By the mercy of God Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem
and all Palestine
for all the congregation of the Church, grace, mercy and peace
from the All-holy and Life-giving Tomb
of the Resurrected Christ.
“We celebrate the death of death, the destruction of Hades, the
beginning of an everlasting life. And with leaps of joy we praise the
Cause thereof, the only blest and most glorious God of our
Fathers”. (Troparion Ode Seven of the Canon of the Resurrection by St.
John Damascene)
In unspeakable and absolute joy, with pure hearts and undefiled lips,
with unceasing merry voices and pious cheering, the Church proclaims
during the night of the Resurrection, and during the whole Easter
period, echoing the “Christ is risen from the dead, by death hath he
trampled down death, and to those in the graves hath He bestowed life”.
In firmness of faith in the Crucified and Resurrected from the dead, our
Lord Jesus Christ, and in the hope of the Resurrection unto eternal
life, the Church chants “It is the day of Resurrection; let us be
radiant for the festival, and let us embrace one another. Let us say O
brethren, even to those that hate us; let us forgive all things on the
Resurrection”.
This wondrous and joyful message of the victory of death is the
fruit of Christ’s crucifixion, for, “behold, through the cross, joy has
come unto the whole world”. Christ’s victory over death came through His
sacrifice on the Cross. Christ, the Only-begotten Son and Word of God,
came down to earth from the bosom of the Father, became incarnate
through the Holy Spirit and Virgin-Mary, willingly brought Himself on
the Cross as an immaculate sacrifice for the remission of our sins. As
Prophet Isaiah had foretold, “he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth”
(Isaiah 53:7), and just as St. John the Baptist pointed at Him in
recognition, He became on the Cross “the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The most wondrous of all in this
mystery, which signifies the excessive love of God for us, is what the
Apostle of nations also says: “For when we were yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man
will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to
die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). Being without sin, Christ
“being in the form of God…made himself of no reputation and took upon
him the form of a servant: (Phil. 2:6-7), He humbled Himself, willingly
came to the Cross and through His immaculate blood “He that forgiveth
the ancient debts, rent asunder the handwriting against them and wished
to bestow His grace”(Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos, 4th Part).
Having suffered in the flesh for us and buried, Christ went down into
Hades. In his greed, Hades was waiting to devour the Son of God. But
because of the humility of His sacrifice, Hades was not able to have
power over Him. Hades was deceived and embittered. Thinking that he had
received a mortal being, he met God, God and man, the God-man Jesus
Christ, Who by both the power of God the Father and His own, was risen
from the dead, becoming the first-fruits of the dead, and led the way
for all humans in flesh to the resurrection from the dead. He sought the
lost sheep in Hades, just as He did on earth, , preached the Gospel of
repentance and salvation to Adam and Eve and their descendants and as it
is depicted on the Orthodox icon of the Resurrection, He drew them into
Paradise along with Him. Since then, by the power and faith in the
Resurrection, we humans die only in flesh, we dispose our earthly body,
for, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 15:50),
and live with Him in soul and spirit, “awaiting for the resurrection
from the dead and life of the age to come” (The Creed).
Christ had foretold this mystery of the resurrection from the dead to
His friends and disciples, while He still lived with them on earth, and
after His Resurrection “he shewed himself alive after his passion by
many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3), appearing to them in His crucified
body with the nail signs, but radiant and glorified. Through His
Disciples who were His eye-witnesses, He passed on this mystery to His
body the Church, which He established with the Comforter Spirit, that He
sent down to us from the Father, after His Ascension in Heaven on the
Day of Pentecost, fifty days after His Resurrection.
Ever since, the Church, which according to the true words of the Lord
“the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18),
continues His mission on earth. It preaches Christ Incarnate , Crucified
and Resurrected, and baptizes in His Name those who believe in Him,
sanctifies them with its sacraments and prays for the reconciliation of
humanity and for the whole world. It supports the suffering man with all
its strength, prays to our Lord Jesus Christ, the healer of souls and
bodies , for the cessation of the ongoing pandemic of the current virus,
for the healing of those affected by it and for His mercy for those who
died by the virus so mercilessly, in the certainty that “though he was
crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we
also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God
toward you” (2 Cor. 13:4).
On the bright day of the Resurrection, our Church of Jerusalem, the
Mother of Churches, also prays from the Life-giving Tomb where Christ
was buried and resurrected, for the unity of the Church and for peace in
the Middle East, and wishes to its flock in the Holy Land and all over
the world, the power and the blessing of the Resurrected Jesus Christ.
Christ is Risen!
In the Holy City of Jerusalem, PASCHA 2020
With Fatherly and Patriarchal blessings,
Fervent supplicant for all before God,
THEOPHILOS III
Patriarch of Jerusalem
ΠΑΣΧΑΛΙΟΝ ΜΗΝΥΜΑ ΤΟΥ ΜΑΚΑΡΙΩΤΑΤΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΟΥ ΙΕΡΟΣΟΛΥΜΩΝ Κ.Κ. ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΥ Γ’ 2020
ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΣ Γ’
Ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ Πατριάρχης τῆς Ἁγίας Πόλεως Ἱερουσαλήμ
καί πάσης Παλαιστίνης
παντί τῷ πληρώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, χάριν καί ἔλεος καί εἰρήνην
ἀπό τοῦ Παναγίου καί Ζωοδόχου Τάφου
τοῦ Ἀναστάντος Χριστοῦ.
ἄλλης βιοτῆς, τῆς αἰωνίου ἀπαρχήν καί σκιρτῶντες
ὑμνοῦμεν τόν αἴτιον, τόν μόνον εὐλογητόν τῶν πατέρων
Θεόν καί ὑπερένδοξον.
(Τροπάριον Ζ’ ὠδῆς κανόνος Ἀναστάσεως Ἰωάννου Δαμασκηνοῦ).
Ἐν
χαρᾷ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ καί πεπληρωμένῃ, καρδίαις καθαραῖς καί ἀρρυπώτοις
χείλεσι, φωναῖς ἀκαταπαύστοις καί αἰσίαις καί ἀλαλαγμοῖς σεμνοῖς ἡ
Ἐκκλησία βοᾷ καί διαλαλεῖ κατά τήν νύκτα τῆς Ἀναστάσεως καί καθ’ ὅλην
τήν Πασχάλιον περίοδον τό «Χριστός ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν θανάτῳ θάνατον
πατήσας καί τοῖς ἐν τοῖς μνήμασι ζωήν χαρισάμενος». Ἐν βεβαιότητι
πίστεως τῷ Σταυρωθέντι καί ἐκ νεκρῶν Ἀναστάντι Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ καί
ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι Ἀναστάσεως ζωῆς αἰωνίου, ἡ Ἐκκλησία ψάλλει «Ἀναστάσεως ἡμέρα
καί λαμπρυνθῶμεν τῇ πανηγύρει καί ἀλλήλους περιπτυξώμεθα, εἴπωμεν
ἀδελφοί καί τοῖς μισοῦσιν ἡμᾶς συγχωρήσωμεν πάντα τῇ Ἀναστάσει».
Τό
θαυμαστόν τοῦτο καί χαρμόσυνον ἄγγελμα τῆς νίκης τοῦ θανάτου εἶναι ὁ
καρπός τῆς σταυρώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καθότι «ἰδού γάρ ἦλθε διά τοῦ σταυροῦ
χαρά ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ». Ἡ νίκη τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπί τοῦ θανάτου ἦλθε διά τῆς
θυσίας τοῦ σταυροῦ Αὐτοῦ. Ὁ Χριστός, ὁ Μονογενής Υἱός καί Λόγος τοῦ
Θεοῦ, κατελθών εἰς τήν γῆν ἐκ τῶν κόλπων τοῦ Πατρός, ἐνανθρωπήσας ἐκ
Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καί Μαρίας τῆς Παρθένου, προσήνεγκεν Ἑαυτόν ἑκουσίως τῷ
σταυρῷ ὡς ἱερεῖον ἄμωμον διά τήν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν. Καθά προεῖπεν
ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας «ὡς πρόβατον ἐπί σφαγήν ἤχθη καί ὡς ἀμνός ἄμωμος
ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτόν ἄφωνος» καί ὡς δακτύλῳ Αὐτόν καθυπέδειξεν
Ἰωάννης ὁ Βαπτιστής εἰς τόν Ἰορδάνην, κατεδείχθη ἐν τῷ σταυρῶ «ὁ ἁμνός
τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ αἴρων τήν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου». Τό πλέον θαυμαστόν εἰς τό
μυστήριον τοῦτο, τό ὁποῖον καί δεικνύει τήν ὑπερβάλλουσαν ἀγάπην τοῦ
Θεοῦ πρός ἡμᾶς, εἶναι, ὡς καί ὁ ἀπόστολος τῶν ἐθνῶν λέγει, ὅτι «ἐν ᾦ
μόλις ὐπέρ δικαίου τις ἀποθανεῖται, Χριστός ὑπέρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε ἔτι
ἀσθενῶν, ἁμαρτωλῶν καί ἀσεβῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν» (Ρωμ. 5, 6-8). Ἀναμάρτητος ὤν ὁ
Χριστός, «Θεός ὤν ἀληθινός ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ», «ἑαυτόν ἐκένωσε μορφήν
δούλου λαβών» (Φιλιπ. 2, 7), ἐταπείνωσεν Ἑαυτόν, ἀνῆλθε ἑκουσίως ἐπί τοῦ
σταυροῦ καί διά τοῦ ἀχράντου αἵματος Αὐτοῦ “ὁ πάντων χρεωλύτης ἀνθρώπων
ἔσχισε τό χειρόγραφον καί ἔδωκε χάριν ὀφλημάτων ἀρχαίων”.
Σαρκί
παθών ὐπέρ ἡμῶν ὁ Χριστός καί ταφείς, κατῆλθεν εἰς τόν Ἅδην. Ἐν τῇ
ἀπληστίᾳ αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἅδης, ἀνέμενε καί Τοῦτον, τόν Υἱόν τοῦ Θεοῦ, νά
καταφάγῃ. Διά τήν ταπείνωσιν ὅμως τῆς θυσίας Αὐτοῦ, δέν ἠδυνήθη νά ἔχῃ
ἰσχύν ἐπ’ Αὐτοῦ. Ἠπατήθη ὁ Ἅδης καί ἐπικράνθη. Νομίσας ὅτι ἐδέχθη
θνητόν, συνήντησε Θεόν, Θεόν καί ἄνθρωπον, τόν Θεάνθρωπον Ἰησοῦν
Χριστόν, ὁ Ὁποῖος τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πατρός καί τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτοφυεῖ Αὐτοῦ
δυνάμει, ἀνέστη ἐκ νεκρῶν, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν καί ὡδοποίησε πάσῃ
σαρκί τήν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν. Ἀνεζήτησε καί εἰς τόν Ἅδην ὡς καί εἰς τήν
γῆν τό ἀπολωλός πρόβατον, ἐκήρυξε εἰς τόν Ἀδάμ καί τήν Εὔαν καί τούς
ἀπογόνους αὐτῶν τό Εὐαγγέλιον τῆς μετανοίας καί σωτηρίας καί ὡς δεικνύει
ἡ Ὀρθόδοξος εἰκών τῆς Ἀναστάσεως ἀνέσυρεν αὐτούς μετ’ Αὐτοῦ εἰς τόν
Παράδεισον. Ἔκτοτε ἐν τῇ δυνάμει καί τῇ πίστει τῆς Ἀναστάσεως, οἱ
ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκομεν σώματι μόνον, ἀποδυόμεθα τό γήινον σκήνωμα ἡμῶν,
καθότι «αἷμα καί σάρξ βασιλείαν Θεοῦ κληρονομῆσαι οὐ δύνανται» (Α’ Κορ.
15, 50) καί συζῶμεν μετ’ Αὐτοῦ ψυχῇ καί πνεύματι, προσδοκῶντες ἀνάστασιν
νεκρῶν καί ζωήν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος.
Τοῦτο τό μυστήριον τῆς ἐκ
νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως Αὐτοῦ ὁ Χριστός εἶχε προείπει εἰς τούς φίλους μαθητάς
Αὐτοῦ ἔτι ὤν μετ’ αὐτῶν εἰς τήν γῆν, μετά δέ τήν Ἀνάστασιν «παρέστησεν
Ἑαυτόν αὐτοῖς ζῶντα ἐν πολλοῖς τεκμηρίοις» (Πράξ. Α’, 3), εἰς πολλάς
ἐμφανείας μετά τοῦ σώματος Αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἐσταυρωμένου ἐν τύποις τῶν ἥλων,
λελαμπρυσμένου καί δεδοξασμένου. Διά τῶν αὐτοπτῶν μαθητῶν Αὐτοῦ παρέδωσε
τό μυστήριον τοῦτο εἰς τό σῶμα Αὐτοῦ τήν Ἐκκλησίαν, τήν ὁποίαν ἡδραίωσε
διά τοῦ Παρακλήτου Πνεύματος, τό ὁποῖον ἀναληφθείς εἰς οὐρανούς
ἀπέστειλε παρά τοῦ Πατρός τήν Πεντηκοστήν ἀπό τῆς Ἀναστάσεως ἡμέραν.
Ἔκτοτε
ἡ Ἐκκλησία, τῆς ὁποίας κατά τήν τοῦ Κυρίου ἀψευδῆ πρόρρησιν «πύλαι Ἅδου
οὐ κατίσχυσουσι» (Ματθ. 16, 18), συνεχίζει τό ἔργον Αὐτοῦ εἰς τήν γῆν.
Κηρύττει τόν Χριστόν Ἐναθρωπήσαντα, Σταυρωθέντα καἰ Ἀναστάντα καί
βαπτίζει εἰς τό ὄνομα Αὐτοῦ τούς εἰς Αὐτόν πιστεύοντας, ἁγιάζει τούτους
διά τῶν μυστηρίων αὐτῆς καί προσεύχεται ὑπέρ συνδιαλλαγῆς τῆς
ἀνθρωπότητος καί ὑπέρ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης. Δι’ ὅλων αὐτῆς τῶν δυνάμεων
συμπαρίσταται εἰς τόν πάσχοντα ἄνθρωπον, προσεύχεται τῷ ἰατρῷ τῶν ψυχῶν
καί τῶν σωμάτων Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ ὑπέρ παύσεως τῆς ἐνσκηψάσης τῇ
οἰκουμένῃ λοιμικῆς θανατηφόρου νόσου, θεραπείας τῶν προσβεβλημένων καί
ἐλέους Αὐτοῦ ἐπί τούς ἀνηλεῶς ὑπ’ αὐτῆς θανατωθέντας ἐν τῇ βεβαιότητι
ὅτι ὡς Ἐκεῖνος “ἐσταυρώθη ἐξ ἀσθενείας, ἀλλά ζῇ ἐκ δυνάμεως Θεοῦ οὕτω
καί ἡμεῖς εἰ καί ἀσθενοῦμεν ἐν Αὐτῷ, ἀλλά καί ζησόμεθα σύν Αὐτῷ ἐκ
δυνάμεως Θεοῦ (Β’ Κορ. 13, 4).
Προσευχήν ἔτι καί ὑπέρ ἑνότητος τῆς
Ἑκκλησίας καί εἰρήνης τῆς Μέσης Ἀνατολῆς ἀναπέμπει ἡ Σιωνῖτις Μήτηρ τῶν
Ἐκκλησιῶν κατά τήν λαμπροφόρον ἡμέραν τῆς Ἀναστάσεως ἀπό τοῦ ζωηφόρου
μνήματος, ἐν ᾧ ἐτάφη καί ἐξ οὗ ἀνέστη Χριστός καί εὔχεται εἰς τό
ποίμνιον αὐτῆς εἰς τήν Ἁγίαν Γῆν καί ὅπου γῆς τήν δύναμιν καί τήν
εὐλογίαν τοῦ Ἀναστάντος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
Χριστός ἀνέστη
Ἐν τῇ Ἁγίᾳ Πόλει Ἱερουσαλήμ, ΠΑΣΧΑ 2020
Μετά Πατρικῶν εὐχῶν καί Πατριαρχικῶν εὐλογιῶν,
Διάπυρος πρός Κύριον εὐχέτης,
ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΣ Γ’
Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων