† NICOLAE
by the mercies of God
Archbishop of the Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese of the United States of America and
Metropolitan of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas
To the beloved clergy and Orthodox Christians of our holy Archdiocese,
peace and holy joy from Christ the Risen Lord,
and from us hierarchical blessings.
Let us purify our senses and we shall see Christ,
shining in the unapproachable light of His Resurrection! (Paschal Canon, Ode 1)
Most Reverend Fathers, Beloved Faithful,
Christ is risen!
After the journey of Great Lent, God has granted us once again to proclaim to one another the great joy of the Savior’s Resurrection and to partake in the Light that radiated from the empty tomb. We went through Lent in sorrow for our sins and weaknesses, we asked to be freed from the spirit of slothfulness, faintheartedness, lust of power, and idle talk and we asked instead for the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love (Prayer of St. Ephraim). Grief over our sins is now conquered by the news of the Resurrection, for Christ descended from on high to free us from the bondage of sin and He is now our Life and Resurrection (Resurrection Troparion, 8th Tone).
The Paschal Vigil reveals the fulfillment of the journey through Lent as a prefiguring of our journey through this earthly life toward the eternal Kingdom of the Risen Christ. For our co-suffering with Christ is proclaimed to us first: “Yesterday I was buried with You, O Christ; today I arise with You in Your Resurrection. Yesterday I was crucified with You: glorify me with You, O Savior, in Your Kingdom!” (Paschal Canon, Ode 3). The meaning of these six weeks of Lent, culminating in Passion Week, is precisely this co-suffering with Christ who took on our weaknesses in order to heal them. During Lent we prepare together with the catechumens for baptism so that we may proclaim together with them on the night of Holy Pascha the illumination of all those who have been buried together with Christ in the water of baptism, in order to be raised together with Christ to the new life “justified, enlightened, sanctified, washed” (the Baptism service). Through Baptism we are partakers in the renewal of the entire creation brought about by Christ through the Resurrection, as St. Paul the Apostle witnesses: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 6:17).
The renewing power of Christ’s Resurrection is then revealed in the songs of Matins about the descent of His soul into hell: “O Christ, when You went down into the deepest abyss of the earth, You broke the indestructible chains that kept the souls prisoners in Hades” (Paschal Canon, Ode 6). Christ conquered hell in His human soul that is united with His divinity, Fr. Staniloae informs us. For a moment hell had received another soul, but this one was filled with the eternal power of divinity and thus hell found itself conquered: “It seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible... O Hades, where is your victory? Christ is risen and you are abolished,” says St. John Chrysostom in his Paschal Homily.
The renewal of creation, the liberation of those held captive by hell, the victory of life over death through Christ’s Resurrection are motives for universal joy: “Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice. Let the whole world, visible and invisible, keep the feast, for Christ is risen, our eternal joy!” (Paschal Canon, Ode 1). And this joy is accompanied by the light of the Resurrection which conquered the darkness of hell and restored the entire creation to the light of the glory of God: “Now all is filled with light: Heaven and earth and the lower regions” (Paschal Canon, Ode 3). We who have fasted and sorrowed over our sins are now illumined and we rejoice with the entire creation in our rebirth and renewal, in the chance to live together with the Risen Christ in His Kingdom. We begin this life in the Church through baptism; we continue it through the Holy Mysteries wherein we receive “a new drink, not miraculously produced from a barren rock, but from the Fount of immortality springing forth from the tomb of Christ” (Paschal Canon, Ode 3). And this journey is fulfilled in the unwaning day of the eternal Kingdom, as we confess at the Divine Liturgy after receiving Holy Communion.
Most Reverend Fathers, Beloved Faithful,
It is fitting that our journey through this world should be illumined by the joy of the Resurrection. This joy is proclaimed to us not only on the night of Holy Pascha, but every Sunday, which is precisely the Day of Resurrection. Sunday is the first day of the week, it is the day of our re-creation in the Risen Christ, but Sunday is also the 8th day, the day we rejoice in the joy and light of the Kingdom of God. Thus our time spent on earth is marked by the Day of Resurrection as a preparation and a fulfillment: preparation for eternity and fulfillment through participation in the Divine Liturgy on the Day of Resurrection in the Church.
Our life bears the sign of the Resurrection, therefore it is fitting that we be bearers of this sign in the world. The Christian who fasts and keeps the traditions of the Church should be the one who brings into the world joy and light through his luminous countenance, through forgiveness of his neighbor, through good words and deeds shown to those who are weak. St. Seraphim of Sarov gave the following greeting all year long: “My joy in the Lord, Christ is risen!” This shows that he had received not only the gift of the light and joy of the Resurrection in his life, but also the gift of discovering these in the countenance of his fellow man. The joy of the Resurrection can be shared; the joy of the proclamation of the victory of life over sickness, sin, and death can be the gift of the Christian to the world in which we live, a world ever more estranged from God, disoriented, and bereft of hope.
On this glorious feast it is my desire that all of you, priests and faithful of our Archdiocese, will have a part in the joy and light of the Resurrection. May you meet the Risen Christ in the Church, may you allow the light of the Resurrection to shine in your lives, may you be those who offer the joy of the Resurrection to your neighbor. This proclamation must begin with those close to us, the members of our family, our friends and acquaintances, in order to reach those estranged from God and the Church. We Christians who are “justified and enlightened” can be the means of sharing the light that will drive away the darkness of the lack of the knowledge of God.
I embrace you in Christ the Risen Lord and I wish you Happy Feast Days with health, peace, and joy in your families and parishes!
Your brother in prayer to God,
† Metropolitan NICOLAE
Chicago, The Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection, 2018
