Tag: Christianity

I hope you all had a holy and happy Easter, sharing your joy in the Resurrection with the ones you love.

This Easter season, I have been reflecting on the virtue of hope, as we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope declared by Pope Francis. 

I’ve been reflecting on the meaning of hope and also on what it is that we hope for. 

Although everyone is different, it seems that there are certain hopes we have in common.

We all hope for love and happiness in our lives and in our families; we hope for work that will sustain our families; we hope that our loved ones will be kept free from evil. 

We also hope that our children will grow to know and love Jesus and find love and happiness in their lives. We hope that our elders will grow old with grace and good health and that eventually they will have a good and holy death and go to heaven. 

We hope for peace in the world and in our neighborhoods and communities.   

These hopes form the substance of people’s everyday prayers, worries, and dreams. To realize these hopes, people will often make sacrifices and put off satisfying their own immediate needs and wants. 

But these daily hopes are not enough. Our hearts need a greater hope, we need God. 

The great hope that we all share is to know that our lives matter, that we make a difference, that there is a reason and purpose for our lives, and that our sufferings and hardships are not all for nothing. 

We all hope for a love that is pure and true, a love that transcends this mortal life, a love that will last forever. And we all hope that death is not the end, that this earthly life is not all there is. 

These are hopes that can be found in every human heart, in every time and place. 

Easter is God’s answer to everything that we hope for. 

In Jesus, the living God comes to reveal himself in human flesh, he comes to show us his face and open his heart for us. 

Jesus reveals that we are loved and that our lives have a purpose in God’s plan. 

He gives a path to walk and promises that if we walk this path with him, if we live by his teaching and example, then we will find happiness and love in this life and live with him forever in his kingdom, in a love that never ends!  

This is the beautiful hope that we have as Catholics. It is a hope born out of the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross. 

This Year of Hope invites us, once again, to establish our lives on the strong foundation of this hope that we have in Jesus, the hope of salvation, the hope of glory, the hope of eternal life.  

By this hope we know that this world is not our home, that we are just passing through our way to a better country, a heavenly one.

By this hope we know that whatever happens in our lives, whatever sufferings we’re asked to bear, whatever dark valleys we’re called to walk, Jesus goes with us, and he will give us the strength we need. 

Hope means trusting in God’s plan, no matter where he leads us. In sickness and health, in tragedy and sorrow, in joy and good fortune. 

One of the saints said, “I am definitely loved and whatever happens to me, I am awaited by this Love. And so my life is good.” 

Our life is good, too. And we know that our life is bound for glory. 

Jesus will love us until the end. And we know that when our earthly life is over, the God who is Love will be waiting to welcome us. 

Jesus left us the gift of the Eucharist as a pledge of the glory to come. 

The apostles and early Church Fathers used to call the Eucharist “the medicine of immortality, the antidote of death, and the food that makes us live forever in Jesus Christ.”

In this year of hope, I pray that all of us in the Church will recover that same awareness that by sharing in his body and blood we will live forever, and he will raise us up on the last day. 

Pray for me and I will pray for you. 

And during this Easter season in the Year of Hope, let us ask holy Mary, the Mother of Hope, to keep us always close to her Son, knowing that he is leading us to the hope that awaits us in heaven.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis died April 21 at the age of 88, the Vat gave new energy to millions of Catholics — and caused concern for some — as he transformed the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about mission, poverty, immigration and dialogue.

U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced that Pope Francis had died at 7:35 a.m.

“His whole life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his church,” Cardinal Farrell said in a video announcement broadcast from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lived and where he was recovering from pneumonia and respiratory infections. He had been released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of treatment.

Pope Francis “taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized,” Cardinal Farrell said. “With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God.”

The day before his death, the pope had appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to give his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world). His voice was weak and he had trouble raising his arm to make the sign of the cross, but afterward he got into the popemobile and drove through the crowds in St. Peter’s Square.

He had also held a surprise meeting with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance that Sunday. Francis received Vance in the papal residence, the Domus Sanctae Martha, the Vatican had announced. Vance has been in Rome that week, attending Good Friday services in St. Peter’s Basilica with his family and meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on April 19.

Pope Francis was often practical and even poetic when speaking about family life, the environment and ministry in the church, but those also were the areas where he frequently unleashed the perplexity and even ire of some Catholics, who were convinced he was trying to change church teaching or practice.

The initial popularity of his pontificate began to be offset by caution and criticism from some sectors of the church, particularly because of the openness he showed toward gay Catholics and toward divorced and civilly remarried Catholics. While insisting he was not changing church teaching, he also insisted Catholics and their parishes must welcome all people seeking God with a sincere heart.

His insistence at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2023 that in the church there is room for “todos, todos, todos” — “everyone, everyone, everyone” — became a frequent affirmation for the rest of his pontificate.

The iconic images of Pope Francis’ papacy were photographs of him embracing the sick, washing the feet of prisoners and eating with the poor.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the image switched to photos of Pope Francis, standing alone in an empty St. Peter’s Square in the rain, verbalizing the fear many people felt, calling upon the Lord’s help to end the pandemic and raising a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament to bless the city and the world.

The first major health scare of his pontificate came in July 2021 when, after reciting the Sunday Angelus, he went to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for what the Vatican said was pre-scheduled colon surgery. The three-hour operation included a left hemicolectomy, the removal of the descending part of the colon, a surgery that can be recommended to treat diverticulitis, when bulging pouches in the lining of the intestine or colon become inflamed or infected. The pope remained in the hospital 10 days.

Two years later, he was back at Gemelli for what the Vatican said was surgery to correct a hernia. He was taken to the hospital June 7 after his weekly general audience.

Throughout his pontificate, he occasionally canceled events because of bouts of sciatica, a sharp pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve from the lower back and down each leg. But, beginning in late December 2020, he also started having difficulty with his right knee. He later said the problem was a torn ligament and, by early May 2022, he was regularly using a wheelchair. The knee problem also forced him to cancel several events and to postpone a trip to Congo and South Sudan, which he finally made Jan. 31-Feb. 5, 2023.

God’s mercy was a constant theme in his preaching and was so central to his vision of what the church’s ministry must embody that he led an extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy in 2015-16.

Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 17, 1936 and elected pope March 13, 2013, the Argentine cardinal was the first pope in history to come from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European elected in almost 1,300 years. The Jesuit was also the first member of his order to be elected pope and the first member of any religious order elected in nearly two centuries.

Against the backdrop of deep differences with the Trump administration over migration and foreign aid as well as concerns for Ukraine and for Gaza, the Vatican secretary of state welcomed U.S. Vice President JD Vance to the Vatican.

Vance met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, April 19 in the Apostolic Palace.

A Vatican statement said areas of agreement, such as the defense of religious freedom, as well as the areas of tension with the Trump administration were discussed.

“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the Vatican statement said.

While “other issues of mutual interest were also discussed,” the Vatican said that “hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the State and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

The vice president arrived at the Vatican with his wife, Usha, and three children: Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel. Cardinal Parolin greeted all of them before holding talks with Vance and his entourage.

After their meeting, the Vance family was given a tour of the Apostolic Palace and the Sistine Chapel.

“Oh, wow, look how beautiful this is,” Vance could be heard saying on a Vatican video clip as he got out of the elevator when he arrived in the building. He also could be heard saying he was proud of his children because “they mostly held it together” during the long Vatican Good Friday liturgy.

Vance was in Rome for talks with the Italian government and, with his family, was visiting tourist sites in the city and participating in Holy Week and Easter services. The Vance family attended the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica April 18 and was expected to attend Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square April 20.

A quick encounter with Pope Francis was possible Easter morning but was not scheduled officially as the pope continues to recover after a long hospitalization.

The pope, in a letter to U.S. bishops in early February, strongly supported their traditional assistance to migrants and refugees and criticized threats and policies of “mass deportations” announced by Trump and vigorously defended by Vance.

Pope Francis had described Trump’s immigration policy as a “major crisis.”

Every nation has the right to defend itself and keep its communities safe “from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival,” the pope had written. However, “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

In a January interview, Vance, who joined the Catholic Church in 2019, questioned the motives of the U.S. bishops’ criticism of Trump’s immigration policies, suggesting their objection to the suspension of a federal refugee resettlement program had to do with “their bottom line.”

The pope and the U.S. bishops noted that helping the stranger is a Gospel tenet and, the bishops said, their work with refugees cost more than the government grants covered.

Pope Francis’ February letter also responded to an assertion Vance made in a Fox News interview about the Catholic concept of “ordo amoris” (the order of love or charity).

The concept, Vance said, teaches that “you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”

However, the pope said, “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica April 18, Cardinal Parolin said the Vatican supported approaching global problems with “multilateralism and a policy based on cooperation among states, international law and diplomacy, rather than on opposition and the logic of power.”

Asked about the Trump administration’s growing frustration at not ending Russia’s war on Ukraine, a frustration that seems focused on Ukraine’s unwillingness to cede territory, Cardinal Parolin responded, “As Pope Francis has repeatedly reminded us, peace cannot be imposed, it is built patiently, day after day, through dialogue and mutual respect.”

At the same time, the cardinal said, “anything that promotes a just and lasting peace is to be considered helpful.”

Cardinal Parolin also was asked about Israel’s continuing bombardment of Gaza and Trump’s remarks that Palestinians whose homes have been destroyed in Gaza should be resettled elsewhere and the territory turned into a “Riviera.”

“For the Holy See,” the cardinal said, “the principles of the social doctrine of the church remain clear: Self-defense is lawful, but it can never imply the total or partial annihilation of another people or the denial of their right to live in their own land.”

The hope Christians have is not a sign of avoiding reality but of trusting in the power of God to defeat sin and death as the resurrection of Jesus clearly shows, Pope Francis wrote in his Easter message.

“All those who put their hope in God place their feeble hands in his strong and mighty hand; they let themselves be raised up and set out on a journey,” said the message, read before Pope Francis gave his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) April 20.

The pope’s voice was weak, as it has been since he was released from the hospital March 23, and he barely raised his arms as he made the sign of the cross, but the tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square were appreciative and clapped loudly after saying, “Amen.”

“Together with the risen Jesus,” he wrote in his message, those who trust in God “become pilgrims of hope, witnesses of the victory of love and of the disarmed power of life.”

The 88-year-old pope, who is still recovering from pneumonia, was not present at the Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square but arrived shortly after noon to give the solemn blessing.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family did not attend the Mass either, but Vance arrived at the Vatican at about 11:30 a.m. for a private meeting with Pope Francis in the papal residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Vatican said the meeting lasted just a few minutes and allowed the two to exchange Easter greetings.

Vance had met April 19 with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister. The Vatican said they discussed efforts to defend religious freedom as well as the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners.”

Security in and around St. Peter’s Square was tight. Just outside the square, an Italian army officer manned a large anti-drone gun, which he said uses electromagnetic pulses to disable the drone operator’s ability to control it.

With his voice still weak, Pope Francis wished everyone a Happy Easter and then asked his master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, to read his message, which insisted that “Easter is the celebration of life!”

“God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again,” he wrote. “In his eyes, every life is precious! The life of a child in the mother’s womb, as well as the lives of the elderly and the sick, who in more and more countries are looked upon as people to be discarded.”

Pope Francis condemned the “great thirst for death” seen in violence and wars around the world and in the “contempt” people, including government leaders, direct toward “the vulnerable, the marginalized and migrants!”

As is traditional for the message, the pope also prayed for peace in war-torn nations, mentioning by name: Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Congo and Myanmar.

Pope Francis condemned “the growing climate of antisemitism throughout the world.” But he also called attention to “the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation.”

“I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace,” the papal message said.

Pope Francis had chosen Cardinal Angelo Comastri, retired archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, to be his delegate to preside over the morning Mass and read his homily.

Some 50,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, roses and other flowers and bushes decorated the steps leading up to St. Peter’s Basilica while garlands framed the main entrance to the atrium of the basilica and adorned the central balcony.

Because Easter fell on the same day on the Julian and Gregorian calendars, meaning Catholic and Orthodox were celebrating on the same day, the Vatican added Byzantine “stichera” or hymns and “stichos” or Psalm verses after the chanting of the Gospel in Latin and in Greek.

The homily the pope prepared focused on the Easter Gospel’s description of Mary Magdalene running to tells the disciples that Jesus had risen and Peter and John running to verify the news.

Running, the pope wrote, “expresses the desire, the yearning of the heart, the inner attitude of those who set out to search for Jesus.”

And because he has risen from the dead, people must look for Jesus in someplace other than the tomb, the pope’s text said.

“We must take action, set out to look for him: look for him in life, look for him in the faces of our brothers and sisters,” he said. “We must look for him without ceasing. Because if he has risen from the dead, then he is present everywhere, he dwells among us, he hides himself and reveals himself even today in the sisters and brothers we meet along the way, in the most ordinary and unpredictable situations of our lives.”

Jesus “is alive and is with us always, shedding the tears of those who suffer and adding to the beauty of life through the small acts of love carried out by each of us,” Pope Francis wrote.

After the Mass, the Easter blessing, Pope Francis got in the popemobile and rode around St. Peter’s Square, waving to the crowd and blessing babies.

    

P A S C H A L   M E S S A G E
of the Primate
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church
His Beatitude Metropolitan of Kyiv
and All Ukraine
O N U F R I Y
to the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics,
and All Faithful Children
of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

Christ is Risen!

I wholeheartedly greet all of you, God-loving archpastors and pastors, devout monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters, on our greatest Christian Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord, God, and Saviour Jesus Christ!

The Resurrection of Christ is a most glorious, sacred event, through which God returned the lost Paradise to mankind; it is the event through which the Love of God destroyed hell and deprived death of its power. Through His Resurrection, Christ the Saviour again bestowed upon mankind the lost gift of eternal life and bliss.

By wonderful paths, unsearchable for human mind, the Love of God takes on human nature and comes to earth so as to defeat the all-human malice and sin.

The God-Man Christ takes on our sins and is wilfully crucified for them on the Cross as Man. On the Cross, Christ the Saviour tears the handwriting of human sins and frees mankind from the power of the devil, takes mankind away from his hands. And when the God-Man Christ died on the Cross as Man and descended into hell, the Godhead, Which had united with human nature forever in Christ, also descended into hell. With its splendour, the Godhead slew hell (Resurrectional Troparion, tone 2). The Godhead raised up the human nature of the Saviour and led the souls of all the righteous, who had lived on earth by faith in the Coming Christ, out of hell.

The Resurrection of Christ became the greatest triumph of the victory of life over death.

The word about Christ Crucified and Risen was proclaimed all over the world. The Holy Apostles, sincere disciples and followers of Christ, who were witnesses of the teaching, wonders, sufferings, and Resurrection of Christ, dispersed over the entire world so as to proclaim and testify about the Bright and invincible Resurrection of their great Teacher and Lord, Who trampled down our death by His death and upon those in the tombs bestowed life by His Resurrection (Troparion of Holy Pascha). The word about the Risen Christ was powerful and mighty, it transformed the world; it freed mankind from fear, distress, and despair, and embraced human sufferings, sorrows, and pain with the warmth of bright hope. The word about the Risen Christ taught people to build their earthly lives correctly — so that the will, truth, and love of God may reign in them.

Today, we joyfully celebrate and prayerfully glorify the Bright Resurrection of Christ, the Great Victory of good over evil, which has been bestowed upon us by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. We share this sacred joy with one another and with all people of good will. We, as Christians, bear witness of and ought to bear witness of the Resurrection of Christ not only with our words but also with our lives.

What does it mean to bear witness of the Risen Christ with one’s life?

If a Christian lives godly, that is, lives according to the commandments of Christ, he becomes a fountain of clean, living water of the grace of God, which springs up into everlasting life (John 4:14). Like the sky is reflected in an ordinary clean spring, says Saint Theophan the Recluse, Christ is reflected in the pure life of a Christian who lives according to the word of Christ. Those people who do not want to or cannot lift their reasonable eyes to Heaven can see in the Heavenly glory the Risen Christ Who is, Who is reflected in the pure life of a devout Christian, and thus get a good opportunity to change their vain lives into bright and joyful lives in Christ.

Let us too, dear brothers and sisters, join those Christians who today testify to the world about the incorruptible beauty, greatness, and saving power of the Resurrection of Christ with their God-pleasing lives. Let us build our lives in such a way that the Name of God, Who is great and glorious in His works, may be hallowed and glorified in them; of the Maker of Heaven and earth; of God, Who because of His infinite love descended from Heaven to earth so as to raise us from earth to Heaven (Akathist to the Saviour, kontakion 8).

I once again greet all of you, dear brothers and sisters, on the Great Feast of Pascha of Christ, on the Feast of the Bright Resurrection of Christ! May the Risen Christ fill our hearts with bright hope for salvation and the joy of His great Victory over the forces of evil. May the Risen Christ pacify the malice of those who are waging war against us and bless us with peace.

Indeed Christ is Risen!

Humble
Metropolitan Onuphry (Berezovsky)Onuphry (Berezovsky), Metropolitan

“>+ Onufriy
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine

Pascha of Christ
2025
Kyiv

    

Paschal Message
by Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia
to the archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics
and all the faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church

  

Beloved in the Lord Most Reverend archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

It is with these life-affirming words filled with great spiritual power that from the depths of my heart I greet and congratulate you all on the great and radiant feast of Holy Pascha.

It is not fortuitous that church tradition calls this day the “feast of feasts” and the “triumph of triumphs”, for Christ’s Resurrection is the solid foundation of our faith and hope. At the heart of it we find the transformation and renewal of every human being, the light of life everlasting and the fount of constant joy. Christ’s Resurrection has vanquished the most terrible enemies of the human race, which are sin and death, it has torn down the barrier between God and people and delivered us from the power of evil.

Glorifying the Resurrection of the Saviour, a Serbian saint, Bishop Nikolaj (Velimirović) of Ohrid and Žiča, wrote: “Christ’s victory is the sole victory in which all human beings can rejoice, from the first-created to the last. All other victories on earth have divided and continue to divide people… Yet only Christ’s victory can be likened to the sun pouring forth its bright rays upon all those who stand beneath it” (Conversations. The Gospel on the Vanquisher of Death).

This means that every human being who strives for salvation, every believer and follower of Christ, has been granted the opportunity to obtain victory over sin and become, as the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John says, one of the beloved “children of God” (1 John 3.1).

We celebrate Pascha not as a passage from one land to another, even a Promised Land, as the ancient Hebrews celebrated the Old Testament Passover, rejoicing in their liberation from the long years of Egyptian captivity. Our Pascha has a different meaning, for the Lord has delivered us from the “darkness of sin and the shadow of death” (Luke 1.79) and granted to us the kingdom of heaven.

“Out into the light of freedom did Christ lead the despondent captives; to the heavenly heights of Paradise led them He, rejoicing” (Hymn XXXVIII). These inspired words of Saint Ephrem the Syrian express our profound experience of the Paschal mystery, which is the mystery of salvation of the human person from the influence of evil. Evil has not disappeared, yet we have found a way, by the power of God’s grace, of combating and vanquishing it through repentance, prayer and through partaking of the Body and Blood of the Saviour in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. For this reason, we may affirm, along with the Apostle Paul, that “he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in us” (Romans 8.11).

Christ’s Pascha heralds the passing over from earthly corruption to life eternal with God, to union with our Maker and Redeemer. Thus, as we rejoice in Jesus, who has risen for us, and with thanksgiving “lift up the cup of salvation” (Psalm 116.13) through which the Church gives us the true food and drink of immortality which is the Body and Blood of Christ, we shall tirelessly and without ceasing glorify the Lord with deeds of love and kindness, thereby showing ourselves to be his true disciples.

And although our striving for good and growth in God’s cause may at times seem to be the modest “widow’s mite” (Mark 12.42), let us always try to ensure that our strong faith and hope does not weaken, “because we know that in the Lord our labour is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15.58).

Let us, then, render praise and glory to the Risen Saviour, let us embrace each other with love and let us share the unfading Paschal joy with every person whom God brings to us on our path through life, testifying in word and deed that

CHRIST HAS RISEN INDEED!

His Holiness Patriarch KirillKirill, Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’

“>+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Pascha
2025

    

Christ is Risen!

What we’ve prayed for throughout the holy Forty Days and what we’ve asked of our Lord has now been fully granted to us by His grace: We have reached the most honorable days of Christ’s sufferings and now worship His holy and glorious Resurrection! If this feast is joyful on earth, brethren, then how bright and festive it must be in Heaven! Oh, if only we could all attain to that blessed day of resurrection in the same way and partake of that unwaning Pascha in the Kingdom of the Heavenly Father, which will have no end! We will all certainly achieve this blessedness if we look at our entire earthly life as Lent, as preparation for the great day of the universal resurrection.

Who can close to the faithful servants of the Lord the doors of eternal life that He has opened? Who can snatch us from the hands of Him, the Almighty (Jn. 10:28)? Was the price paid for us too small? Was not all His Blood shed on the Cross? Was not His entire spirit committed to the Father? Now it’s not only the love, but the very glory of our Savior that demands that we be saved. It’s true that we, like Him, have many malicious and powerful enemies, but on Golgotha, all the powers of hell were depleted and trampled underfoot. And now, with the help of grace, it remains for us not so much to fight the enemies as to pursue them, defeated as they are, and to gather the fruits of victory. Has the world turned against us? It’s defeated in the person of the prince of the world himself: And this is the victory that overcometh the world (1 Jn. 5:4)—the death and merits of our Redeemer have all come to us: Through living faith in His Cross all the temptations of the world will be repelled as with a shield.

Will the flesh betray us? It is weak and inclined downwards; but vigil and prayer can lift even this weight from the ground on their wings and make it strive toward Heaven. Against flesh and blood, perishable and sinful, we now have the Divine Body and Blood which we feed upon in the Eucharist. Moreover, the Spirit of grace sent down to us by the resurrected Lord is a spirit of power and strength; if we acquire it and don’t quench it, then all the fortifications of fleshly temptations will be broken before us. Will the prince of darkness himself dare to stand on our path to Heaven? He’ll do so only to his own destruction, for he’s already been struck on the head by the Cross. He’s now the kind of dragon that, according to the Prophet’s expression, even a small “child”—a babe in Christ—can safely lay a hand upon (Is. 11:8). If he has nothing of his own in us, as he had nothing of his own in our Savior (Jn. 14:30), then all his terrible growling around us will sound like an animal prowling about our homes.

The Risen Savior has given us all the strength we need for life and piety. He’s sent down all the means necessary for preserving ourselves unharmed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. From there, our salvation depends on us, on our faithfulness to our Savior and His Divine teaching. If only we would not bury the talents of grace given to us in the ground of carelessness, and do the work of our salvation while it is day (Jn. 9:4), then He’ll fulfill His promise, guide us into all truth through His word and Spirit (Jn. 16:13), endue [us] with power on high (Lk. 24:49), and send comfort into our hearts amidst all earthly sorrow. If only we, having come out of Egypt—our natural corruption—would not turn our faces and hearts back to it again; that having been freed from slavery to Pharaoh—the god of this age—we would not then place the bonds of sin upon ourselves; that having entered the desert of self-denial, we would not stop at the waters of strife, would not cast golden calves and bow down to them. Then He will not forget His duty—He’ll scatter all the enemies of our salvation from before our face, lead us dryshod through the very Jordan—the stream of death—and bring us into the Heavenly Canaan.

Burdensome and laborious, brethren, is the journey through the desert of this world for those who seek the Heavenly city; but the promised land flows with milk and honey! The six days of earthly labor are long and sometimes gloomy, but the seventh day of eternal rest is full of unspeakable joy! Will we complain about the thorns and thistles that we encounter along the way when we ourselves have sown them throughout the earth and continually nurture them with our sins? Will we put off ascending to Heaven just because we have to get there by climbing the ladder of the Cross? And now, in this land of exile and calamity, it’s pleasing to sing a song of victory over death—although we have yet to make this victory fully our own. How delightful will it be to celebrate the great day of renewal there, in the new promised land, where Heaven and earth and the whole of creation will answer the joyful cry of “Christ is Risen!” with “Indeed He is Risen!”

Let us hasten there in spirit, brethren, having yet to arrive in the flesh! Why sit idle by the rivers of Babylon,content with but the memory of our Heavenly homeland? Look! The Royal Doors are open and the throne of grace is visible to all. This is an invitation home, a call to the supper! Let us hasten, brethren, let us hasten: The risen Savior is calling us!

Amen.

Chișinău, April 19, 2025

spzh.live     

Moldovan authorities blocked a hierarch of the Moldovan Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate from flying to Jerusalem to retrieve the Holy Fire.

“I still don’t understand why I wasn’t released to Israel,” His Eminence Archbishop Marchel of Bălți and Fălești told First in Moldova News.

The hierarch was pulled aside for an “inspection” at the Chișinău Airport on Holy Thursday and was held without his passport until after his flight had already departed. He was never given any explanation for why he wasn’t permitted to travel.

Meanwhile, the delegation from the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Metropolis of Bessarabia was permitted to fly to Israel to witness and bring back the Holy Fire.

For three decades, there have been two overlapping jurisdictions in Moldova: the Moscow Patriarchate’s Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova and the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Metropolis of Bessarabia, which have essentially tolerated each other since the latter was reestablished in 1991 by a bishop formerly of the Russian Church’s structure. However, relations have severely deteriorated since the start of the war in Ukraine. A number of clerics and parishes have moved from the Moscow to the Romanian side, but as these transitions were made without a canonical release, a number of the clerics have been defrocked. However, the Metropolis of Bessarabia has declared these canonical sanctions null and void, and Romanian Synod establishes “Romanian Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” Ukrainian hierarch respondsA number of important decisions were made during the session of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church held in Bucharest on February 29.

“>on February 29, the Holy Synod of the entire Romanian Orthodox Church took the same position.

The hierarchs and faithful of the Moldovan Orthodox Church have felt increasingly Moldovan Orthodox Church: “Cease the moral torture of the Church”“The Church feels pressures similar to those from the Soviet period. More and more threats are being thrown at the Church and its servants,” writes His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir of Chișinău and All Moldova.

“>pressured by the state in the past few years.

His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church expressed support for Abp. Marchel and the entire Moldovan Orthodox Church:

I learned with regret that Archbishop Marchel has encountered obstacles that will prevent him from witnessing the descent of the Holy Fire. I have repeatedly observed this miracle, truly a miracle, despite the fact that there are forces that cannot tolerate its radiance and invent various fables about its origin. Succumbing to their provocations, I too doubted, and the Lord personally revealed a miracle to me—the Fire hadn’t yet appeared in the Edicule, but on the second floor, my acquaintance’s candles lit up by themselves. Therefore, I, like no other, understand the feelings of Vladyka Marchel, and even more so his and all the Moldovan flock.

On this day, which every Orthodox Christian experiences with deep repentance and heartfelt contrition, I want to express my sincere support to the fullness of the Orthodox Church of Moldova. As it is said in the Gospel, If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also (Jn. 15:20). Don’t despair. On the contrary, it’s necessary to strengthen your hearts with faith, love and hope. Various forces may discriminate against the Church, trample on the fundamental rights of its clergy and parishioners, obstruct the trip to the Holy Land to deliver the Holy Fire to all faithful children of the Orthodox Church of Moldova. However, no one can deprive us of God’s mercy and support.

The Holy Fire is the harbinger of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, a visible sign of His love and care for us. Whoever rejects this gift rejects Divine grace. And instead of the Lord’s blessing, they bring upon themselves various troubles and disorders. For a truly believing soul, any trial is another step towards God. Through repentance, humility, and hope in the One who gave His life for the salvation of mankind from sin and eternal death.

Therefore, I dare to call on our Moldovan brothers and sisters to stand firm in the faith, hold fast to their Mother Church, and place all their worries in God’s hands. After all, as St. Theophan the Recluse very accurately said, “the Lord builds everything, and in the best way for us.” According to your faith, let it be to you. May the Merciful and long-suffering Lord send a particle of His Holy Fire into the heart of everyone who, despite everything, remains faithful to Him and their Mother Church!

Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

  

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Holy and Great SaturdayOf all the days the Holy and Great Forty Day Fast is the most distinguished, but more than the Holy Forty Day Fast the Holy and Great Passion Week is exalted, and more than the days of Holy Week Great and Holy Saturday is the most exalted. This week is called great not because these days or hours are more exalted but because the great, portentous and extraordinary deeds of our Savior were accomplished during this week, but especially on this day.

“>Holy Saturday… It seems that the whole world is silent, anticipating the Resurrection of Christ. We see nature itself truly rejoice and seem to freeze solemnly on this day. And the hearts of Christians—especially those who have spent this period in the feats of prayer and fasting—are filled with quiet joy. In a sense, this joy is a little more solemn than everything that will follow later, because there is still such a great hope and foretaste of this wonderful event—the most important feast of the Church.

But it is very important for us Christians in these hours and days to preserve all that we have gained during Lent, despite our weakness, and it is imperative that we remember three things.

Firstly, of course, the celebration of Pascha should not be reduced to a physical joy for us, which inevitably leads to physical suffering. And it often happens that people have been fasting throughout Lent, but then, sated with food and drink, in just a few hours they lose all the spiritual and physical lightness that they have acquired. The next morning they are already not so happy to exchange Paschal greetings. We really need to try and avoid this.

First and foremost, these words are addressed to those who have observed Lent for the first time in their lives or have just begun to do so. It is with them that such unexpected and disappointing falls very often occur after such spiritual victories. We should try to avoid this, keeping in mind that it is a primarily spiritual joy. It is in the Spirit that we must seek solace and our meeting with Christ.

Secondly, we must remember that the feast of the Resurrection of Christ is not a one-day celebration. It will last throughout Bright Week, followed by many other spiritually important events in the Church; and we should participate in them. This is a genuine feast, this is the Divine banquet that the Lord has prepared for us.

And in these days, let us try not to deprive ourselves of being in church, of Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, and of participation in prayer—and then we will see what the true joy and triumph of the Risen Christ is in our lives, in the life of the Church, and in the lives of our neighbors.

    

And thirdly, it must be remembered during these Paschal days that our meetings, festivities, meals, and trips that we arrange at this time must necessarily be combined with works of mercy and love. Actually, this tradition has always existed among Christians, and in Russia too—on Paschal days people tried to visit those who were having a hard time and who especially needed our Christian love.

These are the three things I wanted to say today, on this great and joyful day. And I wish everyone not to lose this spiritual sweetness, this spiritual fire, this warmth, this grace, which we, despite our sinfulness and unworthiness, by the grace of God, have acquired (if only in some small measure) during the days of Lent. Let us preserve this wealth, which will be useful to us in both earthly and eternal life, more than any banquets, holidays, or any food and drink. The real food and drink is the Body and Blood of Christ, and the grace of the Holy Spirit that the Lord gives us in a special way during these Paschal days. Amen.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family attended the Vatican’s Liturgy for the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on Good Friday during the first day of an April 18–20 visit to Rome.

On his trip, Vance — who is a convert to Catholicism — will also be visiting cultural and religious sites and meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. He met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday after landing in Rome.

“Vice President Vance looks forward to meeting with Prime Minister Meloni and Church officials while in Italy and is grateful for the opportunity to visit some of Rome’s amazing cultural and religious sites with his family during Holy Week,” the vice president’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, told CNA earlier on Friday.

There is no formal meeting scheduled between the vice president and Pope Francis, who, despite still recovering from double pneumonia, has resumed some informal public appearances — including a short visit to Rome’s Regina Coeli prison on Holy Thursday.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who left the hospital on March 23 after 38 days, also had a brief private encounter with King Charles III and Queen Camilla during their state visit to Italy on April 9.

Vance posted on X shortly before the liturgy on Friday that he “had a great meeting” with Meloni and was “headed to church soon with my family in this beautiful city.”

“I’m grateful every day for this job, but particularly today where my official duties have brought me to Rome on Good Friday,” he wrote. “I wish all Christians all over the world, but particularly those back home in the U.S., a blessed Good Friday.”

The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 18 was celebrated by Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, who was delegated to lead the service in the pope’s place. Following Vatican custom, the preacher of the papal household, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, delivered the homily.

Preaching on the “intelligence of the Cross,” Pasolini pointed out that “in a time when artificial and predictive intelligence dominates our thinking, the Cross offers a radically different form of wisdom—one that doesn’t calculate or compete but simply loves and gives.

“This intelligence is not artificial but deeply personal and open to God. In a world shaped by algorithms, the Cross restores authentic freedom—the freedom to love, even when it costs everything.”

In letting himself be nailed to a cross, Christ’s sacrifice was “not a passive surrender, but an act of supreme freedom, accepting weakness as the place where love can become full,” Pasolini said.

“It is not autonomy or great feats that give meaning to life, but the ability to transform limitations into an opportunity for giving. With this gesture, Jesus reveals to us that it is not strength that saves the world, but the weakness of love that holds nothing back and surrenders itself,” he said.

The vice president’s trip comes as the Vatican and President Donald Trump’s administration have traded back-and-forths over plans to deport large numbers of immigrants who entered the country illegally.

The administration has received praise from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for its efforts to curtail gender ideology and government mandates that jeopardize religious freedom. However, the bishops have also sued the administration over its decision to cut funding for nongovernmental organizations that provide services to migrants, which has affected numerous Catholic organizations.

Vance’s meeting with Meloni comes as the Trump administration continues to negotiate trade policies and tariffs with countries around the world, including countries in the European Union. Meloni also met Trump at the White House on April 17.

Angelus Staff also contributed to this report.