EASTER PASTORAL (04/30/00)

EASTER PASTORAL

The light of the Lord's resurrection

Resurrection Epistle of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops Beyond the Borders of Ukraine

To the Honorable Priesthood, Deaconate in Christ, Venerable monatics and devout faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church beyond the borders of Ukraine:

May the peace and grace of the Risen Savior be with all of you!

Among the 11 Resurrection gospels, pericope 114 of the Third Gospel is one of the most moving. With the pen of the holy Evangelist Luke, and through the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, an unusual event is described: how two disciples from the village of Emaus - deeply saddened by the events of Great Friday - left Jerusalem, the city of peace, and their friends, the apostles. They had witnessed the crucifixion, death and entombment of Him in Whom they had placed all of their hopes.

The tomb had sealed all of their aspirations. When their souls were overcome with feelings of tremendous sadness and despair, it was then that Jesus approached them and, though they did not recognize Him, raised their spirits and explained to them, "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, all that was said concerning Him," (Luke 24:27) and the significance of the sufferings which He endured out of love for the entire human race.

They were so taken with their "stranger" that they invited him to stay in Emaus with them, and He accepted the invitation. St. Luke goes on to describe the great event which forever transformed the lives of the two disciples from Emaus, and which has for 2,000 years transformed the life of every believer - an event which is at the heart of the Church and is the nature of the Church, namely the Eucharist. "He took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them... and then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him" (Luke 24-31), the risen Christ Jesus.

Filled with boundless spiritual joy, they immediately returned to Jerusalem where they found the 11 gathered together and those who were with them "who told them that the Lord had risen and appeared to Simon" (Luke 24:24). And it is here that the disciples from Emaus told their brother apostles "how they recognized Him in the breaking of bread" - the Eucharist (Luke 24:35).

Shattered hopes came to life, light overcame spiritual darkness, and faith once uncertain was reborn by the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread.

The feast of Christ's Resurrection carries and strengthens in every person faith and hope. It makes known that even amidst the dark moments experienced by the family, the parish, the Church and the nation, the light of the risen Son of God which marks His victory over all evil, shines brightly.

The Emaus event - recognizing the risen Lord and Savior in the breaking of bread, a recognizing which is repeated in the Holy Eucharist at every divine liturgy - underscores the nature of the Church and serves as the guarantor of our rebirth and renewal, the assurance that the desires and hopes of all "who partake of the one Bread and Cup in unity with one another and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" will be realized (from the liturgy of St. Basil the Great).

Emaus also serves to remind all of us that the last word in Christ's teaching is not the tomb, but life; not death, but immortality; not Great Friday, but Resurrection.

United with the risen Christ and each other in the Eucharist, we Hierarchs - servants of the Lord and members of the Permanent Conference of Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops outside of Ukraine, greet all of you, our spiritual children outside Ukraine. In the spirit of the Resurrection, we embrace our brothers in episcopal and priestly ministry and all the faithful of the Church of Christ in Ukraine, and we proclaim that the light of the Lord's Resurrection and the unifying force of the Eucharist will soon envelope your hearts and bring about the blessed unity and deserved autocephaly which Christ-loving Orthodox Christian Ukraine merits.

With the assurance of our love and constant prayers, we remain,

Your servants in the risen Lord:

ÝVasyly
Metropolitan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

ÝConstantine
Metropolitan, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of U.S.A. and in Diaspora

ÝJohn
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

ÝAntony
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of U.S.A.

ÝVsevolod
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of U.S.A.

ÝIoan
Archbishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora

ÝYurij
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

ÝJeremiah
Bishop, Ukrainian Orthodox Church in South America

Given in Winnipeg, Manitoba and South Bound Brook, N.J., London, England, Curitiba, Brazil, and Canberra, Australia, on Paskha in the year of our Lord 2000.

A revelation of divinity and humanity

Easter Message 2000 from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparch of Stamford, Conn.

To the Clergy, Religious and Beloved Faithful of the Stamford Eparchy:

Christ Is Risen! Truly He Is Risen!

Having kept the seals intact,
Thou didst rise from the tomb, O Christ,
As Thou didst not violate the seal of the Virgin by Thy birth!
And Thou hast opened for us the Gates of Paradise.

- Paschal Canon, Sixth Ode, First Troparion

With these words, which we chant every year on Holy Pascha, St. John of Damascus shows us a parallel between the Nativity of Our Lord and His Holy Resurrection from the dead. On both occasions Our Lord Jesus Christ reveals His Divinity, and on both occasions Our Lord simultaneously reveals His humanity - the human nature He received from the Holy Theotokos, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Church teaches us that the Holy Mother of God is ever-Virgin, and that when she brought Our Lord into the world, this was in every respect a virgin birth. In His virginal conception in the womb of His Mother, Our Lord had no human father, and in His birth, Our Lord did not violate the virginity of His mother. In traditional iconography, the Holy Theotokos is depicted with three stars, to remind us that she was a Virgin before the birth of Our Lord, that she was a Virgin during the Birth of Our Lord, and that she remains a Virgin always. This is why, in English, we often call her the Blessed Virgin. Motherhood is a great blessing. We say that a mother is "blessed" when she has a child. However, the Virgin Mary is the only virgin who has ever been so blessed, to have a child and yet remain a virgin.

At His Resurrection from the dead, Our Lord reveals His Godhood by an utterly miraculous rising. The Holy Shroud preserved in Turin (our Plaschanytsia, which we venerate on Good Friday, calls the Holy Shroud to mind), shows the miracle: the glorified Body of the Risen Lord passed through the Holy Shroud, without in the least disturbing the Blood clots and the markings caused by the spices; the image is perfect. Later the same day Our Lord came to the Apostles in the upper room without troubling to open the doors: the glorified Body of the Risen Lord passed through the doors. Thus, in the words of St. John of Damascus, He "kept the seals intact."

Yet, after the Resurrection, and the clear manifestation of His Divinity, Our Lord remains true man, as he will remain for all eternity. He revealed this not only by allowing the Apostle Thomas to touch His wounds, but by asking the Apostles to eat with Him, by sharing food with them. Even after the Resurrection, the Risen Lord remained the same Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Who was born of the Virgin Mary.

In the same Ode of the Paschal Canon, St. John of Damascus teaches that Our Lord dealt quite differently with another set of locks and bars. In His Descent into Hell, Our Lord "shattered the everlasting bars that held the prisoners captive." Our traditional iconography of the Pascha shows Our Lord doing just this: descending into Hell to raise up Adam and Eve and all the just who had been waiting throughout the ages, and under Our Lord's feet the shattered, broken bars and locks and chains of Hell.

In His Birth, Our Lord did not "break the seal" of the Virgin; He chose instead to reveal His Godhood and to teach us the purity of His Mother. In His Resurrection, Our Lord did not "break the seal" of the shroud and the tomb; He chose instead to reveal His Godhood and His glorified human body; He broke the locks and chains of sin, of death, of Hell, so that He might set us free.

In this unique year of the Great Jubilee, this beautiful parallel which St. John of Damascus teaches us in song and poetry should strengthen our faith in God the Son, born of the Virgin, trampling sin and death by His death, and Risen from the dead for our salvation. May the Paschal joy of this great jubilee be yours in all the abundance of grace! May our parishes, our families, our homes all celebrate this Pascha of the year 2000 as never before.

Imparting upon you my episcopal and paternal blessing and wish that this Easter this Holy Pascha be for you rich in the graces that only the Risen Lord can grant, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Basil H. Losten, D.D.
Bishop of Stamford
(New York and New England)

Given March 25, 2000, the Feast of the Annunciation, in St. Vladimir Cathedral, Stamford.

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