On Pascha. -St. Theodore the Studite
Brothers and fathers, the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ have the power to awaken sobriety in our souls whenever we contemplate them. But especially now, in these present days, when they are being fulfilled one by one before our eyes: the plotting of His death, His arrest by the Jews, the trial before Pilate, His condemnation, the blows, the spitting, the mockery, the scorn, the crucifixion, the piercing of His hands and feet, the offering of vinegar, the piercing of His side—and many other things that not only the tongues of men, but even those of angels, could not adequately describe.
O great and exceedingly wondrous mystery! The sun saw what was happening—and was darkened. The moon beheld it—and was dimmed. The earth felt it—and was shaken. The stones sensed it—and were rent apart. If, then, the soulless and insensible elements were moved and changed out of fear at the Lord’s presence and the sight of His sufferings, shall we remain distracted and indifferent during these days—we who have been granted understanding, for whose sake Christ died? How can we, being more senseless than beasts and more unfeeling than stones, stand apart from these events? No, my brothers, no! Let us instead acquire godly sobriety, let us shed tears, let us be transformed by a good change, and put our passions to death.
Do you not see how many sufferings divine love has undertaken to move us? Has anyone ever been imprisoned for the sake of his friends, or given himself up for those he loved? But our good God has suffered not one or two, but countless torments for us who were condemned. And since the Saints had nothing with which to repay such love, they offered their own bodies and blood to Him, becoming ascetics and martyrs, singing the words of David: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 115:3).
This hymn, brothers, we also must continually repeat, serving the Lord with an unquenchable love. Let us ceaselessly reach toward the things above, that we might become imitators of Christ and of the Saints.
Now the Holy Resurrection has arrived. Let us be attentive to celebrate this feast with radiance and godly reverence, for this is Pascha—the first and greatest gift of God’s providence. Let us, with the help of reverence, bridle the body, so that though our food may change, our spiritual state remains unchanged.
The soul rejoices at the coming of Pascha, for it brings her rest and relief from many labors.
But why, then, do we await Pascha with such eagerness, when it merely comes and goes? Have we not celebrated it many times before? And this one too will pass—for nothing in this present life is lasting. Our days pass like a shadow, and life runs as a swift messenger. So it shall be until we come to the end of this present life.
Then what, someone might ask—should we not rejoice in Pascha? On the contrary, let us rejoice in it all the more—but in that Pascha which takes place every day. And what is this Pascha?—It is the cleansing of sins, the breaking of the heart, the tears of watchfulness, a pure conscience, the mortifying of our earthly members: fornication, uncleanness, passions, evil desires, and every other evil. Whoever attains to these celebrates Pascha not once a year, but every day. But whoever lacks these, remaining a slave to his passions, cannot truly partake of the feast. How can one who worships his belly, or is inflamed with carnal desires, or is enslaved to greed, or is captive to vanity and other passions—how can such a one celebrate Pascha?
Yet I believe, brothers, that this is not the case with you. For our life is nothing other than preparation for the feast: psalmody is followed by psalmody, knowledge by knowledge, instruction by instruction, prayer by prayer—like a kind of circle, leading and uniting us to God.
Oh, how beautiful is the monastic life! How blessed and thrice-blessed it is! So then, brothers, let us hasten to meet Pascha, and let us celebrate it each time in the best way possible—by putting the passions to death and raising the virtues to life, imitating the Lord, who “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Together with the Resurrection, creation itself, casting off its wintry gloom as if it were a kind of deadness, blossoms again and comes alive. See how the earth grows green, the sea is calmed, the animals leap, and all things are transformed for the better.
I have not spoken of this idly. I wish to emphasize that if even the soulless and irrational world joins in celebrating the radiant Resurrection and adds beauty to it, how much more should we, who are granted reason and are made in the image of God, adorn ourselves and become fragrant! The true fragrance of Christ is the one who is always adorned with virtues. As the Apostle says: “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:15).
Let us also remember that Adam, before his fall, was a fragrance before God, adorned with immortality and incorruption, dwelling in heavenly contemplation. For this reason, he was planted in Paradise like a fragrant and many-colored citron tree.
Let us also, brothers, exude this spiritual fragrance, which each of us, like a skilled perfumer, may craft for himself by gathering virtues. This is a fragrance blessed by God; it is pleasing to Him, it draws the angels near, and it drives away demons.
When Pascha ends and the feast is over, let us not think that joy and celebration have also ended—for we have the opportunity to rejoice and celebrate continually. And how is this possible? It is possible if we always bear within us the living memory of the sufferings of our Savior Jesus Christ—that the Lord of glory was crucified for us, descended into the tomb, and rose again on the third day, raising and enlivening us with Himself—so that we too may say with the Apostle: “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
This, then, is the meaning of the mystery for us: to die to the world and live only for God. Therefore, even after Pascha, we must remain watchful, prayerful, and sober-minded; we must weep and be enlightened, die daily by our own will, detach ourselves from the body, and bind ourselves to the Lord, putting to death the desires of the flesh.
Say not, “Lent is over.” – For the one who struggles, Lent continues always. Say not, “I have struggled for many years; now I may rest a little.” – In this life, there is no rest. Say not, “I have grown old in virtue, and I have nothing to fear.” – There is always the danger of falling. Satan has cast down many who had grown old in virtue, even in a single moment. Therefore “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12).
We must be vigilant, temperate in all things—whether in sleep, or in food and drink, or anything else—so that the body may be kept in subjection, and not, like a wild colt that has broken its bridle, hurl us into the pit of sin.
And if at any time we fall through negligence, let us at once lift our eyes to the crucified Jesus, the Lord of glory—and our soul shall be healed. Just as the Israelites, when they were bitten by venomous serpents, looked upon the bronze serpent and were healed, so too must we. For you know that wicked thoughts bite like serpents, injecting poison into the soul—poison which must be removed immediately. If it remains within us, it leads to death.
Moreover, you yourselves see how spring stirs up the blood and arouses desires within a person.
“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh” (Galatians 5:17), and if the one prevails, the other is overcome. Let us therefore be vigilant, so that our soul may not become enslaved to the flesh, but rather triumph over it. A runner is not crowned unless he completes the whole race, not just one or two laps. In the same way, it is not enough to struggle only during Lent or the fifty days after Pascha, for if we do not live our whole life in struggle, guarding against the snares of the devil, we shall not receive the victor’s crown.
So then, my brothers, let us continue the good fight. Let us shed more sweat in gaining the virtues, let us harden the flesh further, bring the body into subjection, drive away the passions, and always bear “in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:10).
Let not the memory of Pascha end simply because the feast has passed, but let us always have before our eyes the saving sufferings of our Lord—His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection—so that through constant remembrance of them, we may remain unenslaved to the passions.
Our entire life looks with hope toward the eternal Pascha. For although this present Pascha is great and glorious, it is, as the Holy Fathers say, only a shadow and image of that Pascha. This one is celebrated for a single day and then passes away, but that one is eternal.
“There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
There, everlasting joy, gladness, and exultation await. There is the voice of those who feast, the chorus of the triumphant, and the vision of the eternal light. There is the blessed banquet of Christ, filled with the abundance of eternal blessings.
In remembrance of all this, the Saints endured all sufferings with courage, counting deprivation as happiness, distress as comfort, torture as delight, struggles as joy, and death as life.
And so let us, as we strive for that eternal Pascha, bear with good courage and patience—this I ask you, brothers—the trials of the present. If we serve our Benefactor and Master, God, faithfully to the end, He will make us worthy to partake of that eternal and heavenly Pascha, together with all who are filled with the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ—who was crucified, buried, and is risen again—unto whom is the power and the glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.