وجبـــــــة روحيـــــ(†)ــــــــــة يوميـــــــــة

[Mary Naeem]

To the Praises of the first Tone are added the Stichera of Easter: “A sacred Pascha has been shown to us today; A new Pascha, a holy Pascha, a mystic Pascha, an all venerable Pascha, Pascha which is Christ the Redeemer. a spotless Pascha, a great Paschal…”, which brings directly to mind St Gregory the Theologian, “But O Great and holy Pascha and cleanser of all the world, for I converse with you as with a living soul; O Word of God, Light, Life, and Wisdom and Power; I rejoice in all your names “(Homily of Easter).

[Mary Naeem]

Yes!.. Yes!… The Pascha of the believers, our Pascha, is not a feast. It is a person. It is Christ Himself; the Word of God, the true Light, Life itself: the all-powerful Strength and Wisdom of God which created the world. He passed us over, not again through a Red Sea dryshod, chased by the Egyptians, but chased by the noetic Pharaoh, the devil, He passed us from the salty sea of sin and from the abyss of death, to the joy of forgiveness and communication with God, to the life of blessedness and eternity. He “passed us” from the dry land of our exile, to the bedewed heavenly nation, to the gladness of the firstborn… Glory to God!

[Mary Naeem]

The same holy Father of the Church is brought to our memory by the superb and most joyful of hymns, the Doxasticon of the Praises: “It is the day of Resurrection, let us be bright for the Festival and embrace each other; here is the exhortation for the brotherly Pascha kiss of love. Let us say brethren to those who hate us, let us forgive all things for the Resurrection and thus let us cry, Christ is risen from the dead….”Where almost word by word, are repeated the words with which St. Gregory started his famous Homily “To the Holy Pascha and to lateness”.

[Mary Naeem]

And after the Praises and the Kiss (which in older times was a Kiss by everyone among themselves, a holy Kiss, according to the exhortation of the Doxasticon as we already said), the senior cleric reads the famous Catechetical homily of St John Chrysostom (today it is the custom, unfortunately not according to proper order, for it to be read at the end of the Divine Liturgy): “If anyone is pious and God-loving, let him enjoy this good and bright festival…”.

[Mary Naeem]

The golden mouth of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, calls the pious and God-loving people, the grateful Servants of God, the honourable workers of the divine will, but also all those, who, even at the last moment moved by a sense of honour, would like to approach, to enter into the light-filled joy of the Resurrection and to enjoy of the “banquet of faith”. “Let no one grieve at his poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one lament their transgressions, for forgiveness has dawned from the grave. Let no one tear death, for the Saviour’s death has freed us”. In these phrases is condensed all the meaning which the Resurrection of Christ has for us people. Forgiveness of sins at one end, and freedom from the power of death, eternal life that is, at the other end. Now then “death where is your sting?” Where is your poisonous sting with which you stung, poisoned and Killed humans? “Hades where is your victory?” Hades where are your victories over humans, which you boasted, that no one would escape? “Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and demons have fallen. Christ is risen, and Angels rejoice. Christ is risen and life goes on. Christ is risen and there are no dead in the tombs”! Because Christ arose from the dead, became the beginning, the offering, the ransom of the dead! To Him belongs glory and dominion to the ages of ages.

[Mary Naeem]

Which Christian heart has never been moved on hearing these words? Which soul-strings have not vibrated? A heart must be of stone because of apathy so as to remain unmoved, not to soften, not to feel compunction, not to feel the vibrations of Grace upon hearing these all-sweet. most pleasurable. God-inspired words of the divine Chrysostom!…

[Mary Naeem]

At the Resurrection Liturgy (always Chrysostom’s) instead of the Trisagion (Holy God, Holy Mighty, etc) we chant “Those of you baptised in Christ, have been vested with Christ. Alleluia”, because in the early Church, the Catechumens were baptised on Great Saturday, who newly -lightened now, entered the church at this time in procession, dressed in all-white and holding lit candles in their hands, so as to take part, with all rights of worship, in the Liturgy of the Faithful.

[Mary Naeem]

In the late morning or the afternoon of the Sunday of Pascha we celebrate with all formality the Vespers of Love, during which it is customary to read the Gospel reading (the 9th Eothinon, without the last paragraph) in many languages, so that the salvatory message of Christ’s Resurrection can be understood by more people, so that they can also accept it and enjoy salvation in Christ.

[Mary Naeem]

The week of Pascha (Renewal or New Week) is considered, in a way, as one day with the actual day of Paschal. The resurrectional Divine Liturgy is celebrated every day in identical fashion to the Sunday of Resurrection with the same exact festive order.

[Mary Naeem]

Vespers is also celebrated identically with the vespers of Love (except the Gospel reading), with the clergy wearing “the whole set” of their vestments. The late Metropolitan of Ierapetra and Siteia, of blessed memory, Philotheos (+ 1993) wanting to stress this unity of the seven days in the Renewal Week and established that at the Synaxarion, the memorandum, “On the holy and Great Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the life-bearing resurrection of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ…” be read every day until and including Saturday.