St. Onuphry (Gagalyuk) of Kursk
Yes, the present earthly life is a foretaste of eternal life. Here begins and develops that disposition with which we’ll live eternally.
Hieromartyr Thaddeus (Uspensky)
Despite the dangers from their enemies who mocked and crucified their Master, they hastened to Christ’s Tomb early in the morning; they remained faithful to the One Who had died.
In Orthodox tradition Friday of Bright Week is not simply a Paschal day, but a day when Paschal joy is joined to the remembrance of the Mother of God as the Life-Giving Spring.
Archpriest Viacheslav Reznikov
Man is born of water and the Spirit unto life eternal. A son of fleshly parents is adopted to the Heavenly Father, Who is Spirit.
If it seems to us that today our life has turned into a “formless mush,” let’s know, that this is not chaos; this is the moment in which our wings are being put together.
Irina Krikheli
With his wise advice, gift of foresight, and ability to comfort everyone, he earned the fame of a “Biblical Patriarch” among our people.
The Resurrection of Christ is a triumph of the victory of life over death, light over darkness, and good over evil.
“The word of the angel: ‘Go and proclaim to the world,’ means that we must live in such a way that our life would be a single message: ‘Christ is Risen!’ And so that in looking at you, all people might be able to say: ‘Indeed He is Risen’ because He clearly lives in His followers.”
Fr. Lawrence Farley
That is good news indeed for weary modern man. Life is not one long goodbye but offers an encounter with the Lord.
May we all not grow weary of kindling within ourselves the gracious gift of the Christian calling, deepening our prayers and bringing to the feet of Christ the Life-Giver our gifts: unashamed faith, sincere love, and unwavering hope, and He will not abandon us!
By the power of Christ’s Pascha, our entire life becomes a continuous opportunity to renew ourselves, to start again.
St. Innocent of Kherson
His battle is our battle, and His victory is our victory: What happened to Him will happen to all of us, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together! (Rom. 8:17).
Christ’s Passover is the inexhaustible fount of our great joy, a joy which flows from the love of God for humankind, transcending all understanding. Through it, all good things, visible and invisible, have been revealed to us.
Priest Tarasiy Borozenets
Even knowledge of Divine truths can blind you, if it becomes a heavy and lifeless load of the intellect, an object of pride, and not the life of the heart. It creates an illusion of “possessing God”, blocking the way to the True Living God.
This miraculous sign, therefore, served as an expression of the power and majesty of the death of Jesus Christ.
Without the Lord and His grace, even Paradise is not Paradise, but with the Lord and His grace, even hell is not hell.
On Great Friday were accomplished, and the Church commemorates, the holy, saving, and terrible sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who voluntarily endured all this for our sake.
Hieromonk Methodius (Kapustin)
Fathers, brothers and sisters, why do we all need to feel all this again today? Because before the feast we must understand thoroughly what forced the Lord to accept death. And the answer is our sins, our human sins.
Hieromonk Philaret (Trunin)
The most important event during the Last Supper was the institution by Christ of the sacrament of the Eucharist as a grace-filling means of uniting the faithful with God.
After the washing of the feet, Jesus Christ first celebrated the Passover according to the law of Moses, and then instituted the new Passover—the great Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist.
