Monastery News
By the grace of the All-Merciful God, we have been vouchsafed to arrive at the radiant Paschal night, and once again rejoice in the glorious Resurrection of Christ. I sincerely greet all of you, my dear ones, with this great feast and "festival of festivals."
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The most important thing in these days is to preserve calm and inner peace, trusting in God. May the Lord help us not only to believe in Him, but also to trust in Him and in His guidance, that we might not lose spirit, and may act with goodly wisdom.
The wondrous miracle of the incarnation of God, which was accomplished more than two thousand years ago, today fills our souls with ineffable joy. "Today God hath come to earth and man hath ascended to the heavens" (verse at festal Vespers). The Maker and Provider of all things has appeared in the world, for by His grace He could not "behold mankind oppressed by the devil" (from the Order of Baptism); "overcome by love, He Who is without beginning and incomprehensible came… to seek out the one who had wandered, His creature" (kontakion for the Parable of the Lost Coin by St. Romanos the Melodist).
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CHRIST IS RISEN!
With these ever-living and sacred words I heartily congratulate all of you, God-loving archpastors and pastors, pious monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters, with our greatest Christian feast of the Bright and All-Glorious Resurrection of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ!
With profound spiritual joy in the Lord I greet you all on this jubilant, joyous night of the Matins of the Resurrection of Christ and Paschal Liturgy! I greet you on the Resurrection of Christ, the most triumphant and exultant of all holidays! It is the feast of feast and the festival of festivals, as the Paschal canon declares. But why is this so? Because in all the other holidays, the Lord is presented in the humble form of a servant, but in His Resurrection from the Tomb on the third day He is displayed in all His power and glory, as the Victor over hades and death.
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