Dear brothers and sisters! I cordially congratulate you on the feast of Holy Pascha and greet you with the life-affirming words “Christ is Risen!”
In the Old Testament, the feast of Passover was established in memory of the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. By the will of God, death then passed over the houses of the sons of Israel. The word familiar to us, “Pascha” — in Hebrew “Pesach” — means “to pass over.”
The Pascha of the New Testament is the passage of the Lord and Savior through the gates of death, crowned by the triumph of life. By the Resurrection of Christ, the chief enemy of mankind — death — has been defeated.
This year’s Pascha is special, and its special character lies in the hope that the scourge of the pandemic will also pass over us and, having left us a number of important lessons, will leave us for good.
What are these lessons? First, a reminder of the fragility of existence. Modern man has been given the opportunity to see the vulnerability of everything that seemed reliable and stable. And this teaches us to truly value God’s great gift — life — which can so easily be lost.
The second lesson is a lesson of responsibility. Things that seem trivial at first glance, such as neglecting sanitary rules, can cause irreparable harm. Truly, there are no trifles in life; everything significant is made up of the choices and decisions we make every day.
And finally, another lesson, perhaps the most important — the value of living human communication, the importance of real rather than virtual relationships with one another. We were too self-confident; surrounding ourselves with gadgets and screens, we were sure that they had improved our lives so much that we needed nothing more, including real communication with others. But the pandemic has shown the deficiency of such an existence for a person placed in the Procrustean bed of cyberspace.
At the same time, epidemic restrictions did not deprive us of the opportunity to serve those near and far, to support the weaker and help those who suffered. We must learn active love every day, for in this not only is our faith manifested, but it is also strengthened by works of mercy. The example of the selfless service of doctors, volunteers and all who today help the suffering is also important to us.
I call on all of you, dear brothers and sisters, in these bright Paschal days to reflect on life and see it through the prism of the lessons of the pandemic — to become kinder, more responsible and more attentive to one another. And may the Risen Lord — loving, blessing and merciful — help us in this!
Happy feast to you all — Christ is Risen!
Press Service of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’