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Published by the
Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America, April 2005
ENCYCLICAL OF
ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS FOR HOLY PASCHA 2005 |
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Protocol
42/05
Holy Pascha 2005
The Feast of Feasts
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! By His great mercy we have been born anew
to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which
is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in
heaven for you…. I Peter 1:3-4
To the Most Reverend Hierarchs, the Reverend
Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, the
Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils of
the Greek Orthodox Communities, the Day,
Afternoon, and Church Schools, the Philoptochos
Sisterhoods, the Youth, the Hellenic
Organizations, and the entire Greek Orthodox
Family in America
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On this, the great and glorious feast of Pascha, I
greet you with our cherished and joyful Paschal
greeting, Hristos Anesti! Christ is Risen!
As we have reached the end of our blessed Lenten
journey and have opened our hearts to receive the
light and life of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are
called once again by the divine worship and
commemorations of the Holy Orthodox Church to
contemplate the significance of Pascha for our
lives. The celebration of the Resurrection of
Christ is not only an annual observance marked by
special services, family gatherings, and feasting.
As the people of God, we continuously commemorate
this day each and every moment of our lives
through the presence of the Risen Lord within us.
Through the weeks of the Holy Lenten season, we
have lived in anticipation of this feast of joy
and light. In fasting and prayer we have prepared
ourselves to receive our Lord and glorify His
third-day Resurrection. Now that this glorious day
has come, we embrace it with every part of our
being, revealing through our expressions, words,
and innermost thoughts and prayers our immersion
into the life given to us by Christ.
Above all other things, the Feast of Pascha
affirms that the Risen Lord is in our midst. Each
and every day, through all the joys and trials of
this life, He is with us. His divine and
life-giving presence brings us peace in the midst
of personal, familial, and global conflicts; the
Risen Christ offers us strength and assurance in
our time of suffering and physical need; but most
importantly, through His great mercy, He gives us
hope. In the words of the Apostle Peter, "By His
great mercy we have been born anew to a living
hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead" (I Peter 1:3).
Through His mercy revealed to us on the Cross, we
have been offered a new manner of living. By His
Resurrection we have been shown the way of
rebirth, renewal, and restoration to the true and
eternal life that God created us to live. By
receiving Christ into our lives through the Holy
Sacraments of the Church and through our daily
commitment to His divine will, we are given an
unfading hope of glory, of the fulfillment of the
Kingdom of God, of a new heaven and a new earth
that is completely filled with the life and light
of our Lord.
This hope that springs from the presence of the
Risen Christ within us directs us to live each and
every day preparing to receive "an inheritance
which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading" (I
Peter 1:4). This was the way our beloved former
Archbishop Iakovos lived his blessed life on earth
before leaving us on April 10 to be forever with
Christ in heaven. He left us a strong message that
our life here and now is a journey toward heaven.
We have been given this time to be reborn in the
image of the Life-Giver, to live each day in
faith, and to anticipate the fulfillment of all
things and the great and glorious return of our
Savior. Just as we have prepared ourselves to
receive the Paschal light and affirm in joy and
hymns the essence of our faith, we must use each
day of our lives to prepare to receive our loving
Lord, the King of glory.
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I ask you on this sacred feast to open your hearts
to the presence of the Risen Christ in our midst.
May our joyous celebration of Pascha lift us above
the struggles of life and restore our spiritual
vision of the Kingdom of God. From this day
forward, may we continue together in the journey
of life, preparing ourselves for that day when we
will put on immortality and enter into a blessed
and eternal communion with God.
With my warmest Paschal wishes
And love in the Risen Christ,
+DEMETRIOS
Archbishop of America
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