Paschal Epistle of Metropolitan Nicholas of Cincinnati
TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA
Web: www.tocamerica.org Email: bishop@tocamerica.org
101 Main Street, PO Box 106 Addyston, OH 45001
Pastoral Letter HOLY PASCHA 2021
Phone: 513-467-0400
+NICHOLAS
By the mercy of God Archbishop of Cincinnati
Primate of the True Orthodox Church in America
Be amazed, O heavens! Be shaken, O foundations of the earth! Behold, He that dwells in the highest is numbered among the dead and sheltered in a lowly tomb. Bless Him, O Youths! Praise Him, O priests! O people, exalt Him above all forever! (The Midnight Office, Ode VIII)
Dearly Beloved in the Lord:
CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!
In contrast with the celestial light that shone over the Savior’s cradle to invite the world to rejoice at His birth, thick darkness cover His deathbed, as if nature in mourning is seeking to hide from men the horror of the deicide.
At the death of the Savior, the earth quaked and the rocks split as if to signal the approach of a divine judgment and Christ Himself rose from the dead. They exclaimed: “TRULY HE WAS THE SON OF GOD” (Matt. 27:54).
Apostle Paul appeals to the Resurrection as the foundation of our faith and the prop of our hope. “If Christ has not risen”, vain then is our preaching, vain too is your faith.
The Resurrection of Christ is the crowning miracle demonstrating the Divinity of Jesus Christ and the truth of His teaching. It is the miracle of miracles, testifying to all the world that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and the redeemer of the world.
That is why in their preaching the Apostles appealed to the Resurrection as the foundation of our faith and hope and the indispensable complement of Christ’s redemptive death.
The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead was necessary not only to confirm His work but also to continue and extend it. Sharing this Blessed news of Resurrection among us and celebrating the great feast let us embrace each other in the Resurrected Lord and to rejoice in it with the Great Salutation:
CHRIST IS RISEN!
Yours Prayerfully in the Lord,
+Nicholas – Primate
As always, we will add Paschal Epistles this week as we find and/or receive them. Christ is Risen! — NFTU
