May 3, 2013
Paschal Epistle of His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern
America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad
Your Eminences, fellow hierarchs, God-loving monks and nuns, priests
and deacons, beloved in the Lord brothers and sisters!
CHRIST IS RISEN!
A
wondrous energy lies hidden in these words and penetrates the whole
soul: CHRIST IS RISEN!
How joyous are these words for the soul of a Christian! Can more
festive words than these be found in the entire human language?
These joyous words were first uttered by the Angel to the
Myrrhbearers who had come to the life-bearing Tomb. With our mind’s
eye we see Christ Resurrected and hear His sweetest words to the
Myrrhbearers: REJOICE! (Matthew 23:9), and hear how the Resurrected
Lover of Mankind directs the same joyful greeting to us: Rejoice!
With Paschal jubilation I greet all of you with this radiant
world-saving triumph of Christ's Resurrection! Rejoice, and again I
say, rejoice! May each one of you, partaking of the joy today of
Christ’s Church, overcome the sorrows and crosses you bear in life;
overcome the despondency due to personal sinfulness, and the
temptations and scandals which surround us, that with a breath of
festive compunction we and those around us might partake of the
multifaceted mercies and blessings of this all-good and radiant
celebration!. For the Feast of Pascha is not just another ordinary
festival or proclamation of resurrection; it is not a mere promise
of life eternal for people; rather, it is the triumph and victory
over all grief and anguish, over all sorrow and sadness of this
earthly life.
May this Paschal joy, this triumph of life reign throughout our
Russian Church Abroad, in each parish, in each monastery, in each
family, so that "the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"
(Ephesians 4:3), spoken of by the Apostle, may be visible within our
church life. And may whatever transpires among us be peaceful,
amicable, cordial, and according to the precepts of the Church!
As St. John of Kronstadt expresses in his writings: "May
our joy of the Resurrection be rational, deep, holy, and dynamic.
May it move us to greater love of the Resurrected One, to a life of
holiness and mutual love." Amen.
With Paschal joy in the Resurrected Christ and asking your prayers,
+HILARION
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York
First Hierarch of the
Russian Church Abroad.
Pascha 2013
Official website of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of
Russia
www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws
