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In sanctum pascha

A SERMON ON THE HOLY PASCHA.

52.765 1. It is fitting today for all of us to cry out what was said by the blessed David: Who will declare the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all his praises heard? For behold, the longed-for and saving feast has come upon us, the resurrection day of our Lord Jesus Christ, the foundation of peace, the occasion of reconciliation, the abolition of wars, the destruction of death, the 52.766 defeat of the devil. Today human beings have mingled with the angels, and those clothed in a body now offer up hymns with the bodiless powers. Today the tyranny of the devil is destroyed; today the bonds of death have been loosed, the victory of hades has vanished; today it is fitting again to speak that prophetic voice: O death, where is your sting? O hades, where is your victory? Today our Master Christ has shattered the bronze 52.767 gates, and has made the very face of death to disappear.

And why do I say its face? He has changed its very name; for it is no longer called death, but falling asleep and slumber; for before the coming of Christ, and the economy of the cross, the very name of death was terrible. For the first man, having been created, was condemned to this as a great punishment, hearing: In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. And the blessed Job addressed it by this name, saying: Death is a rest for a man. And the prophet David said: The death of sinners is evil. And not only was the separation of the soul from the body called death, but also hades. For hear the patriarch Jacob saying: You will bring down my old age with sorrow to hades; and the prophet again: Hades has opened its mouth; and again another prophet saying: He will deliver me from the lowest hades; and in many places in the Old Testament you will find the departure from hence called death and hades. But when Christ our God was offered as a sacrifice, and the things of the resurrection advanced, the benevolent Master removed these names, and introduced a new and strange way of life into our life; for instead of death, the departure from hence is henceforth called falling asleep and slumber. And how is this clear? Hear Christ himself saying: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to awaken him. For just as it is easy for us to awaken and rouse one who is sleeping, so too is it for the common Master of us all to raise the dead. And since what he said was new and strange, not even the disciples understood what was said, until, condescending to their weakness, he said it more clearly.

And the teacher of the world, the blessed Paul, writing to the Thessalonians says: I do not want you to be ignorant concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. And again elsewhere: Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. And again: We who are alive, who are left, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. And elsewhere again: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

2. Do you see that death is everywhere henceforth called falling asleep and slumber? and

that which before this had a terrible face, now after the resurrection has become something to be despised? Do you see the brilliant trophy of the resurrection? Because of this for us

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In sanctum pascha

ΕΙΣ ΤΟ ΑΓΙΟΝ ΠΑΣΧΑ ΛΟΓΟΣ.

52.765 αʹ. Εὔκαιρον σήμερον ἅπαντας ἡμᾶς ἀναβοῆσαι τὸ παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου ∆αυῒδ εἰρημένον· Τίς λαλήσει τὰς δυναστείας τοῦ Κυρίου, ἀκουστὰς ποιήσει πάσας τὰς αἰνέσεις αὐτοῦ; Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡμῖν παρα γέγονεν ἡ ποθεινὴ καὶ σωτήριος ἑορτὴ, ἡ ἀναστάσιμος ἡμέρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἡ τῆς εἰ ρήνης ὑπόθεσις, ἡ τῆς καταλλαγῆς ἀφορμὴ, ἡ τῶν πολέμων ἀναίρεσις, ἡ τοῦ θανάτου κατάλυσις, ἡ τοῦ 52.766 διαβόλου ἧττα. Σήμερον ἄνθρωποι τοῖς ἀγγέλοις ἀν εμίγησαν, καὶ οἱ σῶμα περικείμενοι μετὰ τῶν ἀσωμάτων δυνάμεων λοιπὸν τὰς ὑμνῳδίας ἀναφέρουσι. Σήμερον καταλύεται τοῦ διαβόλου ἡ τυραννίς· σήμε ρον τὰ δεσμὰ τοῦ θανάτου ἐλύθη, τοῦ ᾅδου τὸ νῖκος ἠφάνισται· σήμερον εὔκαιρον πάλιν εἰπεῖν τὴν προ φητικὴν ἐκείνην φωνήν· Ποῦ σου, θάνατε, τὸ κέν τρον; ποῦ σου, ᾅδη, τὸ νῖκος; Σήμερον τὰς χαλκᾶς 52.767 πύλας συνέθλασεν ὁ ∆εσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστὸς, καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ πρόσωπον ἠφάνισε.

Τί δὲ λέγω τὸ πρόσωπον; Αὐτοῦ τὴν προσηγορίαν μετέβαλεν· οὐκ ἔτι γὰρ θάνατος λέγεται, ἀλλὰ κοίμησις καὶ ὕπνος· πρὸ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ σταυροῦ οἰκονομίας, καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦ θανάτου τὸ ὄνο μα φοβερὸν ἐτύγχανε. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ἀντὶ μεγάλου ἐπιτιμίου τοῦτο κατεδικά ζετο ἀκούων· Ἧ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φαγῇ, θανάτῳ ἀπο θανῇ. Καὶ ὁ μακάριος δὲ Ἰὼβ τούτῳ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐ τὸν προσηγόρευσε, λέγων· Θάνατος ἀνδρὶ ἀνάπαυ σις. Καὶ ὁ προφήτης ∆αυῒδ ἔλεγε· Θάνατος ἁμαρ τωλῶν πονηρός. Οὐ μόνον δὲ θάνατος ἐκαλεῖτο ἡ διάλυσις τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ᾅδης. Ἄκουε γὰρ τοῦ μὲν πατριάρχου Ἰακὼβ λέγοντος· Κατάξετε τὸ γῆράς μου μετὰ λύπης εἰς ᾅδου· τοῦ δὲ προφήτου πάλιν· Ἔχανεν ὁ ᾅδης τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάλιν ἑτέρου προφήτου λέγοντος· Ῥύ σεταί με ἐξ ᾅδου κατωτάτου· καὶ πολλαχοῦ εὑρή σεις ἐπὶ τῆς Παλαιᾶς θάνατον καὶ ᾅδην καλουμένην τὴν ἐντεῦθεν μετάστασιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ Χριστὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν θυσία προσηνέχθη, καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀναστάσεως προεχώρησε, περιῆρε δὲ τὰς προσηγορίας αὐτὰς ὁ φιλάνθρωπος ∆εσπότης, καὶ καινὴν καὶ ξένην πολι τείαν εἰς τὸν βίον εἰσήγαγε τὸν ἡμέτερον· ἀντὶ γὰρ θανάτου λοιπὸν κοίμησις καὶ ὕπνος λέγεται ἡ ἐντεῦθεν μετάστασις. Καὶ πόθεν τοῦτο δῆλον; Ἄκουε αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγοντος· Λάζαρος ὁ φίλος ἡμῶν κε κοίμηται, ἀλλὰ πορεύομαι ἐξυπνίσαι αὐτόν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡμῖν εὔκολον τὸν καθεύδοντα διυπνίσαι καὶ διεγεῖραι, οὕτω καὶ τῷ κοινῷ πάντων ἡμῶν ∆ε σπότῃ τὸ ἀναστῆσαι. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ καινὸν ἦν καὶ ξένον τὸ παρ' αὐτοῦ εἰρημένον, οὐδὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ συνῆκαν τὸ λεχθὲν, μέχρις ὅτου συγκαταβαίνων αὐτῶν τῇ ἀσθε νείᾳ, φανερώτερον αὐτὸ εἴρηκε.

Καὶ ὁ τῆς οἰκουμέ νης δὲ διδάσκαλος ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος, γράφων Θεσ σαλονικεῦσί φησιν· Οὐ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων, ἵνα μὴ λυπῆσθε, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα. Καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ· Ἄρα οἱ κοιμηθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ, ἀπώλοντο. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες, οἱ περιλειπόμενοι, οὐ μὴ φθά σωμεν τοὺς κοιμηθέντας. Καὶ ἑτέρωθι πάλιν· Εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανε, καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ.

βʹ. Εἶδες πανταχοῦ λοιπὸν κοίμησιν καὶ ὕπνον τὸν θά νατον καλούμενον; καὶ

τὸν πρὸ τούτου φοβερὸν ἔχοντα τὸ πρόσωπον, νῦν εὐκαταφρόνητον μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστα σιν γινόμενον; Εἶδες λαμπρὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως τὸ τρόπαιον; ∆ιὰ ταύτην ἡμῖν