My beloved spiritual children in Our Risen Lord and Our Only True God,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! ΑΛΗΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ!
ON SABBATH AND THE LORD'S DAY (Part II)
by Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki
"It is the day of the 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 has risen from the dead, by death, trampling upon Death and has bestowed life to those in the tombs. Christ has risen from the dead, by death trampling upon Death, and has bestowed Life to those in the tombs.
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Are some of you puzzled that Christ could enter when the doors were shut since He had a body? Apparently, you are unaware that spiritual things must be compared with spiritual and understood on their own terms, as the holy Apostle says (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:13). Christ did not spoil the womb of the Virgin who bore Him in the flesh. He did not undo the signs of virginity when He was born, but kept them intact, even though at that time His body was subject to suffering and death. So it is not all surprising if now that He had immortalized the humanity He had assumed and His body was no longer subject to death, He could enter through closed doors. However, as He undoubtedly had a body free from suffering and death, how was it that on His Side and His Hands He had marks of wounds and holes from the nails? For the Evangelist tells us that the Lord said to Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side and be not faithless, but believing" (St. John 20:27). Why did He have scars? It would be impossible for a mortal, suffering body to display marks of wounds and nails and to remain healthy and sound. On the other hand, an immortal body without suffering can show the scars and wounds it suffered to anyone at will, and nevertheless continue free from suffering and death.
This enables me to understand something else: that those who have suffered for Christ are adorned forever with their wounds. Windows in a house do not make it less safe and are not something ugly but a necessary decoration for a building, to let in the light and allow those within to look out. In the same way, the body's sufferings for Christ's sake and the resultant wounds become for those who hear them windows to let in the Light without evening. And when that Light shines forth they will be recognizable by the Divine beauty and radiance of their wounds and not by their ugliness. Their scars will not be obliterated when suffering comes to an end, in so far as they procure immortality.
Christ's body held within it the fount of Divine Light, which shone forth spiritually to enlightened the mind of him who hesitated, so that Thomas cried out at once, with perfect theology, "My Lord and my God" (St. John 20:28). The Lord said to him, "Because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed" (St. John 20:29), showing that those who saw the Lord with their own eyes are not in greater glory than those who have been brought through them to faith in Him. He did not say "yet believe" but "ye have believed" because, with the Divine power of foreknowledge whereby He saw everything before it happened, future events were like present facts.
I shall tell you, in your love, something which has just occurred to me, I notice that Thomas lost his faith when he was absent, but when he was together with the believers his faith did not in any way fall short. So I have the idea that if only a sinner will flee the company of immoral men and associate with the just, he will never be found lacking in righteousness or the resultant salvation at this when he called blessed the man who avoided sitting with the scornful and being their companion (cf. Psalm 1:1). Another holy Prophet writes, "Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil" (Exodus 23:2), and the author of Proverbs says, "When sinners gather, the fire breaks out" (Exodus 16:6), "but he that walketh with wise men shall be wise" (Proverbs 13:20).
So let us, meet together and often come to God's Church, where all who are truly godly are present and never stay away. When each of you enters the church, look for the more godly of those within, whom you can recognize just by seeing how they stand in attentive silence. Watch for those who are more pious and God-fearing than the rest, and go and attach yourself to them, and attend upon God with them. When you come out after the dismissal on the Lord's Day and are at leisure from earthly work for the sake of Him whose day it is, carefully searches to see if there is an imitator of the Apostles who mostly stay indoors, longing for God with silent prayer, psalmody and other suitable practices. Approach such a person and enter his small room with faith as though you were entering a heavenly place containing the Spirit's sanctifying power. Sit down beside him and stay with him as long as possible. Talk to him about God and divine matters, asking questions, humbly learning and appealing for help through prayer. If you do this, I know for sure that Christ will invisibly come to you, give peace within the thinking part of your soul, increase your faith, strengthen your steadfastness, and in the time set you among His chosen in the heavenly Kingdom.
May we all attain to this in Him Who has now died and risen for us and afterwards will come in glory, Christ the King of the ages, to Whom belongs glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Source: Saint Gregory Palamas, The Homilies)
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RESURRECTION ODE
"Let us who have beheld the Resurrection of Christ, worship our Holy Lord Jesus, Who is alone without sin. We worship Thy Cross, O Christ, and praise and glorify Thy Holy Resurrection. For Thou art our God, and we know none other beside Thee, and we call upon Thy Name. Come, all ye faithful, let us worship Christ's Holy Resurrection, for behold, through the Cross, joy has come to the whole world. We praise His Resurrection and forever glorify the Lord. He endured the Cross for us, and by death destroyed Death. Jesus, having risen from the grave, as He foretold, has given to us Eternal Life and the Great Mercy."
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in Our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God,
+Father George