Beloved brothers and sisters in Our Risen Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!
Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the tombs.
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Thy Resurrection, O Christ Our Savior, enlightened the whole world, and recalled Thine Own creation Almighty Lord, glory to Thee.
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Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the Ages of Ages. Amen.
It is the day of Resurrection; let us be glorious in splendor for the Festival, and let us embrace one another. Let us speak also, O brethren, to those that hate us, and in the Resurrection, let us forgive all things, and so let us cry: Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling upon death, and has bestowed life to those in the tombs.
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Wisdom. Arise, Let us hear the Holy Gospel.
The reading is from the Holy Gospel according to John.
Glory to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee
(John 20:19-25)
"When it was late that same day, the first of the week, though the doors where the disciples gathered had been closed for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, 'Peace be unto you!' And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced at the sight of the Lord. He therefore said to them again, 'Peace be to you! As the Father has sent me, I also send you.' When He had said this, He breathed upon them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit; Whose sins you shall forgive, shall be forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, shall be retained.' Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, 'We have seen the Lord.' But he said to them, 'Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nail, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
GLORY TO THEE O GOD, GLORY TO THEE!
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ON THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
By Saint Gregory the Theologian
I come in with a Mystery, bringing with me the Day as a good defender of my cowardice and weakness; that He Who today rose again from the dead may renew me also by His Spirit; and, clothing me with the new Man, may give me to His New Creation, to those who are begotten after God, as a good modeler and teacher for Christ, willingly both dying with Him and rising again with Him.
Yesterday the Lamb was slain and the door-posts were anointed; Egypt bewailed her First-born; the Destroyer passed us over; the Seal was dreadful and reverend, and we were walled in with the Precious Blood. Today we have clean escaped from Egypt and from Pharaoh; and there is none to hinder us from keeping a Feast to the Lord our God--the Feast of our Departure; or from celebrating that Feast, "Not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth", (1 Corinthians 5:8) carrying with us nothing of ungodly and Egyptian leaven.
Yesterday I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him; yesterday I died with Him; today I am quickened with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise with Him. But let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us--you will think perhaps that I am going to say gold, or silver, or woven work or transparent and costly stones, the mere passing material of earth, that remains here below, and is for the most part always possessed by bad men, slaves of the world and of the Prince of the world. Let us offer ourselves, the possession most precious to God, and most fitting; let us give back to the Image what is made after the Image. Let us recognize our Dignity; let us honor our Archetype; let us know the power of the Mystery, and for what Christ died.
Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us. Let us become gods for His sake, since He for ours became Man. He assumed the worse that He might give us the better; "He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9); He took upon Him the form of a servant that we might receive back our liberty; He came down that we might be exalted; He was tempted that we might conquer; He was dishonored that He might glorify us; He died that He might save us; He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were lying low in the Fall of sin.
Let us give all, offer all, to Him Who gave Himself a Ransom and a Reconciliation for us. But one can given nothing like oneself, understanding the Mystery, and becoming for His sake all that He became for ours. Amen.
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GREET ONE ANOTHER BY SAYING:
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!
FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY
IS AGAPE DAY!
May Our Risen Lord bless and protect all of you always.
With agape,
+Father George