Paschal Epistle of Bishop Andrei

Christ is Risen!

“Let us purify our senses, / and we shall behold Christ, / radiant with the unapproachable light of the Resurrection…” (Canon of Pascha. Ode 1)

Beloved in our Lord, Fathers, brothers, and sisters,

I congratulate all of you on the great and joyous day of Pascha. Among many Slavic peoples the day of Pascha is called Velikden, i.e. Great day. Since ancient times, it has been noticed that on this unique, great day of Holy Pascha, even the sun shines especially brighter and “frolics” at dawn.

The visible sun is the image of the true Sun of Righteousness – our Lord Jesus Christ. “But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise” (Mal. 4:2). “And from the tomb the beautiful Sun of Righteousness shone forth again upon us.” (Canon of Pascha. Ode 4).

The Pascha that we celebrate is the image and foretaste of the eternal, unending Pascha – the Heavenly Kingdom, where there won’t be hatred, discord, sin, and most importantly, there will be no source of all this evil – the devil. In the eternal Kingdom of glory, God the Trinity will be the light and life, and inexpressible bliss to the rational and free beings created by Him: angels and men.

At the Last Supper, the Lord foretold to the Apostles of His Resurrection: “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). No one and nothing can take away from us the joy of Christ’s Resurrection.

“Christ is risen, and the demons have fallen” (Homily of St. John Chrysostom on Pascha). The devil is already defeated and chained up. But because of the universal apostasy, he has been allowed to seduce all the nations of the earth for a short time. “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (Rev. 12:12).

The dominance of lies and evil that we observe in the world indicates that the world has already entered its final, apocalyptic period. What is happening now indicates that Christ’s coming has drawn near. “It is near – right at the doors!” (Mark 13:29).

But let us remember that the reign of evil in the world is but an illusion. Evil has already been defeated by Christ’s Cross and Resurrection.

The Holy Scripture teaches us that the end of the visible world will be accompanied by frightening happenings. And even now terrifying events, like waves, come one after another, leaving no time to understand and absorb what is happening. Even before the pandemic has ceased, a war has begun. We can feel that behind the apparent senselessness of this war, some secret, sinister goals are hidden.

We are obliged to give a moral evaluation of what is transpiring in Ukraine, and we do not need to delve into the secrets of world politics for this. We are horrified by the criminal, senseless destruction of cities, the killing of people, and in this milieu, the cruel mutual hatred of Russians and Ukrainians – two brotherly, Orthodox peoples.

The main responsibility for this crime lies with the Russian regime, but what is frightening is that, both in Russia and abroad, there are a sufficient number of Russian people who in one way or another, justify this war. This shows how people’s moral cognition has been degraded. Inability to make a clear moral judgement between good and evil is characteristic of our times.  

About a hundred years ago Blessed Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) uttered astounding words that “Many contemporary bishops and more than half of priests do not believe in God” (Letters of Met. Anthony). Of course, the Metropolitan did not mean that these priests became atheists, but that their actions were based on calculations of personal gain and convenience, rather than any moral principles. Metropolitan Anthony used to call such individuals unbelievers, because such behaviour shows the absence of the fear of God in the soul.

Secret disbelief, revealed in the absence of moral norms, is the main source of such contemporary church problems as Sergianism, Ecumenism, as well as the newly appeared “virus-worshiping”.

The absence of clear moral principles is, for the most part, the cause of discord in our True Orthodoxy environment, where church politics is often put at the forefront, and not God’s truth.

The Lord says in the Gospel: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

The world has ejected Christianity from its midst. Apparently, with the New World Order, no provision has been made for the True Church. Already now, the world has become an uncomfortable place where life has become difficult and frightening.

In concluding His discourse on the end of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded his followers: “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

Let us tear our thoughts away from the earth and from earthly cares and direct them toward heaven, from where we expect our Saviour Jesus Christ in the glory of His Second Coming.

Then will the eternal Pascha appear, the unending day of Christ’s Kingdom.

Amen.

Christ is Risen!

Bishop Andrei

Melbourne. Pascha 2022.