The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

June 26, 2016 – Second Open Ecumenical Seminar

Speaker: Metropolitan Nektarios (Tsilis) of Hong Kong and South East Asia

The subject of the second ecumenical seminar is the Holy Eucharist.  The thoughts that follow do not aspire nor claim to cover the subject in full.  We will try, however, to present briefly and clearly the teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Holy Eucharist.

The Holy Eucharist is the centre of the worship and life of the Church.  Early tradition saw in the Eucharist the summation of the whole mystery of Christ, and not simply one part or aspect of it.

The Holy Eucharist expresses, reveals and accomplishes within history the Church itself, not simply as it is, but principally how it will be, when the Kingdom of God prevails.  In Orthodox Tradition the Holy Eucharist is an icon of the Kingdom of God: an icon of the future and not of the past.  In the Holy Eucharist the Church moves from the present world and history, and lives and moves in the eschata, in the Last Times.  The Church’s true home is the Kingdom of God and not this world.  And precisely because the Holy Eucharist is an icon of the Kingdom of God, it must be celebrated with splendour.  That is why the Typikon [or liturgical guide] specifies that the Holy Eucharist is to be celebrated on Sundays and Saints Days, for these days are joyful.  It is specifically forbidden for a complete Liturgy to be celebrated during fasting periods.

It is not by accident that in the ecclesiastical literature, we find no definition of the Church until the time of scholasticism.  The Church was a lived reality that was so obvious and well-known to all, that any theoretical description of it was superfluous.

This tangible and specific reality was from the beginning identified in the consciousness of the Church with the Synaxis [or gathering] of the Holy Eucharist.  There are many examples in the literature that support this view.   I will quote only one.  In Chapters 11 to 14 of St Paul’s first Epistle to the Corinthians the term ‘Church’ is used to mean the local church, and specifically the Synaxis or gathering of the local church to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.

01. The institution of the Holy Eucharist

Christ himself gave to us the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist on the evening of the Mystical Supper, a few hours before his voluntary Passion.  The Lord blessed the bread and wine, offered it to his disciples, and asked them to do the same.  “Do this in remembrance of me.”

The Holy Eucharist is first of all the remembrance of Christ.   But it is not a simple act of remembrance.  Christ himself is present.  He calls us to live with Him his life, the life of the God-man, to live his sacrifice and Resurrection.  He offers to us, and calls us to commune of, His Body and Blood.  “This is My Body, which is broken for you for the remission of sins.  This is My Blood, which is shed for you and for the many, for the remission of sins.”

During the Eucharist we have before us no longer bread and wine, but the Body of Christ, which is broken into many for us, and the Blood of Christ which is shed for us, for the remission of our sins.  When we take communion we become “of one body and blood with Christ”, “Christ-bearers”, “God-bearers”.  And since we become one with Christ “mystically”, we become one with all Christians, we all become one body, because we have all taken of the same Body, Christ.  Union with Christ makes our existence—from being animal—divine.   It leads us into the beauty and glory of the Kingdom of God.  The Holy Eucharist brings Paradise into our life.

02. Types of Liturgy

By the 5^th Century AD three rites had been established.

The earliest of these is the Liturgy of St James the Brother of the Lord, the first Bishop of Jerusalem.  Nowadays it is celebrated two times a year, on 23 October, the Feast Day of St James, and on the first Sunday after Christmas.

Due to the length of this Liturgy, St Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea, wrote a new Liturgy, which now bears his name.  It is celebrated ten times a year, on the five Sundays of Holy and Great Lent, on Holy Thursday, Holy Saturday, Christmas Eve, Theophany and on the First of January, the Feast Day of St Basil.

St John Chrysostom shortened the Liturgy of St Basil.  The Liturgy of St John Chrysostom is the most commonly celebrated and well-known Liturgy.

During Holy and Great Lent, on weekdays the Pre-sanctified Liturgy, as it is known, is celebrated.  If called a Liturgy, it is not in actual fact a Liturgy because it does not contain the consecration of the bread and wine.  The service is celebrated so that the believers commune of bread that has been consecrated at the Liturgy on the previous Sunday.  Due to the mournful character of Holy and Great Lent the Typikon does not permit the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on weekdays.

03. The visible elements of the Sacrament

The visible elements that are used in the Holy Eucharist are bread and wine, and a small quantity of water.  These elements are sanctified through the invocation of the Holy Spirit, which immediately follows the words of institution and Christ’s words ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’  Despite the fact that the Holy Eucharist is a Sacrament that is offered by the whole Church, the celebrant in the Sacrament, as the instrument and icon of Christ the Great Priest who unifies and offers, is the Bishop or the Priest served by a Deacon.  The participants in the Holy Sacrament are all those who have been baptised, regardless of their age, who are obliged to examine their conscience and in this way to participate in the Holy Sacrament with sincere repentance.

From the very outset the wine was mixed with water, which was in accordance with Palestinian tradition, whereby wine was not drunk without being mingled with water.  This is the act in the Liturgy which is referred to in the Apostolic Orders, according to which the Lord mixed wine and water in the Cup and, sanctifying them, gave them to the Apostles saying, “Drink from this.”  This reminds us also of the piercing of the Lord’s side when He was on the Cross, and when from his side “at once flowed blood and water”.

St Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, saw this mixing of wine with water as the symbolic union of Christ with His Church.  He observed that, when the water is poured into the Chalice, the people are united to Christ. He explained that, when someone uses only wine in the Eucharist, then the Blood of Christ excludes the believers, while, if there is only water in the Cup, that would exclude Christ.

04. The celebrants of the Sacrament of the Eucharist

The Bishop or Priest is the only celebrant of the Holy Sacrament.  The Lord entrusted this Sacrament to his holy Disciples and Apostles and gave them the Command “Do this in remembrance of me.”  The exhortations, “take, eat” and “drink of this” were addressed to the holy Apostles.  This is borne out by the practices and tradition of the Orthodox Church.

Of course we must stress that the Bishop or Priest who stands before the holy Altar performs the actions, but that God acts through him.

In the Didache or the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles we find the command: appoint for yourselves Bishops and Deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are humble and not avaricious, men who are true and approved because they too will fulfil for you the ministry of the Prophets and Teachers.

St Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, clearly proclaimed that only the Eucharist that is celebrated under the authority of the Bishop (or whomsoever the Bishop may ordain) should be considered valid. Wherever the Bishop appears, there let the people be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic Church.  Neither Baptism nor agape feasts may be celebrated without the Bishop.  Whatever he approves of is pleasing to God, so that everything the ecclesiastical body does may be true and valid.

Lay people are not permitted to celebrate the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, although they are allowed to carry the holy Gifts in exceptional circumstances.

05. The nature of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist

The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament, or mystery, and sacrifice.  It is a sacrament according to which, through the prayer of the priest, the grace of the Holy Spirit descends and changes the natural elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.  This is a great mystery, which is inexplicable and incomprehensible.  It is the essence of the natural elements that is changed and altered.  That is the elements lose their own essence, and the immaculate body and precious blood of Christ take the place of their essence.  Of course they keep their accidents, everything surrounding the essence, that is their natural qualities of weight, colour, smell, taste and, in the case of the wine, acidity.  The person who takes communion accepts the very body and blood of Christ, that same body of He who was born, increased, suffered on the Cross, rose from the dead and, deified, ascended into heaven.  He communes of the whole human nature of the Lord and of his divinity, which is indivisibly united to his human nature.

The Holy Eucharist is at the same time also a sacrifice.  It is the sacrifice of the Cross itself, an anticipation of which the Saviour performed at the Mystical Supper of Holy Thursday.  It is the same sacrifice with that of the Cross; however it is offered as a bloodless sacrifice, while the sacrifice of the Cross was not.  Likewise, while the sacrifice on the Cross happened once for all time for the abolition of sin and death, the sacrifice of the Eucharist happens repeatedly, with the aim of applying the salvatory benefits of this great sacrifice to the body of the believers.  At the sacrifice of the Eucharist both he who offers the sacrifice and the sacrificial victim are Christ himself, who is offered through the hands of the Priest.

06. The use of the term μετουσίωση or Transubstantiation (Transsubstantiatio)

This term is used principally by the Roman Catholic Church.  It is not wrong.  Its meaning corresponds to the Greek terms used by the Orthodox Church: μεταβολή (trans-formation or simply change), μεταποίηση (trans-making) and μεταστοιχείωση (trans-mutation). When Orthodox theologians use the term transubstantiation they ascribe to it the meaning of change.  Usually, however, the use of the term is avoided in the Orthodox Church, since it brings to mind scholastic cavilling about the distinction between essence and accidents, based on Aristotelian philosophy.  The terms ‘trans-making’ and ‘change’ are preferable.  Orthodox believers do not dwell overly on how precisely the bread and wine change into the Body and Blood of Christ.  It is enough for them to believe in the omnipotence of God and in this dread and incomprehensible divine mystery.

07. The permanence of the change 

The sanctified elements, the bread and wine, remain sanctified after the end of the Divine Liturgy.  That is why at the end of every Divine Liturgy the Priests and Deacons who have served consume the sanctified elements.

In the early Church, the Bread and Wine that had been sanctified and changed into the Body and Blood of Christ, were brought to those who had been absent from the Divine Liturgy, especially to those in prison, during the times of persecution.  It was common practice for believers to keep the Holy Gifts in their homes, so that they could take communion every day.

During Holy and Great Lent the complete Liturgy was permitted only on Saturdays and Sundays.  According to the early tradition of the Presanctified Gifts, the Body and Blood of Christ, which had already been sanctified during the Liturgy on the previous Sunday, were offered on Wednesdays and Fridays.

St Cyril of Alexandria was opposed to the idea that the elements of the Eucharist lost their sanctified grace by the next day.  He called this view folly, because the Body of Christ is incorruptible.  The power of the blessing and the life-giving grace are constant.

08. The use of leavened bread in the Holy Eucharist

Leavened bread and wine mixed with water are used in the Divine Eucharist.  As we have already said, the wine is mixed with water in remembrance of the flow of blood and water from the side of Christ when on the Cross he was pierced with a lance (John 19:34).  The Orthodox Church uses leavened bread, while the Roman Catholic Church and others use unleavened bread.  The Orthodox Church uses leavened bread, because when Christ, a few hours before his death on the Cross, ate his last Passover Meal with his Disciples, on the evening of the Thursday, when he instituted the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist (on the 14^th day of Nisan) he used leavened bread, because unleavened bread was not yet to be used.  Unleavened bread was consumed on the next day, the first day of the Jewish Passover (15^th day of Nisan), and for seven days in total.

09. Are baptised infants permitted to take Communion?

Of course they are permitted, since they have been baptised, and they no longer have original sin and have been re-born spiritually, and they have received the Holy Chrism, which sealed the gifts of their baptism.  There is no reason why their pure and gentle nature should be deprived of the benefits granted by Holy Communion.

10. Are lay people permitted to commune of both elements in the Orthodox Church?

The Orthodox Church does not accept the theory of concomitantia and it does not deprive laypeople from the Holy Chalice.

The Apostolic Tradition requires that both the Clergy and laypeople commune of both the sanctified elements, of both bread and wine.

When Christ instituted the Divine Eucharist, he made particular reference to his blood, saying, “Drink of this all of you.”  All of you clearly includes laypeople.

11. When are the Holy Gifts sanctified?

After the words “Thine own of thine own”, when the priest reads the prayer of sanctification, calling on the Holy Spirit to descend and, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, to change the natural elements of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  This is, of course, the most holy moment in the Divine Liturgy.  When the Liturgy takes place on a Sunday, the believers are not allowed to kneel down, because Sunday, being the day of the remembrance of Christ’s Resurrection, is a day of rejoicing (Canon 90, Council in Trullo).  On weekday Liturgies, on Saint’s Days, kneeling is permitted.

The prayer of sanctification is found in all the ancient typika or liturgical books of the Divine Liturgy.

12. When someone receives only a small portion of the sanctified divine gifts, does he commune of the whole Christ?

Yes.  He communes of the whole body and blood of the Lord, the whole of his humanity, and the divinity of the Lord.  This does not depend on the quantity of the bread and wine he receives.  Christ is present even in the smallest quantity of the Divine Eucharist.  Both the Priest who consumes the whole of the remaining elements after the believers have taken communion, as well as the believer who receives only a small quantity, commune of the same Christ.

As in a great mirror the whole sun is reflected, so if we break the mirror into pieces, in each of these pieces the same sun will be reflected.  In the same way Christ is present in the whole quantity as well as in a small amount of the sanctified gifts.  Similarly, he is present in all the Holy Chalices where the sacrament of the Divine Eucharist is celebrated.  This is the greatest miracle of God!

13. Epilogue

The Divine Liturgy is the communion of God with man.  God, who came down to earth, left us as his inheritance his body and blood so that we could eat and drink of them and commune through them with Him in the most perfect way possible.  The Divine Liturgy shows us Christ, it leads us to Him, and unites us with Him.  From the very first the Divine Liturgy was considered to be “in Christ” and it never lost this orientation.  If it loses it, it will no longer be the Divine Liturgy of the Church.

Thank you very much!

Read in Chinese, here

The Ecumenical Seminar was held at the Methodist Church at Wanchai, Hong Kong on March 13, 2016.

Homily

by His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios

of Hong Kong and South East Asia

The Mystery of Baptism in the Orthodox Church

Before I begin my talk I would like to thank the organizers of this series of seminars.

This is a very good opportunity for all those of us who belong to different Christian traditions to meet, to get to know each other and to exchange opinions.

Today the basic theme of our meeting is Baptism.  I will try to present briefly the Orthodox Church’s teaching on baptism.

Church and Mysteries (Sacraments)

The Church is not a “human” organisation, but a God-man organisation. It is not a human association, but the Body of Christ the God-man.

Whatever happens within the Church is filled with the grace of God and the whole of life within the Church is blessed.

In the Orthodox Church there are commonly understood to be seven Mysteries (Sacraments).

We call them Mysteries (Sacraments) because they are God-established rites, in which through outward visible signs the invisible cleansing and holy-making Grace of God is imparted.

These seven Mysteries are: Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Communion, Confession, Ordination, Marriage and Holy Unction.  The first four are incumbent upon every believer, while the other three are a matter of choice.

However there are three basic Mysteries of the Church: Baptism, which is called the introductory Sacrament, through which we are initiated into church life; Chrismation, which is the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit; and Holy Communion, through which we commune of the Body and Blood of Christ.

St Nicholas Cabasilas says that Baptism is the spiritual birth of man, Chrismation is movement (the movements that activate grace), and Holy Communion is life (the New Life that Christ inaugurated with his Passion and Resurrection).

The Mysteries are the channel through which we receive the water of the Grace of God the Holy Trinity; and of course we participate in the gifts of God depending on our spiritual state.

Our participation in the Mysteries requires certain preconditions, which are belief in the divinity of Christ and our salvation, spiritual preparation, and the sense that we are members of the Church of Christ.

The Mystery of Baptism

Baptism is the introductory Mystery of the Church.  It incorporates the person – of whatever age – into the Body of Christ, the Church, meaning that they can call themselves a Christian.

The word ‘baptism’ itself means plunging into water.  In the Christian tradition going down into the water depicts symbolically going down into the tomb with Christ, that is participation in his death, while emerging from the water expresses the overcoming of death, that is resurrection together with the Lord, which is the birth of a new man. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

The Mystery of Baptism was established by our Lord Jesus Christ himself with his command to the Disciples to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).  Christ himself was baptised and his Baptism became the type and model of our own Baptism.

The aim of Baptism according to St Basil the Great is two-fold: firstly to abolish sin, which leads to death. This manifests the essential deliverance of man from corruption and death that was inherited through sin (the failure) of Adam and Eve.  Therefore Orthodox Tradition rejects moralistic stances on the deliverance of man from the guilt of Original sin.

Through Baptism man is offered the foundations to build his life in a new community of life, with Christ as its head, and with all Christians as the members, signalling a journey of ascetic effort and progress into the gift of the Holy Spirit of freedom and love.

The fundamental condition and the wider framework of the mystery of Baptism is the universal divine Economy of salvation, covering the creation of the world and man, the sinfulness and fall of man, and in particular, the salvific work of Christ, which is the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection, as well as Pentecost – the descent of the Holy Spirit.

More specifically, for someone to understand the Orthodox stance on Baptism, he or she must keep in mind the creation of man according to the image and likeness of God, that is an open Christian anthropology, based on which man is a dynamic being in the image of God, open towards life, immortality, theosis or deification, and communion with the Triune God.

Through sin, this dynamism of the movement towards God was interrupted and man fell into an abnormal state, which is corruption and death.  His fall, however, is not final.  From this event the possibility of salvation emerges, and of his return to his original destination.  And this takes place through the salvific work of Christ: his Incarnation, Baptism, Crucifixion and Death, his glorious Resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, the founding of the Church as a new reality, as a new way of being and life.

As we have mentioned, Baptism is called the ‘introductory Mystery’, because through it we are introduced into the life of the Church and we become members of the Body of Christ and at the same time members of the Church.

Baptism is also called a ‘re-birth’, because through this we are re-born spiritually.  Man is born twice, once biologically from his mother and secondly spiritually from his spiritual mother, the Church.  In both cases there is a womb: in the first case it is the mother’s womb, and in the second it is the spiritual womb which is the baptismal font.

Through Baptism we are born into a new life, we acquire the possibility of spiritual growth, our image according to God is cleansed and we are able to attain to the divine likeness.  Through the grace of Baptism we are able to pray and call God Father and other people our brothers and sisters.  We are able to face the workings of the devil, we are able to receive Holy Communion and of course, depending on our spiritual state, we can fulfil the aim of our creation.

The Ancient Roots of Baptism

According to St John Damascene, the Church is the whole of creation.

The Mysteries have existed throughout history since Old Testament times, since the beginning of Creation, in order to grant life and healing.  Besides, throughout the whole of the Old Testament, the Son of God is present as the unincarnate Word.  Through the incarnation of God the Word we enter into a new phase, that of complete healing and grace, yet the energy of the Mysteries is always necessary for the Church-creation, in order for God’s creatures to exist, to be sustained, and to be made perfect.

This is the reason why St John Damascene tells us that there are many kinds of baptism, beginning from Old Testament times and culminating in the New Testament with the incarnation.  The first baptism is Noah’s Flood, which brought an end to sin. The second baptism is when Moses struck the waters with his staff, the waters moved aside, and the Israelites were saved.  And the third baptism is the legal baptism that every impure Israelite underwent.

The fourth baptism is the baptism of St John the Baptist, which precedes the baptism of the Lord.  The fifth baptism is the baptism received by Christ himself, not of course because he needed to be cleansed but in order to sanctify the baptiser, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity and for it to become the type and model for us also. This baptism overshadows all the others, because it sanctifies the baptiser completely, as well as the whole of humanity, and it reveals the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

We see that baptism has very ancient roots, from the beginning of creation, and it did not appear for the first time with Christ’s baptism in the river Jordan. Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan is the culmination of the sanctification granted by baptism.

The Rite of Baptism 

as celebrated in the Orthodox Church nowadays

In the early Church people were baptised when adults.  Their catechism lasted for three years and they would be baptised all together at Easter.

Infant baptism became the norm in the sixth century and the task of catechism fell upon the Sponsor and the parents together with the priest of their community.

The rite of Holy Baptism, as it is celebrated nowadays, is divided into three parts:

a) The prayers before Baptism

b) The main service of Baptism

c) The prayers after Baptism

During the first centuries of the early Church these services were conducted separately, in the order given above.  Later, around the time when infant baptism became the norm, they were joined together, and that is why we celebrate them as one rite today.

At the beginning of the Service of Catechism, the priest, together with the person to be baptised, the applicant, and his or her sponsor stand in the narthex or in the western part of the church, in the place that symbolically represents the fact that now begins the entrance of the applicant into the Church. They turn to the west (which symbolises the kingdom of darkness), where the renunciation of Satan takes place. There, the priest, vested only in his stole (epitrachelion), reads some prayers through which he prays that the future new Christian may live always under the protection of God and according to His Will.

After this the priest orders the devil, in the name of God, to depart far from the person who is about to become a Christian.  Let us not forget that there is no neutral state, which might suit us.  We are either close to God or to the devil.  Of course every person, baptised or unbaptised, is a creation and image of God.  But when we are far away from God the devil considers that he has more rights over us, and that we belong more to him.  It is neither therefore insignificant nor purely a matter of formality that the priest, at the end of these prayers, blows three times onto the face of the person, uttering the prayer that every evil spirit depart from within him or her.  Likewise, the priest asks the person himself, or, in the case of infant baptism, the sponsor, to spit three times, having first stated that he or she renounces the devil.  It is important that we realise how important it is in our lives to have really renounced the devil, to really despise him and all his works.  Otherwise, how can we say that we are Christians?  After having renounced the devil, they all turn to the East (symbolising the Kingdom of Christ) and the applicant confesses that he will journey with Christ from now on.  The priest asks, ‘Do you unite yourself to Christ?’ and the applicant answers ‘I unite myself.’  And as a sign of what exactly he believes in, he recites the Creed, the Symbol of Faith.

After these pre-baptismal prayers, that as we saw are a preparation for someone to receive the grace of Holy Baptism, the Baptism service itself begins.  Now the priest stands in the centre of the church, near to the font, together with the applicant and the sponsor, wearing his stole and phelonion and he says: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, both now and for ever and unto ages of ages, Amen.”  This phrase, which is a doxology to the Triune God, reminds the applicant that through Baptism he is about to enter the Kingdom of God.

Straight afterwards we hear the priest intoning the petitions, and he prays for the whole of the Church, and above all for the one who is to be baptised.  After yet another beautiful prayer for the spiritual growth of the applicant, we have the prayer of the blessing of the water of the font.  This prayer is followed by the blessing of the oil. This oil, symbol of the struggle for healing, the remission of sins, of reconciliation, is spread all over the body of the applicant.

We now reach the most fundamental moment of the whole service, which is the going down into the sanctified water three times.  Each time the person goes down into the water the name of one of the persons of the Holy Trinity is heard. Going down three times into the water signifies the three-day burial and resurrection of Christ, and they are not simply symbolic movements. From this very moment the baptised person has become a member of the body of Christ. As Christ died and was resurrected, so also through the power of the Holy Spirit, who acts within the Church, the one who is baptised dies as one far away from God and is born as one united to God.

The prayer of Holy Myron or Chrism follows. The priest thanks the God Almighty, who in his desire for all to be saved fills us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Of these gifts a visible sign and seal on us is the anointing with the Holy Chrism.  Once the newly baptised has been anointed with the Holy Chrism in the sign of the cross, on different parts of the body, he is now a new Christian, a whole, shining icon of God, and we pray that he may keep this wholeness throughout his life. And as a tangible and material sign of his light-filled and holy life, he is dressed in white clothes, and the prayer is recited that he may live “clothed” in righteousness and the light of Christ. The priest places the cross around the neck of the newly baptised person, for this cross is the symbol of Christian identity and presents him or her with the lighted candle, which reveals the expectation that the new life of the baptised will be filled with the light of Christ.

The priest, baptised member and sponsor then process round the font. This procession is a spiritual “dance”, an expression of joy and rejoicing in the fact that one more person has received salvation. These are the first steps of the baptised person as a Christian within the spiritual family of the Church.

The service of baptism is completed with the readings of the apostle and the Gospels, and some Eucharistic prayers.

The Church will emphasise to its new member that baptism allows everyone to be granted remission of sins, but the grace of the Holy Spirit is granted according to the extent of one’s faith and the spiritual struggle for purification. Through Baptism we are given only the beginning of life in the Holy Spirit and another life full of light. The Christian must strive to keep himself pure from sinful works so that he does not once more become a slave of sin. Just as works without faith are dead, so also faith without works is dead.

I will complete my talk with an extract from a poem by St Ephrem the Syrian, which is dedicated to newly-baptised Christians.

20. Great is the victory, but today you have won:—if so be ye neglect not, you shall not perish, my brethren.

21. Glory to them that are robed, glory to Adam’s house!—in the birth that is from the water, let them rejoice and be blessed!

22. Praise to Him Who has robed, His Churches in glory!—glory to Him Who has magnified, the race of Adam’s house.

(Hymn XIII. Hymn of the Baptised. Saint Ephrem the Syrian)

The word Pascha is a Hebrew word meaning Passover. In the Old Testament, the word was used to signify the crossing of the Red Sea by the Jews and their miraculous salvation from their persecutor Pharaoh. In the New Testament, Pascha, is the name for the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and His victorious passage from death unto life.

Christian Pascha, the Resurrection of Christ, has a particular importance for all people, and this is why it is the central message of the church and a cause for joy and celebration.

The fact of Christ’s Resurrection also provides the answer to the question of why evil, sorrows, pain and death are found in the world.

Evil, death, and everything that wounds us were not created by God. All these things were caused by us, and we are the ones who perpetuate them by making bad use of the freedom that God has given to us.

If today there are children who die from hunger, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we do not wish to sacrifice our comfortable lives, and we prefer to bury various kinds of food to prevent prices from falling and to generate higher profits.

If today there are poor and homeless people, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault—instead of helping those in need we prefer to gamble our money on the Stock Exchange.

If today there are wars, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, with our insatiable avarice.

If today people suffer from loneliness and depression, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we live egotistical lives and do not wish to open our hearts and draw near to our fellow human beings.

If today the natural environment is being destroyed, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we destroy everything thoughtlessly for our own financial interest.

The Resurrection of Christ comes to show us how much evil we have done to ourselves and to the whole of creation by distancing ourselves from God and attaching ourselves to sinful passions.  We boast of our achievements, but the tragic truth is that we have ended up slaves to our egoism and avarice.  What we call life is in fact a kind of death.  We want to escape from this dark reality that we have created, but we cannot find a way out.  Christ offers us the solution through his Resurrection.  The Resurrection is the true life.  It is the passing from death, that reigns here in this world, to the life of the love of the Triune God.  The Resurrection is not only the continuation of existence after death, but it offers us something more than this: the possibility to partake of the way of life of the Holy Trinity and to have a direct relationship with God.  The continuation of a way of life that has death at its heart is a terrible and terrifying prospect, since it does not free us from necessity and suffering.  Christ Resurrected is a truly free person.  And because he is not just a man but the God-man he can offer us a “new life”.

Within the Church, which is the mystical resurrected Body of Christ, we experience daily this passing from death to true life.  It is not something that we expect to come in the future, but it is among and with us right now and right here.  A countless number of people have entered the Church with their sins and their passions, and have managed through the grace of the Resurrected Christ to become saints.  That is, to become truly free people, friends of God.  This wondrous fact shows us that Christianity is not a philosophical idea, or an organization, but a way of life.  It is the life of the Resurrection.  It is the life of love and freedom.

(Metropolitan Nektarios’ Pascha Message 2011)

In Chinese

Pascha這詞是一個希伯來文，意思逾越節。在舊約中，這個詞被用來表示穿越紅海的猶太人和他們的奇蹟般的從法老對他們的迫害中得救。在新約，Pascha，這個名稱是在復活的節日我們的主耶穌基督和他勝利進死亡到生命。

基督徒的Pascha，復活的基督，對所有的人具有特別重要的意義，這就是為什麼這是教會核心信息及令人喜悅的慶典。
事實上基督的復活也答覆為什麼有罪惡，悲傷，痛苦和死亡在世界的疑問。

邪惡，死亡和所有一切會導致我們傷痛這不是上帝所創造的。這些事情都是由我們所造成的，而我們這些濫用上帝賜給我們的自由。
如果今日兒童死於飢餓，這是不是上帝所做的。這是我們的錯，因為我們不願犧牲我們舒適的生活環境，我們寧願埋葬各種食物去防止產品價格下跌以製造更高的利潤。

如果今日有窮人和無家可歸的人，這不是上帝做的。這是我們的錯 — 不來幫助有需要的人取而代之的是將我們的錢賭在股市交易所。

如果今日有戰爭，這是不是上帝造成的。這是我們的錯,由於我們的貪婪無法滿足。
如果今日有人感受孤獨和抑鬱，這是不是上帝造成的。這是我們的錯，因為自我高大及利己生活然而不願打開我們的心房去親近我們同胞人類。
如果今日自然環境遭受到破壞污染，這是不是上帝造成的。這是我們的錯，因為我們摧毀一切不加思考只為我們自己經濟的利益。

復活的基督來向我們顯示了多少的罪惡我們對我們自己所做及對整個受造物因我們自己熱愛並眷戀罪惡將我們自己遠遠與上帝疏離。我們誇耀自我的成就，但悲慘事實的背後是我們成為利己主義和貪婪的奴隸。我們所謂的生活其實是一種死亡。我們要擺脫這種黑暗現實是我們所造成的，但我們找不到出路。基督為我們提供了解決方法透過他的復活。復活是真生命。通過死亡駕馭這個世界，為愛為生命為三位一體的神。復活不僅是在死後繼續存在，但提供我們更多的：可能性去參與聖三位一體神生活的方式,擁有一個直接與上帝的關係。生命繼續的方式然而死亡就是它的核心這是一個可怕及恐怖的前景，因為這不能將我們從必要性和痛苦中釋放出來。基督已經復活是一個真實的自由人。而且因為祂不只是人，而是神–人，祂可以提供我們一個“新生命”。
教會,基督是神秘的復活的身體，每日我們經歷從死亡到真生命。這不是我們期望在未來發生的，但此時和此地卻環繞著我們。數不完的人們進入教會帶著他們的罪和他們的情慾，藉著復活的基督經歷恩典克服苦難成為聖徒。這就是，要成為真的實自由人，神的朋友。這個奇妙的事實告訴我們，基督教不是一個哲學概念，或一個組織，而是生命的樣式。這是復活的生命。是生命是愛和自由。

Abba Dorotheos said: “Once, when Abba Zosimas was talking about humility, one of the Sophist philosophers was there, listening to what he was saying. He wanted to learn exactly what he meant and he asked him, “Tell me, why do you consider yourself to be a sinner? Do you not know that you are a saint? Do you not know that you have virtues? Can you not see that you are practising the commandments? How can you believe that you are a sinner since you do all these things?” The elder could not find words to formulate his answer but he simply said to him, “I do not know how to explain it to you, but that’s the way it is”. The Sophist insisted and wanted to learn how this could be so. The elder, no finding words to explain it to him, started saying in his saintly simplicity, “Do not misunderstand me, indeed I am a sinner”.

When I saw the elder wondering how to answer, I said to him “I wonder, is this not like sophistry and medicine? When, for example, the doctor or Sophist learns the art of medicine or sophistry well and practices it, it gradually becomes a habit for him, and, as I said, little by little the soul imperceptibly assumes this art by the practising of it. This is more or less the same with humility when, where by keeping the commandments, humility becomes a habit and it is not possible to give an explanation of this in words”. When Abba Zosimas heard this, he was happy, embraced me and said, “You’ve found it; it is like you said”. The Sophist was also satisfied and he himself accepted that explanation”.

(Abba Dorotheos, On Humility)

As fr.Alexander Schmemann writes: “This is our first kneeling since Easter. It signifies that after these fifty days of Paschal joy and fullness, of experiencing the Kingdom of God, the Church now is about to begin her pilgrimage through time and history. It is evening again, and the night approaches, during which temptations and failures await us, when, more than anything else, we need Divine help, that presence and power of the Holy Spirit, who has already revealed to us the joyful End, who now will help us in our effort towards fulfillment and salvation.”

The celebrant reads three prayers (actually reads seven different prayers, done in three sets of kneeling).

In the first prayer we pray to God the Father: we bring to God our repentance, our increased appeal for forgiveness of sins, the first condition for entering into the Kingdom of God.

In the second prayer we pray to our Lord and God Jesus Christ: we ask to send upon us the Holy Spirit. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us, to teach us to pray and to follow the true path in the dark and difficult night of our earthly existence.

In the third prayer, we remember all those who have achieved their earthly journey, but who are united with us in the eternal God of love.

The Kneeling Prayers

First kneeling

PRIEST: Lord, pure and undefiled, existing before all eternity, invisible, incomprehensible, unsearchable, unchanging, surpassed by none, not to be calculated, long-suffering, the only immortal One, You abide in the unapproachable light. You created heaven and earth, and all the creatures that inhabit them, supplying all their needs even before they ask. To You we pray and You we entreat, loving Master, the Father of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven to be incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, the glorious Theotokos. At first You taught in words, but then showed us by deeds, when in enduring the saving Passion You gave to us Your humble, sinful and unworthy servants an example of how to offer our prayers in the bending of our heads and knees for our own transgressions and for the failings of the people.

All-merciful and loving Lord, hear us whenever we call upon You, but especially on this day of Pentecost, on which, after our Lord Jesus Christ had ascended into the heavens, to be seated at Your right hand, God and Father, He sent the Holy Spirit on His holy disciples and Apostles. As He came to rest upon each of them, and all were filled with His overflowing grace, they spoke in strange tongues of Your mighty works and prophesied.

As we now pray to You, hear us, and be mindful that we are lowly and deserving of judgment; recall our souls from the bondage of sin. Your own compassion interceding for us. Accept us as we kneel before You crying the familiar, “I have sinned!” We have been dependent on You from our mother’s womb; You are our God. But because our days have been vainly squandered, we are stripped of Your help, without any defense. Even so, encouraged by Your mercies, we cry: Remember not our sins committed in youth and ignorance, and purge our secret thoughts. Do not spurn us in old age; when our strength fails us, do not forsake us; before we are returned to the earth, make us worthy to return to You, and treat us with Your favor and grace. Measure out Your mercies against our transgressions; contrast the depths of Your pity to the multitude of our offenses.

From Your holy dwelling place look down upon the people present here in expectation of Your rich mercy; visit us in Your goodness; free us from the oppression of the Evil One; make our lives secure within Your holy and sacred laws. Entrust Your people to a faithful guardian angel; gather us all into Your kingdom; grant forgiveness to those who hope in You; remit them and us our sins; cleanse us through the work of Your Holy Spirit; put an end to the wiles of the enemy.

This second Prayer is appended.

PRIEST: Blessed are You, Master, Almighty Lord, for You light the day with the light of the sun and brighten the night with the rays of fire. You enabled us to pass the span of the day and so come to the beginnings of the night. Hear our prayer and that of all Your people, and forgive us all our deliberate and unwitting sins; receive our evening petitions and send upon Your inheritance the abundance of Your mercy and compassion.

Encompass us with Your holy Angels; arm us with the weapons of Your righteousness; fortify us within Your truth; make Your strength our garrison, spare us all adverse circumstances and all assaults of the adversary. Finally, vouchsafe to us this evening, and the impending night, perfect, holy, peaceful, sinless, free of disturbing visions, and all the days of our lives, through the prayers of the Holy Theotokos and of all the Saints who have pleased You through the ages.

Second Kneeling

PRIEST: Lord Jesus Christ our God, You have bestowed Your peace on humankind, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, to be with us even in thus life as a perpetual inheritance to believers never to be taken away. On this day You have sent this grace upon Your disciples and Apostles in a way more manifest, giving utterance to their lips by means of fiery tongues, so that every human race, hearing in our own language received the knowledge of God, and, illumined by the light of the Spirit, emerged from error as from darkness, and in the distribution of visible tongues of fire, and by extraordinary power, were taught faith in You, and were enlightened to speak of You, as of the Father and the Holy Spirit, as one Godhead, one power, one sovereignty.

As the reflection of the Father, the perfect and immutable likeness of His essence and nature, the source of salvation and grace, open the lips of this sinner and teach me how and for what I should pray. For You know the great number of my sins, yet Your compassion will overcome their enormity. For in fear I stand before You, casting my soul’s despair into the sea of Your mercy. Govern my life, as You govern all creation by the unspoken word and the power of wisdom, calm haven of the storm-tossed, and make known to me the way in which I should walk.

Grant me the Spirit of wisdom in my thoughts, the Spirit of prudence in my ignorance. Let the Spirit of the awe of You, overshadow my deeds. Renew a steadfast Spirit in my breast, and let Your guiding Spirit make firm my errant mind, so that each day, led by Your good Spirit towards that which is profitable, I may be worthy to keep Your commandments, ever mindful of Your glorious and soul­searching presence. Do not allow me to be beguiled by the world’s corrupting delights, but rather to desire the enjoyment of future treasures. For You, Master, have said, that whatever we ask in Your name, we shall without fail receive from Your co-eternal God and Father. Thus I, too, the sinner, at the descent of Your Holy Spirit, beseech Your goodness. All that I have asked, grant me for salvation. Yes, Lord, You are the lavish giver of everything good, giving far in excess of what we ask. You are the compassionate and merciful One Who, though sinless, became sharer in our flesh, and bending in love towards those who bend the knee to You, You became the propitiation for our sins.

Now then, Lord, grant Your people Your mercies; hear us from Your heavenly dwelling place; sanctify them by the power of Your saving right hand; shelter them in the shadow of Your wings; do not spurn the work of Your hands. It is against You alone that we sin, but it is You alone we worship; we know no alien god to adore, not to stretch out our hands to any other deity, O Master. Remit our offenses, and as You receive our petitions on bended knee, extend to us all a helping hand. Accept our common prayer as a pleasing fragrance, rising up to Your blessed kingdom.

The second Prayer is appended.

PRIEST: Lord, Lord, as You save us from every arrow that flies by day, protect us from everything that lurks in darkness. Accept the lifting up of our hands as an evening sacrifice. And enable us to pass the course of the night blamelessly, untempted by evil, and rid us of all disturbance and fear induced by the Evil One. Grant contrition to our soul, and to our thoughts due concern for our trial on the day of Your awesome and just judgment.

Transfix our bodies with awe of You, and deaden our earthly members, so that in the quiet of sleep we may be cheered by the contemplation of Your judgments. Distance from us every improper imagining and harmful desire. Instead raise us up at the hour of prayer strengthened in faith and growing in Your commandments.

Third Kneeling

PRIEST: The never-failing spring, bursting with life and light, creative power co-eternal with the Father, You fulfilled surpassingly the plan for the salvation of humankind, shattering the unbreakable bonds of death and the bolts of Hades and trampling the throngs of evil spirits. You presented Yourself as a blameless victim for us, offering Your pure body, chaste and untouched by sin, in sacrifice, and by that terrible and indescribable oblation granted us everlasting life. You descended into Hades and broke down its gates, and sojourning among those below, You showed them the way of ascent. As for the Prince of Evil, that dragon of the deep, You snared him in an inspired lure, binding him in circles of darkness, in Your infinite power made him fast in the nether world, in the eternal fire and the outer darkness.

The glorious wisdom of the Father, You are the great help of those in peril, giving light to those in darkness and the shadow of death. Lord of everlasting glory, beloved Son of the Most High, eternal light of eternal light, Sun of righteousness, hear our supplications and give rest to the souls of Your servants, our fathers and brothers and other kin by blood, and all of the household of faith who have since fallen asleep and whose memorial we keep this day. For in You is the strength of all and in Your hand You hold the far reaches of the earth. Almighty Master, God of our Fathers and Lord merciful Lord of the living and the dead, Creator of all mortal nature, composed and again dissolved, of life and of death, of earthly existence and of the departure hence, You measure out the years for the living and set times of death, bringing down to Hades and raising up, fettering in weakness and liberating in power; You provide aptly for the present and fittingly dispose what is to come, restoring those who are wounded by the sting of death with the hope of resurrection.

Master, Lord of all, our God and Redeemer, the hope of all, at the ends of the earth and far away at sea, on this latter great and saving day of Pentecost You disclosed to us the mystery of the holy, consubstantial, co-eternal and life-giving Trinity, indivisible yet distinct, and in the descent and presence of Your holy and life-giving Spirit poured out its grace upon Your holy Apostles in the form of fiery tongues, making them proclaimers and confessors of our holy Faith, of true knowledge of God. On this universal and salutary feast, deign to accept petitions for those imprisoned in Hades, thus giving us great hope, and relief to the departed from their grievous distress and Your comfort.

Hear us, humble and pitiable, as we pray to You, and give rest to the souls of Your Servants who have departed this life, in a place of light, a place of renewed life, a joyous place, shunned alike by pain and sorrow and sighing. And place their spirits where the Righteous dwell, counting them worthy of peace and repose; for the dead do not praise You, Lord, nor do those in Hades dare to offer You glory, but it is we the living who bless and entreat You and offer You propitiatory prayers and sacrifices for their souls.

This second Prayer is appended:

PRIEST: O God, great and eternal, holy and loving, having deemed us worthy to stand at this hour in the presence of Your unapproachable glory, to sing in praise of Your wondrous acts, be gracious to Your unworthy servants and grant us grace to offer You in contrition of heart the thrice-holy doxology and thanksgiving for the great gifts You have bestowed on us and continue always. Lord, be mindful of our weakness, and do not let us be lost in our wrongdoing, but show mercy as we humble ourselves, so that, escaping the darkness of sin, we may walk in the day of justice, and girded with the armor of light, we may live free of the assaults of the Evil One, and so with courage glorify You the only true and loving God in all things.

Truly great is Your mystery, Master and Maker of all, of the temporary separation of Your creatures, to be united again in everlasting rest. We confess Your grace in all things, for our entrances into this world and our departures, of which our hope of resurrection and a life of bliss, according to Your certain promise, are the guarantee. May we enjoy it in Your future second coming. For You are both the pioneer of our resurrection and the just but compassionate judge of our lives and Master and Lord of our reward. In ultimate condescension You shared in our flesh and blood and in our passions, willingly assuming them in the depth of Your compassion so that having Yourself been tempted, You offered Yourself freely as helper to us who are tempted. Thus You united us all to You in Your freedom from passion.

Will You, then, Master, accept our prayers and entreaties, and give rest to everyone’s fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and children, or of the same family or people, and all the souls that have gone before to their rest in the hope of the resurrection to everlasting life. And place their spirits and their names in the book of life, the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the land of the living, in the kingdom of the heavens, in the bliss of Paradise, Your angels of light leading all into Your holy mansions. And on the day You have ordained, raise up our bodies as well according to Your unfailing promises. In departing our bodies to dwell in You our God, there is no death for Your servants Lord, but rather a change from the more sorrowful to the better and more pleasing, to rest, to joy.

And if we have in any way sinned against You, be merciful to them and to us; for no man is free of stain in Your sight though he live but a day. Only You, Who came sinless to earth, our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we all hope to find mercy and remission of sins.

Thus as good and loving God, remit and forgive them and us our failings, whether witting or unwitting, committed in knowledge or ignorance, intentionally or unaware, in deed or in thought, in word, in all goings about. Both to those who have gone before and to us who await, give release and repose, granting us and all Your people a good and peaceful end, opening up to us Your heart of love and mercy at Your terrible and awesome Coming and judging us worthy of Your kingdom.

And this third and final Prayer is added:

PRIEST: Great and most high God, You alone are immortal, abiding in unapproachable light. In wisdom You created the world; You separated the light from the darkness, and set the sun, the greater light, to rule the day, and the lesser light, the moon, and the stars, to rule the night. You have judged us, though sinners, at this present hour to come into Your presence, giving thanks and offering You our evening praise. Loving Lord, let our prayer rise as incense before You, and accept it as a fragrant offering. Make this evening and the coming night peaceful for us. Gird us with the armor of light. Deliver us from the terror of the night and from everything that lurks about in the darkness. And let our sleep, which You have given us for rest, given our weakness, be free of all demonic images. Yes, Master of all, source of all blessings, so that, even as we slumber in our beds, we may speak Your Name in the night, and so, enlightened by the contemplation of Your statutes, we may rise, our souls rejoicing, to glorify Your goodness, offering prayers and supplications to Your compassion, for our own sins and for those of all Your people, asking that, at the intercession of the holy Theotokos, You will show them mercy.

See the text of the Kneeling Vespers, here

On the Saturday before Pentecost (for this year: June 22) we commemorate all departed pious Christians, with the idea that the occasion of the coming of the Holy Spirit not only consists of the economy of the salvation of man, but that the departed also participate in this salvation. Therefore, the Holy Church, sending up prayers on Pentecost for the enlivening of all the living through the Holy Spirit, petitions for the grace of the Holy Spirit also for the departed, which they were granted while they were still living, and was the source of eternal blessedness, because “all souls are enlivened through the Holy Spirit”.

On the occasion of the Saturday of Souls, I post here an excerpt from my Easter Message (2008) about evil, sorrows, pain and death in the world.

“The fact of Christ’s Resurrection also provides the answer to the question of why evil, sorrows, pain and death are found in the world. Evil, death, and everything that wounds us were not created by God. All these things were caused by us, and we are the ones who perpetuate them by making bad use of the freedom that God has given to us.

If today there are children who die from hunger, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we do not wish to sacrifice our comfortable lives, and we prefer to bury various kinds of food to prevent prices from falling and to generate higher profits.

If today there are poor and homeless people, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault—instead of helping those in need we prefer to gamble our money on the Stock Exchange.

If today there are wars, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, with our insatiable avarice.

If today people suffer from loneliness and depression, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we live egotistical lives and do not wish to open our hearts and draw near to our fellow human beings.

If today the natural environment is being destroyed, this is not God’s doing. It is our fault, for we destroy everything thoughtlessly for our own financial interest.

The Resurrection of Christ comes to show us how much evil we have done to ourselves and to the whole of creation by distancing ourselves from God and attaching ourselves to sinful passions. We boast of our achievements, but the tragic truth is that we have ended up slaves to our egoism and avarice. What we call life is in fact a kind of death. We want to escape from this dark reality that we have created, but we cannot find a way out. Christ offers us the solution through his Resurrection. The Resurrection is the true life. It is the passing from death, that reigns here in this world, to the life of the love of the Triune God. The Resurrection is not only the continuation of existence after death, but it offers us something more than this: the possibility to partake of the way of life of the Holy Trinity and to have a direct relationship with God. The continuation of a way of life that has death at its heart is a terrible and terrifying prospect, since it does not free us from necessity and suffering. Christ Resurrected is a truly free person. And because he is not just a man but the God-man he can offer us a “new life”.

Within the Church, which is the mystical resurrected Body of Christ, we experience daily this passing from death to true life. It is not something that we expect to come in the future, but it is among and with us right now and right here. A countless number of people have entered the Church with their sins and their passions, and have managed through the grace of the Resurrected Christ to become saints. That is, to become truly free people, friends of God. This wondrous fact shows us that Christianity is not a philosophical idea, or an organization, but a way of life. It is the life of the Resurrection. It is the life of love and freedom.”

Every year it gives me great joy to celebrate the feast of Ascension. I post here a very instructive text about the feast written by Protopresbyter George Dion.Dragas.

«And while he was blessing them, he departed

and started to ascend to heaven»  (Luke 24:51)

The Ascension as the pinnacle of the Feasts of the Lord: How bright and wonderful is this Feast! It is the pinnacle of all the Feasts of the Lord, because with it the sacred and saving purpose of the Divine Incarnation and Inhomination of the Word of God is completed. For what purpose did the Son and Word of God become man, and underwent the passion, the death, the resurrection…and the ascension?  All these events took place so that the human nature might not remain below on the earth, but be raised to heaven, become deified and glorified according to the Creator’s original design.  This, then, was the purpose for which the Son of God condescended to assume within his super-godly person (hypostasis) our human nature, which had fallen from its original condition, in order to renew it with his Crucifixion and Resurrection and to raise it to the heavenly heights with his glorious Ascension, presenting it to God the Father as the super-brilliant trophy of his victory.

The Ascension as the triumph of the human nature: At the Ascension of Christ God the Father accepted the first-fruits of our humanity, and was well pleased not only for the worthiness of Him who offered it, but also for the purity of the offering. This, then, is the perfect victory against sin.  This is the triumph of the human nature. The human nature could not have descended to a lower point than that at which it arrived after the fall of Adam, but neither could ascend to a higher point than that at which the New (or Last) Adam raised it with his Ascension!

The Ascension as the final benefit offered by God to man: What mind could grasp the real dimensions of this event? The forsaken and feeble human nature, the nature which run away from God and was exiled from paradise, the low, miserable, condemned and captured nature of human beings becomes today more glorious than that of the angels, is made to sit with Christ at the bosom of the Father and is worshiped by every visible and invisible creation! What language could praise the magnitude of this celebration, or to present worthily the enormity of the beneficence of God to human beings? Today the entry into the longed for paradise, the heavenly Jerusalem, is opened to Adam’s exiled descendants. Today, the restoration of the new Israel in the Promised Land is accomplished.

The Ascension as the final victory of Christ for man: Today, on the Mount of Olives Heaven and earth kiss each other and angels and human beings are united. Here the chorus of the Apostles greets their sweet Teacher with joy on his departure from them, and the Orders of the Angels salute the King of the Heavens with ineffable elation and joy. Here the captivity, which the victor of death captivated with his ascension to the heights, i.e. the souls of the just who have been redeemed, have their eyes on their Redeemer with feelings of exhilaration and joy.  Here also, His Mother, the most pure Virgin, greets and sends off her beloved Son who is ascending into Heaven, where God the Father welcomes his Only-begotten Son and makes him sit on his right. Here too, at the prestigious Mount of Olives, we are called to ascend with our minds and become eye-witnesses to the great and wondrous events which take place, having as our guide Luke the theologian, who alone among the Evangelists narrates with brevity but also with priestly and solemn fashion the glorious Ascension of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Why did the Ascension take place 40 days after and not immediately after the Resurrection? The leader of life, who loosened the bonds of death by his Resurrection, met with his disciples for 40 days and confirmed his Resurrection to them by means of several proofs. He did not ascend into heaven on the day he rose again, because such an event would have raised doubts and questions. Had he done that, many of the unbelievers would be in a position to project the argument that the Resurrection was one more dream of pious aspirations which easily emerge and more easily disappear. For this reason, then, Christ remained for 40 days on the earth, and appeared to his disciples repeatedly, showing them the marks of his wounds, explaining to them the prophesies which he fulfilled in his life and sufferings as man, and even eating with them.

Why did the Risen Christ eat broiled fish and honey? The Gospel for today’s Feast tells us that the Risen Christ asked for and ate “a piece of broiled fish and from honey of a honeycomb” (Luke 24:42). Why is this detail mentioned? According to the church tradition this detail has a very important allegorical meaning. As regards the fish, we know that although it lives in the salty sea, it is not salty, but sweet. In the same manner Christ, who lived in the ‘salty sea of sin’ of this world, “he did not commit any sin, and no guile was found in his mouth” (Is. 53:9). Also, Christ remained even more voiceless than the fish when he endured his saving passion and received unheard-of torture and unmentionable insult. As regards the honey and the beeswax, we know that the honey is sweet and the beeswax is illuminative, and for this reason they are considered to be symbols of the spiritual pleasure and illumination which the Risen Christ transmits to the faithful. Also, honey and beeswax symbolize, the former, the cure of the great bitterness of sin which is symbolized by the gall that was offered to the Lord at his passion and, the latter, the diluteness of the dense darkness of sin which was symbolized by the darkness which took place at the Lord’s crucifixion.

Why did the Ascension take place on the Mount of Olives?  Once Christ had confirmed his Resurrection from the dead to his disciples through his mellifluous teaching, and enlightened their minds and warmed their hearts by his presence, he led them on the 40th day after the Resurrection to the Mount of Olives which lies east of Jerusalem. The Ascension ought to take place from this Mount, because according to an ancient tradition, it is here that the Lord will return bodily and with glory on the last Day when he will judge the world. It is here that the righteous will receive the great mercy and here also that the sinners will grieve with an inconsolable lamentation. These two opposite conditions of humanity are denoted by the name of this Mount, because its peaks are called Mount of Olives and its foot Valley of Wailing. This is also what was pre-signified by the oracle of the prophet Zachariah which explicitly states:

Why the Apostles and the Theotokos had to be present at that time? The Lord led his disciples on this Mount and the Theotokos who gave birth to him as man, so that they could see with their own eyes his glorious Ascension. His Mother after the flesh had to be present at that great glorification of her Son, so that she who had been gravely wounded in her soul for his passion above all others, might commensurably rejoice by seeing her Son ascending into heaven with glory, being worshiped as God by the Angels and being seated on the throne of the Most High above all principalities and authorities. The divine Apostles had to be there also, that might become eye-witnesses of the Lord’s Ascension, be informed that their Divine Teacher who is now ascending into heaven, had initially come down from there and that he will wait for them there as the true Son of God and Savior of the world.

How did this utterly unfamiliar and unique event of the Ascension of Christ occur? They had already arrived at the middle peak of the Mount. The city of Jerusalem stretched in front of them. The hole where the Cross had stood was still open. So was also the entrance to the Grave of the Savior, since the great stone that had been used to seal it was still lying on the ground. And then, the Savior turns his back to the ungrateful city of Jerusalem and his glance looks to the East, as David joyfully sings in one of his psalms:  “Sing to the Lord who is going up to the heaven of the heaven towards the East.” (Psalm 67:34). And as he takes leave of his Disciples he raises his immaculate hands and blesses them for the last time – those hands with which he recreated the man whom he created at the beginning, and which he stretched on the cross out of love for humanity and united those that had been severed, i.e. those which had been diversified. Just as the eyes of the disciples could not be satisfied enough in seeing the divine and mellifluent face of their Lord, suddenly he began to ascend into heaven. Their glance remained nailed, as it were, on that paradoxical and inexplicable display of the bodily Ascension of the Lord, until he was concealed by the luminous cloud.

How utterly unfamiliar and unique was the majesty of this Ascension! Elijah had also ascended into heaven, as Scripture relates; but this ascension took place by means of a fiery chariot and fiery horses, because Elijah was a mere man and needed help in order to ascend above the earth. Christ, however, was a God-man and ascended by himself, by virtue of his own omnipotence. As regards that cloud, it had to do with the Holy Spirit, just as it happened with the transfiguration of Christ. Just as his descend and becoming man were wrought “through the Holy Spirit, according to the message of Archangel Gabriel” (“The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” Luke 1:35), so now he “co-ascends” with him (the Holy Spirit) because He follows him and coexists with him, being coessential (“homoousion”) with him and being worship and glorified with him.

Why were those two anthropomorphic and white-dressed Angels sent?  While the holy Apostles were gazing with astonishment at the heavenly sight, two men appeared to them dressed in white garments. These two men were angels, who had assumed a human form in order to avoid scaring the disciples. They were dressed in white so that their chastity might be manifest, as well as the enlightening and joyous message which they were sent to deliver. They were sent by Christ on his Ascension, in order to console them at the moment of their sorrow for his departure, but also to enlighten them that their Lord who is now invisible is seating at the right side of God the Father and that he will descend on the earth once again in order to judge all human beings, the living and the dead.

What is the message of the Angels dressed in white? “Men of Galilee,” they told them, “why do you stand with your gaze ailed on the sky?” This Jesus, whom you see today being taken up, will return to judge the world and his return will be the same with his Ascension.” In other words, he will come from heaven wearing the same immaculate Body, which he assumed from the bloods of the pure Virgin, and which will bear upon it the marks from the wounds which he received at his passion. Right now it is only you who see him ascending to heaven, but when he returns, all the races of the earth will see him descending from there with glory upon the clouds. His glorious condescension will become the cause of blessedness and joy for those who lived righteously. For the sinners, however, it will be the cause of sorrow and calamity.

What was the impact of the Ascension for the Apostles and the small flock of the first Church? Having heard this message, the Apostles worshiped the Savior on his Ascension and, then, joyfully returned to Jerusalem. Their joy was great, because they had definitely learned that their divine Teacher was true God who ascended into heaven, not because he abandoned the earth, but in order to unite it with heaven. Their joy was also great because they received the blessing of their Savior on his Ascension. It was with this blessing that the numerically small Church of the disciples greatly increased its numbers in a relatively short space of time and, having received the grace of the Spirit, was established as the great Church throughout the earth.

What was the impact of the Ascension on the orders of the Angels in heaven? While these things occurred on the earth because of the Ascension, the Angels mounted a great celebration in heaven. The Angels which served the Savior on the earth and now accompanied him on his ascension called out the orders above to open the heavenly gates for the King of Glory to enter in. As David sings, “Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in” (Ps. 23:7). Since through his saving passion Christ the Savior became more glorious and highly exalted –as the Apostle Paul actually puts it, “Having humbled himself and having become obedient unto death, indeed a death by crucifixion, God exalted him highly and granted him the name which is above all” (Phil. 2:9) –for this reason the gates of heaven ask to become higher in order to welcome him more fittingly. Also, because the glory of the victor of Hades and death, which could not be contained by the small space of the earth, but filled the heavens, the Angels ask that they too be expanded on his appearance! At the same time, the heavenly hierarchies of the Angels, seeing the human body to be transferred above them, were seized by dazzle and amazement; because, just as a human being is seized by amazement of fear on seeing an angel on the earth, so the bodiless Angels, seeing a body to be raised on a cloud, seek with amazement to learn about this paradoxical display, and to be twice assured about the identity of this King of Glory. Hearing, then, that he is the Lord, who is powerful in battles, who fought the devil and defeated him and who is now ascending into heaven, they wonder how this superbly luminous body is dressed in royal purple and ask, “Who is this that comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bosor, who is glorious in his apparel” (Is. 63:1)?  In other words, who is this earthly person, who comes wearing a flesh which is like a superbly bright, royal purple dress? Because, Edom means earthly and Bosor means flesh, and the point of reference here is the glorified Body of Christ the King which appeared to be red in his Ascension into heaven due to the marks of the wounds on his immaculate side, his hands and his feet.

Why were the marks from the wounds retained on the Risen Body of Christ?  How was it that the wounds on that incorruptible body were visible? This was a matter of economy, and its purpose was to manifest the ineffable and excelling love for man of the God-man. He consented not only to receive these wounds, but also to retain them after his Resurrection on his incorruptible body in a paradoxical manner and to show them on his Ascension to the world of the Angels as the symbols of his passion and as the indelible proofs of his love for us human beings. In addition, he retained the wounds of his incorruptible body, in order to persuade us that we should never forget his passion, but keep it always before us, so that our heart might overflow with gratitude and sacred feelings towards him.  Northing else, says St. John Chrysostom, can beget inside us these saving results as seeing God carrying the traces of the Cross as far as the throne of his Majesty. According to St. Augustine, the God-man preserved his wounds in heaven in order to show that he will not forget us even in the condition of his glory –which, in any case, is also affirmed by the head-prophet: “Behold on my hands I inscribed your walls, so that they remain in front of me for ever“ (Is. 49:16). In other words, he will never forsake us, because he has written our names on his hands and will intercede for us before God the Father. He may have also retained his wounds in order to teach us that only through sufferings and sorrows will be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. If the God-man was exalted through suffering crucifixion, and if he was glorified by an ignominious death, then, how can we enter into this glory without walking on the narrow path of virtue, and without enduring sorrows and temptations in fighting the good fight? This is quite impossible.

The Ascension as a universal joy embracing heaven and earth. We see, then, that in today’s Feast of the Ascension of Christ, the joy is universal because it extends to both heaven and earth. The Angels rejoice in heaven, because they welcome their King.  Human beings also jubilate on the earth, because their entry into the heavenly Jerusalem is now allowed. “All nations clap your hands, shout with a loud voice of elation unto God” (Ps. 46:2). Let us rejoice today, on the day of universal joy, seeing our Lord ascending where he was not before and opening once for all the gates of the heavens so that our human nature, which he bought with his most precious blood, may enter in with him. What a great comfort this is in our hearts, seeing Him who became for us life and light, faithful friend and powerful protector, who truly loved us and shed his Blood for us, and sat at the throne of the Godhead, and gave us the assurance that he will come again sometime in the future in order to take us there too! He himself gave us with his Ascension the confirmation of this truth and the living hope that we too will ascend there and we will never again be separated from him. Our union with him will be like that of the members of a body with its head, since we are the members of his body and he is the Head of us all.  If he was resurrected bodily, we too will be resurrected bodily if we so wish. If he was glorified which being in the flesh, we too will be glorified with the flesh and will walk there, where our Lord is, provided that we behave prudently.

The implications of the Ascension of Christ for the Christians:

a) Christians ought to be united with Christ, loving him and keeping his commandments.  Since the joy for the gifts of Christ granted to us is true, and the hope that we too will enter into that dwelling place of light and live the blessed life is also assured, we  ought to be united with him already in this life, knowing that he is the source of light and life. There is no other way for us to achieve this, except to love him with all our soul, and to keep his saving commandments. When we do this we become God’s dwelling place and begin to experience the true joy of life, recognizing the benefits of his grace and realizing that our joy will be completed when we too participate in his ascension and the glory of his presence and co-reign with him for ever. And this is not all, because we will also sit on the throne of his divine Majesty, as this was explicitly revealed by the truthful mouth of our Savior, which said: “To him who wins, I will grant him to sit with me at my throne, just I won and sat with my Father at his throne” (Rev. 3:21). This is the glory that we will receive if we conquer the passions. We will rise and arrive where the Savior led today his nature, which is related to us, namely, his human bodily existence.

b) Christians ought to live on earth as citizens of heaven. Who, then, would deny, that even if we had a thousand souls and lives, and had to suffer a thousand deaths, would should accept these with absolute eagerness, in order to enjoy even one day of that ineffable glory? Which earthly benefit could constrain our hearts on this earth, which our Savior left, since our citizenship is in heaven and since the ineffable glory awaits us there? Our Lord ascended into heaven, and we here can follow him, remaining united with him through faith and virtue. Certainly, much labor is required of us if we are to ascend to that great height. We are encouraged, however, by the fact that our Lord who ascended there supplies us with strength so that we can succeed. The only thing that he expects of us is to have a willing disposition, and he admonishes us to turn a deaf ear to anything earthly, so that we can be more transportable in our journey above. This means that we are called to leave earthly things on the earth, and to take off our coats of skin, which we put on account of our sin. As the Prophet Elijah threw off his woolskin when the time came for him to ascend to heaven, so should we shake off every agonizing, material endeavor and be detached from a servile attachment to the earth, so that we can easily ascend to the heavenly places.  How can we worthily prepare ourselves to rise to the clouds and to go out to meet with our Lord, when he comes with all his royal glory?  On that great and celebrated Day, all human beings will be resurrected. Not all of them will be snatched by clouds to go out to meet the Lord in the air. This will happen only to those who kept the commandments of Christ and loved him with all their heart (I Thess. 4:16-17); because only these Christians will be deemed worthy to enjoy such a glory, and only to them will be granted to enjoy that eternal and ineffable blessedness.

The true celebration of the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. Today’s happy Feast of the Ascension of our Lord invites us all who wish to celebrate it truly to do what the holy Apostles did after the Ascension.  They worshiped their Teacher on his ascension and returned to Jerusalem (Luke 24:52), i.e. to the house of peace (because this is the meaning of the name Jerusalem). Likewise, we too should return to our homes and make peace with all. The Apostles were in the temple glorifying God and waiting for the descent of the Holy Spirit (verse 53). We should thank our Savior because he gave us the opportunity to celebrate his Ascension and to beseech him from the depths of our heart to make us worthy to celebrate the holy Pentecost as well and be renewed with the grace of the Holy Spirit.  It is with this grace that we shall be able to continue the struggle for virtue and to do works which are worthy of our heavenly calling and finally to enter into the great joy of the coming of our Lord.