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Χριστός Ανέστη εκ νεκρών, θανάτω θάνατον πατήσας, και τοις εν τοις μνήμασι ζωήν χαρισάμενος. - Ύμνος της Αναστάσεως
Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and bestowing life to those in the tombs. - Hymn of the Resurrection
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"Χριστός Ανέστη!": Η Περίοδος του Πάσχα "Christ is Risen!": The Paschal Period
This Feastday is the most important in the entire Church calendar. We remember that it is this day that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ brought us “from death to life and from the earth to Heaven” (1st Katavasia of Easter). His conquering death and the Devil gives all of humanity the chance to becomes citizens of His eternal Kingdom. We rejoice in the Resurrection, and always remember the love of God present in our lives on this feastday.
The service of the Holy Feast of
Pascha begins at about 10:30-11:00 p.m. with the chanting of the
Canon.
These hymns are the exact same ones we chanted Holy Friday evening. At about
11:40 p.m., the lights are all shut off in the Church and the Priest comes
out with one lit candle. He joyously proclaims: “Come receive the light,
from the unwaning Light, and glorify Christ who is risen from the dead!”
The Church becomes illuminated and all proceed outside (led by the Priest) for the Gospel reading to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ (Mark 16:1-8). After this Gospel, all Christians chant the hymn that is so beloved by all: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death, and bestowing life to those in the tombs!” After this, the Festal Orthros and Divine Liturgy are chanted, all hymns so joyful of the Resurrection of Christ. At the end of the Resurrectional Liturgy, the Catechetical Homily of St. John Chrysostom is read, followed by the blessing of the Easter eggs. At the end of the Liturgy, these red Easter eggs are given to the faithful. Please note: This week is fast-free. We can “feast” and still receive Holy Communion next Sunday.
Gospel of the Resurrection: Mark 16:1-8 Epistle: Acts 1:1-12 Gospel: John 1:1-12
Vespers of Agape (Ο Εσπερινός της Αγάπης) With the celebration of the Resurrection finishing into the early hours of the morning, the Church finishes Holy Week with a Vespers service. This Vespers is called “The Vespers of Agape” (Ο Εσπερινός της Αγάπης). In this Vespers, we chant the hymns of the Resurrection, and also read the Gospel (John 20:19-25) in various languages. This Gospel is read by the Priest and the people, and says how Christ appeared in front of His disciples, and how Thomas did not believe. At the end of the service, we chant the famous “δοξαστικόν” of the Resurrection, which is to be repeated every single Sunday until the Ascension (i.e., in 40 days): The day of Resurrection; let us be radiant for the festival, and let us embrace one another. Let us say, brethren, even to those that hate us, ‘Let us forgive all things on the Resurrection’, and so let us cry, ‘Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death and bestowing life to those in the tombs’. At the end of the service, all are given red Easter eggs (of the same that were blessed the previous night) as a blessing. If Easter falls on or after April 23rd, we also commemorate at this Vespers service the memory of St. George the Great Martyr
Feastdays of Bright Week (Εορτές της Διακαινήσιμης Εβδομάδος)
The week of Pascha is called “Bright
Week”, or
η
Διακαινήσιμη
Εβδομάς (which
means “the
new week”). Ther On Bright Tuesday, the Church commemorates the newly-found martyrs of Mytilini, Sts. Raphel, Nicholas and Irene. They were actually martyred on April 9th, but it was also that year’s “Bright Tuesday”; therefore, the Church decided their memories should be celebrated that day. On Bright Friday, the Church commemorates the consecration of a Church dedicated to the Theotokos, “the Life-Giving Font.” (Η Ζωοδόχος Πηγή) by Emperor Leo (5th century). Before he became Emperor, he had met a blind man who was thirsting for water. Leo felt compassion for him but found no water. Leo then heard a voice telling him there was water nearby. He was told a second time to look and take some water and anoint the blind man's eyes with it. After finding it, he did this and the blind man received his sight. After Leo became Emperor as the most holy Theotokos had prophesied, he raised up a church over the font, whose waters worked many healings and cured maladies by the grace of the Theotokos. Gospels for Bright Week Bright Monday: John 1:18-28 Bright Tuesday: Luke 24:12-35 Bright Wednesday: John 1:35-52 Bright Thursday: John 3:1-15 Bright Friday: John 2:12-22 Bright Saturday: John 3:22-33
Thomas Sunday (Αντίπασχα - Κυριακή του Θωμά) For some of us, it is quite difficult to believe if we don’t see the truth with our eyes. The saying “seeing is believing” has been put into our systems, and we think that it’s true. Now, what would Jesus have to say about that?
The week after, Jesus appeared again to His disciples (this time, with Thomas). Jesus told Thomas, “‘Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:27-29) Jesus blesses us who have not seen Him with our physical eyes, but see Him every day with the eyes of our hearts and souls. We see Him at every Divine Liturgy, when we commune the awesome Mysteries; we see Him when we are kind to our neighbour; we see Him when someone is kind to us. This passage also tells us that if we are unbelieving, Jesus will not leave us this way; He will give us plenty of opportunities to repent and see the Truth: it’s up to us to choose the right path or not. Epistle: Acts 5:12-20 Gospel: John 20:19-31
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women (Κυριακή των Μυροφόρων Γυναικών) ‘Myrrhbearing women, why have you come to the tomb? Why do you seek the living among the dead? The Lord has risen, take courage!’ cries the Angel. (Hymn from Vespers)
This
Sunday is dedicated to the Myrrh-bearing women that went to anoint the body
of Jesus with myrrh on the Sunday of Pascha, only to be the first ones to
find out about the Resurrection of the Lord. The word
Myrrh-bearers comes from the Greek
word μυροφόρες, which
means “I bring myrrh.”
The eight Myrrh-bearing women are: the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary; Mary Magdalene; Joanna; Salome; Mary the wife of Cleopas (or Alphaeus); Susanna; Mary and Martha of Bethany (Lazarus’ sisters).
Some information on some of the Myrrh-bearing women Mary Magdalene: Jesus Christ healed Mary of having been possessed by seven demons (see Mark 16:9). Later on, Mary Magdalene came to be called "Equal to the Apostles" for her role in the young church, primarily in Rome and later in Ephesus with the Apostle John. Mary and Martha of Bethany: After Pentecost, the Jewish leaders followed through on their threat to kill Lazarus (John 12:10). Putting Mary, Martha and Lazarus in a leaking boat, they set them adrift at sea with no oars, rudder, food or water. Miraculously, they landed on Cyprus where Lazarus was later ordained bishop. Salome, Mary, Joanna, and Susanna: Salome was the niece of Mary, the wife of Cleopas (Alphaeus), and was the wife of Zebedee. She stayed in Jerusalem after Pentecost with her son John. Mary, the wife of Cleopas, on the other hand, left for Spain to help with his evangelism abroad and was buried in Compostela, Spain, with great honor. This implies that her husband Cleopas (Alphaeus) died shortly after Pentecost. Joanna was the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward and lived in Tiberias by the Sea of Galilee where Herod’s palace was located. She was the one who retrieved the severed head of John the Baptist after Herod’s party (Matthew 14:11, 12) and buried it in the Garden of Gethsemane. Susanna was another wealthy woman that we know very little about (Luke 8:3). This Sunday is also dedicated to Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nikodemos (both secret disciples of Jesus who took down His body from the Cross). This feastday shows us the dedication of the Myrrh-bearing women, along with Joseph and Nikodemos, giving us a real-life example to emulate in our lives. They were not afraid to show that they loved Christ in a time of persecution and uncertainty; rather, they braved all the difficulties, went to His tomb, and were blessed to be the first ones to proclaim the wonderful message of the Resurrection. Epistle: Acts 6:1-7 Gospel: Mark 15:43-16:8
Sunday of the Paralytic Throughout the Penticostarion Period, we see in the various Biblical readings how the Divinity of Jesus Christ is present, God helping His creation. This is definitely true with the Sunday of the Paralytic.
Jesus saw the paralytic waiting by the pool of Siloam and asked him if he wanted to be healthy again. The person replied, “Sir, I have no person to put me in the pool when the water is troubled”. Yet, since Jesus is the Curer of all sicknesses, He healed the man: “Rise, take your pallet and walk”. Jesus did this on the Sabbath, which is the day that no work could be done (according to Jewish law). This shows us that: Jesus is the God-man, and can cure all sicknesses, just like He did for the paralytic - all we must do is believe He can; and that Jesus is above the Sabbath, and that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Epistle: Acts 9:32-42 Gospel: John 5:1-15
Mid-Pentecost This day is the “half-way point” in our journey to Pentecost (hence the name “Mid-Pentecost”). We await the promise of the Holy Spirit, just as the disciples of Jesus Christ awaited in those days. In today’s dismissal hymn (the Απολυτίκιον), Jesus speaks to us directly. It says: “At the mid-point of the Feast, O Saviour, water my thirsty soul with streams of true devotion; for You cried out to all, ‘Any who thirst, let them come to Me, and let them drink!’ O Source of life, Christ our God, glory to you!” When this hymn mentions “the Feast,” it is in reference to Pentecost. We pray to our Lord Jesus Christ to give us that spiritual drink, to stop the thirst in our soul and to be quenched with His Goodness. We are assured of this by Christ Himself, when He says, “Any who thirst, let them come to Me, and let them drink!” (John 7:37) Jesus is the Source of life; with Him, we can go “from glory to glory.” We will find this exact same message the following Sunday. Gospel Reading: John 7:14-30
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman (Κυριακή της Σαμαρείτιδος)
In Jesus’ day, Jews and Samaritans were not on “speaking terms”; it was so bad, that each party denied the other of being ‘blessed by God’. What a tragedy it is for people to decide what God is going to do! And yet, that is what happened. Jesus puts an end to this by doing something unheard of. When His disciples went into the city, Jesus saw a Samaritan woman. Now, if He was to follow protocol from back then, He wouldn’t have even talked to her; yet, He did more than this. He asked her for a drink of water, to which she said “forget it” (in a nice way). Jesus, though, promised her “living water”. She thought that it was this kind of “special water” that she would drink and never get thirsty again. Jesus told her that it is more than this. We know today that this “living water” is Jesus Himself, which we receive at every Divine Liturgy by Holy Communion. She told Jesus that the Messiah was to come, to which Jesus gave her the biggest surprise: “I Am He, who is talking to you!” (John 4:26) All of the Samaritans came to meet Jesus, and He stayed with them a few days. This is a very important lesson for us, since it shows us that we might not think God is there, but He might be staring us right in the face. We need to look with the eyes of our soul and ask for God’s help. This Samaritan woman became a Saint (St. Photini) and died for Christ. We need to be like St. Photini and receive this “living water” as often as possible, so we can be close to Him who saves us. Epistle: Acts 11:19-30 Gospel: John 4:5-42
Sunday of the Blind Man (Κυριακή του Τυφλού)
Have you ever seen a blind person? A blind person can maybe
understand what is around them, but they will never get to see God’s
creation. Yet, there are “blind people” that can see with their physical
eyes, but have blinded the eyes of their souls because of their own will. We
find both these people today in the Biblical passage.
This Sunday’s Gospel commemorates the miracle of Jesus with giving sight to the blind man. Suffering for so long, he is cured of his ailment by our Lord. The Jewish authorities, being jealous of Christ, decided to question the man and want him to admit that Jesus did not do this. They even bring in his parents to try and sway his mind. It does not work; rather, he further upsets them since he asks them why they are asking these questions—”do you want to become His disciples?” They banish him from the synagogue, but he finds his true home when he meets his Lord soon. The man said that Jesus is the Son of Man, confessing that He is the only way to salvation. This man had been blind for so many years, he finds out the way towards Heaven in an instant! He is on the Way to eternal life. The sad thing is that the Pharisees had seen many miracles that Jesus did, but they did not believe Him because they chose to be blind to the power of God. This is why we choose to be with God or not. He shows us His wonders—that we get up every morning from our sleep, the creations of the world, our very person, and so many other things. It’s in our hands to believe in His wonders or not. Let us pray that we are illumined and see His majesty and glory! Epistle: Acts 16:16-34 Gospel: John 9:1-38
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e are
various feastdays during this week, which is celebrated as “one day”
(because Pascha is seen as “the eighth day of Creation,” fulfilling God’s
Divine Plan)
Paralysis is something that is very
tragic: it is the loss of the ability to move your entire body. Just imagine
it: trying to live your life, but unable to move. In Jesus’ time, there were
no wheelchairs and the treatments we have today; how much more difficult it
must have been for these people. This particular person was waiting by a
pool, Siloam, that was said to be visited by an angel. This angel would go
into the waters, sanctify them, and whoever would be immersed in it first
would be cured. 
Racism is a very sad thing in our
society. Why should someone be made fun of or even abused because of the
color of their skin? God made all human beings in His image and likeness,
and yet there are some people that do not see things this way. Jesus shows
us in today’s Gospel that
