In luciferam sanctam domini resurrectionem

Of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, on the luminous and holy resurrection of the Lord. Blessed is God. Let us praise today the only-begotten God, the begetter of the heavenly ones, who emerged from the hidden recesses of the earth and cast light over the whole world with his light-bearing rays. Let us praise today the burial of the only-begotten, the resurrection of the victor, the joy of the world, the life of the nations of the world. Let us praise today the one who put on sin. Let us praise today the divine Word, who refuted the wisdom of the world, confirmed the prophecy of the prophets, assembled the bond of the apostles, spread the calling of the church, and extended the grace of the Spirit. For behold, we who were once strangers to the knowledge of God have now come to know God, and what is written has been fulfilled: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before him. What will they remember? The ancient fall, the new resurrection, the old transgression and the later correction, the death of Eve, the birth of the virgin, the reformation of the nations, the forgiveness of sinners, the prophecy of the prophets, the preaching of the apostles, the rebirth of the font, the dwelling in paradise, the return to the heavens, the creator who rose again, the one who cast off indecency, the one who by divine majesty transformed the perishable into imperishability. And what indecency did he put off? That which Isaiah spoke.

And we saw him, it says, and he had no form nor beauty, but his form was dishonored, falling short of the sons of men. When was he dishonored? When he consorted with the accursed Jews and was called a Samaritan and a demoniac, when Judas Iscariot and the offspring of darkness held the uncontainable one for murder. Not without purpose did John say to them: Offspring of vipers, who showed you to flee from the coming wrath? For truly the wrath of God will remain upon them. When was he dishonored? When they received the shoot of gentleness with slaps and with oaths questioned the one who is the judge of oaths. When was he dishonored? When the judge was judged and the judge of the world was tried, when the servant questioned and the master was silent, when the light was still and the darkness exulted, when the creature grew bold and the creator endured. When was he dishonored? When the bulls gored and the calf stood by, when the lion roared and the bulls exulted, as it is written: Many calves surrounded me, fat bulls encompassed me; they opened their mouth against me like a seizing and roaring lion. When was he dishonored?

when the dogs barked and the master endured, when the wolves seized and the sheep stood by, when the robber was called to life, but the life of the world was dragged to death, when they cried out that disorderly and destructive voice, "Take him, take him, crucify him," "His blood on us and on our children," the lord-killers, the prophet-killers, the god-fighters, the god-haters, the outragers of the law, the enemies of grace, the strangers to the faith of the fathers, the advocates of the devil, the offspring of vipers, the whisperers, the slanderers, those darkened in mind, the leaven of the Pharisees, the council of demons, the avengers, the utterly base, the stoners, the haters of beauty. For they cried out fittingly: "Take him, take him, crucify him." For the sojourn of the divinity in flesh weighed upon them, and their way was grieved by the refutation; for it is customary for sinners to hate the company of the righteous. When was he dishonored? When they scourged him and tortured his holy body, as he willingly endured sufferings, so that he might heal the ancient wounds of our sins, when he bore the wood of the cross on his shoulders, the trophy against the devil, when they placed a crown of thorns on the one who crowns those who trust in him, when they clothed in purple the one who bestows incorruption on those reborn through water and holy spirit, when they nailed to the wood the one who is lord of life and death. When was he dishonored? When the soldiers triumphed in mockery over the master of the army of the heavens. When was he dishonored?

when they put a sponge on a reed, filled it with vinegar, and gave it to him to drink, and gave him gall—the one who had rained manna upon them; when the rocks were shattered and the temple curtain was torn, struck by the audacity of the malefactors; when the sun mourned and darkness clothed itself like sackcloth, grieving the fall of the Jews—for the day lamented the misfortunes of the Jews; when in the midst of thieves life hung, one reviling and slandering, the other by repentance stealing paradise. When was he dishonored? When his body was given for burial. When was he dishonored? When soldiers guarded and the earth hid the one who had set the earth upon the waters; when the apostles hid themselves, unable to bear the weight of the trials. But see, beloved, the wonders of God and the achievements of joy even after the passion. The dishonored one was transformed into glory, and the world’s joy, incorruptible, has been raised with the body. Then the earth was in labor, and the day conceived, and death spat out the life of all; for it was not possible for the one who holds all by his word to be held by death.

Let us therefore celebrate the three-day resurrection, the mediator of eternal life. For just as Mary the Theotokos, having loosed no virginal and unwedded birth-pangs, by the will of God and the grace of the Spirit gave birth to the maker of the ages, the God-Word from God, so also the earth, having loosed the birth-pangs of death from its own flanks, cast forth, when commanded, the master of the Jews; for it could not hold a body that had become a vehicle of immortality. Therefore the prophet David, observing the correction of comeliness, the dissolution of death, the freedom of those once slaves, cries out and says: The Lord has reigned, he has put on comeliness. What comeliness did he put on? Incorruption, immortality, the assembly of the apostles, the crown of the church. No longer does Judas betray, no longer does Caiaphas threaten, no longer does Herod arm himself for child-murder, no longer does Pilate judge, nor do the Israelites prevail; for the perishable has become imperishable, and the one considered by them a mere man has been shown to be true God. Therefore we also cry out: Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory? The Lord has reigned, he has put on comeliness, the Lord has put on power and girded himself. By power he means the economy through the flesh; for nothing is more powerful than that: through a body the bodiless one cast down demons, through the cross he besieged the opposing powers. For since sin was first shaking the earth, our Lord Jesus Christ, having risen, as he foretold, fixed it with the wood of the cross, so that it no longer walks toward the slippery slope of destruction nor is buffeted by the storms of error.

Let us bring forward the blessed Paul as a witness to the word, speaking thus: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." Wherefore also the psalmist says: "Your throne is ready from that time; from eternity you are," and: "Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, which will not be destroyed," and again: "Your kingdom is a kingdom of all the ages," and again: "The Lord has reigned; let the earth rejoice, let the many islands be glad, for glory and power are his unto the ages of ages. Amen.