To their Excellencies, the clergy, monks, nuns and faithful of the Archdiocese of Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe.
Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is Risen!
I address to you this joyful exclamation which, according to ancient tradition, we all exchange on this bright and beautiful feast of Pascha!
Yes, the Lord is our joy. He expands our hearts and our whole being at the moment when we understand that we are no longer shackled by sin and that the pangs of death have been destroyed.
We all have great need of a resurrection as full of power and signs of hope as that which was granted to the disciples on the third day, in order to correct all the false ideas we form about suffering and the cross, so that this resurrection may be a source of faith for us. For it is only in the Resurrection that we can not only understand how the cross of Christ can win for us the forgiveness of our sins, but also endure with joy the sufferings of this cross. Then sufferings will no longer be sufferings, but a communion of glory, as the holy Apostle Paul said: “If we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him!” (Rom 8:17).
But we must not content ourselves with a joyful feast that would be fleeting; we must live by this mystery of the Resurrection! We must integrate into our whole being and our whole life, from here and now, this joyful exclamation that we exchange these days: “Christ is risen!” We must believe and act accordingly, for the Apostle Paul tells us: “If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor 15:17)
So, what are we to do? We have at our disposal many possibilities to give concrete form to our union with God: remember Holy Thursday! On that day, Jesus not only explained everything to His apostles about what was to take place in the following days, but He did not content Himself with a theoretical explanation. He offered them, ahead of time, to be in total union with Him, which was already Salvation, by giving them His precious Body and His precious Blood. At the Mystical Supper, Christ is at once immolated and risen, dead and alive! Remember, these are His own words: “This is My Body, broken for you; this is My Blood, shed for you!”, and it is evident that the Lord could not have said this without being sure of what was to happen later! We are not here in some kind of mythology, but in the concrete reality of the Resurrection: each time we approach the holy Chalice and partake of its precious contents, we strip ourselves of sin and clothe ourselves in the radiant beauty of Christ. Such a mystery is made possible by the Lord’s great mercy alone and by His ineffable love for mankind!
This is, without any doubt, the most wonderful of the consequences of the death and Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. All the sacraments being linked to that of the Divine Eucharist, we are beneficiaries of the saving fruits of this beautiful feast that we celebrate on this holy day, when we approach the holy Chalice and partake of the Holy Gifts! So let us not hesitate! Let us come and draw from the source of Salvation, let us drink from the cup of divine Love and live by this new life that is given to us to share! But it is not enough to be consumers, for it is not fitting that we enrich ourselves alone from the mercy of God.
Since we are deified by the Resurrection, let us then be consistent and share this love received freely… Certainly, it is not always easy, but we are on this earth to learn from our one Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. So let us ask Him: Lord, teach me to love! Teach me to live as one risen! Set me on my feet in Your light with all my brothers, and grant me to sing without ceasing: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!”
Paris, Pascha 2026
† Metropolitan JOHN of Dubna,
Archbishop of the Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition
in Western Europe