In resurrectionem domini

A discourse of our father among the saints John Chrysostom on the holy Pascha. It is always possible to rejoice in the church of Christ among us, but much more so in the present feast of the day with its myriad-lighted torch procession, when Christ himself, the sun of righteousness, rising from the tomb as from a bridal chamber, by his resurrection first of all shone upon the race of women and said to them: “Rejoice.” The first word of the resurrection: “Rejoice.” Fear has been broken and grace has been given. The first word of the resurrection: “Rejoice.” And it met women there before all others, so that where sin abounded, grace might superabound. The first word of the resurrection: “Rejoice.” And it met women, and the Lord said to them: “Go quickly and tell my disciples that I am going before you into Galilee; there you will see me.” O the wise management of the Lord. He did not send an angel to the disciples, nor an archangel, but he sent women; and not simply women, but faithful women, his own soldiers. He sent them to the disciples, at once gladdening and reproaching: gladdening because he had risen from the dead, reproaching because the men, seized by cowardice, were hiding, while women, brightened by boldness, were proclaiming the resurrection. So today we celebrate a spiritual feast, the mother of every feast, which has opened the entrance to paradise from every side, which has fashioned a passable road for men to heaven, which has forged a single harmony of angels and men. Every tongue is small for the praise of the present feast.

For this has stopped the hissings of the serpent, this has torn up the thorns of Adam’s curse, this has taught Eve to give birth without pain. The present feast is manifold in its workings: it has moved the fiery sword and drawn in the breeze of the Holy Spirit, it has torn up the death-dealing tree and rooted the life-giving cross, it has dried up the leaves of the fig tree and increased the lilies of the newly baptized. No longer do we mourn Adam the first-formed, but we glorify the second Adam, Christ; no longer do we reproach Eve the transgressor, but we call the God-bearing Virgin blessed; no longer do we turn away from the tree, but we bear the cross; no longer do we fear the serpent, but we entreat the Holy Spirit; no longer do we descend to earth, but we ascend to the heavens; no longer are we outside paradise, but we dwell in the bosom of Abraham; no longer do we hear in Jewish fashion, “I have likened your day to night,” but we sing spiritually, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Why? Because the sun is no longer darkened, but all is illuminated; the veil is no longer rent, but the church is made known; no longer do we carry the branches of palms, but we carry about the newly baptized, saying, “The righteous shall blossom like a palm.” This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it; let us rejoice sensibly and intelligibly. This is the day, this and no other, for there is one queen and not many tyrannies. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

not running to taverns but hastening to martyria, not honoring drunkenness but loving moderation, not leaping in a Jewish manner but delighting in an apostolic way, not playing in the marketplaces but singing psalms in the houses. If someone is cheerful, says James, let him sing. The present day is of resurrection, not of insolence. No one dancing ascends to the heavens, no one drunk stands before a king. This is the day which the Lord made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. The prophet David, having observed this feast from many years past, says in another psalm: All you nations, clap your hands, shout aloud to God with a voice of joy. Why? Because Judaism has been thrust aside and Christianity has been added. All you nations, clap your hands, because we who were far off have become near. All you nations, clap your hands, because you have been purchased with the Lord’s blood, because you have trampled the power of death, because we, being human by nature, are called gods by grace. It is fitting for the church to celebrate, for the church planted as an image of the paradise in Eden. Here the tree of life is rooted in the sanctuary, here is one Christ-flowing source of four evangelic rivers, here is the unfading rose of virginity, here is the ever-living violet of beneficence, here is the grape-bearing vine of lawful marriage, here is the white-shining lily of the newly illumined, according to the saying: Let the desert rejoice and bloom like a lily.

Once the church from the nations was a desert before the Lord’s resurrection, but the resurrection of the Lord’s flesh revealed the desert as rich in children, transformed the barren one into a tree of fruitfulness that never sheds its leaves, and made the impassable passable. And the prophet Isaiah, having foreseen these things in spirit, said: Rejoice, barren one who does not give birth, break forth and cry out, you who do not labor in childbirth, for the children of the desert are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband. Everywhere the procession of the newly baptized shines, and we all celebrate. We rejoice, we sound the Lord’s Pascha, persuaded by Paul crying out: For our Pascha, Christ was sacrificed for us. The shadow has passed, the truth has shone forth; the law has ceased, grace has been exalted; the wound of circumcision has been buried, the seal of baptism has been brought to life. No longer the brine of the Red Sea, but the sweetness of the sacred font shines forth; no longer the sister of Moses shakes the timbrel, but the church displays the gospel; no longer the night of ignorance, but the light of the knowledge of God, as the divine Paul says: The night has advanced, but the day has drawn near. What day? The day of Christ’s manifestation, which revealed the dawn of the resurrection, which raised the sun of righteousness from the tombs, which gave birth to the twelve-hour radiance of the apostles, concerning which David said: This is the day that the Lord made; let us exult and rejoice in it.

I rejoice in the gathering of the multitude that loves Christ, I rejoice in the feasting of all upon the spiritual festivals, I rejoice seeing all of you as spiritual lyres of David, striking up and melodiously chanting the psalmist’s saying with all eagerness. And just as on a well-sounding lyre the high notes joined with the low, and again the middle notes with the others, produce one well-rhythmed sound when struck by the plectrum, in the same way I see it with you: for the mingled notes of men and women, children and elders, give forth one harmonious and sweet-sounding voice, and the saying of the blessed David is loudly proclaimed, which has received its fulfillment at the present time. Let those redeemed by the Lord speak, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered from the regions, from east and west and north and sea. The words of the prophet have proven true, for from every nation and tribe and region the net of the font has hunted these rational fish through the fisherman apostles. Such is the art of Christ’s fishermen: they do not set nets, but capture by faith. Let those redeemed by the Lord speak, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy, the one who sowed the tares, the one who

of the one who begot, of the one who produced transgression, of the progenitor of the Jews, as the prophet says: "The strength of your father will be vain." The word is true: that one crafted the wood of curse, the cross, but Christ transformed it into a blessing; that one hewed a tomb, but Christ made it an altar; that one tore Judas away from the disciples, but Christ strengthened all the newly baptized. For the radiance of the newly baptized has become the darkness of the Jews, and their feasting the misery of those, and their salvation the choking of those and of the devil. For these are in the church, those in the wilderness; these with angels, that one with pigs. Hence that one fell, these were restored; the captives in freedom, the tyrant in slavery. Let those redeemed by the Lord speak: what shall they say? "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been remitted and whose sins have been covered over." What shall they say? "Christ ransomed us from the curse of the law." What shall they say? "The snare was broken and we were delivered." What shall they say? "We shall sing of your mercies, Lord, forever." Let them speak, let them not be silent nor consign the benefaction to oblivion. What shall they say? "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is over all and through all and in all," according to the apostle.

Let them not say one thing in the baptismal font and think another, but as you were taught, O newly-illumined one, worship; as you were baptized, glorify; as you were reborn, believe; what was entrusted to you, guard; what you acquired, do not sell. As an eagle you were reborn, seek the heights; you came out of Sodom, do not turn back; you are being saved to the mountain, do not look behind you, lest you become a pillar of salt like the wife of Lot. You were called a child—do not imitate Absalom; you became a disciple—do not consort with Judas; you entered the ark—do not approach the raven; you were freed from Egypt—do not deify a bull; you were torn away from the nations—do not worship the sun; you were delivered from idolatry—do not busy yourself with the phases of the moon; you were redeemed from demons—do not suppose that stars are saints; you were released from the polytheism of men—do not deify the passions; you were deemed worthy of freedom—do not become a slave of pleasures, for to whatever one is defeated, by that he is also enslaved. You stripped off the old man and put on the new, who is Christ. Securely keep your soul and your body from defilements.

Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord say: what shall they say? I have taken off my tunic; how shall I put it on again? Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and has put on me a tunic of gladness. What garment? The garment of faith. And a tunic of gladness. What kind? All of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, that is, the confession of the undivided Trinity. Glory to him, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.