Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

Well, it has been a long and hard Fast, not that I fast particularly well, or that I am very spiritual at all, but finally we have come to

PASCHA, the blessed Feast of feast and Holy Day of Holy Days.

[By the way, Pascha is simply the transliteration of the Greek word for Passover, and is the traditional name for the Day of Resurrection.]

We spent the weekend up in St. Louis at some of our parish's Holy Week/Paschal services. This was our first Pascha as Orthodox Christians, and my first Pascha singing in the choir. I have to tell you, this morning when I woke up, way too early, my throat felt like I would never speak/sing again.

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

Pascha/Easter has always been my favorite holiday, and we're entering into the ancient traditions of the Church, it is becoming even more important to me. So, since Pascha is too important to sully with my own vain thoughts and evil imaginations I will post some thoughts from the Church's wisdom and her saints:

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

The Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople

[which is read in place of the homily during the Paschal Matins]

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefor. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.
And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

The Paschal Sermon of Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Saint Paul in one of his Epistles says that if Christ is not risen we are the most miserable of all men... And, indeed, if he was not risen we would be, because then all our faith, all that we call our spiritual experience, all the life we build on it would have been nothing but a delusion or a lie, a hallucination. But we are the most happy of all men because Christ is risen. This not only hundreds and thousands, but millions know from a direct, personal experience. Many could say: God exists because I have met him, Christ is risen because I have met the risen Christ. And not only in spirit but also in the flesh; because we have the witness of the Apostles, simple men who had run away from Calvary, knowing - as they thought - that Christ was defeated when he was taken down from the Cross and buried, knowing that everything they hoped for had come to an end. And yet, they are the witnesses of the Resurrection, unprepared, hesitant, and then exulting in the joy of the truth which was revealed to them; exulting because the women came in the morning to anoint Christ, and they saw that his body was no longer there. John and Peter came after them, and the tomb was empty. And when they came to the other disciples, asking themselves questions, doubting, hesitating - Christ came to them, and he himself said to them: Fear not! I am not a ghost, I am not a disincarnate vision; a ghost has no flesh and no bones as you can see that I have! And he ate with them, he spoke to them, they touched him! And indeed, St John says in his Epistle that what the Apostles proclaim is what their eyes have seen, their ears heard, their hands touched, and that they are speaking the truth. Yes, Christ is risen, risen not as a ghost, not as a spiritual presence but as a living God with his body, the body of the Incarnation. And indeed, if we truly believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was God himself become man for the salvation of the world, then, what is beyond our imagination is that he, who is life itself, could die; and the thing which is obvious and simple is that Life Eternal should break the fetters of death, conquer death, and that he should rise, in the body, in the flesh, as a promise to us; because uniting himself to human flesh he has shown us that man is so vast and so deep that he can be at one with God, united with God; that, indeed, a human being is complete only if he is in oneness with God, when he is a partaker of the divine nature, to use the words of St Peter's Epistle. The Resurrection is a revelation of the mercy of God, of the power of God, of the love of God... but also of the greatness of man. Death has no fear for us; it has become a gate into eternity, and we know that the day will come when the voice of him who has brought into being all things, the voice of him who is our Saviour will resound, and we will all stand before God, clothed with eternity, but in a flesh that has become part of this eternity. Let us believe the word of God, let us conquer our doubts and hesitations by listening to God himself speaking to us, and let us respond to the word of God and to the event of the Resurrection with faith and gratitude!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

[source: http://www.metropolit-anthony.orc.ru/eng/eng_17.htm]

And, finally, the paschal Hymn to the Theotokos
The angel cried to the Lady Full of Grace: Rejoice, O Pure Virgin!
Again I say: Rejoice! Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
With Himself He has raised all the dead! Rejoice, all you people!
Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem!
The Glory of the Lord has shone on you!
Exalt now and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of your Son!

Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!