A Paschal Homily of Blessed Justin of Chelije

Sentenced to Immortality

Man sentenced God to death; by His Resurrection, He sentenced man to immortality. In return for a beating, He gives an embrace; for abuse, a blessing; for death, immortality. Man never showed so much hate for God as when he crucified Him; and God never showed more love for man than when He arose. Man even wanted to reduce God to a mortal, but God by His Resurrection made man immortal. The crucified God is Risen and has killed death. Death is no more. Immortality has surrounded man and all the world.

By the Resurrection of the God-Man, human nature has been led irreversibly onto the path of immortality, and has become dreadful to death itself. For before the Resurrection of Christ, death was dreadful to man, but after the Resurrection of Christ, man has become more dreadful to death. When man lives by faith in the Risen God-Man, he lives above death, out of its reach; it is a footstool for his feet: “O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory?” (I Corinthians 15:55). When a man belonging to Christ dies, he simply sets aside his body like clothing, in which he will again be vested on the day of Dread Judgement.

Before the Resurrection of the God-Man, death was the second nature of man: life first, death second. But by His Resurrection, the Lord has changed everything: immortality has become the second nature of man, it has become natural for man; and death – unnatural. As before the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be mortal, so after the Resurrection of Christ, it was natural for men to be immortal.

By sin, man became mortal and transient; by the Resurrection of the God-Man, he became immortal and perpetual. In this is the power, the might, the all-mightiness of the Resurrection of Christ. Without it, there would have been no Christianity. Of all miracles, this is the greatest miracle. All other miracles have it as their source and lead to it. From it grow faith, love, hope, prayer, and love for God. Behold: the fugitive disciples, having run away from Jesus when He died, return to Him because He is risen. Behold: the Centurion confessed Christ as the Son of God when he saw the Resurrection from the grave. Behold: all the first Christians became Christian because the Lord Jesus is risen, because death was vanquished. This is what no other faith has; this is what lifts the Lord Christ above all other gods and men; this is what, in the most undoubted manner, shows and demonstrates that Jesus Christ is the One True God and Lord in all the world.

Because of the Resurrection of Christ, because of His victory over death, men have become, continue to become, and will continue becoming Christians. The entire history of Christianity is nothing other than the history of a unique miracle, namely, the Resurrection of Christ, which is unbrokenly threaded through the hearts of Christians form one day to the next, from year to year, across the centuries, until the Dread Judgment.

Man is born, in fact, not when his mother bring him into the world, but when he comes to believe in the Risen Christ, for then he is born to life eternal, whereas a mother bears children for death, for the grave. The Resurrection of Christ is the mother of us all, all Christians, the mother of immortals. By faith in the Resurrection, man is born anew, born for eternity. “That is impossible!” says the skeptic. But you listen to what the Risen God-Man says: “All things are possible to him that believeth!” (Mark 9:23). The believer is he who lives, with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his being, according to the Gospel of the Risen Lord Jesus.

Faith is our victory, by which we conquer death; faith in the Risen Lord Jesus. Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The Lord “has removed the sting of death.” Death is a serpent; sin is its fangs. By sin, death puts its poison into the soul and into the body of man. The more sins a man has, the more bites, through which death puts its poison in him.

When a wasp stings a man, he uses all his strength to remove the sting. But when sin wounds him, this sting of death, what should be done? One must call upon the Risen Lord Jesus in faith and prayer, that He may remove the sting of death from the soul. He, in His great loving-kindness, will do this, for He is overflowing with mercy and love. When many wasps attack a man’s body and wound it with many stings, that man is poisoned and dies. The same happens with a man’s soul, when many sins wound it with their stings: it is poisoned and dies a death with no resurrection.

Conquering sin in himself through Christ, man overcomes death. If you have lived the day without vanquishing a single sin of yours, know that you have become deadened. Vanquish one, two, or three of your sins, and behold: you have become younger than the youth which does not age, young in immortality and eternity. Never forget that to believe in the Resurrection of the Lord Christ means to carry out a continuous fight with sins, with evil, with death.

If a man fights with sins and passions, this demonstrates that he indeed believes in the Risen Lord; if the fights with them, he fights for life eternal. If he does not fight, his faith is in vain. If man’s faith is not a fight for immortality and eternity, than tell me, what is it? If faith in Christ does not bring us to resurrection and life eternal, than what use is it to us? If Christ is not risen, that meant that neither sin nor death has been vanquished, than why believe in Christ? For the one who by faith in the Risen Lord fights with each of his sins there will be affirmed in him gradually the feeling that Christ is indeed risen, has indeed vanquished the sting of sin, has indeed vanquished death on all the fronts of combat. Sin gradually diminishes the soul in man, driving it into death, transforming it from immortality to mortality, from incorruption to corruption. The more the sins, the more the mortal man. If man does not feel immortality in himself, know that he is in sins, in bad thoughts, in languid feelings. Christianity is an appeal: Fight with death until the last breath, fight until a final victory has been reached. Every sin is a desertion; every passion is a retreat; every vice is a defeat.

One need not be surprised that Christians also die bodily. This is because the death of the body is sowing. The mortal body is sown, says the Apostle Paul, and it grows, and is raised in an immortal body (I Corinthians 15:42-44). The body dissolves, like a sown seed, that the Holy Spirit may quicken and perfect it. If the Lord Christ had not been risen in body, what use would it have for Him? He would not have saved the entire man. If His body did not rise, then why was He incarnate? Why did He take on Himself flesh, if He gave it nothing of His Divinity?

If Christ is not risen, then why believe in Him? To be honest, I would never have believed in Him had He not risen and had not therefore vanquished death. Our greatest enemy was killed and we were given immortality. Without this, our world is a noisy display of revolting stupidity and despair, for neither in Heaven nor under Heaven is there a greater stupidity than this world without the Resurrection; and there is not a greater despair than this life without immortality. There is no being in a single world more miserable than man who does not believe in the resurrection of the dead. It would have been better for such a man never to have been born.

In our human world, death is the greatest torment and inhumane horror. Freedom from this torment and horror is salvation. Such a salvation was given the race of man by the Vanquisher of death – the Risen God-Man. He related to us all the mystery of salvation by His Resurrection. To be saved means to assure our body and soul of immortality and life eternal. How do we attain this? By no other way than by a theanthropic life, a new life, a life in the Risen Lord, in and by the Lord’s Resurrection.

For us Christians, our life on earth is a school in which we learn how to assure ourselves of resurrection and life eternal. For what use is this life if we cannot acquire by it life eternal? But, in order to be resurrected with the Lord Christ, man must first suffer with Him, and live His life as his own. If he does this, then on Pascha he can say with Saint Gregory the Theologian: “Yesterday I was crucified with Him, today I live with Him; yesterday I was buried with Him, today I rise with Him” (Troparion 2, Ode 3, Matins, Pascha).

Christ’s Four Gospels are summed up in only four words. They are: “Христос воскресе! Ваистину воскресе!” (Christ is Risen! Indeed He is risen!”). In each of these words is a Gospel, and in the Four Gospels is all the meaning of all God’s world, visible and invisible. When all knowledge and all the thoughts of men are concentrated in the cry of the Paschal salutation, “Christ is Risen!”, then immortal joy embraces all beings and in joy responds: “Indeed He is risen!”

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Pascha at Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos

This video is from the year 2000.

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The Holy Light (Fire) of Jerusalem 2010

In the midst of great reverence and joy at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem this afternoon, the annual miracle of the Holy Light once again took place. Later today it will travel on various airplanes to reach various destinations around the world where there are a majority of Orthodox Christians. See photos here and a video here.









Coming very soon: Ten Reasons Why I Believe The Holy Light Is A Miracle

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The Red Eggs of Pascha

Why do we dye our eggs red for Pascha?

Orthodox Christians dye our eggs red for the following reasons:

First of all, the red symbolizes the blood of Christ, which the Lord shed for our salvation.

Also, according to tradition, some time after the Resurrection of Christ, Saint Mary Magdalene went to Emperor Tiberius Caesar and courageously announced to him that Christ had risen from the dead and explained how this all took place. After she finished Tiberius noticed a man next to him holding a basket of eggs. Tiberius then challenged Mary that if what she said was indeed true, then the white eggs in the basket should be turned into red eggs. Suddenly the eggs turned red leaving Caesar perplexed. This is why our tradition is to dye our eggs red for Pascha.

This incident is depicted in the iconography of the Russian Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane of Jerusalem. The Monastery was built in 1885 by Tsar Alexander III and his siblings in honor of their mother, Tsarina Maria. Inside the church of the Monastery above the Holy Altar is a large painting which depicts Saint Mary Magdalene in front of Tiberius Caesar handing him a red egg.

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The Torn Column: Pascha 1579 AD

Below is the account of Monk Parthenios written in 1846 which he received regarding the great miracle of the Holy Light and how the plans of the Armenians were thwarted when they tried to perform the miracle. He also speaks of the Muslim man Omir who converted to Orthodoxy upon witnessing this event:

Let me tell you about this: At the Great Gates themselves, on the left side, stands a column made out of marble with a fissure from which the grace, that is, the Holy Fire, came forth. This column is honored by Orthodox as well as non-Orthodox, and even the Armenians. I would like to write a little about this incident, how the Orthodox Eastern Christians unanimously speak of it and the Turks themselves confirm it.

In the wall there is an inscribed marble slab, and they say that this very incident is written on it; but we could not read it because it is written in Syrian letters, in the Arab tongue; and I only heard about it, but did not read it. But the incident happened something like this:

At one time when the Greeks were completely oppressed by the Turkish yoke, some rich Armenians took it into their heads to force the Greeks out of the Holy Sepulchre and out of the Church of the Resurrection. They gathered a large sum of money and bribed the Ottoman Porte and all the Jerusalem authorities, assuring the unbelievers that the Holy Fire comes forth not simply for the sake of the Greeks, but for all Christians, and "if we Armenians are there, we also will receive it!" And the Turks, who are greedy for money, accepted the bribe and therefore did as the Armenians wished, and they affirmed that only the Armenians would be allowed to receive the Holy Fire. The Armenians rejoiced greatly and wrote to all their lands and to their faithful, that more of them should go on a pilgrimage. And a great multitude of them did come.

Holy Saturday approached: the Armenians all gathered in the church, and the Turkish army drove the poor Greeks out. Oh, what unspeakable grief and sorrow filled the Greeks! There was only one comfort for them -- the Grave of the Saviour, and they were being kept away from it, and the Holy Gates were locked to them! The Armenians were inside the church and the Orthodox were on the streets. The Armenians were rejoicing and the Greeks were weeping. The Armenians were celebrating and the Greeks were bitterly lamenting! The Orthodox stood opposite the Holy Gates on the court and around them stood the Turkish army, watching so that there would not be a fight. The Patriarch himself with all the rest stood there with candles, hoping that they would at least receive the Fire from the Armenians through the window. But the Lord wished to dispose things in a different way, and to manifest His true Faith with a fiery finger and comfort His true servants, the humble Greeks.

The time had already come when the Holy Fire issues forth, but nothing happened. The Armenians were frightened and began to weep, and ask God that He send them the Fire; but the Lord did not hear them. Already a half hour had passed and more, and still no Holy Fire. The day was clear and beautiful; the Patriarch sat to the right side. All of a sudden there was a clap of thunder, and on the left side the middle marble column cracked and out of the fissure a flame of fire came forth. The Patriarch arose and lit his candles and all the Orthodox Christians lit theirs from his. Then all rejoiced, and the Orthodox Arabs from Jordan began to skip and cry out, "Thou art our one God, Jesus Christ; one is our True Faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And they began to run about all of Jerusalem and raise a din, and to shout all over the city. And to this day they still do this in memory of the incident and they jump and shout, running around the Holy Sepulchre, and they praise the one true God, Jesus Christ, and bless the Orthodox Faith.


Beholding this wonder, the Turkish army, which was standing around on guard, was greatly amazed and terrified. From amongst them one named Omir, who was standing at the St. Abraham's Monastery on guard, immediately believed in Christ and shouted, "One is the true God, Jesus Christ; one is the true faith, that of the Orthodox Christians!" And he jumped down to the Christians from a height of more than 35 feet. His feet landed on the solid marble as if though on soft wax. And to this day one can see his footprints imprinted as though in wax, although the non-Orthodox tried to erase them. I saw them with my own eyes and felt them with my own hands. And the column with the fissure still bears the scorch marks. As for Omir the soldier, having jumped down, he took his weapon and thrust it into the stone as though into soft wax, and began to glorify Christ unceasingly. For this, the Turks beheaded him and burned his body; the Greeks gathered up his bones, put them into a case and took them to the Convent of the Great Panagia, where they gush forth fragrance until this day.

The Armenians in the Holy Sepulchre received nothing and were left only with their shame. The Pasha of Jerusalem and other Turkish authorities were greatly displeased with them and wanted to slaughter them all, but they feared the Sultan. They only punished them heavily: they say that they made each one to eat dung as he left the church.

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Vatopaidi Monastery: Lamentations and Epitaphios

Amidst 240 pilgrims together with Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, the fathers of Vatopaidi Monastery on Mount Athos celebrated the Orthros of Holy Saturday. Below are clips from the Lamentations as well as the procession of the Epitaphios.

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The Horror of Nature at the Death of Christ

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"The earth quaked, rocks were split" (Matthew 27:51).

O, what a terrible reproach against mankind! Even dead nature recognized Him Whom men were unable to recognize. All mute things trembled and began to protest, each in its own way and in its own language. The mute earth quakes - that is its language. The stones split apart - that is their language. The sun withholds its light - that is its language. All of creation in its own way protested. For all of creation is submissive to Him, as it was to Adam at one time in Paradise, because all of creation recognizes Him as it did Adam in Paradise.

How is it that irrational creation knew Him and was obedient to Him, we do not know. It is some kind of inner instinct of irrational creation, which came to them from the Word of God, by which they were created. That instinct of irrational creation is more valuable than the mind of man when darkened by sin. Of all the things which are in existence, nothing is more blind than the mind of man when darkened by sin. Not only does he not see what was created to be seen, rather, he sees that which is contrary to being, contrary to God, and contrary to the truth. These are the degrees of the blindness; beneath blindness; these are numbers below zero. This is man of lower creation. For when the priests of God in Jerusalem did not recognize their God, the storms and winds recognized Him; vegetation and animals recognized Him; the seas, the rivers, the earth, the stones, the stars, the sun and even the demons recognized Him. O what kind of shame it is for mankind!

The earth quaked, the rocks split, the sun darkened, as much in anger as in sorrow. All creation grieved over the pain of the Son of God, in Whose pain the priests in Jerusalem rejoiced. Protests and sorrow and fear! The whole of creation was frightened at the death of Him Who cried to them arise from nothing and rejoice in your being. As though it wanted to say: with whom do we remain and who will now uphold us when the Almighty gives up the Spirit?

O brethren, let us be ashamed of this protest, these sorrows and this fear of the mutes of creation! With repentance let us cry out to the Lord, the Victor: "Forgive, O Compassionate Lord, for indeed, whenever we sin and offend You, we do not know what we are doing."

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The Descent of Christ Into Hades

Below are links to three articles of interest regarding the Lord's descent into Hades:

1. The Lord's Descent Into the Underworld, Homily by St. Epiphanios of Salamis

2. Christ the Conqueror of Hell: The Descent of Christ into Hades in Eastern and Western Theological Traditions, by Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev

3. "Anastasis" Icon, Text, And Theological Vision, by Lawrence Cross, Birute Arendarcikas, Brendan Cooke, Joseph Leach

Sermon by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Who wills everyone to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4).

God wants that all men be saved, that is why He descended into Hades to save those who lived on earth before His coming. For, had He not descended into Hades, an enormous number of righteous souls would have perished forever. And yet, had He not descended into Hades, the main habitat of evil against God and the human race, Hades would have remained undestroyed. Therefore, the two reasons which motivated Christ, the Giver-of-Life, to descend into Hades in the Spirit are: First, to destroy the nest of the powers of Hades and, Second, to bring from Hades to Heaven, the souls of ancestors, prophets and righteous men and women, who have fulfilled the Old Dispensation (The Old Law of God) and, by that, pleased God. Before Satan was totally jubilant at gazing upon Christ humiliated and lifeless on the Cross, Christ appeared alive and almighty in the midst of Hades, the primary abode of Satan. What unexpected and dreadful news for Satan! For three years Satan wove snares against Christ on earth and in three days, behold, Christ destroyed Satan's kingdom and carried away the most precious booty in the form of a swarm of righteous souls.

O Lord, You want that all men be saved. We pray to You, save even us. For there is no salvation nor Savior outside of You. In You do we hope, You alone do we worship, You, the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always. Amen.

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Great and Holy Saturday: The Forgotten Feast

by Daniel Manzuk

It is a tragic fact that today Holy Saturday is viewed by many as an unimportant “day off” between the sorrow of Good Friday and the joy of Pascha. This is absolutely false. That view negates the essential link between the despondency of Good Friday and the ecstasy of Pascha. Holy Saturday is that indispensable link between Christ’s death and Resurrection. It is on Holy Saturday that we commemorate Christ’s conquest of death, which is sealed through the Resurrection. It is a day centered on a mystery beyond our comprehension. Christ is dead, His body lies in a tomb. Yet, at this moment of Death’s apparent victory over Life, Death is being put to death. Christ’s soul, as with every soul to that time, descends to Hades. Yet His soul is unlike any other. He is both God and Man. Hades has no power over Him. It tries to hold Him, as it has held every other soul since Adam and Eve, and fails. The Life that is in Christ the Life-giver, bursts upon the darkness of Hades like a searchlight in a small dark closet. The power of Hades is destroyed, not only over Christ, but also over His faithful subjects, us. The combination of the sight of Christ lying bodily in the tomb, yet knowing that He is simultaneously destroying death, creates an atmosphere of joyful sorrow, (unique to Orthodoxy) which compels us to “keep silent and in fear and trembling stand pondering nothing earthly minded. …” (Cherubic Hymn of Great and Holy Saturday).

This atmosphere blossoms in the Holy Saturday Liturgy, one of the most beautiful services of the year. The service begins as Vespers, with the Church arrayed in dark colors. The hymns of the “Lord I Call” speak of Hades grieving over its defeat at the hands of the “man born of Mary,” each hymn ending with the announcement of the coming Resurrection. After the Entrance, lessons from the Old Testament are read recalling salvation history from Creation through the Exodus and Holy Youths in the furnace. During this time in the ancient Church, the Catechumens were baptized in anticipation of Pascha; experiencing Christ’s death and resurrection through the Sacrament, as expressed in the Epistle of the day, which is also the Epistle of the Sacrament (Rom. 6:3-11). After the Epistle, to the joyous refrain “Arise O God, judge the earth, for to Thee belongs all the Nations,” the dark colors are replaced by white. The priest comes out dressed in white and scatters laurel leaves, bay leaves, and flower petals about the Church, as a sign of the impending victory and joy. Hades is on the ropes, Christ is conquering Death by His death, the Resurrection and eternal life are just around the corner. In token of this, the Gospel which follows makes the first proclamation of the Resurrection. Yet Christ remains in the grave. The joyful sorrow persists, evoked in the Hymn to the Theotokos: “Do not lament me O mother, seeing me in the tomb, the son conceived in the womb without seed. For I shall arise and be glorified with eternal glory as God…” This joyful sorrow will only become pure joy in the Resurrection.

For it is only through the Resurrection that Christ’s victory is complete. On Good Friday Christ became the ultimate, pure, blameless, and sinless lamb, sacrificed for us, washing away our sins with His blood. On Holy Saturday His soul enters Hades and obliterates it. Yet if He remains bodily in the grave, Death still wins, for He remains physically dead, making our faith in St. Paul’s words worthless (1 Cor.15:12-20). But Christ is both God and man. And God cannot die. To make His victory complete, He does what no one is supposed to do, He returns from the dead, “making for all flesh a path to the Resurrection from the dead” (Anaphora of the Liturgy of St. Basil).

From His betrayal by Judas, through His humiliating death and His descent to Hades, and culminating in His glorious Resurrection, the whole of the Paschal weekend is one interrelated series of events which brings about our salvation. Each event had to occur for the one before and after to have any meaning. This is His, and our Passover, (which in Greek is Pascha) from death to Life, from sin to salvation. And in this glorious campaign of salvation, Holy Saturday is the day the battle is fought, which results in the ultimate victory of Pascha. Holy Saturday is the pivotal day in the Paschal celebration. The day sorrow begins to transform into joy. The path from death to life is being laid. This is an event not to be missed. There would be no victorious Resurrection without Christ’s descent into and defeat of Hades, and for that reason there can be no true celebration of Pascha without the celebration of that victory in Hades, which is Great and Holy Saturday.

So as each of us will, God willing, experience this Passover from death to Life, we should feel compelled to accompany our Lord as He paves the way. To emulate the Myrrh-bearers who stayed faithful and kept vigil over Him, rather than the disciples who fled. So that we, like the Myrrhbearers, may be the first to receive the news of the Resurrection, and join with St. John Chrysostom in saying:

“O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen! and you are overthrown. Christ is risen! And the demons are fallen. Christ is Risen! And the angels rejoice. Christ is Risen! And Life reigns. Christ is Risen! And not one dead remains in the grave.”

For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

April 2008 issue of The Word magazine.

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St. Amphilochios of Iconium: On the Burial of Our Savior

by St. Amphilochios of Iconium

Delivered on Great and Holy Saturday

Let us commemorate today the solemnity of the burial of our Saviour. He has undone the bonds of death of those who were in hades, filled hades with His splendour, and roused from sleep those lying there; and we on earth rejoice exultant, recalling to mind His Resurrection, and now we fear death no more, for it shall not prevail against immortality. "Because Thou wilt not," says the Scripture, "give Thy Holy One to see corruption" (Ps. 15:10).

It may be that the Jews and the Greeks will laugh at our wisdom; the former looking for another Christ, the latter bringing their own hopes to an end in the grave; of whom the prophet has rightly said: "And their sepulchres shall be their houses forever" (Ps. 48:12).

They now laugh, but they shall weep: for they shall weep when "they look upon Him Whom they have pierced" (Zach, 12:10; Ps. 21:16), and tormented with injuries.

We now weep, but our grief will be tempered with joy.

Death has seized Our Lord Jesus Christ; but shall not keep its hold on Life. It swallowed Him; it swallowed Him, not knowing Him. But, with Him, it will give up many. Of His own will He is now held; tomorrow, He shall rise again, and hades shall be emptied.

Yesterday, on the Cross, He darkened the sun’s light, and behold in full day it was as night; today death has lost its dominion; suffering itself a kind of death. Yesterday the earth mourned, contemplating the evil hate of the Jews, and in sadness clothed itself in a garment of darkness. Today, "the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light" (Is. 9:2).

Yesterday the earth trembled, as though it would dissolve, threatening to swallow those who dwelt in it; and the mountains were cleft asunder, the rocks were split, the Temple appeared as though naked, and as though it were a living being threw off its veil, seeking as it were to show by what had happened to itself that its holy places were no longer sacred to the Lord. They that suffered these things were lifeless, without mind. The elements mourned, as though it wanted little for them to dissolve in chaos, and bring disaster on the world, were it not that they could see the purpose of their Maker: namely, that of His own will He suffered.

O new and unheard of happening! He is stretched out upon a Cross Who by His word "stretched out the heavens" (Is. 51:13). He is held fast in bonds, "Who has set the sand a bound for the sea" (Jer. 5:22). He is given gall to drink Who has given us wells of honey. He is crowned with thorns Who has crowned the earth with flowers. With a reed they struck His Head Who of old struck Egypt with ten plagues, and submerged the head of Pharaoh in the waves. That countenance was spat upon at which the Cherubim dare not gaze. Yet, while suffering these things He prayed for His tormentors, saying: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Lk. 23:34).

He overcame evil by goodness. Christ undertook the defence of those who put Him to death: eager to gather them into His net, annulling the charge, and pleading their ignorance. Made the sport of their drunken frenzy, He submitted without bitterness. He suffered their drunkenness, and in His love for mankind called them to repentance. What more could He do?

Profiting nothing from that goodness, they enclose Him in a tomb Whom creation cannot contain. They seal the tomb, safe-guarding our deliverance; and fearing He would rise again, they station soldiers to watch the sepulchre. Who has ever seen the dead placed under watch?

Or rather, who has ever seen a dead body treated as an enemy? Who has ever seen one struck by death causing fear to those who have slain him? Who fears his enemy, once he has killed him? And who will not forget his enmity when sated by the death of his adversary?

Why do you still fear Him, ye Jews, Him Whom you have done away with?

Why do you dread Him Whom you have slain?

Why do you still dread Him Who has gone forth from among the living?

Why do you fear the Dead?

Why do you still fight with One Whom you have crucified?

His slaughter has made you safe: rest secure. If it is a mere man who has died, he will not rise again. If it is a mere man has died, then there is no truth in those words of His: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

If He was a mere man, then death will keep him. If He was a mere man, what need to seal His tomb: is it not useless? Wait till the third day, and see the disproof of His madness? Cease to labour in vain, and you will see what comes to pass. Cease to rage against the truth. Do not try to wage war against God, inflicting wounds only on yourself. Cease offering insults to the Sun of Righteousness, thinking you can put out its light. Cease I say, and do not try to seal up the fountain of life.

Do not begin to make difficulties for yourself.

Do not speak of guards.

Have no traffic with corruption; and the bribing of those who keep watch.

Do not attempt what is foolish; nor spend what you have in impiety; nor imagine that you will defeat God.

Do not give money to the soldiers, to say this and not that. Do not set a crowd to watch the tomb. Put not your trust in armour. The Resurrection will not be stopped by force of arms, nor impeded by seals, nor put down by soldiers, nor concealed by bribes. Rather it shall be believed in.

Have you not seen Lazarus a little while ago throw off death as though it were a sleep? Have you not seen him come forth, clothed in his cerements (burial rags), at the words: "Come forth?" Have you not seen the dead obedient to His voice when He bade him come: and the winding sheet did not prevent Him? Have you not seen how His voice restored a man already dissolving in death? He Who did that can also do this.

He Who raised His Own servant, much more shall He Himself be raised up. He Who gave life again to a body already corrupting shall not leave Himself in death.

The great blindness of the Jews, who, beholding these wonders, yet could not see: For, they have eyes and see not!

For, the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the Gospel may not shine unto them (Ps. 113:5; 2 Cor. 4:4). But let us for a time leave these unhappy ones in their unbelief, and let us, while contemplating in spirit the tomb of our Saviour, say with the faithful Mary: "They have taken away our Lord, and we know not where they have laid Him."

To Him and to the Father Undefiled, together with the Holy Spirit, be there glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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Sermon for Great and Holy Friday

CATECHESIS 73: On the Saving Passion of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ

by St. Theodore the Studite

Given on Great and Holy Friday.

Brethren and Fathers, while the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ when they are recalled are always able to pierce the soul, they do so especially in these present days, on which each of them reached its end. What then are they? The murderous council against Him, the Jewish arrest, His being led away to death, His arraignment before Pilate's tribunal, the interrogation, the scourging, the blows, the spittings, the insults, the mockeries, the ascent of the Cross, the nailing of his hands and feet, the tasting of gall, the piercing of His side and all the other things which blazed forth with them, which the world cannot contain, nor can anyone worthily proclaim, not human tongue, nor even all the tongues of angels together.

For let us consider, brethren, this great and ineffable mystery. The Lord "who reveals the counsels of hearts" [1 Cor. 4:5] and knows every human desire, is the One who is taken before a council of death; the Lord "who bears all things by the word of his power" [Hebrews 1:3]is the One who is handed over to sinners; the Lord "who binds the water in the clouds" [Job 26:8] and sows in the earth in due season and uniformly is the One who is led away prisoner; the Lord "who measures the heavens with the span of His hand and the earth in a handful and weighed all the mountains in the balance" [Isaias 40:12] is the one who is struck by the hand of a servant; the Lord who adorned the boundaries of the earth with flowers is the One who is dishonourably crowned with thorns; the Lord who planted the tree of life in Paradise is the One who is hanged upon an accursed tree.

O great and more then natural sights! The sun saw them and faded, the moon saw them and was darkened, the earth perceived them was shaken, the rocks perceived them and were rent, all creation was turned back at the outrages done to the Master. The lifeless elements which have no senses, as if endowed with life and sensation from fear of the Lord and from the spectacle of what is seen, were amazed and altered; and do we, who have been honoured with reason, for whose sake Christ died, remain untouched and unweeping in these days? How could we be less rational than things which have no reason, more unfeeling than the stones? In no way, my brothers, in no way.

Let us rather be amazed in a manner worthy of God, by being changed with a fair change; let us draw down tears, sacrifice the passions, changing insults for insults and exchanging wounds for wounds, the one through obedience, the other through unflinching confession. Do we not see the burning incitements of divine love? Who ever dwelt in prison for a friend? Who accepted slaughter for their beloved? But our good God not only did the one and both of them, but accepted ten thousand sufferings for the sake of us, the condemned. Fittingly then the blessed Apostle, when he thought on these things and became powerfully aware of the love of God, said: "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rules nor powers, neither present nor future, neither height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" [Rom. 8:38-39].

For such was the love God had for us that "He gave His only Son, that all who believe in him might not perish," as it is written, "but have eternal life" [John 3:16]. As an exchange for this love, the saints, when they had nothing to offer, offered their own bodies and blood by asceticism and struggle, singing with blessed David the song: "What return may we make to the Lord for all that He has given to us?" [Psalm 115:3] Let us also, brethren, cry out these words each day, as we serve Him with an unceasing attitude of love, striving again and again for what is better, so that we may become heirs with the saints of the eternal blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages.

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The Pain of the Mother of God

by Saint Silouan the Athonite

When the soul abides in the love of God - how good and gracious and festive all things are! But even with God's love sorrows continue, and the greater the love the greater the sorrow. Never by a single thought did the Mother of God sin, nor did she ever lose grace, yet vast were her sorrows; when she stood at the foot of the Cross her grief was as boundless as the ocean and her soul knew torment incomparably worse than Adam's when he was driven from Paradise, in that the measure of her love was beyond compare greater than the love which Adam felt when he was in Paradise. That she remained alive was only because the Lord's might sustained her, for it was His desire that she should behold His Resurrection, and live on after His Ascension to be the comfort and joy of the Apostles and the new Christian peoples.

We cannot attain to the full the love of the Mother of God, so we cannot thoroughly comprehend the grief. Her love was complete. She had an illimitable love for God and her Son, but she loved the people too with great love. What, then, must she have felt when those same people whom she loved so dearly, and whose salvation she desired with all her being, crucified her beloved Son?

We cannot fathom such things, since there is little love in us for God and man.

Just as the love of the Mother of God is boundless and passes our understanding, so is her grief boundless and beyond our understanding.


O holy Virgin Mary, tell us, thy children, of thy love on earth for thy Son and God. Tell us how thy spirit rejoiced in God thy Savior. Tell us of how thou didst look upon His fair countenance, and reflect that this was He whom all the heavenly hosts wait upon in awe and love. Tell us what thy soul felt when thou didst bear the wondrous Babe in thine arms. Tell us of how thou didst rear Him, how, sick at heart, thou and Joseph sought Him three long days in Jerusalem. Tell us of thine agony when the Lord was delivered up to be crucified, and lay dying on the Cross. Tell us what joy was thine over the Resurrection. Tell us how thy soul languished after the Lord's Ascension. We long to know of thy life on earth with the Lord, but wast not minded to commit all these things to writing, and didst veil thy secret heart in silence.

Archimandrite Sophroni, Saint Silouan the Athonite, p. 390-91.

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Why The Good Thief Was Pardoned

Why The Good Thief Was Pardoned

by St. John Maximovitch

And one of the malefactors which were hanging railed on Him, saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us." But the other rebuked him, saying, "Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss." And he said unto Jesus, "Lord, remember me when Thou contest into Thy kingdom." And Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:39-13)

This is how the holy Evangelist Luke relates the edifying and moving incident concerning the conversion and the Lord’s pardoning of the thief who hung on the cross next to Him on Golgotha.

How did the thief deserve such mercy? What prompted such a quick and definitive response from the Lord? All the righteous figures of the Old Testament, including Saint John the Baptist, were still shut up in hades. The Lord Himself was preparing to descend into hades, not, of course, to suffer there, but to bring out the prisoners.

The Lord had not yet promised anyone to lead them into the Kingdom of Heaven; even the Apostles were promised to be taken into His mansions only after He had prepared them.

How is it that a thief was granted such mercy before anyone else? Why were the gates of Heaven opened so quickly for him? Let us examine the soul of the thief and the attendant circumstances.

His whole life had been one of theft and crime. But evidently his conscience had not died, and in the depths of his heart something good remained. Tradition even holds that he was that very thief who, during Christ’s flight into Egypt, took pity on the beautiful Baby and forbade his accomplices to kill Him, when they attacked the holy family. Did he perhaps recall the face of that Child when he looked upon the face of the One hanging next to him on the Cross?

Whether or not this actually occurred, when the thief looked upon Christ his conscience was awakened. There he was hanging next to the Righteous One, next to Him Who was "comely in beauty more than the sons of men" (Ps. 44:2), "Whose form at that time was ignoble, and inferior to that of the children of men.., having neither form nor comeliness" (Is. 53:2-3).

Gazing upon Him, the thief awoke as it were from a deep sleep. He saw clearly the difference between Him and himself. That One was without doubt a Righteous One, Who forgave even His tormentors and prayed for them to God, Whom He called His Father; while he was the killer of many victims, one who had shed the blood of people who had done him no harm.

Gazing upon the One hanging on the Cross, he saw as in a mirror his moral downfall. All the good concealed within him was awakened and surfaced. He came to a realization of his sins, he understood that it was his own fault that had brought him to this bitter end; he had no one to blame. Like the thief crucified on Christ’s left, he too had been gripped by hatred for the executioners, but this gave way to a feeling of humility and compunction. He felt fear at God’s coming judgment.

Sin became loathsome, dreadful. In his soul he was no longer a thief. There awakened in him feelings of love for mankind, merciful kindness. With his fear over the fate of his soul there was united a revulsion to the outrage being heaped upon the innocent Sufferer.

He had undoubtedly heard about the great Teacher and Wonderworker from Nazareth. What had occurred in Judea and in Galilee was the subject of many conversations and debates throughout the country. Previously, he had paid scant attention to any of this. Now, finding himself together with Him and in the same situation, he began to understand His moral greatness.

Christ’s lack of malice, His all-embracing forgiveness. His prayer, astonished the thief. He understood in his heart that beside him was no ordinary man. To turn to God as to One’s own father, in the hour of death, was possible only for Someone who truly knew Himself to be the Son of God. Not to waver in One’s teaching about love and unconditional forgiveness, to bear the humiliation of men’s slander and malice on the part of those to whom one has done good, was possible only for One who had the most intimate relationship with the source of Love, or Who was that Love.

The thief recalled all the remarkable things he had heard about the One now crucified with him, and a warm feeling of faith was kindled in his heart. Yes, He was without doubt the Son of God, incarnate on earth while existing in uninterrupted communion with His Father; the Son of God, Whom the earth did not receive and Who was returning to Heaven; the Son of God, Who was able and powerful to forgive men their sins! That gave hope that the thief would escape condemnation at the Dread Judgment. If Jesus prayed to His Father for His hangmen, He would not refuse to do the same for the one crucified with Him. The thief need only turn to Him, Who now shared with him the same bitter suffering, and He would receive him into His blessedness.

True, his turning to Christ with words of love and sympathy would be met with jeers on the part of the angry crowd. To acknowledge Him as a holy man and the Son of God would mean drawing upon himself the attention and anger of the Hebrew elders. Although they could not cause him greater physical agony than he already endured, it would be painful to be surrounded by malice; how much more grievous his sufferings would be when they began to revile him likewise.

But what did he care now about the anger of earthly authorities, about men’s taunts. As painful as it was to be abandoned by men at the threshold of death, it would be still more painful to be abandoned by God. He was nearing God’s judgment, and it was God alone he need fear! In the final moments of life, he had to do whatever was still in his power to gain God’s good will.

Perhaps he could say something to ease His suffering even just a little, perhaps even just one of the blasphemers would be ashamed and stop slandering Him. Christ had promised to give a reward for a cup of water offered in His name; surely He would not leave him without recompense. Let those reviling Christ revile him also! This would tighten his bond with Christ! He was going to share Christ’s lot here; Christ would surely remember him when He came into His glory!

There, amidst the clamor of slander, blasphemy and derision, he began exhorting his companion hanging to the left of Christ to stop slandering Him.

Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly: for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And then from his lips came a humble voice: "Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom" (Luke 23:40-42).

This was the cry of a former thief — now Christ’s new disciple — who came to believe in Christ at a time when His other disciples had abandoned Him.

“A thief blessed Him, while I denied Him” (Sedalion, Tone 5),

Saint Peter lamented afterwards. At that time all the other Apostles likewise doubted the Lord. Even Saint John the Theologian, who had followed inseparably after his Teacher and was standing at the Cross on Golgotha, although he continued to be faithful to his beloved Jesus, even he did not then have complete faith in the Divinity of his Teacher. It was only after the Resurrection, after entering the empty tomb where lay the napkin and grave clothes which had wrapped Christ’s dead Body, only then did he “see and believe” that Christ had truly risen and was indeed the Son of God.

The Apostles wavered in their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, because they anticipated and desired to see in Him an earthly king, in whose kingdom they could sit at the right and the left hand of the Lord.

The thief understood that the Kingdom of Jesus of Nazareth, despised and given over to a shameful death, was not of this world. And it was precisely this Kingdom that the thief now sought: the gates of earthly life were closing after him; opening before him was eternity. He had settled his accounts with life on earth, and now he thought of life eternal. And here, at the threshold of eternity, he began to understand the vanity of earthly glory and earthly kingdoms. He recognized that greatness consists in righteousness, and in the righteous, blamelessly tortured Jesus he saw the King of Righteousness. The thief did not ask Him for glory in an earthly kingdom but for the salvation of his soul.

The faith of the thief, born of his esteem for Christ’s moral greatness, proved stronger than the faith of the Apostles, who, although captivated by the loftiness of Christ’s teaching, based their faith to a still greater extent on the signs and wonders He wrought.

Now there was no miraculous deliverance of Christ from His enemies — and the Apostles’ faith was shaken.

But the patience He exhibited, His absolute forgiveness, and the faith that His Heavenly Father heard Him so clearly, indicated Jesus’ righteousness, His moral superiority, that one seeking spiritual and moral rebirth could not be shaken.

And this is precisely what the thief, aware of the depth of his fall, craved. He did not ask to sit at the right or the left hand of Christ in His Kingdom, but, conscious of his unworthiness, he asked in humility simply that he be remembered in His Kingdom, that he be given even the lowest place.

Before everyone he openly confessed the Crucified Christ as Lord, and asked of Him the mercy of forgiveness.

His humble faith in Christ made him a confessor. By his own volition he was even a martyr, for he did not fear to recognize as his Lord the rejected “King of the Jews” — on Whom was concentrated the hatred of the multitude who had gathered in Jerusalem from all corners of the world for the Passover, and who, together with their elders and priests, were blaspheming Christ. The thief would not have feared even to suffer for Him.

Thus, the earnest repentance of the thief gave birth to humility, and together with this turned out to be a solid foundation for a strength of faith which at that time not even Christ’s closest disciples possessed. The converted thief performed a spiritual feat which not one of them was then capable of doing.

"Whoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 10:32).

The thief confessed Christ; he confessed Him before a whole multitude who were railing at Him; he confessed Him then when no one else dared, and when even those few disciples and women who remained faithful to Him manifested their love for Him only with their bitter tears.

The thief did what once the three youths in Babylon did, refusing to bow down before the golden idol which Nebuchadnezzar had set up on the plain of Dura and before which “all nations, tribes and tongues” bowed down (Dan. 3:7).

The thief came to belief in the suffering Lord; confessing Him as “the hidden God,” he came to know Him before anyone else, and the power of His resurrection, and participation in His sufferings, "being made conformable unto His death" (Phil. 3:10); he understood before anyone else what constitutes the Kingdom not of this world; he came to know "what is truth" (John 18:36-38).

He was the first to comprehend the nature of Christ’s Kingdom, and therefore he was the first to enter it.

He was the first to see "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (I Cor. 2:2), the first to preach "Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God" (I Cor. 1:23-24).

For this reason he was also first to personally experience the power and wisdom of God, the power of Christ’s co-suffering and regenerating love; he was first to hear “the sound of the power of the Cross, for through it Paradise was opened.” (Fourth Ode, Ascension Canon)

His thorough repentance of his sins and transgressions, his profound humility, his firm faith in the Crucified Lord Jesus Christ Who gave Himself over to suffering, and his confession, made at a time when the whole world was against Christ — these are the strands which wove the crown that adorned the head of the former thief, this is the substance of which the key was forged that opened to him the gates of Paradise!

Many people sin, trusting to repent just before death; they point to the example of the wise thief. But is anyone capable of what he did?

“The Lord pardoned the thief at the final hour so that no one would despair. But it was a single instance, that no one should have immoderate hope in His mercy” (Blessed Augustine).

“Such was his end! What ours will be we do not know — neither do we know by what death we will die: whether it will come suddenly or with some sort of forewarning” (Saint Theodore Studite, "Lesson On the Occasion of a Monk’s Sudden Death”).

Will we then be capable of a moral transformation and rise up spiritually like Christ’s fellow traveler "who let out a small voice and gained great faith? Will a sudden death not carry us away, deceiving our hope of repentance at the last minute?” (Saint Cyril of Alexandria, “On the Dread Judgment,” printed in The Great Horologion).

For this reason, “sinner, do not postpone repentance, that your sins not accompany you into the other life and weigh you down with an intolerable burden” (Blessed Augustine, in The Sunflower of Saint John of Tobolsk, Book 4, chap. 5).

May the example of the wise thief prompt us not to postpone repentance but to crucify ourselves with Christ (Gal. 2:19) and more earnestly repent, "that we too might experience upon ourselves the mercy of co-suffering". (Prayer of Saint Symeon the New Theologian)

"They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24).

Let us be zealous for our speedy and complete inner amendment, wholly giving ourselves over to the will of God and asking of Christ mercy and grace.

“Do Thou, Who alone lovest mankind, grant us the repentance of the thief as we serve Thee with faith, O Christ our God, and cry to Thee: Remember us also in Thy kingdom” (verse on the Beatitudes, Tone 4).

“O Lord, this very day hast Thou vouchsafed the Good Thief Paradise. By the Wood of the Cross do Thou enlighten me also and save me” (Exapostilarion, Matins of Holy Friday).

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What Christ Accomplished on the Cross

by Hieromonk Damascene

The topic of today's talk—what Christ accomplished on the Cross—is of course a prime subject of contemplation during the Lenten season, as we prepare to prayerfully commemorate Christ's passion, death, and the inevitable consequence of His death: His holy Resurrection. As we call to mind and repent of our sins during the Holy Fast, we also call to mind that which has saved us from the eternal consequences of sin. We call to mind Christ's life-creating death on the Cross, which He underwent for the salvation of each one of us.

The Orthodox dogma of our redemption—which includes the doctrines concerning Christ's incarnation, death and Resurrection—is the chief dogma of our Faith, together with the dogma of the Holy Trinity. I have been especially contemplating and reading Patristic writings on this subject for a few years now. It is a vast subject. In this lecture I will try to outline its main points in a linear and chronological fashion. I will speak about the state of man before the Fall and after the Fall, and then speak about how Christ saved us from the consequences of the Fall through His incarnation, death and Resurrection. Finally, I will summarize all the present and future accomplishments of Christ's redemptive work.

Read the rest here.

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Protestants To Join Orthodoxy on Holy Saturday

Group of Protestants Will Adopt Orthodoxy on Holy Saturday

Kaliningrad, 2 April 2010, Interfax - A group of former Protestants will be baptized on the eve of Easter in St. Andrew Church of Kaliningrad, Russia.

Young men and women started visiting an Orthodox church several months ago. In the past, they had one problem - drug addiction - and they tried to get rid of it in the Transfiguration of Russia Protestant charitable organization, the Kaliningrad edition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily has reported on Thursday.

However, now the former Protestants want to adopt the Christian faith.

"In the past, people seeked for cures in sects as there were few Orthodox communities capable to effectively solving the problems of such people. However, time proved that even richest sects have got neither the experience nor authority to help them."

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90 Percent of Russians Will Celebrate Easter

Nearly 90 Percent of Russians Will Celebrate Easter, Each Third Atheist Will Bake the Easter Cake – poll

Moscow, 1 April 2010, Interfax – An overwhelming majority of Russians (87 percent) are going to celebrate Easter on April 4, the VTsIOM sociologists say.

According to a poll conducted all over Russia, the number of participants in traditional festival activities has increased for the recent five years.

For example, 71 percent of the respondents plan to cook Easter dishes (against 46 percent in 2005), while 34 percent are going to have them blessed in the church (against 14 percent). Another 42 percent of Russians are to go and see their friends or to accept guests at home.

The poll proves that majority of Orthodox Russians (95 percent) celebrates Easter and this feast is popular among followers of other Christian confessions (70 percent) and even among atheists (48 percent).

Three fourths of Orthodox faithful (77 percent), over a half of other Christian believers (55 percent) and each third atheist will bake kulich (Russian Easter cake).

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Easter on the Greek Island of Paros

Easter in Greece

Nobody does Easter better than the Greek island of Paros, where visitors are treated like family. Author Carol Mason finds herself hypnotized.

The Globe
April 1, 2010

You can believe, or not believe. But you can't fail to be immersed in the spirit of Easter in Greece.

It's the most important holiday in the Greek Orthodox calendar: a bigger to-do than Christmas. The Greeks, as we know, invented theatre – and Easter is a giant, living, breathing, immortal piece of it. From Athens, the spectacle spans to the tiniest of the 160 permanently inhabited islands, and everyone is into it. So don't go looking for a party-mate at 11 p.m. on Easter Saturday. Virtually the entire country will be in church.

The island of Paros does Easter better than anywhere else. It's the third largest in the Cyclades group, where you'll also find Mykonos and Santorini. Picture whitewashed churches with blue domes, orange blossom and bougainvillea tumbling down nearly every wall, mysteriously interlocking streets with no names that are no wider than the expanse of your outstretched arms, sugar-cube houses piled up on hillsides, or dotted sparsely on the windswept edge of a cliff. Paros's charm feels effortless.

Ordinarily, it has a population of 17,000, but this doubles around Holy Week. Tourists, most of them Greek, arrive for the festivities – especially for the re-enactment of the Passion of Christ. On Good Friday, the hillside village of Marpissa puts on a series of tableaux performed by locals, dramatizing the last days of Christ's life. Acting? Or have we biblically time-travelled? You could almost be fooled into thinking it.

There's a huge build-up to Easter, but it really gets going with the decoration of eggs on Holy Thursday. Families dye the kokkina avga the traditional red (to signify Christ's blood, with the egg representing new life) by boiling the skins of yellow onions in water and vinegar.

Locals say there are 200 or so churches on the island – many are the size of your master bedroom – and congregants keep an all-night vigil around the epitaphios, the bier that bears a replica of Christ's body. Women adorn it with fresh flowers; great pride is taken.

On Good Friday, a solemnity falls on usually convivial Greeks. Funeral bells ring out all over the island, this mourning melody carries across the swell of the blue Aegean, where brightly painted fishing boats bob alongside the real working boats that feed the island and send the fresh daily catch to the businesses in Athens. Flags fly at half-mast. Even the horn of the Blue Star ferry wails in respectful lament.

From midday on, each church has its bier lying in state. A steady stream of people comes to pay their respects. Many don't stay for the full service, yet in Paroikia, the island's capital, the Church of Our Lady of a Hundred Gates is almost impossible to leave. The strange humming of voices is hypnotic. I watch the course of impenetrable rituals from the open doors, then I sit outside on the step, eyes closed to the sunshine beating on my face, lulled by the sombre rhythm of a language and devotion that I don't understand. I may be the only person not dressed in black.

At nightfall, everyone heads to Marpissa. From afar, this amphitheatre of a white village is a-twinkle with hundreds of candles carried by the crowd that follows the epitaphios through the main streets. The pitch of their grief can't fail to move you. A choir sings; women sprinkle flowers and oregano, and burn incense. Others lean off balconies. The procession stops along the way, and at each pause, men, women and children dressed in costume perform various chapters of the Easter story in an orb of light: Christ's entry into Jerusalem, the repentance of Mary Magdalene, the Last Supper, Jesus praying on Mount Olive, the hanging of Judas and the Crucifixion. The whole thing is eerily realistic.

On Easter Saturday night, the church congregation sits in darkness holding long, unlit candles. When the clock strikes midnight, the priest lights the holy flame to symbolize the resurrection. The light from one candle is passed on until every candle is lit, then firecrackers burst into the sky. Christos Anesti. Christ is Risen! they shout. Alithos anesti. Truly, he is risen!

And from there on, it's a party. People mill about, carrying their glowing candles, winding the labyrinth streets to their homes, where the candles will be placed above the front door to burn in the shape of a cross. After the egg-cracking – a metaphor for Christ freeing himself from his tomb – everyone tucks into supper. It's traditional to start with mageiritsa, soup made with lamb organs, but it gets better after that: hiroméri, smoked salted pork; touloumisio, local cheese aged in goat skin; tsoureki, the sweet, braided, egg-washed bread; grilled vegetable dips to make you crave your five servings a day, and plenty of wine, ouzo and souma (a particularly head-blowing brew of pure alcohol made from distilled grape skins). The feast goes on all night.

Sunday brings more eating: The Marpissa football grounds is home to a Festival of Love, all laid on courtesy of the municipality. It's a merry occasion, with traditional music and dancing while a whole lamb revolves over a charcoal fire. Relish this with salads, seafood specialties, wine, ouzo and more ouzo. Everyone is invited. If you're on Paros at Easter, someone somewhere is going to make you forget that you are a tourist.


Then, on Monday, everything returns to normal. You're done with Easter, and eating, but you may never be done with Paros.

The gleam of morning sunshine is almost painful on the eyes, and seems to endlessly reflect off the white houses and mellow sea. And while, in April, the sea might not be at its warmest, if you stroke through the ribbons of sapphire and emerald, you’ll experience that ebullient illusion of being the only person swimming in the Aegean. As the Greek composer Giannis Markopoulos said, “In the Cyclades you are never a stranger. Immediately the earth, human, sea, its sky and houses make a dialogue with you.”

And this is true. From the minute the tiny Olympic Airways flight circled the island to land, Paros spoke to me, and kept on saying all the right things. On my first venture into town, an elderly man gave me a rose. Someone else tried to offload a kitten (cats run amok on Paros because the Greeks don’t spay and neuter; some people own about 20). The clothing boutique owner couldn’t bear to see me in flip-flops – 26 C being winter for a Greek – so she gave me a free pair of brand-new imported Italian shoes. When I protested that I couldn’t possibly accept her offer, she charged me a token two euros. Then, ironically, I did catch a cold, and the local café owner fed me a bottomless cup of hot souma with honey, and someone else bought me socks. As a tourist, I was hardly a rarity. But Parians take an interest in you. Of the Northern Europeans I met in the month I was there, it was easy to see why they had been coming back for 20-plus years.

Thankfully absent are the rows of accommodations that pockmark the shoreline of so many of the bigger islands popular with budget-conscious travellers. On Paros, you don’t feel like you’ve been segregated to your designated zone by locals who don’t want to see you in your drunken glory or your Union Jack shorts. There is a sense of the undiscovered here, especially in low season. You can spend days exploring diminutive churches, rarely seeing anyone who isn’t Greek. Or hike the Byzantine Way down to the sea from Lefkes, the island’s highest village with one of the most breath-catching 360-degree views I’ve seen in all of Europe. Or check out the sound of silence in the Marathi marble quarries – the stuff used by ancient sculptors to make, among other things, the Venus de Milo. Then there is always the neighbouring island of Antiparos, which I had almost circumnavigated before I spotted a single other car on the road.

I’d like to own a house here. Or come back every year, for Easter, or for any other excuse. To sit one more time in the fishing village of Naoussa, in an open-air taverna at the water’s edge, and eat sun-dried mackerel, charred on the grill, while half a dozen kittens chase after the front-runner who has the whole sardine in its mouth. To dip coarse-textured golden bread into yellow fava beans that glisten in the sun with pools of green olive oil. To sip a glass of insanely affordable Moraitis reserve red from the local vineyard.

Happy Easter? How can it not be?

Bestselling writer Carol Mason is the author of The Love Market.

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The Miraculous Opening of Graves After the Crucifixion

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised" (Matthew 27:52).

O, what a great sign! The dead bodies of holy men and women recognized Him, Who, on the cross, died in pain; but the dead souls of the elders of the Jews did not recognize Him. The whole of creation trembled, but only the criminal souls of Anna, Caiphas and Herod did not tremble. Dead saints showed themselves more sensitive than living sinners. How could the dead saints remain indifferent toward their Creator on the cross when not even the dead stones could not remain indifferent? How is it that during this event from which the earth quaked and the sun darkened, the bodies of those righteous could sleep in the graves, those who fulfilled His Dispensation of Old, those who hoped in Him for life, those who prophesied about Him and, with hope in Him, closed their eyes?

O, what a great sign! O, what a great comfort it is for us who hope in the resurrection! For according to our weakness and little faith, we could say, "Truly, Christ is Risen." But will we also be resurrected? Christ resurrected by His Own power but, how shall we resurrect? Who knows if God will resurrect us by His own Power. Here is consolation, here is proof: "Tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised." This means that death was unable to annihilate even ordinary man. This means that those who are much lower than Christ are not dead as stones, rather are alive as angels. This means that one day even our bodies will arise from the tombs, that we will live also. All that our Lord said is substantiated and overflowing with countless testimonies. Knowing the weakness of our faith, He proved the prophecy of His resurrection not only by His particular resurrection, but also by His raising many bodies from the tombs at the time of His own death.

O brethren, not one of us will have the least excuse for not believing in life after death.

O Lord, All-Merciful, strengthen the faithful in the Faith and return the unfaithful to the Faith. Amen.

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The King Who Does Not Defend Himself

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

“Do you think that I cannot call upon My Father and He will not provide Me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels” (Matthew 26:53).

Thus spoke the Lord to the disciple who drew the sword to defend his Teacher in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is obvious from these words that the Lord could have defended Himself, if He wanted to, not only from Judas and his company of guards, but also from Pilate and the leaders of the Jews. For the might of one angel is greater than the greatest army of men, much less the might of twelve legions of angels.

The Lord did not want to seek this help from the Father. In His prayer in Gethsemane, He said to His Father, “Let Your will be done” (Matthew 26:42). With that, He immediately knew the Will of the Father and that it was necessary that He be given over to suffering. He was in agreement with the Will of His Father and set out on the path of suffering. It was necessary to allow the background to be portrayed gloomier in order that the resurrection would be brighter. It was necessary to allow evil to compete as much as it could so that, afterwards, it would explode and disintegrate into nothing. It was necessary to allow evil to cry aloud so that, soon after, it would become speechless before the miraculous resurrection. It was necessary that all the wicked deeds of men against God be manifested so that they would be able to see and appraise the love and mercy of God toward mankind. The angels of God were not sent to defend Christ from the Jews; rather, the angels of God were sent, after three days, to announce the holy resurrection of Christ.

O Lord, All-Powerful and All-Merciful, have mercy on us and save us.

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Epithets for the Passion of Christ

Holy Week allows us to contemplate the Passion of Christ. In the Orthros for Holy Monday, we hear the following First Kathisma:

"On the day at hand, like a lifesaving beacon, the honorable Passion breaks on the world. For Christ in His goodness presses on to His sufferings. Though He holds all creation in the hallow of His hand, yet He deigns to be suspended on the Cross to save mankind."

And the Third Kathisma reads:

"Today shines as the first-fruits of the Passion of the Lord. Come, then, all who love the feast and join together in hymns. For the Creator comes to accept the Cross, the afflictions, the beatings, and the judgment by Pilate. A servant strikes Him on the head, but He endures all things that He may save mankind. Therefore, let us cry out to Him: 'Grant remission of sins to those who venerate Your pure Passion.'"

The Sacred Hymnographers of the Church give various epithets* to describe the Passion of Christ throughout the many hymns of Holy Week.

They call it "Honorable Passion" (σεπτά πάθη - septa pathi) because the Passion of the Lord invites honor and veneration. Only hardened impious hearts are unmoved by the Passion of Christ.

They call it "Pure Passion" (άχραντα πάθη - ahranta pathi) because the body of Christ, which endured much suffering and torment, is pure and without the corruption and disease of sin. The pure and innocent body of Jesus undergoes the Passion.

They call it "Fearful Passion" (φρικτά πάθη - frikta pathi) because the Passion of Christ consisted of the most painful torture imaginable, both bodily and mentally. Knowing what He was about to endure beforehand at the hands of His own creation, voluntarily, no one can even imagine what suffering the Lord went through during the first Holy Week.

They call it "Holy Passion" (άγια πάθη - hagia pathi) because Jesus was truly the only holy person to ever suffer, as His holiness comes from Himself. "One is holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ..." we sing at every Divine Liturgy.

They call it "Saving Passion" (σωτήρια πάθη - sotiria pathi). This particular epithet mainly applies to us and what the Passion of Christ brought us. In this sense, it also shows the ultimate purpose for why Jesus endured His Passion, which is to save mankind. Both the Passion and the Cross of Christ are the source by which the waters of salvation flow to all people through the blood of Christ, which is the medicine of our immortality through Holy Communion.

They call it "Life-Creating Passion" (ζωοποιά πάθη - zoopia pathi). This epithet foresees the goal of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ and looks forward to the Resurrection. The Resurrection cannot take place unless the Lord endures the Crucifixion first. He died that we may live. By His death was death trampled. And for us, paradise which was once lost to us has now become paradise restored through His Passion.

The Passion of Christ is our freedom.

It was because of our sinful passions that Christ had to endure His Passion for our healing and salvation. Our passions and sins crucified the Lord of Glory. We were slaves to our passions because of the fear of death and because of him who held the power of death, the devil. Christ has trampled down death by His Passion and given us a new life where we are no longer slaves to our passions and desires, but free men and women by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He has become our Redeemer.

Why then are we still so often enslaved by our passions? Because we are sick, and the sick always suffer. This is why Christ has given the means through the Church to cure us of our passions and sins, though it is ultimately up to us if we want to take the medicine prescribed for the cure. Often we are too stubborn to take our medicine given to us by the doctor (a.k.a. spiritual father), let alone from the Physician of our souls and bodies (Jesus Christ). This is a hard saying, but it is true. And though the medicine is always within our reach, we fail to take the medicine which provides the inevitable cure.

The medicine of immortality is to organically live within the life of the Church so as to receive that which heals us in a worthy manner (though we are always unworthy) - the Body and Blood of Christ.

The Passion of the Lord is upon us and the Lord calls us all to submit to Him our passions in exchange for His forgiveness and the remission of our sins. In doing so, our purification will lead to our glorification.

* For those who do not know Greek, it should be noted that these epithets often are not translated correctly in English service books for Holy Week. Usually the translation is made to say merely "Holy Passion", ignoring the rich terminology above. This is unfortunate.

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The Two Evil Deeds of Israel Against Jesus

The following hymn from Holy Thursday evening has Jesus speaking to the people of Israel about their two evil deeds:

Israel, My first-born son, committed two evil deeds: He forsook Me, the source of the living water, and hewed out for himself a broken well; and he crucified Me on the Wood after asking for the release of Barabbas. The heavens were aghast at this, and the sun hid its rays. But you, O Israel, were not ashamed and delivered Me to death. Forgive them, O Holy Father, for they know not what they have done.

Δύο καὶ πονηρὰ ἐποίησεν, ὁ πρωτότοκος υἱός μου Ἰσραήλ, ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπε, πηγὴν ὕδατος ζωῆς, καὶ ὤρυξεν ἑαυτῶ φρέαρ συντετριμμένον, ἐμὲ ἐπὶ ξύλου ἐσταύρωσε, τὸν δὲ Βαραββᾶν ἠτήσατο, καὶ ἀπέλυσεν, ἐξέστη ὁ οὐρανὸς ἐπὶ τούτω, καὶ ὁ ἥλιος τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἀπέκρυψε, σὺ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐνετράπης, ἀλλὰ θανάτω μὲ παρέδωκας. Ἄφες αὐτοῖς Πάτερ ἅγιε, οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τὶ ἐποίησαν.

- Holy Thursday (Praises)


Chanted by Nektaria Karantzi

Chanted by Demetris Magouris

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"Like A Lamb Lead To The Slaughter"

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Like a lamb lead to the slaughter" (Isaiah 53:7).

Throughout the many centuries of time the discerning Prophet Isaiah foresaw the awesome sacrifice on Golgotha. From afar he saw the Lord Jesus Christ led to the slaughter as a lamb is lead to the slaughter. A lamb permits itself to be led to the laughter as it is led to the pasture: defenseless, without fear and without malice. Thus, Our Lord Christ was led to the slaughter without defense, without fear and without malice. Neither does He say: "Men, do not do this!" Neither does He question: "Why are you doing this to Me?" Neither does He condemn anyone. Neither does He protest. Neither does He become angry. Neither does He think evilly of His judges. When blood poured out over Him from the thorny wreath, He was silent. When His face was soiled from being spat upon, He was silent. When His Cross became heavy along the way, He endured. When His pain became unbearable on the Cross, He did not complain to men but to the Father. When He breathed His last, He directed His gaze and sigh toward heaven and not toward earth. For the source of His strength is heaven and not earth. The source of His consolation is in God and not in men. His true homeland is the Heavenly Kingdom and not the earthly kingdom.

"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). This was the first cry of St. John the Baptist when he saw the Lord. And, behold, now on Golgotha that prophecy was fulfilled. Behold, under the weight of the sins of the entire world, the Lamb of God lay slaughtered and lifeless.

O brethren, this is a costly sacrifice even for our sins. The blood of this sinless and meek Lamb was destined for all times and all generations, from the first to the last person on earth. Christ also felt the pains on the Cross for our sins even those of the present day. He also wept in the Garden of Gethsemane for our wickedness, our weakness and our sinfulness. He also destined His blood for us. Brethren let us not then despise this indescribable costly price by which we have been redeemed. Because of these sacrifices of Christ we, indeed, have some worth as people. Without these sacrifices, or if we disavow these sacrifices, our worth, by itself alone, is equal to nothing. It is equal to smoke without a flame or a cloud without light.

O Lord, unequaled in mercy, have mercy on us also!

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The Lord Responds To His Mockers

Below is one of the most powerful, beautiful and moving hymns chanted in the evening of Holy Thursday in both Greek (chanted by Protopsaltis Photios Ketsetzis) and English (chanted by Vassilis Hadjinicolaou). It is sung in Plagal of the Second Mode, which is known as the Mode of Joyful Sorrow.


Εξέδυσάν με τα ιματιά μου
και ενέδυσάν με χλαμύδαν κοκκίνην·
έθηκαν επί την κεφαλήν μου στέφανον εξ΄ ακανθών
και επί την δεξιάν μου χείραν έδωκαν κάλαμον,
ίνα συντρίψω αυτούς ως σκεύη κεραμέως.


They have stripped Me of My garments
and clothed Me in a scarlet robe.
They have set upon My head
a crown of thorns
And have given Me
a reed in My right hand,
That I might dash them in pieces
like a potter’s vessel.

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On Holy Week: Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Let us now strive more, my children, and the benefits will be great. No one finds Grace without toil. If the farmer does not farm his field, he will not see the results. When our fasting coexists, is strengthened and is encompassed with prayer, with contemplation, with watchfulness, with church attendance, with Confession, with Holy Communion, with good works and charity giving, then is fulfilled the beauty of the souls preparation for the reception of Holy Week. Then we will feel the Holy and Honorable Passion of Christ more profoundly, because our hearts will soften, and they will alter and recognize how boundless the love of God is for man. Then the Holy Resurrection will be alive within us with great strength, we will feast in a divinely-fitting manner and celebrate together with the angels the Holy Pascha. Amen.

Listen to Holy Week and Pascha sermons in Greek by Elder Ephraim here.


Source. Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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