Tag: Christianity

To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,

My Beloved Children in the Lord,

CHRIST IS RISEN!
INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Now all is filled with light: heaven and earth and the lower regions. Let all creation celebrate the rising of Christ: in him we are established. (St. John of Damascus, Paschal Canon, Ode Three)

Today we greet the most radiant feast of feasts, the king and lord of days, the Pascha of Christ our true God. Standing in the light of the Resurrection, we glimpse the true and unfading joy of the life to come.

To be sure, even on this chosen and holy day of light-bearing festival, my own heart remains heavy as I look out upon the world and behold wars and terrorism, unjust imprisonment and persecution, civil strife and political divisions. Indeed, “the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of iniquity” (Ps. 73:20). The world and its troubles present a threefold temptation to Christians who behold this multitude of “dark places”: we are tempted to despair; we are tempted to indifference; and we are tempted to conform and subordinate our holy Orthodox Christian faith to some worldly political program or ideology.

However, with his Pascha, Christ offers us a different response: a hope beyond this world, yet already present in this world. As we sing in the Paschal Canon of St. John of Damascus, everything is filled with the light of the Resurrection, even the lower regions. Life has burst forth from the grave; a light has shone in darkness (Jn. 1:5).

We dwell in a world of real trouble, real sorrow, real pain. The Lord came down into this world and became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and he felt pain in his heart—on the night in which he was given up, his soul was “exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death”—and pain in his flesh (Is. 53:3; Mt. 26:38). But out of pain, the Lord has brought forth healing; out of sorrow, he has wrought an incorruptible source of joy. He died, but now he lives forever, and he offers us the same hope: eternal life.

And the eternal life that he offers is not just an extension of life in this world, with its ups and downs, sorrows and joys, sins and foibles and accidents. Rather he offers us abundant life, true life, by restoring our communion with God, who is the Source of life.

This true and incorruptible life, a life of constant trust and love and joy, is not only available in the world to come. Whenever we believe in Christ and his Resurrection and accept the joy of his Pascha, we are already, through faith and hope, getting a foretaste of that life—a life without fear of suffering or death, that sees sorrow as a source of joy, since even in sorrow, Christ, the Man of Sorrows, is there, ready to draw near to us in a union of love.

It is because of this that the holy Psalmist could write: “If I go up into heaven, thou art there; if I go down into hell, thou art present. If I take up my wings at dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand guide me, and thy right hand shall hold me” (Ps. 138:8–10).

Wherever we are, whatever troubles we experience in our lives, whatever troubles we behold in this world, Christ is there with us, suffering with us in our suffering and offering us the hope of the unfailing happiness of his Pascha, inviting us to be in the world and not of the world, storing up all our hope and all the treasure of our hearts with him, in the kingdom that has no end, where neither moth nor rust can destroy and where no thief can break in and steal (Mt. 6:20).

May he who rose from the dead on the third day, kindling the light of hope for all the world, always shine upon our hearts with Paschal light, filling us with a joy-making desire for the good things to come and changing all our troubles and cares into opportunities to hope and trust.

To him, the Risen Lord, be all glory and adoration, together with his Father and his All-holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages!

Yours in the Risen Christ,

+ TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

St. Rosa Venerini was born in Viterbo, Italy, on February 9, 1656. She was the daughter of a respected doctor, Goffredo, and one of four children.

At a young age, Rosa consecrated her life to God, despite many tests throughout her adolescence. In 1676, she joined a Dominican women’s community, but returned home after her father’s death to be with her mother. One of her brothers, Domenico, also died at age 27, and Rosa’s heartbroken mother died soon after.

In dealing with her family tragedies, Rosa invited local women to pray the Rosary with her in her home. She learned that many did not receive proper religious formation and education, and began a path to change this.

In 1685m, with the help of two friends and her local bishop’s approval, Rosa opened the first public school for girls in Italy. Although she met with some resistance, most Church and state officials supported her, and those who opposed this new educational model changed their minds after seeing her success.

Rosa left Viterbo and founded 10 new schools in the Diocese of Montefiascone between 1692-1694. She also trained her successor, St. Lucia Filippini.

It took many years, and one failed attempt, but Rosa succeeded in opening a school in Rome in 1713. Three years later, Pope Clement XI and eight cardinals listed the school, and witnessed her work. The pope thanked Rosa, telling her, “With these schools you will sanctify Rome.”
As Rosa’s schools achieved success, she took on many additional responsibilities. She was often traveling, all the while maintaining a strong prayer life, with guidance from Jesuit priests. She eventually founded over 40 schools.

St. Rosa died on May 7, 1728. Her religious congregation, called the “Master pie Venerini” in Italian, still maintains an international presence.

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Again the holy Church calls us, its children, to the tomb of our Savior. Again it urges us to remember our Lord’s death on the Cross with its great bodily and spiritual sufferings with a wonderful, touching service. And, imbued with these memories together with the Church, we understand that the Lord accepted these sufferings and death for our salvation. For our sake, He experienced deadly sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane and entreated His disciples to stay with Him. For our sake, He endured a godless judgment from the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas, and then from Pilate. For our sake, He was tied to a pillar, endured spitting, slapping, beating, and was adorned with a crown of thorns. For our sake, He was innocently condemned to death. For our sake, He was abandoned not only by all people, but even His own disciples. In order to drink the whole cup of suffering to the dregs, the Savior was even abandoned by His Divine Father, which is why He exclaimed on the Cross: My God, my God, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? Holy and Great FridayJudge, I say, judge, what was the sharpness, bitterness and burning of the sufferings of the cross, what was the spiritual sorrow of the Lamb of God, who took upon Himself the sins of the world.

“>why hast Thou forsaken Me? (Mt. 27:46).

The Lord endured all these great torments and death upon the Cross in order to remove from us the Divine curse to which mankind was subjected for the ancestral sin and again grant us the grace of the Holy Spirit to acquire a holy and blessed life in unity with Christ forever in His effable Kingdom.

Will we, aware of all the salvific power of the sufferings and death of the Lord, really depart now from His tomb only to go out and immediately drown out this consciousness in ourselves with the whirlpool of everyday vanity? If, beloved, we have behaved this way heretofore, let it not be so with us from now on. Let us leave here not only with the awareness of the saving significance for us of the sufferings and death of Christ, but also with love for Him—of course, with true love, that is, sacrificial love, for there can be no love for God without labors, without self-sacrifice, without sufferings for the sake of Christ.

Oh, if only we would leave this tomb as once Saint John the Theologian Preacher of Divine LoveHis zeal for the salvation of those who were perishing knew no obstacles. And the meekness, humility, and kindness of this great apostle were so amazing and touching, that he seemed to be not a man but an angel incarnate. His entire life was a life of love.

“>St. John the Theologian left the departed Lord on Golgotha. He was so wrapped up with love for Christ that the mortal danger that threatened him couldn’t overcome it. Driven by this love, he couldn’t leave his Divine Teacher, and for this the Lord honored him with a great, incomparable honor by adopting him to His Most Pure Mother. Oh, if only we would walk away from this tomb as the centurion walked away from the Cross. Seeing how nature shuddered at the sufferings and death of Christ, he openly confessed him as the Son of God, and later suffered for Him as a hieromartyr of the Orthodox Church of Christ. Oh, if we would leave this tomb as the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women left the dead Christ, from Whom nothing in the world could separate them. Oh, if we would leave this tomb with such love for Christ as had the great Apostle Paul. Embraced by it, he said: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter… For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:35-36, 38-39).

The Savior Himself demands such sacrificial love for God from us when He says: Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Mk. 8:34). If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple (Lk. 14:26).

It’s not because He needs it that the Lord demands of us to love Him with complete selflessness. He demands such love from us because we are in need of it if we want to save ourselves, for without self-sacrificial love for God, as a spiritual Divine power, we’ll be powerless to fulfill the commandments of Christ. This is why He told the disciples at the Of Thy Mystical Supper…Of Thy Mystical Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant. For I will not speak of Thy Mysteries to Thine enemies, neither like Judas will I give Thee a kiss. But like the thief will I confess Thee: remember me O Lord, in Thy Kingdom.” We hear this hymn on Sundays before approaching the chalice to receive Holy Communion, so I thought it would be nice to look at the words of the hymn a little more closely.

“>Mystical Supper: If ye love Me, keep My commandments (Jn. 14:15). If a man love Me, he will keep My words… He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings (Jn. 14:23-24).

Yes, it’s not easy for us who are so attached to earthly things to have love for Christ. But without it, we will not only never be able to follow Him, to be His disciples and love our neighbors, but we will be the most miserable people and perish forever. This is why the Lord says: I am the vine, ye are the branches… If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned (Jn. 15:5-6). And the Holy Apostle Paul looks upon those who have no love for Christ as lost. He gives such Christians over to anathema, saying: If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema (1 Cor. 16:22).

Yes, it’s not easy to have love for Christ. But what great promises the Lord has given to those who love Him! If ye abide in Me, He says, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (Jn. 15:7). If ye … abide in My love … My joy shall remain in you, and your joy shall be full (it will be perfect) (Jn. 15:10-11). He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him (Jn. 14:21). If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (Jn. 14:23).

This is what the Lord promises those who love Him. He promises to fulfill all their prayers. He promises to pour His Divine joy into their souls. He promises to appear to them and make His abode in them together with His Father and Divine Spirit and thus make their hearts, still here on earth, the abode of the entire Holy Trinity.

Therefore, let us endeavor, beloved children in Christ, to depart from this tomb with true love for Christ, or at least with a firm determination to kindle this great and blessed love in ourselves. However, it won’t immediately open up in our hearts. This love is preceded by great labor. It requires a bloody, painful struggle against our passions, against the world lying in evil, and especially against the devil—the first and most dangerous enemy on the path to acquiring this love. But for now, let the determination to acquire this love for Christ, come what may, arise in our hearts. The Lord, Who aids every good deed, will also help us in the realization of this holy determination of ours. How could He not help us have this love for Him, when, for us to acquire this love, that is, to unite men with God, Christ both suffered and died on the Cross? Alas, we are very negligent about our salvation. We often make every effort to acquire something that’s unnecessary for our salvation while not caring at all about acquiring what is salvific. Therefore, let us thus pray to Jesus Christ, Who suffered and died for us: “Lord, Thou hast said: Without Me ye can do nothing (Jn. 15:5). Kindle Thou the fire of love for Thee in our hearts, and may this Divine fire burn ever more in us and burn brightly in our lives, that we might ever serve Thee and glorify Thee with our pure Christian love and be Thy true children and inherit the blessedness of Thy Heavenly Kingdom. May Thy Divine words be fulfilled in us: If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be (Jn. 12:26). Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world (Jn. 17:24).

Amen.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom (Lk. 23:42)

When we came to the praetorium, a service was already being held in a small church. It was difficult to get to the Liturgy, but we managed to go down to the cave where the Lord once sat on bare stones, fettered and emaciated, although the place was crowded. Here, in the chapel of the Prison of Christ, there is a recess in the rock, which is considered to be the very place where Christ was imprisoned. In order for everybody to venerate it, a narrow “passage” was formed, along which people could squeeze into the basement and then squeeze out somewhere else.

The Chapel of the Prison of Christ. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Jerusalem     

The praetorium was the judgment seat, and it was there, according to the Gospel, that Jesus Christ was tried. Here He was held in dungeon together with Barabbas and other criminals. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified (Mt. 27:21-23). The people, who shouted “Hosanna!” yesterday, and were shouting today, “Let Him be crucified!”, were faced with an alternative: either the Lord, Who performed works of mercy, Healed the sick and raised some from the dead, or Barabbas, who performed works of iniquity, killing and destroying. Love or hate, truth or falsehood, good or evil, life or death. The choice was made in favor of evil, hatred, lies and death. They chose Barabbas.

But can we judge them? How do we, who live today, differ from the Jews who crowded together on that fateful day on the square in front of Pontius Pilate? What choices do we make today?

Millions of murderers (I am not afraid to make a mistake in giving this terrifying figure) serenely walk this earth, which is groaning from our iniquities. “Pious” mothers and wives who sacrificed their unborn babies, mercilessly making them martyrs, continue to live quietly without seeing their guilt, while raising their born children who are already being killed spiritually… Isn’t a voluntary choice taking place today again and again? “Barabas” means evil, hatred, lies (first of all, self-deception), and finally death…

And do we, the “Christians” who crossed the threshold of the church and repented, continue the work of Christ? Don’t we sometimes “kill” each other by our pride, anger, irritation, humiliations, toxic and stinging words daily and hourly? Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer (1 Jn. 3:15), St. John the Evangelist appeals to our conscience. How far we are from being Thy true disciples, O Lord! “Woe to us if the name of Christ is blasphemed through our lack of love for others,” Archimandrite John (Krestiankin) used to say. While we mourn the Passion of Christ during Holy Week, in practice we are followers of Barabbas!… Lord, have mercy on us, sinners.

It was towards the end of the Liturgy. Pushing and shoving each other aside, everyone rushed to the exit. As they were crushing each other, someone’s voice was heard: “The gates to the Kingdom of Heaven are narrow (cf. Mt. 7:14)!” But will we really enter Paradise this way? If only we were as zealous in doing good works, fulfilling God’s commandments, striving for humility and love… My heart was heavy, but this time not over the Passion and death of the Lord, but over our general boundless guilt before Him. Shame for our lives, apostasy and betrayal. Your heart is being torn into small pieces, your soul is soaring up like a wistful string, aching from an almost physical pain and shame before infinite Love, Whose gaze penetrates to the very bottom of the seemingly bottomless abyss of your soul. Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children (Lk. 23:28).

From here, with mournful singing in different languages, with crucifixes of all sizes from small to large, our procession headed by the crucifixion, which was to be carried by the Patriarch, representing the Lord Himself, set off along the Way of the Cross—the route believed to have been walked by Christ to His Crucifixion. A “river” of people moved along Via Dolorosa, with a “forest” of wooden crosses swaying over it. Bishops, clergy, and monastics marched in black vestments. They walked, stopping at the places where, according to tradition, the Lord stopped, drenched in blood and sweat, falling and rising again, under the weight of His Cross. These places are called the Stations. Soon we came to the square in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After praying, the clergy ascended to Golgotha. The procession reached its destination.

Holy Friday Cross Procession in Jerusalem     

But for a long time on that day–Holy and Great Friday–people continued to come to the site where Christ was crucified. Like banners, they carried their crosses, lovingly decorated with flowers, ribbons, and greenery. And, taking them up to Golgotha, they sanctified them by touching them against the great shrine in order to take them all over the world after that.

By the will of God, I was surrounded by Serbs, strong and courageous people. The Serbian nation suffered greatly from Albanian attacks. Prayer and the true faith of Christians are born in tribulation. “We have turned away from God,” the young Yugoslav answered simply and clearly on TV news when asked by a journalist about the cause of the disasters that had befallen his country. You had to be close to these people in order to feel their pain for the defilement of their homeland, the destruction of their churches and the humiliation of their nation. “Before Thy Cross, we bow down in worship, O Master!” they sang together with me in Russian. Switching to their Serbian hymns no more than twice throughout the journey, they returned again and again to our Russian prayers and the troparion, “O Lord, save Thy people…” It’s a pity that none of them needed my help to carry the cross, but at least I managed to venerate their crucifixion with my hand, touching it before it was taken to faraway Serbia for veneration by the people for whom it had not only been carried along the great path of the Savior’s Passion, but also taken up to Golgotha and touched against the great holy site where our Lord was crucified!

Come down from the Cross (Mt. 27:40), the Jews shouted to Christ. “Come down from the Cross,” satan whispers to us. May God help you, our Serbian brothers, bear your cross to the end so that you too may finally ascend to your Golgotha.

    

Holy and Great Friday was nearing its end. Friday is the day when Christ was betrayed. The day when the human judgment was passed on Him and He was condemned. The day when He was tortured and tormented. The day when, exhausted under the weight of the Cross, He walked His last path. The day He was nailed to and lifted up on the Cross and subjected to the most shameful punishment worthy of the robbers and murderers crucified next to Him.

“Remember us, O Lord, in Thy Kingdom!” my soul cried out, while I was kneeling before the site of His Crucifixion.

It is finished (Jn. 19:30)! His pure Blood has been shed, washing away the guilt of our Ancestor Adam, who was reputedly reburied under the same Golgotha. The sacrifice of the Son of God for all mankind has been accomplished. The lifting of all the sins of the world by the Savior has been accomplished. His mission on this sinful earth has been fulfilled. It is finished!

We returned to the hotel in silence.

Jesus calls believers not only to be servants of his kingdom, as the prophets and Mary were, but also to be his friends, Pope Francis said.

“Friendship is not the fruit of calculation, nor of compulsion, it is born spontaneously when we recognize something of ourselves in the other,” he said May 5. “Jesus, in the Bible, tells us that for him we are precisely this: friends, people beloved beyond all merit and expectation, to whom he extends his hand and offers his love, his grace, his word.”

Before leading the “Regina Caeli” prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus tells the apostles, “I do not call you servants any longer, but friends.”

Jesus does not only want to entrust humanity with his mission of salvation, the pope said, “he wants more, something greater that goes beyond goods and plans themselves; it takes friendship.”

The pope asked people to think about the beauty of friendship that they experience throughout the course of their lives, from sharing toys as children and confiding secrets to one another as teenagers to exchanging joys and worries as adults and recounting memories together as seniors.

“Let us think a moment of our friends and thank the Lord for them,” he said.

In friendship, Jesus “shares what is dearest to him” with humanity, the pope said: “All that he has learned from the Father.”

Jesus is invested in his friendship with humanity “even to the point of making himself fragile for us, of placing himself in our hands, without defense or pretense, because he loves us,” he said. “The Lord loves us; as a friend he wants our good and he wants us to share in his.”

If a friendship is true, it is “so strong that is does not fail even in the face of betrayal,” he said, noting that Jesus calls Judas “friend” even after he had been betrayed.

“A true friend does not abandon you, even when you make mistakes: he corrects you, perhaps he reproaches you, but he forgives you and does not abandon you,” he said.

After reciting the “Regina Caeli” prayer, the pope asked Christians to pray for Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, “that there may be peace, that dialogue may be strengthened and bear good fruit. No to war, yes to dialogue!”

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Today, during the Liturgy, the Holy Church already spoke to us in its Gospel reading about the Resurrection of Christ. First an angel announced this joyous news to the Holy Myrrh-bearers, and as they were walking away from the tomb, the Resurrected Lord Himself appeared to them and said: “Let’s Live Beautifully and RejoiceThe enemy’s greatest fight with man is that he doesn’t allow him to live in the present—either in the future or the past, but not in the present!

“>Rejoice.”

One can imagine what great On Joy, Prayer and GratitudeSpiritual life is a conversation about the most important things: about who I am, what God wants from me, how I can fulfill His will and His Providence.

“>joy the Myrrh-bearers experienced, and then all the disciples of Christ, at receiving the news of the Resurrection, especially after the great shame on the Cross, after the severe suffering and death endured by the Lord Whom they loved so much. This joy was so vast that the Apostles didn’t believe the Myrrh-bearers when the latter told them about the Resurrection of Christ. Some of the Disciples couldn’t even believe their own eyes for joy when Christ appeared to them after His Resurrection. Not only the Holy Myrrh-bearers and the Apostles experienced this joy from the Risen Lord’s appearance to them. Many of the great righteous ones living after the Apostles also experienced it, by virtue of the immutable words of Christ: He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him (Jn. 14:21).

This joy was also experienced by our great God-pleaser St. Seraphim of Sarov when he was only twenty-six, that is, when he had not yet been cleansed from all the passions, but had only a fiery determination not to betray Christ in his life, but to belong to Him with all his being. The blessedness of the Lord’s appearance to him in glory was so great that he couldn’t move from his spot after this wonderful Divine revelation to him, couldn’t speak a single word for several hours, and his heart melted from the blessedness of Paradise.

However, the word “Rejoice” spoken to the Myrrh-bearers includes not only the wondrous joy from the appearance of the Risen Lord—this word also speaks to us about another great joy that the Myrrh-bearers, Apostles, and all Christians should have. This joy comes from the inner regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, which the Apostles received on the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ, and which began to be communicated to all Orthodox believers in Holy Baptism, in the Mystery of holy Chrismation. We don’t immediately feel joy from this grace, but it gradually reveals itself in us together with grace, according to the measure of our fulfillment of the holy commandments of Christ, as St. Niketas Stethatos teaches in Seeking the Depths: the history of the PhilokaliaWe’re all drawn to beautiful things, and of course the beauty that inheres in all beautiful things is the beauty of the Divine. The ultimate beauty that exerts its magnetic pull on us is not a beautiful face, or landscape, or piece of music, but it is the beauty of the Divine which is refracted or reflected in these earthly beauties. “Philokalia” means the love of the beautiful.

“>The Philokalia, and other Holy Fathers.

Having revealed this grace, holy people became like gods on earth through their holy lives and like them experienced the unceasing joy of the Heavenly Kingdom. This is how St. Anthony the Great speaks of this beatitude: “I prayed for you to receive that fiery Spirit, Whom I have. But first, offer bodily labors and humility of heart, and this Holy Spirit will be given to you. And when He comes and makes His abode in you, He will drive away the fear of men and beasts. He will reveal the highest Heavenly mysteries to you, and you will have Heavenly joy day and night, and you will be, in this body, like those who are already in the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ.”

This is why the holy Apostle Paul called the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit that we receive a pledge of the future inheritance (Eph. 1:13-14), that is, of the eternal blessedness of the Kingdom of Christ. We can’t feel this great blessedness, this immense Divine joy in all its fullness now. Therefore, the Lord gives us the chance to have just a foretaste of it. We don’t receive all the blessedness now, but only part of it—the pledge that is the grace of the Holy Spirit.

And this is still not all the Christian joy that is contained in the word of the Risen Christ, “Rejoice.” It also points us to that great joy that we receive from communing of the Body and Blood of Christ. Of course, not everyone experiences such fruits of grace in their soul from this terrible and wonderful Mystery. This joy is felt by those who approach the chalice with the Body and Blood of Christ with true repentance, that is, with deep heartfelt contrition for their sins and with an unyielding determination not to return to their former sins. This joy is felt by those who always remain in humility and steadily observe all the Divine commandments, becoming like the angels in their chaste purity and their meekness. With such a holy life, truly faithful people are illuminated by the Divine Light from receiving the Most Pure Mysteries, are united with God by grace, are deified, and experience the blessedness of Paradise. Then the Lord gives them to taste this supreme and greatest good that the Prophet Isaiah foretold and to which the Apostle Paul testified: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (1 Cor. 2:9, Is. 64:4).

Undoubtedly, the word “Rejoice” also includes that paradisiacal blessedness that we will experience in all its fullness in the future life, after the General Resurrection and the Dread Judgment of Christ. We can’t even imagine this blessedness now. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, says St. John the Theologian, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn. 3:2). This is why St. Seraphim of Sarov, personally experiencing a foretaste of this future beatitude of Paradise, said, “Even were we to face the most terrifying and very prolonged sufferings, we must readily agree to endure them, only not to lose that great unspeakable joy and beatitude that the Lord has prepared for all who love Him.” How could it be otherwise, when the holy Apostle Paul, having experienced the blessedness of Heavenly dwellings and constantly enduring all sorts of severe tribulations on earth, said, The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom. 8:18).

These are the Christian joys or Heavenly beatitudes about which the Divine word, “Rejoice,” speaks to us. This word also tells us that all these joys are our property, because they were given to us by the Resurrection of Christ.

The holy Apostle Paul said that if Christ be not raised … we are of all men most miserable (1 Cor. 15:17, 19). Clearly, by virtue of the Resurrection of Christ, we are the happiest people in the world.

Yes, we experience many, many sorrows. But let no sorrows overshadow our Christian joys, stemming from the Resurrection of Christ. The Risen Lord knew what great sorrows the Holy Myrrh-bearers, Holy Apostles, and all of His true followers lived and would live. And despite this, He told them all, “Rejoice.” Let us never forget that Pascha is deliverance from sorrow.

By virtue of His Resurrection, the Lord has given us the ability to rejoice even in sorrow, and to find the source of our consolation, our joy in even the deepest sorrows. This is why the holy Apostle Paul said, As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ (2 Cor. 1:5). Let us only love Christ, as the Holy Myrrh-bearers, the Disciples, and all His true followers loved Him. After all, for the love of Christ, He appeared to them, gladdening and comforting them with His appearances. Let us also love Christ; that is, let us faithfully fulfill His will, His Divine commandments. Then the Risen Lord, according to His promise, will appear to us or will show His ineffable mercy. Then He will abide with us, with all the joys of His bright Resurrection. For immutable are His Divine words : I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Mt. 28:20).

Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. John J. McDermott to be the bishop of Burlington, Vermont.

Bishop-designate McDermott, a priest of the Diocese of Burlington, currently serves as the diocesan administrator. He was elected to the post in October 2023 following the appointment of then-Bishop Christopher J. Coyne as coadjutor archbishop of Hartford, Connecticut, June 26. Archbishop Coyne automatically succeeded Archbishop Leonard P. Blair when he retired May 1.

The appointment for Burlington was publicized in Washington May 6 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop-designate McDermott, 61, a native of New Jersey, was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Burlington June 3, 1989. His ordination and installation as Burlington’s 11th bishop will take place July 15 at St. Joseph Cathedral in Burlington.

John Joseph McDermott was born March 19, 1963, in Red Bank, New Jersey, the son of the late Robert and Jacqueline (Sullivan) McDermott. After high school graduation, he attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, and he completed his studies for a bachelor of arts degree in political science and philosophy at Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina.

He entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he earned a master’s of divinity and master of arts in theology. He was ordained by Bishop John A. Marshall at what was then the diocesan cathedral, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Burlington. Then-Father McDermott earned a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington in 2004.

His pastoral assignments following ordination included serving as parochial vicar at St. Augustine Parish in Montpelier (1989-1992) and at St. Mark Parish in Burlington (1992-1996). He also was chaplain at Rice Memorial Catholic High School. He was administrator and then pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Middlebury and St. Bernadette Parish in Bridport. From 1996 to 2001, he was Catholic chaplain to Middlebury College in Middlebury.

During his studies in canon law, then-Father McDermott was associate director of the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont and pastor of St. Thomas Parish in Underhill and St. Mary Parish in Cambridge.

In 2004, he was named vice chancellor of the Burlington Diocese and a year later was named chancellor. He also was moderator of the curia from 2006 to 2009 while serving as chancellor. He has served in the diocesan tribunal as the defender of the bond and promoter of justice. In June 2009, he was named vicar general of the diocese, while continuing as chancellor and holding his offices in the diocesan tribunal.

Bishop-designate McDermott’s priestly ministry has included service on a number of committees and boards, including the diocesan finance council, the diocesan administrative board and the board of trustees for St. Michael’s College in Colchester. He was named a monsignor in 2012.

In 2014, he was apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Burlington, serving in the post after Bishop Salvatore R. Matano was named to head the Diocese of Rochester, New York, and before Bishop Coyne was named Burlington’s 10th bishop.

Bishop Coyne reappointed Bishop-designate McDermott as vicar general, moderator of the curia and chancellor in 2015. In addition to these diocesan duties, he was pastor of Christ the King-St. Anthony Parish in Burlington, from 2015-2021. Since 2021, he also has served as the director of The Catholic Center at the University of Vermont.

Bishop-designate McDermott has three brothers and six sisters, as well as 22 nephews and nieces.

The Diocese of Burlington, which covers the state of Vermont, has a Catholic population of 100,000 Catholics out of a total population of 645,570.

    

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

Beloved in the Lord Your Graces the archpastors, all-honourable presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters,

On today’s “feast of feasts and solemnity of solemnities”, which, as Saint Gregory the Theologian proclaims, “is far exalted above all others – not only those which are merely human and are of the earth, but even those which are of Christ himself, and are celebrated in his honour – as the sun is above the stars” (Oration 45 on Holy Pascha), it is with great joy that I address you with the greeting that is both ancient and eternally new, which all are long accustomed to and yet which forever compels our hearts to soar aloft:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

These two life-affirming words contain so much power that the countenances of people shine with spiritual joy from them and the world that surrounds us is literally transfigured: “Now all things are filled with light: heaven, and earth, and the places under the earth. The seen and unseen world celebrates, for Christ who is eternal joy has risen” (Paschal Canon).

The Resurrection of the Saviour is not merely a historical event of which we know from Scripture. It is the cornerstone of our faith and is, as Saint Philaret of Moscow states, “that which is eternally new, the fountain of our thoughts, of our amazement, of thanksgiving and hope” (Homily for the day of Pascha).

Through his incarnation, passion and rising from the dead on the third day the Saviour renews human nature, delivers us from the power of sin and death, opens up to us the gates of the kingdom of heaven and shows us the way to oneness with the Maker. It is indeed in Christ that “God was reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5.19) so that we may become sons by adoption and are justified, that we may find life everlasting, for “there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved other than Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 4.10-12).

The Saviour’s rising from the tomb transforms death into immortality, sadness into joy, condemnation into hope. On the cross and in the resurrection the God of infinite goodness and perfect love is revealed to us.

The awareness of this all-conquering love of God arouses within us a sense of thanksgiving towards the Maker and grants to us the strength to overcome the times when our hearts endure the greatest affliction and arduous circumstances, it elevates us above the vanity of everyday life, it helps us to correct our former errors and casts down the despondency which hinders us in living a full life and growing spiritually.

People often succumb to the deceptive notion that evil reigns and triumphs, while good passes by unnoticed and is weak. Our mind hesitates in believing in the power of redemption which Christ has accomplished when it sees around us the death of those closest to us, when it hears of the eternal torments for sinners in the Gospel and contemplates “the world which lies under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5.19). Yet for thousands of years the Church of God has borne convincing witness that the Saviour has overcome sin and “annihilated death and despoiled Hades” (Saint John Chrysostom. Paschal Catechetical Homily). Christ has cast aside the inevitability of death and the universality of evil, and we look upon their defeat through the eyes of faith from the age to come, from the lofty heights of Pascha.

The Lord’s rising from the tomb reminds us not only of the most important event of the past, but also testifies to the coming resurrection of all, “for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died” (1 Thess. 4.14). It is, then, vital that we observe God’s commandments, accomplish deeds of love and mercy, participate in the sacramental life of the Church in order to partake in Christ’s victory and remain faithful to him to the end, recalling the words of Scripture: “For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised” (Heb. 10.36).

For this reason, as the apostle exhorts us, dear brothers and sisters: “Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward” (Heb. 10.35). And may the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus be an unchanging reminder of these steadfast divine promises which grant to us hope and strength in even the most difficult of circumstances. May this solemnity inspire us all to live in faith and love, knowing that neither death, nor suffering, nor evil can ever overcome us if we are with Christ and in Christ, who has vanquished sin, death and all falsehood.

Let us, then, “keep the feast of the Lord’s Passover by living a life of purity and virtue and by accomplishing good deeds” (Saint Athanasius the Great. 10th Paschal Letter), so that in being transformed into a new person in Christ we may “serve a living and true God, and wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming” (1 Thess. 1.9-10). Amen.

+KIRILL
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA

Pascha
2024

The Mexican bishops’ conference has questioned accusations of untoward behavior by retired Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of Chilpancingo-Chilapa amid conflicting accounts of his disappearance and subsequent reappearance in a hospital bed — with the conference secretary general saying the situation had assumed political overtones.

“This situation has taken a turn toward a political orchestration that is far from seeking truth and justice,” secretary general of Mexico’s bishops’ conference, Bishop Ramón Castro Castro of Cuernavaca, said in a May 5 video.

“In these times of fake news and polarization, we deeply regret that speculations are being made lightly about the appearance of Monsignor Salvador Rangel, which, far from clarifying (things), confuse people of good will and harm those who are currently unable to share their experience,” Bishop Castro said.

Bishop Rangel, who is well known in Mexico for his work brokering truces with drug cartel bosses, disappeared April 29 and reappeared two days later in a public hospital in the city of Cuernavaca, 50 miles south of Mexico City.

The circumstances of his disappearance have provoked controversy as the Morelos state prosecutor and local politicians — who analysts and press stories describe as being at odds with each other — offered conflicting accounts.

Morelos state prosecutor Uriel Carmona said Bishop Rangel was the likely victim of an express kidnapping, in which victims are abducted, robbed and released without a ransom being requested. He also revealed that toxicology reports showed benzodiazepines and cocaine in his system, suggesting he had been drugged.

But state public security commissioner José Antonio Ortiz Guarneros disputed those claims, telling reporters May 2: “The prosecutor must demonstrate why it was an express kidnapping. (People) in politics are taking advantage of this to undermine security in the state.”

He continued, “As far as we know, (the bishop) voluntarily entered the motel, with a person of the same sex, and that person left. But that is what we know, because we went to ask for information, however the prosecutor’s office had already arrived and they did not allow us.”

A hospital intake report signed by a social worker was also leaked to the media. The report said paramedics found the bishop “unconscious and naked” in a hotel room. The bishops’ belongings brought by paramedics included clothing, shoes, “lubricating gel and a small black case with six condoms (one open) and five blue pills,” according to the newsmagazine Proceso. “No identification, nor money or any object of value was collected.”

Details of the case appear confusing, along with the political dispute between the prosecutor and the Morelos state government. The state government — with help from the federal government — has unsuccessfully attempted to remove Carmona, whose office is autonomous.

Bishop Rangel left his home in suburban Cuernavaca — where he has resided since retiring as bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa in 2022 — on the morning of April 27. He left without his mobile phone, according to media reports. Luis Gasca, Bishop Rangel’s attorney, told journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva that the prelate stopped at a convenience store to purchase a drink “and that’s where he lost consciousness.”

Interim Gov. Samuel Sotelo Salgado told reporters that Bishop Rangel was spotted at a pizza parlor in a community south of Cuernavaca on the evening of April 27, where he met with an employee. He also said that two bank machine withdrawals were made that day, “but there are no witnesses or cameras that saw him kidnapped.”

Mexican media outlets cited the governor and security sources saying the Cruz Roja Mexicana, Spanish for Mexican Red Cross, which provides ambulance service, transported Bishop Rangel from a motel charging patrons by the hour to a public hospital.

The Red Cross chapter in Cuernavaca, however, released a statement May 3, saying it had no records of its ambulances transporting Bishop Rangel, “thus contrasting the version that the bishop had been found in a hotel and transferred to the general hospital of Cuernavaca,” Infobae agency reported.

Bishop Rangel has been released from the hospital and is being cared for by relatives, according to a person familiar with the situation. He is suffering from high blood pressure and post-COVID symptoms, according to media reports.

“Once Monsignor Salvador Rangel has the capacity to make a statement, we will do so in an institutional manner and rest assured that eventually, in line with our canonical norms, we will act accordingly,” Bishop Castro said in his May 5 video.

“We urge the competent authorities to carry out an exhaustive, objective, impartial, fair and illuminating investigation that contributes to justice,” the prelate added.

Bishop Rangel’s disappearance sparked widespread concern, along with fears for the worst, as he is known for his dialogues with drug cartel leaders in the state of Guerrero — which unfolds to the south of Mexico City and Morelos and takes in the glitz of Acapulco, impoverished indigenous communities and the country’s heroin-producing heartland.

The four bishops of Guerrero state helped broker a deal with drug cartel bosses in February.

Bishop Rangel, however, has been outspoken on the ineffectiveness of government security policy and alleged that politicians in Guerrero — and beyond — often colluded with drug cartels.

“At least right now in Guerrero, all the elections in my area are almost settled,” he told OSV News April 1, referring to drug cartels settling on candidates to back.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he welcomed the Guerrero bishops’ initiatives to pacify the state. Some of the president’s partisans in Guerrero objected, however.

Félix Salgado Macedonio, a senator from Guerrero for the ruling Morena party and father of state Gov. Evelyn Salgado, attacked the bishops for intervening, saying public security was a matter for the state.

He added caustically, “There are bishops that represent God and the devil, we no longer know who they represent.”

The controversy engulfing Bishop Rangel comes as Mexico prepares for June 2 elections, in which the ruling Morena party has campaigned on the proposition that Mexico has become less violent under its administration and chastised voices countering that narrative.

Morena candidate Claudia Sheibaum, who leads all polls, called the security diagnosis in a bishops’ conference peace proposal “pessimistic” but later met with the conference at its biannual meetings.

Bishop Castro said at a March press conference that the relations between the bishops’ conference and president were cordial, but not close.

He said in a May 5 homily: “Thousands of bots, of persons interested in damaging the church’s moral authority, which thanks to God has regained strength, have seen the opportunity. Thousands! Thousands! It’s a factory of bots from ‘you know who’ which is attacking the church.”

Mexican media interpreted “you know who” as President López Obrador, who has used the term in political advertising. A spokesman for Bishop Castro said it referred more to Morena and the “government apparatus.”

Most Revered Brother Archpastors, Beloved in the Lord Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters:

With joy and thankfulness in my heart, I greet you on this salvific night of Pascha, when our Lord Jesus Christ rose on the third day, pouring out His unfailing love and mercy on the whole world.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

This radiant and joyous Paschal greeting has the wonderworking power to call forth in the human heart joy, forgiveness of all, and love. “This… day which the Lord hath made” (Psalm 118:24) – Christ’s Pascha – gives wings of faith to those of little faith and strengthens those who despair of life. Truly, in a world frequently faced with crises and uncertainty, Pascha shines like a beacon of hope. Thus, in these difficult times, when mankind is seized by various misfortunes, let us hold fast to the Risen Christ and find in Him consolation amidst sorrows, strength in our ongoing struggle with sin, and surety of eternal life!

On the threshold of His suffering, the Lord was surrounded by human passions that led Him to Golgotha. The Pharisees had long sought to kill Him, while the people, who only days before had ecstatically greeted the Savior in Jerusalem, were now powerfully disenchanted with Him, because He did not turn out to be the political messiah who, as they had hoped, would deliver them from the Romans and restore the Kingdom of Israel. To the shouts of “Hosanna” and the cries of “Crucify Him!,” just as to accusations and false witness, Christ responded with silence. As the Gospel says, “but Jesus held His peace” (Matthew 26:63). Preaching in Galilee and Jerusalem “the Gospel of the Kingdom” (Matthew 4:23), which “is not of this world” (John 18:36), Christ did not speak out about the Roman occupation or the imprisonment and execution of His Forerunner. He did not call on the people to overcome the torturous problems of human society or societal ills, but rather of fallen human nature – in the name of healing it and transforming it into a divine nature. The Lord preached His Gospel and worked wonders, comforting those in sorrows and strengthening their faith. And we, as the Body of Christ, raising ourselves above contemporary political squabbles of every stripe, are called to show care for the man starved of love, bringing him the good news of the God’s Word through prayer and the example of our lives. It is namely prayer that helps us to not become embittered and lose the image of God. And since working wonders is beyond our ability, we can and must, according to the commandment of Christ, selflessly do good deeds for the consolation of our neighbors. Therefore, as we celebrate “the saving Pascha of God,” let us continue our labors in raising financial and humanitarian aid to benefit those who suffer, fervently praying for peace in the Holy Land and in Ukraine, and warmly receiving refugees, among them the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Acting in this way, we will make our humble contribution to the work of establishing Christ’s Kingdom, becoming “the light of the world” (John 8:12) and “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). We note further
that our so-called “silence” is not a passive state, but on the contrary – it is most active, demanding patience and great effort, and is instrumental in overcoming discord and accomplishing “the union of all,” for which we pray at every divine service.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, Who once said to His followers “Rejoice” (Matthew 28:9) and “Peace be unto you” (John 20:19), repeat these radiant greetings in the hearts of each of us in these holy and grace-filled days of the celebration of Holy Pascha. Amen.

With Paschal joy in the Risen Christ and asking your holy prayers,

+NICHOLAS
Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

Christ’s Pascha 2024