“The angel cried unto her that is full of grace:

O Pure Virgin, rejoice, and again, I say rejoice; for Thy Son hath risen from the grave on the third day…” Paschal Matins – 9th Irmos

To the Reverend Clergy, Monastics and Laity of the Western American Diocese

CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

The day of Christ’s Resurrection, Pascha, is a time of joyousness, light and new life – I am come that they might have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).  A life in Christ is a life centered not on something transient and fashionable, but it is a life focused on the stability of eternity in God.  It is a life of happiness and joy free of the passions and temporal cares that clog our life.  When pondering on Christ’s Glorious Resurrection, an Orthodox Christian, sees death not as the end, but sees death as a defeated paradigm conquered by the love of God for His creation.