To the God-loving bishops, devout clergy and all the good-zealous children of the holy Church of Christ
Easter Archpastoral Greetings
Your Eminence Bishops, Honourable Fathers,
and all beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!
O Easter is great and sacred, Christ.
O Wisdom, Word of God and power,
let us be in communion with You more truly
in the darkless days of Your Kingdom.
Canon of Easter
On this day of the Bright Feast of Feasts and Solemnity of Solemnities – Holy Easter of Christ, I joyfully greet you all with Easter greetings and a jubilant exclamation:
Christ is Risen!
Our Lord Jesus Christ has truly risen, risen from the dead, breaking the shackles of hell, and gave us the joy and hope of eternal life, eternal Easter in the Kingdom of Heaven with all the prophets and apostles, martyrs and confessors, venerables and righteous. The Resurrection of Christ is the resurrection of the human soul, its renewal, the beginning of a new life on the threshold of the New Jerusalem.
Christ came into the world to return humanity to that former sinless and immortal state in which it had originally been, and even more than that, to bestow endless joy and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lord calls us into this Kingdom of Love with the words of the Holy Gospel, the example of His own life and the lives of the apostles, martyrs, and all the saints.
With words of wisdom and mercy, Christ truly promises us consolation and peace from the sorrows and labours of earthly life, saying: “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).
Nowadays, the enemies of Christ and His Holy Church again and again continue to destroy faith in the Risen Christ, sow the seeds of malice, enmity, bloody terror, and war, and call for evil to be considered good and sin and licentious morals to be considered virtue. But the Resurrection of Christ is a victory over evil, a guarantee that the devil and his crafty designs will be defeated, and faith and good deeds will bring us the fruits of eternal life.
To his faithful disciples Christ proclaims the joy of the coming victory: “I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will come to life. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” (John 11:25-26).
Easter means the transition from one state to another, from slavery of sin to the freedom of the new Adam. Just as in ancient times the Israelites went out from Egyptian captivity to the Promised Land, so our soul must make the transition from the darkness of wickedness to the light of virtue and piety. “Then she will celebrate the Passover of the Lord,” as Abba Dorotheos teaches. Easter is the day of the Resurrection of Christ, who crucified sin for us, died, and rose again. There is no higher and more joyful message in the world for us than the news of salvation given to us by the risen Christ, Who “desires that every man should be saved and come into true understanding” (1 Tim. 2:4).
May there be no despondency and confusion, lack of faith and shortage of love for our neighbor in our souls. We, Orthodox Old Believers, must show Christ to the world now by our lives and by preserving our spiritual traditions. The life of each community of our Church must be based on unity in the true faith, on preaching, good deeds, teaching, and church creativity. This is the mission of the Christian Old Believer and the entire Russian people.
On these holy days, let us do good deeds: forgive those who hate and offend us, feed the hungry, comfort the destitute and despondent, visit the sick and weak. In this way we will make a feast for the Risen Christ, for He said: “Amen, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
With all my heart I once again congratulate all of you, brothers and sisters, on the greatest feast of Easter and wish everyone peace of mind, Easter joy, Christian love, good health, and spiritual salvation!
May the grace and mercy of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ and my archpastoral blessing be with you all. Amen! Christ is Risen! Truly risen!
Humble by God’s grace
Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia
City of Moscow
Easter
2024
