About the Radiant Resurrection of Christ
“Let the heavens indeed rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the whole world, both visible and invisible, keep festival: for Christ our God is risen, bringing eternal joy.” “Now all things are filled with light — heaven, earth, and the netherworld. Let all creation therefore celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, through whom we are made steadfast!” “This is the day which is called holy, the King and Lord of Sabbaths, the Feast of feasts and Festival of festivals, on which we bless Christ unto the ages.”
With these joyful hymns, every believing soul beholds the boundless majesty of this day. The Resurrection of Christ is a feast of heaven and earth, of the visible and invisible, of men and angels alike. The Resurrection of Christ unites all creation in a single joy with its Creator. It is a common joy of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And today we give thanks to the consubstantial Trinity for the saving work of the One of the Trinity — the Son, “who came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
After the Sabbath had passed, early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, the women who were disciples of Christ — and, as Church Tradition affirms, the Mother of the Lord was among them — came to the tomb bearing fragrant spices to anoint the body of Jesus laid therein. They went under cover of night, so as not to stir up the wrath of the scribes, Pharisees, and the crowd they had stirred up. Likely, they did not yet know that the tomb had been sealed and was under Roman guard. As they walked, the Evangelist Mark tells us, they said to one another, “Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away — for it was very large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them: “Do not be amazed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He goes before you into Galilee; there you shall see Him, as He told you” (Mark 16:3–7).
The women fled from the tomb, not yet able to rejoice at the miracle, but “trembling and afraid,” as the Evangelist relates. He adds that they “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” — meaning that on the way, in their flight, they did not speak of what they had seen and heard. But Mark himself later affirms (Mark 16:10), as do the other Evangelists (Luke 24:9), that when they came to the apostles, they told them everything — though likely so shaken and confusedly that the apostles did not believe them (Luke 24:11). Then Peter and John themselves ran to the tomb. Entering, they saw “the linen cloths lying there, and the napkin that had been about His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a place by itself” (John 20:6–7). Strengthened in faith by the evidence, the two disciples returned to their dwelling.
The honor of seeing the risen Lord first was granted to a woman. His disciple Mary Magdalene, as the Evangelist John writes, “stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and saw two Angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She answered, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ Saying this, she turned and saw Jesus standing, but did not recognize that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ — which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, ‘Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God”’” (John 20:11–17). However, the oldest Church tradition holds that the very first to whom the Lord appeared after His Resurrection was His Most Pure Mother.
Together with the Most Holy God-bearer, with the Myrrh-bearing Women, and with the Apostles, we too — believers in the Resurrection of our beloved Savior — rejoice. “For truly this is the sacred and all-festal night of salvation, the radiant forerunner of the bright day of resurrection, in which the Timeless Light shone bodily from the tomb upon all!” That radiant day, which burst forth nearly two thousand years ago, shall never again be darkened by night. Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, shines brightly over the world, piercing and dispelling every shadow of falsehood and evil with His rays. We believe that at His Second and glorious Coming, all such darkness will be utterly destroyed, and those who are found worthy of His eternal Kingdom shall become citizens of the New Jerusalem, which descends from heaven from God. And that city “has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:10, 23). In the beams of this Light, the faithful disciples of Christ shall themselves become light-bearing, and be united to Him forever. Then, as foretold by the Apostle, “God shall be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
Let us therefore give thanks with love to our heavenly Father “with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength” (Mark 12:30). Together with St. Maximus the Greek, let us cry out to Him:
“We were slain by iniquity, but Thou hast made us alive through the light of Thy true faith. We were Thy enemies, sons of the devil and children of wrath by nature; but Thou hast made us Thy friends, Thy sons, and beloved children, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of Thy Holy Spirit, having washed us in the divine laver of rebirth. We, who were darkened by the delusions of the falsely named wisdom of the world, Thou hast illumined with the rays of divine understanding and with the treasures of infallible theology and wisdom. Being richly enlightened by these, we bless without error the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit — the One God in Three Hypostases, unoriginate, uncreated, co-eternal, infinite, the Creator of all things visible and invisible, good, and the Lover of mankind, the Giver and Cause of every blessing. Falling down before Him with fear, let us sing and cry out:
‘Save us by Thy grace, O Most Holy Trinity, Creator and Sustainer of all! Grant us in this life to serve Thee in piety, to do always what is pleasing and well-beloved in Thy sight, with all thanksgiving and a pure life; and in the life to come, count us worthy to be numbered among the divine host of Thine elect, where the pure voice of those who feast is heard, the voice of unspeakable joy. For Thou art our God, merciful, faithful, and just, and we are Thy people by Thy grace. Besides Thee we know no other; Thy name we call upon and glorify — the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one Godhead and one Kingdom, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship unto the ages of ages. Amen.’”
(A Hymn of Thanksgiving to the Most Holy Trinity, sung throughout the Bright Week of Pascha)
Stikhera of Pascha, Tone 5
Verse: Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered.
Pascha, the sacred Pascha, hath been shown forth unto us today: Pascha new and holy, Pascha mystical, Pascha all-venerable, Pascha — Christ the Redeemer’s Pascha, Pascha immaculate, Pascha great, Pascha of the faithful, Pascha that openeth unto us the gates of Paradise, Pascha sanctifying all the faithful!
Verse: As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish.
Come from the vision, O ye women who proclaim good tidings, and say unto Zion: receive from us the glad tidings of the Resurrection of Christ. Exult and rejoice, and be glad, O Jerusalem, for thou hast seen Christ the King coming forth from the tomb as a Bridegroom.
Verse: So let sinners perish at the presence of God, and let the righteous be glad.
The Myrrh-bearing women, very early, stood before the tomb of the Giver of life, and they found an Angel sitting upon the stone. And he, speaking to them, said thus: Why seek ye the Living among the dead? Why mourn ye the Incorruptible as if He were subject to corruption? Go, and proclaim it unto His disciples.
Verse: This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein.
Pascha beautiful, Pascha — the Lord’s Pascha. Pascha all-venerable hath dawned for us. Pascha, let us embrace one another with joy. O Pascha, deliverance from sorrow! For today Christ shone forth from the tomb as from a bridal chamber, and filled the women with joy, saying: Proclaim it unto the Apostles.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
This is the day of Resurrection! Let us be radiant with the feast! Let us embrace one another and say, brethren, even to those who hate us: let us forgive all things on the Resurrection. And thus let us cry aloud:
Christ resurrected from the dead, by death he trod upon death, and to those in the tombs he bestowed life.