On Holy Pascha (Homily 8)

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All are symbols of the Lord's resurrection for both bodily feasting and spiritual salvation; deceit has ceased, envy has been banished, strife has been driven away, enmity has been trampled down, war has been dissolved, peace is honored, the kiss abounds, love is known, disposition is intertwined, the saying spoken has been fulfilled: Behold, what is good or what is pleasant but for brothers to dwell together, and to be in mind that which they are by nature. Truly, the present things are symbols of the Lord's resurrection. Why? Because we no longer mourn Adam, but we glorify Christ; we no longer reproach Eve, but we call the virgin Mary blessed; we no longer turn away from the tree, but we bear the cross; we no longer fear the serpent, but we entreat the Holy Spirit; we no longer depart to the earth, but we ascend to the heavens; we are no longer outside of paradise, but we lodge in the bosom of Abraham; we no longer hear in a Jewish manner: I have likened your mother to the night; My people have become as those without knowledge, but we sing spiritually: This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened, but all things are illumined; because the veil is no longer rent, but the church is established; we no longer carry palm branches, but we carry about the newly-illumined. This is the day which the Lord has made. This day, and not these days; for there is one queen and not many tyrannies. This is the day, the one bearing the Lord's name, the trophy-bearer, the announcer of the resurrection, the adorner of grace, the feaster of the faithful, the distributor of the rational lamb, the milk-giver of the reborn, the rest of the weary. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it, not running to taverns but hastening to places of the martyrs, not honoring drunkenness but loving moderation, not leaping in a Jewish manner but delighting in an apostolic way, not playing in the marketplaces but singing in the houses. For the present day is of the Resurrection, and not of insolence; no one who is dancing ascends to heaven, no one who is drunk stands before the king. Let no one among you grieve this day, but let him sing in a godly manner; for on this day Adam was set free, Eve was delivered from grief, humanity was redeemed from pain. For today our Lord Christ, having risen from the dead during the night, appeared before all to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and said to them: Rejoice, and through you the entire race. Rejoice, the Lord said to the women. But some will certainly say: And why did the Lord, having been raised from the dead, not appear first to the apostles but to the women, and to them he said: Rejoice? Why? Because through a woman grief flourished, the Lord again through a woman made joy to sprout, so that the saying spoken might be fulfilled: Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. But when the Lord was crucified and conversed with the tomb for our sake, not for his own, all the apostles, procuring their safety by flight, were scattered like sheep without a shepherd; but these women, keeping watch in fear and staying up all night awaiting the Savior, whence even to this day

In sanctum pascha (homilia 8)

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Σύμβολα πάντα τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἀναστάσεως τῇ τε σωματικῇ εὐωχίᾳ καὶ ψυχικῇ σωτηρίᾳ· πέπαυται δόλος, ἐξώρισται φθόνος, ἄπωσται μάχη, καταπεπάτηται ἡ ἔχθρα, διαλέλυται πόλεμος, εἰρήνη τιμᾶται, ἀσπασμὸς πληθύνεται, ἀγάπη γνωρίζεται, διάθεσις συμπλέκεται, τὸ φάσκον ῥητὸν πεπλήρωται· Ἰδοὺ δὴ τί καλὸν ἢ τί τερπνὸν ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ κατοικεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό, κἀκεῖνο εἶναι τῇ γνώμῃ ὅπερ πάσχουσι τῇ φύσει. Ὄντως σύμβολα τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἀναστάσεως τὰ παρόντα. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι οὐκέτι τὸν Ἀδὰμ πενθοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ τὸν Χριστὸν δοξολογοῦμεν· οὐκέτι τὴν Εὕαν ὀνειδίζομεν, ἀλλὰ τὴν παρθένον Μαρίαν μακαρίζομεν· οὐκέτι τὸ ξύλον ἀποστρεφόμεθα, ἀλλὰ τὸν σταυρὸν βαστάζομεν· οὐκέτι τὸν ὄφιν φοβούμεθα, ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον δυσωπούμεθα· οὐκέτι εἰς γῆν ἀπερχόμεθα, ἀλλ' εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνερχόμεθα· οὐκέτι ἔξω τοῦ παραδείσου γινόμεθα, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ αὐλιζόμεθα· οὐκέτι ἀκούομεν ἰουδαϊκῶς· Νυκτὶ ὡμοίωσα τὴν μητέρα σου· ἐγενήθη ὁ λαός μου ὡς οὐκ ἔχων ἐπίγνωσιν, ἀλλὰ ψάλλομεν πνευματικῶς· Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος· ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ. ∆ιὰ τί; Ὅτι οὐκέτι ὁ ἥλιος σκοτίζεται, ἀλλὰ πάντα φωτίζεται· ὅτι οὐκέτι τὸ καταπέτασμα ῥήγνυται, ἀλλὰ ἡ ἐκκλησία στηρίζεται· οὐκέτι βαΐα φοινίκων βαστάζομεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς νεοφωτίστους περιφέρομεν. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος. Αὕτη καὶ οὐχ αὗται· μία γὰρ βασίλισσα καὶ οὐ πολλαὶ τυραννίδες. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα, ἡ κυριώνυμος, ἡ τροπαιοῦχος, ἡ τῆς ἀναστάσεως βαβαλίστρια, ἡ τῆς χάριτος καλλωπίστρια, ἡ τῶν πιστῶν εὐωχήτρια, ἡ τοῦ λογικοῦ ἀμνοῦ διαμελίστρια, ἡ τῶν ἀναγεννηθέντων γαλακτοδότρια, ἡ καμνόντων ἀναπαύστρια. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος· ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ, μὴ εἰς καπηλεῖα τρέχοντες ἀλλ' εἰς μαρτύρια σπεύδοντες, μὴ μέθην τιμῶντες ἀλλὰ συμμετρίαν ἀγαπῶντες, μὴ ἰουδαϊκῶς σκιρτῶντες ἀλλὰ ἀποστολικῶς τρυφῶντες, μὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς παίζοντες ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ψάλλοντες. Ἀναστάσεως γὰρ ἡ παροῦσα ἡμέρα, οὐχὶ δὲ ὕβρεως· οὐδεὶς ὀρχούμενος εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνέρχεται, οὐδεὶς μεθύων βασιλεῖ παρίσταται. Μηδεὶς ὑμῶν τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην λυπήσῃ, ἀλλὰ θεϊκῶς ψάλλῃ· ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἠλευθερώθη, ἡ Εὕα τῆς λύπης ἀπηλλάγη, ἡ ἀνθρωπότης τῆς ὀδύνης ἐλυτρώθη. Σήμερον γὰρ ὁ δεσπότης ἡμῶν Χριστὸς νυκτίων ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστὰς πρὸ πάντων Μαρίᾳ τῇ Μαγδαληνῇ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ Μαρίᾳ ἐφάνη καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰς ἔφησεν· Χαίρετε, καὶ δι' ὑμῶν ἅπαν τὸ γένος. Χαίρετε, ὁ κύριος πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας. Ἐροῦσι δὲ πάντως τινές· Καὶ διὰ τί ὁ κύριος ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις πρῶτον οὐκ ὤφθη ἀλλὰ ταῖς γυναιξὶ καὶ ταύταις ἔφη· Χαίρετε; ∆ιὰ τί; Ἐπειδήπερ διὰ γυναικὸς ἡ λύπη ἤνθησεν, ὁ κύριος πάλιν διὰ γυναικὸς τὴν χαρὰν ἐβλάστησεν, ἵνα πληρωθῇ τὸ φάσκον ῥητόν· Ὅπου ἐπλεόνασεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν ἡ χάρις. Ἀλλὰ μὲν τοῦ κυρίου σταυρωθέντος καὶ τάφῳ προσομιλήσαντος δι' ἡμᾶς, οὐ δι' ἑαυτόν, πάντες οἱ ἀπόστολοι φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν πορισάμενοι διεσκορπίσθησαν ὡς πρόβατα μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα· αὗται δὲ αἱ γυναῖκες τῷ φόβῳ ἀγρυπνοῦσαι καὶ παννυχίζουσαι τὸν σωτῆρα προσδεχόμεναι, ὅθεν μέχρι σήμερον