Great And Holy Pascha
Description of Great and Holy Pascha
Mary Magdalene, and the other women who were present
at the burial of our Saviour on Friday evening, returned
from Golgotha to the city and prepared fragrant spices
and myrrh, so that they might anoint the body of Jesus. On the morrow, because of the law which forbids work
on the day of the Sabbath, they rested for the whole day
But at early dawn on the Sunday that followed, almost
thirty-six hours since the death of the Life-giving
Redeemer, they came to the sepulchre with the spices to
anoint His body. While they were considering the
difficulty of rolling away the stone from the door of the
sepulchre, there was a fearful earthquake; and an Angel
whose countenance shone like lightning and whose
garment was white as snow, rolled away the stone and
sat upon it. The guards that were there became as dead
from fear and took to flight. The women, however, went
into the sepulchre, but did not find the Lord's body
Instead, they saw two other Angels in the form of
youths clothed in white, who told them that the Saviour
was risen, and they sent forth the women, who ran to
proclaim to the disciples these gladsome tidings. Then
Peter and John arrived, having learned from Mary
Magdalene what had come to pass, and when they
entered the tomb, they found only the winding sheets
Therefore, they returned again to the city with joy, as
heralds now of the supernatural Resurrection of Christ
Who in truth was seen alive by the disciples on this day
on five occasions
Our Lord, then, was crucified, died, and was buried
onFriday, before the setting of the sun, which was the
first of His "three days" in the grave; observing the
mystical Sabbath, that "seventh day" in which it is said
that the Lord "rested from all His works" Gen. 2:2-3
He passed all of Saturday in the grave; and He arose
"while it was yet dark, very early in the morning" on Sunday, the third day, which, according to the Hebrew
reckoning, began after sunset on Saturday
As we celebrate today this joyous Resurrection, we greet
and embrace one another in Christ, thereby
demonstrating our Saviour's victory over death and
corruption, and the destruction of our ancient enmity
with God, and His reconciliation toward us, and our
inheritance of life everlasting. The feast itself is called
Pascha, which is derived from the Hebrew word which means "passover"; because Christ, Who suffered and
arose, has made us to pass over from the curse of Adam
and slavery to the devil and death unto our primal
freedom and blessedness. In addition, this day of this
particular week, which is the first of all the rest, is
dedicated to the honour of the Lord; in honour and
remembrance of the Resurrection, the Apostles
transferred to this day the rest from labour that was
formerly assigned to the Sabbath of the ancient Law. All
foods allowed during Renewal Week
