Easter
Description:
Resurrection!
Oh, how wonderful these words are! When we say or hear them, the lights of holy joy light up in our hearts for the Lord Jesus Christ Risen. And wherever they are spoken, wherever they are heard, wherever they are heard, they arouse trembling in every heart, and from them the flame of faith flashes more and more brightly in the soul of every glorifying risen Lord.
“Christ is Risen!” we speak with a sense of spiritual delight; we want to say them endlessly, listening to the other two holy words in response: “Truly Risen!”
Christ has risen! and for the whole universe a true spring began, a bright, joyful morning of new life. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the first real victory of life over death.
The Resurrection of Christ is the greatest Christian holiday. This is the feast and triumph of celebrations, the sign of victory over sin and death and the beginning of the existence of the world redeemed and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ. This holiday is also called Easter, that is, the day on which our transition from death to life and from earth to heaven took place.
Here's how it was:
After the Sabbath, at night, on the third day after His suffering and death, the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of His divinity came to life, that is, rose from the dead. His body, the human body, was transformed. He came out of the coffin without breaking the Sanhedrin seal, and invisible to the guard. From that moment on, the soldiers, unknowingly, guarded the empty coffin.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven. He came and rolled the stone from the door of the tomb of the Lord and sat on it. His sight was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The warriors who stood guard at the coffin came in trembling and became as dead, and then, waking up from fear, fled.
On this day (the first day of the week), as soon as the Sabbath rest was over, very early, at dawn, Mary Magdalene, Maria Jacobleva, John, Salome, and other women, taking the prepared fragrant myrrh, went to the tomb of Jesus Christ to anoint His body, since they had not had time to do so at the burial. (The Church calls these women myrrh-bearers.) They did not yet know that a guard was placed at the tomb of Christ and the entrance to the cave was sealed. So they did not expect to meet anyone there, and they said to each other, “Who will roll us a stone from the door of the tomb?” The stone was very big.
Mary Magdalene, ahead of the rest of the myrrh-bearers, came first to the tomb. It wasn't dawn, it was dark. Mary, seeing that the stone was rolled away from the tomb, immediately ran to Peter and John and said, “They took the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid Him.” Hearing these words, Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb. Mary Magdalene followed them.
At this time, the rest of the women walking with Mary Magdalene came to the coffin. They saw the stone rolled away from the coffin. And when they stopped, suddenly they saw a bright angel sitting on a rock. The angel said to them, Fear not, for I know that you seek Jesus crucified. He's not here; He has risen, as he said while he was with you. Come and see where the Lord lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.
They went inside the tomb and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when they looked, they saw an angel in a white robe sitting to the right of the place where the Lord had been laid; they were overwhelmed by terror.
The angel said to them, Do not be afraid; you seek Jesus the Nazarene crucified. He's risen. He's not here. This is the place where He was laid. But go and tell His disciples and Peter (who by his denial has fallen away from the number of disciples) that He will meet you in Galilee, where you will see Him, as He has told you.
And when the women were standing bewildered, suddenly two angels appeared before them in shining robes. The women bowed their faces to the ground in fear.
The angels said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He's not here: He has risen; remember how he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinners, and be crucified, and rise again on the third day.
The Easter service begins at midnight from Saturday to Sunday; it is full of spiritual joy and rejoicing. All of it is a solemn hymn to the Bright Resurrection of Christ, the reconciliation of God and man, the victory of life over death.
The feast of Easter every year is celebrated on different dates of the month and the time of its celebration "passes" on its date, but always falls on a Sunday. All holidays associated with Easter calendar (and this is Palm Resurrection, Easter, Ascension and Trinity) also change their date and are called transitional or mobile. Other twelfth feasts (Christmas, Baptism, Sretenye, etc.) have a permanent date and are called non-transitory or immovable.