alive the One whom they considered dead. All who love Christ rejoice at His rising from the dead. All who believe in Him rejoice, knowing that He will grant eternal life to all of us by His Resurrection. The seeing righteous people rejoice in the Glory of Christ, enjoying the sight of the Divine Light. The deceased sinners rejoice in repentance, freed from their bonds by Christ’s descent into hell and brought into the light. Those who have turned to Christ rejoice in the last hour of life, and are led by Christ into the villages of paradise with the prudent thief. We will rejoice with them on this day, the Lord will create it, we will rejoice and be glad on it! Today Christ illuminates the whole world with the rays of His Resurrection, shows the glory of His Eternal Kingdom, and makes us feel the sweetness of heavenly food. He calls everyone who wants to be with Him, rejects no one, and gives His Divine gift to everyone. Just as to His apostles, having appeared after rising from the dead, He now proclaims “peace be with you,” sending down the peace of God, which calms the rebellion of our souls. Like the myrrh-bearers, he exchanges sorrow for joy. Like Luca and Cleopas, He reveals God’s secrets and allows Himself to be known to those who seek Him with a clear conscience. Today the veil of the coming age is opened. That inexpressible eternal joy that the righteous will enjoy in the Kingdom of Christ, that which “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor entered into the heart of man” (1 Cor. 2:9), that which God has prepared for those who love Him, is partly tasted by the soul on the Shining Night and the Bright Day of Easter. Let us now turn away from what will sooner or later disappear like smoke, and let us enjoy what will endure forever! Now leave all worldly sorrows, all earthly sorrows, overcome illnesses! Rich and poor, healthy and sick, wealthy and ignorant, free and in chains, old and young, living in cities and deserted places in all corners of the world, we will all rejoice and be glad together now. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs! Bright Resurrection 1955 “Where is the sting, death; Where the hell is victory? Come, people, let us sing and worship Christ, glorifying His resurrection from the dead. Today the salvation of the world has come: the terrible and hitherto invincible enemy of the human race and the whole world, death, has been trampled and defeated. Man was created immortal, but sin struck him with death. Many of the first people lived for centuries, but death also came for them. There were strong men who defeated all opponents, conquered countries and peoples, but none of them could defeat death. Some rose above everyone else with their wisdom, enriched themselves with knowledge, discovered the secrets of nature, but none of them could kill death. With sadness, even the righteous souls descended into hell, feeling that everything in life is vanity and languor of spirit, which continues after death. But now death has been conquered. Christ is risen. Christ has risen, the firstborn of the resurrected. Christ, the eternally living Son of God, did not taste death for Himself and rose again. In order to defeat death in Himself, and for us, people, to open the gates of eternal life, He accepted death and burial, and, having risen from the dead, became the conqueror of death. Having resurrected Himself with His Divine power, He grants eternal life and immortality to all who come to Him and follow Him. He nourishes His faithful with His resurrected Flesh and Blood, pouring into them a stream of life. He leads to a joyful life, to a new paradise filled with the light of His Divine glory. Like Christ, who tasted death only for a short time, people are now dying in order to rise from the dead and be with Him in His Kingdom. Today is Resurrection Day. Happy celebration people. Our fathers and brothers who have departed to another world rejoice, wasting the light of the Resurrection and anticipating their resurrection, when they will be even more saturated with Divine glory. Rejoice, all who are sick, all who are sad and mourning. A life full of joy will come for you too. Rejoice, rejoice, all people, old and young, rich and poor, strong and weak, working and unable to find work, living in cities, villages and deserts, traveling and living in chains. Let us all rejoice now! We celebrate death, the destruction of hell, the beginning of another eternal life. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad.” Let us rejoice and be glad now. Let us rejoice, for Christ has risen from the dead. Just as after a dark night the bright rays of the sun disperse the darkness, so the darkness of our souls is destroyed by the Risen Christ! Adam, who sinned, once plunged into spiritual darkness. He ate from the tree, about which God told him: “in the day that... you eat from it, you will die” (Gen. 2:17). Outwardly Adam did not die on that day, but spiritually then death came for him. The mark of death fell on him, the joy of communication with God, the Source of Life, disappeared. Sadness fell on his heart, sorrows began to overwhelm his soul. His spirit carried the grain of death until his body finally died and his soul descended into hell. Now Christ has risen, giving us all life! Destroying sin, it pours a stream of life into us. We are resurrected first with our souls, so that we can later be resurrected with our bodies. Just as Adam’s life after sin was darkened by the expectation and consciousness of death, so, after the Resurrection of Christ, for those who believe in Him, life is illuminated by the expectation and anticipation of their future resurrection. Already now Christ makes us feel the joy and sweetness of His Goodness. Strengthens our souls and bodies with His Divine Sacraments. He fulfills the prayers offered to Him with faith. Comforts us in our sorrows. Sometimes it fills us with inexpressible tenderness and spiritual warmth after reverent communion of His Holy Mysteries or fervent prayer. He gives us every good thing in this life, for He lives, trampled death and rose from the dead. Let us rejoice this day and approach Christ as the Living Source of eternal life. What can separate us from Him? Sin? But He came to grant forgiveness to everyone. Disbelief? But He fulfills the requests of those who cry to Him: “Lord! Help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24). Are there diseases? Are there any sorrows in life? But like a fleeting dream they will pass and be forgotten in eternal life, just as a baby forgets just simple bitter tears. Is it the death of our loved ones? But those who have died in Christ, joyfully enjoying the Divine light, now celebrate with us the Resurrection of Christ. Let us pray that Christ will unite us with them in His eternal Kingdom. Let us now reject everything that separates us from Christ. Let us turn our face away from the darkness of sin and life and turn it to the Rising Sun of Truth. Let us be illuminated by His Light and joyfully sing: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs!” “Broadcast great joy to the earth—sing to the heavens the glory of God.” The angel cried out with the Most Grace: “Pure Virgin, rejoice.” What joy does the Archangel preach about? About the one whom the whole earth is called to preach. The Son of God, the Son of the Virgin, is, therefore Gabriel preaches the good news. But now, on the day of the Annunciation, the Virgin weeps bitterly, seeing Her Son crucified on the Cross. Where is the joy when the Son Himself cries out: “My God, My God, where have you forsaken Me?” But out of that sorrow joy is born, the humiliation of the Son of Man is transformed into His Divine glory. The rays of the Sun of Truth, which had set underground, had not yet faded when the dawn of His Resurrection had already risen. Again the angel stands before the Virgin, again broadcasts to Her - “Rejoice!” “Your Son is risen from the grave,” and not only rose Himself, but also raised the dead from the grave. People have fun! For our sake, the Son of God became incarnate from the Virgin; for our salvation, He tasted death on the Cross, descended with His soul into hell, and, having destroyed it, rose from the dead. Oh, how great is the wisdom of God, how incomprehensible are His ways! What seems sorrowful to us is the beginning of great joy, humiliation precedes glory, life shines from the grave, the mortal is clothed in the splendor of incorruptibility. Let us all rejoice now, the complacent and the sad, the healthy and the sick, those who begin their life on earth and depart from it into the eternal. Now everything is filled with light, heaven, earth and hell. Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs! Christ is Risen! “Thy Resurrection, O Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth to glorify You with a pure heart.” Now everything is filled with light, heaven, earth and the underworld, all creation rejoices and rejoices. The earth rejoices, freed from the curse for Adam's sin. The heavens rejoice, seeing Him who descended from them to earth, now ascending from the underworld and bringing out those who languished there. The angels sing, glorifying the Conqueror of death, His Creator, visible today. All creation, all the forces of nature, praise the Lord. Each of them sings and praises the Risen One in its own way. Something unusual is happening all over the world. The sacred and saving night gives way to the luminous Great Day. The rising sun plays with its rays, like John the Baptist leaping in the womb, welcoming the rising Sun of Truth from the grave. Everything is now saturated with the grace of God and anticipates the renewal of the universe. Does our heart feel it? Yes, those who greet Holy Easter with faith and reverence now have their souls filled with inexpressible joy, blessed peace touches their hearts. All sorrows and sorrows run far away, even suffering and adversity become bright. The Divine Meal is mysteriously anticipated in the coming eternal glorious Kingdom of God. I would like those blissful hours not to stop, for the night and day of Holy Easter to continue endlessly. Like the apostles on Tabor, we are then ready to exclaim: “Lord, it’s good... for us to be here!” (Matthew 17:4). But do we always feel it completely? Doesn’t it happen that when everything is rejoicing, our heart is covered with a cloud, and sometimes filled with sadness? Remembering previous years, we then regret the lost ability to feel Easter joy, while others do not understand why and how people can rejoice now. But no matter how they explain it, no matter what reasons they find, there is only one truth: our heart is unclean. If we have wavered in faith, if doubts have entered our soul, if we have fallen away or moved away from the Church, then, like the high priests of the Jews, we drive away from ourselves the thought of the Risen Christ, for we are afraid of the Resurrection of Christ. If we have committed a serious sin and our conscience convicts us of disloyalty to Christ and His commandments, a stone lies on our heart, blocking the entrance into it of the light of the Resurrection. If we are immersed in the affairs of life and give our hearts to them, it does not feel complete joy. Especially if we have hostility or, even worse, enmity towards our neighbors, if we condemn them and exalt ourselves above them, we cannot rejoice at meeting the Risen Lord. Then on the Day of Resurrection we either doubt like the wavering disciples, or we don’t believe like His enemies, or we subconsciously don’t want to meet Him. But let’s cast aside all doubts and bring repentance! Let us embrace each other, forgive those who hate us, and joyfully cry out: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs!” Easter 1962 Paris-Brussels. Christ is Risen! The angels sing praises to His risen Creator in heaven. With incessant songs they glorify the Conqueror of the devil and death. All the forces of nature rejoice, all the elements triumph and glorify the Risen One. Evil and corruption are defeated, everything bad that entered nature during the Fall of Adam disappears. Now all nature will be renewed for incorruption, for the eternal Kingdom of God, in which there will be no filth! The now departed rejoice. They have forgotten the illnesses and sorrows that they endured in earthly life. The light of the Trinity illuminates them, their joy is inexpressible in earthly words, life fills them. The forefathers triumph, remembering their descent from hell and glorifying their Liberator. The recently deceased are amazed at the grandeur of the heavenly triumph and hastily rush to become participants in it. The heavens rejoice, the mountains cry out with joy! Christ our God, having suffered in the flesh, has risen and given joy to the world, giving life and renewal to everyone! Now the whole universe rejoice! Rejoice, all nations, all humanity! The gates of heaven are wide open by Christ! He sends the apostles to preach to all nations, to all creation. Let us all rejoice now! Rejoice, you who have sinned and weep for sins, for forgiveness is given to you. Take heart, those who are sick and suffering: the Risen Christ gives health to souls and bodies! Your illnesses and sorrows will soon pass. Rejoice, you who are persecuted for the faith of Christ and for the truth of God! From Golgotha ​​Christ extends to you an imperishable crown. Rejoice, all children of the Orthodox Church of Christ! Rejoice everyone on this Bright Day of Resurrection! Let us forgive each other mutual grief and insults! Resurrection Day! And let us be enlightened by triumph, and embrace each other! With a cry, brothers, we will forgive all those who hate us through the resurrection, and thus we will cry out: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tombs.” San Francisco - Brussels-Paris, 1963 “Even though you descended into the grave, the Immortal One, you destroyed the power of hell.” “I will go down to my son lamenting into hell” (Gen. 37:35), said the forefather Jacob, when he heard about the imaginary death, that Joseph had died, having actually been sold by his brothers. Although Jacob was righteous and received many mercies from God, constantly feeling the Hand of the Lord protecting him, he did not expect anything else in the future except hell. Deep was the fall of the forefathers in paradise, and with them all their descendants. Although many tried to live pleasingly to God, they only outwardly fulfilled the law of God - it did not penetrate their hearts and souls - they remained far from God in their spirit. Therefore, there was no paradise then for the descendants of Adam, they could not feel the radiance of the glory of God, their souls could not dwell with the angels. All the souls of the dead were out of communication with God, remaining in darkness and languor of spirit. In order to save people from eternal destruction and reunite the human race with Himself, the Son of God came to earth. Having united Divinity and humanity in Himself, He attracted people to Himself, preaching to them and teaching them to perfectly understand and do the will of God. But although many followed Him and listened with delight to His words, inside they remained alien to Him in spirit. Even His closest disciples, the apostles, at the Last Supper clearly showed with their questions and answers that they did not understand who He was or His teachings. Only when Christ endured terrible torment, was rejected by almost everyone, died on the cross and descended in soul to hell, did the weary souls of the Old Testament forefathers and the rest, along with them, awaiting the Deliverer, recognize in Him the Son of God. Hell ceased to exist for them, being filled with Divine Light, and together with Christ they entered the Kingdom of Heaven. And in the Risen Christ, for us, who suffered and died, the apostles and other disciples of Christ now believed with perfect faith, having come to know the love of God and His true gracious Law. Heaven has now opened for the entire human race, for all who believed in Christ with the apostolic faith and, following them and the myrrh-bearers, spiritually followed Christ. No earthly disasters are scary for them, for even if they suffer for Christ, they will rejoice forever in His Kingdom. Death is no longer a fear for those who believe in Christ; Their souls will enter heaven not into hell with sorrow, but with joy. Hell has been trampled underfoot, death has been conquered, the sorrows of earth are short-lived. The eternal enemy of God, the devil, is amazed and with his convulsions he is trying in vain to cause evil to people. Rejoice, all you living! Rejoice in Christ those who are dying, rejoice those who are sick and mourning, rejoice for those who suffer for Christ! Rejoice, you who live in contentment, not about your earthly well-being, but about the fact that the eternal Kingdom has been given to us by Christ. Let us believe in Him, serve Him and glorify Him in this life and the next! For Christ is risen and the demons have fallen, Christ is risen and the Angels rejoice! We too will rejoice, forgetting everything that separates us, and with one voice we will exclaim: You might be interested in: