April 13, 2012
Paschal Epistle of His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern
America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church
Abroad
CHRIST IS RISEN!
The
feast of feasts and triumph of triumphs has arrived for us, brother
archpastors, right honorable fathers, brethren and sisters beloved
in the Lord! Let us all greet the resurrection of Christ and not
hide our feelings: "Let us be
divinely glad, for Christ hath risen as One omnipotent."
O wondrous and blessed night! O night so full of joy for every
Christian! The risen Christ "changed the lamentation of the
myrrh-bearing women into joy" on this night. And He does the same
for us! This night of splendor proclaims to us His arising. And now
this "prophetic night" renews us to the depths of our soul. And it
gives us the certain hope that our departed ones, and we ourselves,
will arise on the last day of the world to
"celebrate the eternal Pascha
in the unwaning day of the kingdom of Christ."
The Resurrection of Christ is the central point of the doctrine of
the Orthodox Church. The entire essence of the teaching of Christ is
bound up with the resurrection, and without this fact it loses its
meaning. It is therefore not surprising that it is precisely in this
question that we encounter the most powerful of stumbling blocks. We
see the beginning of such opposition even in antiquity, when, for
example, the Apostle Paul’s speech about the resurrection in the
learned Areopagus of Athens was greeted with considerable irony.
When he spoke about God and His attributes, about the creation,
about salvation from sin, the Athenians listened to Paul. But as
soon as he spoke of the resurrection, they interrupted him, saying:
"We will hear thee again of this matter" (Acts 17: 32).
For this reason let us strongly believe, with all our heart, in the
resurrection, and let us immerse ourselves in the dogma of the
Church, that we may "be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you" (1 Pet. 3:15).
Let us strive to instill this truth in our own life and thus inspire
others to serve God and man. In our parishes and monasteries let us
see genuine followers of the risen Christ, who shine with His beauty
and radiance, His triumph over evil. Let our clergymen and
monastics, parishioners and pilgrims, become a living and convincing
proclamation of Christianity, that the people may be confirmed in
the Faith. Only this will help our neighbor to see, feel and
understand that the resurrection of Christ is the beginning of our
common resurrection, that it is the passage to that region where
there is no grief or sighing, where the ideal of the fullest human
life is the day that never sets, the joy that never ends.
I prayerfully desire that all be renewed by joy in the resurrection
of the Lord and made steadfast in firm faith, hope and love for God
and neighbor!
May the noteworthy dates celebrated this year also restore our
strength: the fifth anniversary of the restoration of unity within
the Russian Orthodox Church, and the 200th anniversary of the
victory of Russia over Napoleon and of the blessed repose of
Metropolitan Platon (Levshin), that great hierarch of the Church of
Russia, who did so much to bring about the rebirth of spiritual
enlightenment in our homeland.
The celebration this year of the fifth anniversary of the signing of
the Act of Canonical Communion should prompt us to analyze the path
we have taken and to set forth plans for the strengthening of
brotherly ties, good cooperation, joint action and unity, continuing
to build up the Church’s service to God and man on the foundation of
our common heritage of Holy Russia. This celebration should remind
us that we must carefully address ourselves to unity on all levels
of our life and activity, refraining from introducing our own
passions into the life of the Church, striving in word and deed to
establish among us "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"
(Eph. 4:3). May this celebration inspire us to an active, irenical
labor within the Church, both with those with whom we are in
fellowship, and those with whom we wait and hope for the joy of
fellowship and unity!
Pondering the 200th anniversary of the victory in the
Patriotic War, the fact springs to mind unbidden that in 1812,
before the battle of Borodino, a miracle-working copy of the
Kursk-Root Icon was sent to General-Field Marshal Michael
Ilarionovich Kutuzov, who was with the army in the field. This
connection with the principal holy object of the Russian Diaspora
obliges us to mark this event with prayer and to take an interest
once again in our own rich history. The invasion of Napoleon
profoundly shook the pillar of the Church of Russia of that period,
namely, Metropolitan Platon of Moscow and Kolomna, that "second
Chrysostom" and "apostle of Moscow," great pedagogue, homilist and
writer, who educated a whole series of talented clergymen, among
them the holy hierarch Philaret (Drozdov). May the life, labors and
writings of Platon help us to meditate on this unique personality,
to delve into the doctrine of the Orthodox Church, and to delight in
the "banquet of faith" and the "richness of the goodness of the
Lord" (the Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom), mindful that the
resurrection of Christ is our life and our eternal joy!
With paschal joy in the Resurrected Christ,
+ HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad
Pascha of our Lord 2012
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