Day: April 21, 2019

A Blessed and Holy Easter to you all!

Christós anésti.
Jesus Christ is risen! He is truly risen!
Alleluia
Amen

“The star of Bethlehem
shines forth in the dark night of sin.
Upon the radiance
that goes forth from the manger,
there falls the shadow of the cross.
In the dark of Good Friday,
the light is extinguished
but it rises more brightly, as the sun of grace.
on the morning of the resurrection.
The road of the incarnate Son of God,
is through the cross and suffering.
to the splendour of the resurrection.
To arrive with the Son of Man,
through suffering and death,
at this splendour of the resurrection,
is the road for each one of us,
for all mankind.”

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
[Edith Stein] (1891-1942)

Day of resurrection, day of our joy !

A homily attributed to Saint John Chrysostom (345-407) – Father & Doctor

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Ps 118:24) Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened and everything is illuminated, the curtain in the Temple is no longer torn, the Church is revealed;  we are no longer holding palm branches, we are surrounding the newly baptised.

“This is the day the Lord has made”…   This now is the day in the real sense of the word, the triumphant day, the day consecrated to celebrating the resurrection, the day when we adorn ourselves with grace, the day when we share the spiritual Lamb, the day when we give milk to those who have just been born, the day when the plan of Providence for the poor is realised. “Let us rejoice and be glad in this day.”

This is the day when Adam was freed, when Eve was delivered from her pain, when savage death shuddered, when the power of rocks was broken, when the bars of the tomb were torn away…, when the unchangeable laws of the powers of hell were abrogated, when the heavens were opened because Christ, our Master, rose.

This is the day when, for the good of humankind, the green and fertile plant of the resurrection multiplied its offshoots all over the world as in a garden, when the lilies of the newly enlightened opened…, when the crowd of believers rejoices, when the martyrs’ crowns again grow green.

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”