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On the Holy Pascha

ORATION 45.

On the Holy Pascha.

A'. I will stand upon my watch, says the wondrous Habakkuk. And I with him today, by the power and vision given to me by the Spirit, will also look out and know what will be seen, and what will be spoken to me. And I stood, and I looked out; and behold, a man mounted upon the clouds, and he was exceedingly high; and his appearance was as the appearance of an angel; and his garment as the brightness of passing lightning; and he lifted up his hand toward the east, and cried with a loud voice. His voice was as the voice of a trumpet; and around him was a multitude of the heavenly host, and he said: Today is salvation to the world, both all that is visible, and all that is invisible. Christ is risen from the dead, rise with him; Christ has returned to himself, return you also; Christ is from the tombs, be freed from the bonds of sin. The gates of Hades are opened, and death is destroyed, and the old Adam is put away, and the new is fulfilled; if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, be renewed. These things he said; and they sang hymns, just as before, when Christ appeared to us through his birth below, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men." With them I also utter these things among you; and may I receive a voice worthy of the angels, and resounding to all the ends of the earth.

B'. The Lord's Pascha, Pascha, and again I will say Pascha, in honor of the Trinity. This is for us the feast of feasts, and the festival of festivals, so far surpassing all others—not only those that are human and of the earth, but even those of Christ himself and celebrated for him—as the sun surpasses the stars. Good indeed was yesterday's bright-robed procession and illumination, which we established both privately and publicly, almost every race of men and every rank, illuminating the night with bountiful fire, an image of the great light—both that which heaven above kindles, lighting up the whole world with its own beauties, and that which is super-celestial, in the angels, the first luminous nature after the First, being sourced 36.625 from there, and that which is in the Trinity, from which all light is composed, being divided and honored from the undivided light. But today's is more beautiful and more resplendent. For yesterday's light was a forerunner of the great rising light, and a kind of pre-festal joy. But today we celebrate the Resurrection itself, no longer hoped for, but already having taken place, and gathering the whole world to itself. Therefore, let one person bear one fruit for the season, and another bring a festal gift, whether small, or greater, of things spiritual and dear to God, as each may have the power. For worthy praise, scarcely even could angels attain—the first, and intelligent, and pure, and spectators and witnesses of the glory above; if indeed the whole of hymnody is attainable even by them. But we shall bring a discourse, the most beautiful and precious of the things we possess, especially as we are hymning the Word, for the benefit of our rational nature. And I will begin from this point. For I cannot endure, when speaking of the great sacrifice and the greatest of days, not to run back to God, and from thence to make my beginning. And purify for me your mind, and hearing, and thought, all you who delight in such things (since the discourse is about God and divine), that you may depart truly feasting on things that are not emptied. And it will be the same

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In sanctum pascha

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΜΕʹ.

Εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πάσχα.

Αʹ. Ἐπὶ τῆς φυλακῆς μου στήσομαι, φησὶν ὁ θαυμάσιος Ἀββακούμ. Κἀγὼ μετ' αὐτοῦ σήμερον, τῆς δεδομένης μοι παρὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος ἐξουσίας καὶ θεωρίας, καὶ ἀποσκοπεύσω καὶ γνώσομαι, τί ὀφθήσεται, καὶ τί λαληθήσεταί μοι. Καὶ ἔστην, καὶ ἀπεσκόπευσα· καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ τῶν νεφελῶν, καὶ οὗτος ὑψηλὸς σφόδρα· καὶ ἡ ὅρασις αὐτοῦ, ὡς ὅρασις ἀγγέλου· καὶ ἡ στολὴ αὐτοῦ, ὡς φέγγος ἀστραπῆς διερχομένης· καὶ ἐπῆρε τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ κατ' ἀνατολὰς, καὶ ἐβόησε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ. Φωνὴ αὐτοῦ, ὡς φωνὴ σάλπιγγος· καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ, ὡς πλῆθος οὐρανίου στρατιᾶς, καὶ εἶπε· Σήμερον σωτηρία τῷ κόσμῳ, ὅσος τε ὁρατὸς, καὶ ὅσος ἀόρατος. Χριστὸς ἐκ νεκρῶν, συνεγείρεσθε· Χριστὸς εἰς ἑαυτὸν, ἐπανέρχεσθε· Χριστὸς ἐκ τάφων, ἐλευ θερώθητε τῶν δεσμῶν τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Πύλαι ᾅδου ἀνοίγονται, καὶ θάνατος καταλύεται, καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς Ἀδὰμ ἀποτίθεται, καὶ ὁ νέος συμπληροῦται· εἴ τις ἐν Χριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις, ἀνακαινίζεσθε. Ταῦτα ὁ μὲν ἔλεγεν· οἱ δὲ ἀνύμνουν, ὅπερ καὶ πρότερον, ἡνίκα ἡμῖν ἐπεφάνη Χριστὸς διὰ τῆς κάτω γεννήσεως, τὸ, δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις Θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰ ρήνη, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία. Μεθ' ὧν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐν ὑμῖν ταῦτα φθέγγομαι· εἴη δὲ καὶ φωνὴν λαβεῖν τῆς ἀγγελικῆς ἀξίαν, καὶ πάντα περιηχοῦσαν τὰ πέρατα.

Βʹ. Πάσχα Κυρίου, Πάσχα, καὶ πάλιν ἐρῶ Πάσχα, τιμῇ τῆς Τριάδος. Αὕτη ἑορτῶν ἡμῖν ἑορτὴ, καὶ πανήγυρις πανηγύρεων, τοσοῦτον ὑπεραίρουσα πάσας, οὐ τὰς ἀνθρωπικὰς μόνον καὶ χαμαὶ ἐρχομένας, ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ τὰς αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ τελουμένας, ὅσον ἀστέρας ἥλιος. Καλὴ μὲν καὶ ἡ χθὲς ἡμῖν λαμπροφορία καὶ φωταγωγία, ἣν ἰδίᾳ τε καὶ δημοσίᾳ συνεστησάμεθα, πᾶν γένος ἀν θρώπων μικροῦ καὶ ἀξία πᾶσα, δαψιλεῖ τῷ πυρὶ τὴν νύκτα καταφωτίζοντες, καὶ τοῦ μεγάλου φωτὸς ἀντίτυπος, ὅσον τε οὐρανὸς ἄνωθεν φρυκτωρεῖ, κό σμον ὅλον αὐγάζων τοῖς παρ' ἑαυτοῦ κάλλεσι, καὶ ὅσον ὑπερουράνιον, ἔν τε ἀγγέλοις τῇ πρώτῃ φωτεινῇ φύσει μετὰ τὴν πρώτην, τῷ ἐκεῖθεν πηγά 36.625 ζεσθαι, καὶ ὅσον ἐν τῇ Τριάδι, παρ' ἧς φῶς ἅπαν συνέστηκεν, ἐξ ἀμερίστου φωτὸς μεριζόμενον καὶ τιμώμενον. Καλλίων δὲ ἡ σήμερον, καὶ πε ριφανεστέρα. Ὅσῳ χθὲς μὲν πρόδρομον ἦν τοῦ με γάλου φωτὸς ἀνισταμένου τὸ φῶς, καὶ οἷον εὐφροσύνη τις προεόρτιος. Σήμερον δὲ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτὴν ἑορτάζομεν, οὐκ ἔτι ἐλπιζομένην, ἀλλ' ἤδη γεγενη μένην, καὶ κόσμον ὅλον ἑαυτῇ συνάγουσαν. Ἄλλος μὲν οὖν ἄλλο τι τῷ καιρῷ καρποφορείτω, καὶ δωροφορείτω δῶρον ἑόρτιον, ἢ μικρὸν, ἢ μεῖζον, τῶν πνευματικῶν τε καὶ Θεῷ φίλων, ὅπως ἂν ἕκα στος ἔχῃ δυνάμεως. Τῆς γὰρ ἀξίας, μόλις ἂν καὶ ἄγγελοι τύχοιεν, οἱ πρῶτοι, καὶ νοεροὶ, καὶ καθαροὶ, καὶ τῆς ἄνω δόξης ἐπόπται καὶ μάρτυρες· εἴπερ καὶ τούτοις τὸ πᾶν ἐφικτὸν τῆς ὑμνήσεως. Ἡμεῖς δὲ λόγον εἰσοίσομεν, ὧν ἔχομεν τὸ κάλλιστόν τε καὶ τιμιώτατον, ἄλλως τε καὶ Λόγον ὑμνοῦντες, ἐπ' εὐεργεσίᾳ τῆς λογικῆς φύσεως. Ἄρξομαι δὲ ἐν τεῦθεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνέχομαι, τοὺς περὶ τοῦ μεγάλου θύματος καὶ τῆς μεγίστης ἡμερῶν θύων λόγους, μὴ πρὸς Θεὸν ἀναδραμεῖν, κἀκεῖθεν ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἀρχήν. Καί μοι καθήρασθε καὶ νοῦν, καὶ ἀκοὴν, καὶ διάνοιαν, ὅσοι τρυφᾶτε τὰ τοιαῦτα (ἐπειδὴ περὶ Θεοῦ καὶ θεῖος ὁ λόγος), ἵν' ἀπέλθητε τρυφήσαντες ὄντως τὰ μὴ κενούμενα. Ἔσται δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς