“Let the heavens rejoice duly

and let the earth rejoice. And let them celebrate

all the world seen and unseen;

that Christ is risen, the everlasting joy.”

(From the Canon of the Resurrection)

Your Eminences and Your Graces, Archpastors,

Most Reverend and Right Reverend Fathers,

Venerable monks and nuns,

Beloved in the Lord, brothers and sisters,

Christ is risen!

This chosen and holy day, the feast of feasts, unites heaven and earth today, giving us all an occasion for joy and spiritual rejoicing “for behold, the desired and saving feast has come to us, the day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the foundation of peace, the cause of reconciliation, the end of wars and the trampling underfoot of death” (St. John Chrysostom).

It is appropriate to remember the words of St. Ap. Paul: “O Death, where is your sting?O Hades, where is your victory?”” (1 Corinthians 15:55). Today the Lord of Life has dispelled death and illuminated darkness, encouraging and emboldening those who have become sons and daughters of the Resurrection, freeing them from fear and sorrow.

On the morning of the Resurrection, the Myrrh-bearing Women received this encouragement, and then, walking along the path, the great joy, transmitted by the Risen One Himself.

Christ the Saviour calls us to become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17), urging us to share in the gifts of his Resurrection.

Therefore, brothers, in the midst of Easter night, being full of courage and spiritually encouraged, let us gather around the Holy Altar, symbol of the tomb of the crucified and risen One, to “drink new drink, not of dry stone made with miracles, but of the fountain of incorruption” (from the Canon of the Resurrection).

By participating in the Divine Liturgy, we continually discover the fundamental meaning of the Cross and the Resurrection, because “through the Cross joy has come to everyone”, and this state of joy can be perpetuated in our being if we are not excluded from the Lord’s Supper. Here we are filled with peace and light, love and reconciliation, because Christ who brought peace among his disciples also fills our hearts with grace and holiness.

Christ is risen and all are filled with light. The Lord is risen and angels with men rejoice in the Church of God.

As sons of the Resurrection, we are sons of the Church, which is “the body of Christ” (Ephesians 1:23). We who confess the Lord’s resurrection from the dead are part of this body (1 Corinthians 12:27) whose head, that is, of the Church, is Christ (Colossians 1:18).

In the Church “holy and blameless … without spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:27) dwells the risen Jesus, working our salvation. Only here, in the Church of the “Lamb of the slain” (Revelation 5:12), in the Divine Liturgy, does Christ fulfil his desire to “eat the Passover with us” (Luke 22:15).

Right-faithful  Christians,

On these days of the Resurrection of the Saviour, may our hearts and souls be overwhelmed by the Heavenly Bridegroom’s exhortation: “Abide in my love” (John 15:9), and our fatherly exhortation to all the sons and daughters of the Holy Orthodox Church of Moldova, both at home and far away, is this: “Rejoice in the Lord always, my brethren, and again I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).

Have Blessed Easter holidays, spent with your family and your neighbours, in peace and forgiveness, in peace and holy love!

Truly Christ is risen!

With arch-pastoral blessings,

METROPOLITAN OF CHISINAU AND ALL MOLDOVA

Resurrection of the Lord,

Year of Salvation 2024,

Chisinau