April
6, 2010
Paschal
Epistle of His Grace Jerome, Bishop of Manhattan
CHRIST IS RISEN!
“Now
all is filled with light, heaven and earth, and the nether regions;
let all creation celebrate the Resurrection of Christ, in which it is
made firm.”
All
the world around us is shrouded in darkness, and those not of our
faith are asleep; but in our church, there is brightness and
rejoicing.
From
church, we take light with us (lighted candles representing that
inner, spiritual glow of joy of the Resurrection), as well as a
blessing, in the form of blest foods for the Easter table at home.
All
this is Christian symbolism. What is important for us is to possess
the light of the spirit, to light our lamp that shall not go out, and
to be nourished by the eternal food of the feast of Christ the King.
We
must prepare a place for that Easter lamp, and we must set our table
for a meal of joy.
That
means making ourselves spiritually ready, by taking part in the Lenten
preparatory days before Holy Pascha, and then continuing that joy in
the bright and resplendent days that follow.
Our
lamp is lit at the moving Liturgy of Holy Saturday morning, when the
church is revested from black to white. This year, in our cathedral we
will hold the first blessing of Easter baskets at the end of the Holy
Saturday Liturgy, so that churchgoers can bring home from this
service, as it were, a deposit or promise of the coming joy and
gladness, at the threshold of the feast.
And
in place of a decorated egg, each of us can offer what we are able,
towards the church, in this way also lighting our lamp.
+JEROME
Bishop of Manhattan
Pascha
of the Lord, 2010
Manhattan
2010
Media Office of the Eastern
American Diocese
