Benedicamus Domino!
Today is the day of Easter or Pascha in the Orthodox Church, and again I have felt the tangible and amazing joy of this day realized in my own self. The services which I attended throughout Holy Week and which preceded the actual celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead had a lot to do with this incarnation of joy, precisely because they were so solemn and experiencial. The thing I love about Orthodox Christianity is that it has not lost the sense of Mystery which is present in Pagan faiths, the sense that we really need to enter into the truth and reality of the events in Christ's life. Now, you may ask what need there is to do this. Why should we experience all the doom and gloom of the Passion and Burial? Why can't we just focus on the joy of the Resurrection? Well, a friend and I were talking about this the other day, and he pointed the reason out to me in a very true and meaningful way. I mean, I had understood it before in my brain, but I think that for the first time, I truly got it in my heart and my soul.
He was saying that for many years, the nature of why Christ had to die on the cross for our sins had puzzled him, but now, finally, he understood. Christ showed us the way. By dying in the flesh, by suffering what He suffered, he was showing us the way to overcome the fallen world into which we have been born. It is written that on the day of Christ's Crucifiction, the veil of the temple was torn in two, and it is interpreted by many teachers of the church that this symbolized the tearing of the veil between man and God, the veil of our own will and our own ego that was put there by us when we fell. Moreover, we could say it is put there as we live in this world. We all erect it by becoming little godlets and wanting things all our own way.
However, the idea of the church is that it is our right state to be with God, to work in concert with Him, still keeping our free wills but offering ourselves freely to Him, and again, we come back to living Eucharistically. Christ enabled this synurgistic relationship to exist once again precisely because he passed through the gate of death and destroyed its power. There is a lovely sermon by St. John Chrysostom which we read in the wee hours of Easter morning. It encapsulates this theology perfectly, and it does a superlative job of describing why we as Christians should be joyful on the day of Easter and at all other times of the year, incidentally. Here is the sermon!
THE SERMON OF ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
If any man be devout and loveth God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived therefor. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour. And he showeth mercy upon the last, and careth for the first; and to the one he giveth, and upon the other he bestoweth gifts. And he both accepteth the deeds, and welcometh the intention, and honoreth the acts and praises the offering.
Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day.
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full- laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away. Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.
Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shone forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior's death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.
And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.
O Death, where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory? Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.
So, Christ's death and resurrection are meant as sign-posts for the Christian. As we are baptized into Christ's death, so begins the process of dying to the self: the little self which is the ego and which tends to get in the way of anything good in life. Then, once that little ego is overcome, which is usually a life-long journey, by the way, but which is helped and strengthened by Grace, then we enjoy the glory of resurrection, of returning to our proper state, our proper relationship with God which we had from the first. However, this is only the beginning of the story, for beyond that is Theosis, which the fathers of the church teach was always our destiny. We were always meant to share in what God is, to be truly like God, but the fall interrupted that growth. We made ourselves weak and Christ has strengthened us. We made ourselves broken, and by his enduring death, He has given us a way to mend ourselves. Why then should we fear, or why let our hearts be troubled overmuch by the world and all its woes? We simply need to pray and work, to learn to be humble and receptive to God's Grace, and to fully come to terms with the fact that we are broken and in need of help to be mended, and then comes the work, the synergistic work with God to remove all the parts of ourselves which stand in the way of our ability to sacrifice with joy and to give of ourselves to our neighbour and to God, for all true love is sacrificial and eucharistic. All true love is joyful and active, dynamic and living, and we believe that by following Christ and dying to our little selves, our true and deep selves can be gradually revealed, like polishing a dirty mirror.
So, as I close this rather lengthy entry, I will end with the Paschal greeting with which we salute each other throughout the season of Easter:
Christ is risen!!!
Deo Gratias!
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