Your Graces, archpastors, reverend pastors and deacons, venerable monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
On this chosen and holy day, filled with Paschal joy and wondrous light, from mouth to mouth and from heart to heart the life-affirming good news is passed on:
CHRIST IS RISEN!
With these words we confess our unshakable faith in Him before Whose Cross we stood on Great Friday, Whom together with the disciples and the myrrh-bearing women we mourned as we prayed before the Shroud. And today, together with the Angelic Host, showing the unity of the Church on earth and in heaven, we solemnly proclaim: “Today salvation has come to the world, for Christ is risen as the Almighty” (Paschal Canon, Irmos of Ode 4).
The Pascha of the Lord is the most vivid testimony to the wisdom of God and the Creator’s boundless love for the human race. The beginning of history, as we know, was darkened by a spiritual tragedy: through the fall of our first parents the doors of Paradise were closed to people, and suffering and death became the inevitable consequence of human sinfulness. But having lost communion with God, the Source of life, people were not deprived of His goodness and love.
At the same time, as Nicholas Cabasilas, a 14th-century saint, writes, “the love of God was boundless, yet there was no sign by which to express it” (The Life in Christ, Book VI). Love reveals itself in doing good to one’s neighbor and in readiness to voluntarily endure hardship, constraint and even suffering for his sake, and the Savior shows both. By His Incarnation He renews human nature damaged by sin, and by His podvig on the Cross He delivers us from the power of evil. “Thus we have received life in Christ,” concludes St. Ephraim the Syrian, “we have tasted the Body of the Lord instead of the fruit of the tree… we have been washed from the curse by His righteous blood and, through the hope of the resurrection… we live by His life” (Commentary on the Diatessaron, 21).
The Resurrection of the Savior opened the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven to mankind and filled our earthly existence with enduring meaning. The Lord gave Himself to all who believe in Him as a model of virtue and acquired incorruption, that all who are being saved might follow in His footsteps, as St. Maximus the Confessor writes (Ambigua, 42). And for this we must already here, on earth, learn to breathe the air of eternity, putting off the old man with his deeds (Col. 3:9), ordering our lives according to the Gospel and participating in the Sacraments of the Holy Church — the heir of God’s great promises.
Faith in the Resurrection of the Savior extinguishes the flame of worldly anxieties and allows us to rise above earthly vanity; it helps us reject the temptations of sin and overcome various fears. In response to Divine love we are called to show “charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” (1 Tim. 1:5). In response to His mercy — to show mercy to the people around us. In response to His care — to care for the ordering of social life in accordance with the lofty ideals of the Gospel.
The Paschal celebration, transcending national and state borders, spiritually unites millions of Christians living in different countries. This many-voiced earthly choir, together with the host of the bodiless Heavenly Powers, gives praise to the Lord Jesus, who shed His Blood for all and redeemed the world with a life-giving price (Octoechos, Tone 6, stichera on Saturday morning).
This thanksgiving resounds triumphantly throughout the earth from year to year, from century to century, from millennium to millennium — it resounds despite any temptations, difficulties and trials. Nor does it cease today, when the world suffers from a deadly pestilence.
In this difficult time it is especially important to support those who are sick and infirm, who grieve over the loss of their relatives and loved ones, who have lost their livelihood, who cannot come to church. Let us give what help we can to the suffering, and not pass by indifferently those who need human sympathy, attention and care.
Quite recently, because of epidemic measures, many of us could not attend services. The experience we have gained has shown how important it is to value and use every opportunity to take part in common prayer, in services and in the holy Sacraments, and above all in the Divine Eucharist, which unites us with Christ and with one another.
My dear ones, I cordially congratulate you on the great feast of Pascha and wish you good health and bounties from Jesus the Giver of Life. May the merciful Lord grant us all to partake of Him more truly in the never-ending day of His Kingdom and joyfully to bear witness:
CHRIST IS RISEN!
TRULY CHRIST IS RISEN!
+KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA
The Pascha of Christ,
2021