Beloved in the Lord Most Reverend archpastors, reverend presbyters and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

In all its richness and diversity, the human language knows no words more joyful and desired for the believing heart than this overwhelming testimony to the victory of life over death and good over evil.

"Christ is Risen!" This good news encapsulates the cherished power of hope and the great expectation rooted in faith by which people have lived since the expulsion from Paradise. They have lived awaiting forgiveness, reconciliation, and liberation. Yet the Lord has granted to us incomparably more, for in His love He has "provided some better thing for us" (Heb. 11:40).

The Son of God came into the world and became man, He shared with us all the burdens of our earthly existence and drank to the bottom the cup of suffering, the most bitter of which was the cup of death. "A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Is. 53:3), He took upon Himself our sins by voluntarily ascending the Cross.

Yet could death contain the Creator of life? Could the insatiable depths of Hades consume the One through Whose Word all things were made that were made (John 1:3)? "God’s glory shineth upon the world and enlighteneth the very depths of the abyss. Death is annihilated, night hath vanished, and the gates of hell are broken. Creatures lying in darkness from ancient times are clothed in light," Venerable Ephraim the Syrian writes in his "Hymn to the Light," inspiringly praising the Savior’s victory over death.

Do we know of instances when death ever returned that which it gained? And if it ever returned it, then only until it would take it back again. But Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him (Rom. 6.9)! He, being the firstfruits of them that slept (I Cor. 15:20), goes before us on this path, for "Christ is the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming" (I Cor. 15:23).

God, Who through His Incarnation renewed human nature and healed it from the wounds of sin, through the Resurrection leads us to better pastures. He not only returns to people that which they have lost, granting them forgiveness and reconciliation with Him; He also adopts us to Himself by Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:5) and to them that believe on His name gave He power to become the sons of God (John 1:12) and gods by grace.

Along with the spring transformation of nature coming to life, the amazing news of salvation again and again hurtles to every corner of the earth: "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified? He is risen; He is not here" (Mark 16:6). The tomb is empty! The Lord is risen, as He said (Matt. 28.6)!

Christ’s Pascha is the inexhaustible fount of our great joy, a joy which flows from the love of God for humankind, transcending all understanding. Through it, all good things, visible and invisible, have been revealed to us. The boundless power of this sacrificial love extends so far that it vanquishes Hades, opens the gates of Paradise, and grants forgiveness and genuine spiritual freedom.

"Love is strong as death" (Song 8.6), says King Solomon, rich in wisdom. Yet we who are Christ’s disciples testify with conviction that love is even stronger than death. It overcomes time and space, casts down sin and the power of darkness.

The All-Merciful Lord calls us to the Kingdom of love, yet enter it we can with only love in our hearts. Let us, then, forgive and embrace one another; let us show charity to those in need and extend consolation to the afflicted.

Being sanctified by Christ and partaking in the wondrous triumph of Pascha, we transform the world around us through the incorruptible light of the Resurrection, we bring it into the joy of salvation which the whole Universe awaits, striving for the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). It is then that our lives, lived in oneness with the Lord, become a true Liturgy, a Liturgy of truly cosmic proportions in which every created being can render thanksgiving and praise to the Maker in proclaiming: "Glory to Thy Resurrection, O Christ. Glory to Thy Kingdom. Glory to Thy dispensation, O only Lover of mankind!" (Troparion of the Resurrection, Tone 1).

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into.

In the world there are many spiritual searches, but only one is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). There is only one Victor over sin and death. There is only One Who opens up the heavens, and His name is Jesus Christ, and neither is there salvation in any other (Acts 4:11[12]).

From the depths of my heart, I greet you all on the feast of Pascha, and again and again I address you with the life-affirming and ages-old uplifting testimony that

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED!

+KYRILL
Patriarch of Moscow & All Russia

Pascha of the Lord
2025 A.D.