Christ is Risen!
Happy Resurrection of Christ!
Today the Christian world celebrates the resurrection of God's son Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Resurrection of Christ, Passover or Easter - this is the biggest and most solemn holiday that our church celebrates, because it blesses Christ's victory over death, redemption from sin and eternal salvation.
Happy Easter! Let's be healthy, happy and successful!
Praise for Passover
St. John Chrysostom
Whoever is pious, who truly honors God and loves Him sincerely, let him enjoy this beautiful and bright celebration of the glorious resurrection of Christ, which we now celebrate and in which the Lord so wonderfully showed and His kindness to the human race, and His wisdom in redeeming it from eternal destruction, and His power over the enemies of our salvation!
He who is a prudent servant and does not hide his God-given talents in the ground, let him enter joyfully into the joy of his Lord!
Let him who labored by fasting receive now his denarius! [Matt.10:10, 20:1-8].
Let him who has worked since the first hour receive his fair wages today!
Whoever manages to come after the sixth hour, let him not worry in the least, for he loses nothing!
Whoever missed the ninth hour, let him approach without any doubt or fear!
If someone managed to come only at the eleventh hour, let him not be afraid of his lateness, because the Lord of the House is magnanimous and generous - he accepts the last as the first, calms the one who came at the eleventh hour as he does the one who has worked since the first hour: he satisfies the first with a well-deserved reward, the last he pampers with indulgence; to one he gives what is deserved, to the other he bestows according to his goodness; good deeds he receives with joy, intention kisses with love; deeds he values and good dispositions he praises!
Therefore enter all of you into the joy of your Lord! First and last, accept your prize!
Rich and poor, rejoice together!
Industrious and lazy, honor this day of universal celebration!
Fasting and non-fasting, rejoice now! The table is rich: fill yourselves all with it! For the prodigal sons, the heavenly Father has slaughtered a fatted Calf: let no one go hungry! All of you enjoy this feast of faith, all of you benefit from the wealth of goodness!
Let no one lament his poverty, because the kingdom of heaven is open to all!
Let no one weep for his sins, because forgiveness dawns from the grave of the Savior!
Let no one be afraid of death, because the Savior's death freed us from it!
The death-possessed Giver of Life destroyed death. He who descended into hell captivated hell, which was bitter when it tasted His flesh. Foretelling this centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "Hell was bitter when it met You in its netherworld!"
Be bitter because he is powerless!
Be bitter because he will be ashamed!
He was bitter because he was put to death!
He was bitter because he was failed!
Be bitter because he is chained!
He took flesh, and in it he encountered God; he received earth, and in it he found heaven; accepted what he saw, but came across what he did not see!
"Where is your sting, death? Where is the victory?" [Os. 13:14, Cor. 15:55]
Christ is risen and you are cast down!
Christ is risen and the demons have fallen!
Christ is risen and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen and life is renewed!
Christ is risen, and not a single dead person is in the grave, because Christ, who rose from the dead, "became the beginning for the dead" (1 Cor. 15:20).
He was the first to rise as the Head, and after Him in due time all of us, His members, will rise again! To him be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen!