May the Resurrection of Christ be spiritual charge on the path of faith

Orthodox Christians all over the world celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. In the hymns for the feast of feasts, the Savior's victory over death is solemnly praised. In the main troparion of the feast, which is the heart of every Easter service, it is sung: "Christ is risen from the dead, by death he has conquered death and to those in the tombs he has granted life."

In the history of mankind, there is no other religious teaching that reveals the meaning of suffering before joy, speaks of humiliation before celebration, and affirms joy on the basis of humiliation. Death is not accepted as an end, but as a transition. Through His Resurrection, Christ "destroys the chains of hell" and joy displaces sorrow.

The joy lasts 40 days until the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and until then the believers greet each other with the words: "Christ is Risen!" and respond with the affirmation: "Indeed, He is Risen!"

For the bright holiday, Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe sent his blessing to the believers in the diocese, among whom there are not only Bulgarians:

"I want to wish the Christians in the diocese to have unshakable faith, as before. To live in the gracious life of the Church, to participate in the Sacraments that the Church has established and given us as a means of our salvation. To not forget the path to the temple, to love Bulgaria, to carry it in their hearts. To bear one another's burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ. We each carry our own cross as Christians, but sometimes it is necessary, like Simon of Cyrene, who helped Christ with carrying the Cross, for us to come to the aid of our neighbours, to console them in their sorrows, to encourage them on the path of faith and to share the satisfaction of their successes. So, let the feast of the Resurrection of Christ be another spiritual charge in which we can draw upon the grace-filled strength to walk on the path of our Orthodox faith."

Christ is Risen!