To the archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics and all the faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church
Beloved in the Lord, most reverend archpastors, venerable priests and deacons, devout monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters!
CHRIST IS RISEN!
With these comforting words, filled with immense spiritual strength, I greet you and offer to you all my congratulations on this great and radiant feast of Pascha.
It is not without reason that the Church’s tradition speaks of the feast of feasts and the solemnity of solemnities. In it are the transfiguration and renewal of every human being, the light of eternal life and the source of unfailing joy. The Resurrection of Christ has destroyed the most terrible enemies of the human race, sin and death; it has torn down the barrier between God and men, freeing us from the grip of evil.
Glorifying the Resurrection of the Saviour, St Nikolai of Serbia wrote: “The victory of Christ is the only victory in which all human beings can rejoice, from the first to the last. Every other victory on earth has divided and still divides men… Only the victory of Christ is like a sun, pouring its radiant rays upon all whom it illumines” (Homilies. The Gospel of the Conqueror of Death).
This means that every person who aspires to salvation, every believer, every disciple of Christ is offered the means to overcome sin and to become, in the words of the apostle and evangelist John, a beloved child of God (1 John 3:1).
We celebrate Pascha not to mark the passage from one land to another, even a promised one, as the Jews of the Old Testament once did, rejoicing at being freed from long years of captivity in Egypt. Our Pascha is different: the Lord has freed us from darkness and the shadow of death (Luke 1:79), granting us the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Christ led the afflicted captives into the light of freedom; He raised them, rejoicing, to the heights of Paradise” (Hymn XXXVIII): these inspired lines of St Ephrem the Syrian express a profound understanding of the paschal mystery: the mystery of the salvation of man, set free from the grip of evil. Evil has not disappeared, but by the power of divine grace man can now struggle against evil and overcome it through repentance, prayer and communion in the Body and Blood of the Saviour in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. This is why we affirm with the Apostle Paul that He who raised Christ from thedead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:11).
The Pascha of Christ signifies the passage from earthly corruption to eternal life with God, to unity with our Creator and Redeemer. Therefore, rejoicing in the Resurrection of Christ and, giving thanks, taking the cup of salvation (cf. Ps. 115:4) in which the Church offers us the true food and true drink of immortality, the Body and Blood of Christ, let us glorify the Lord tirelessly and constantly through our works of love and mercy, as faithful disciples.
Although our striving for good and our progress in the work of God sometimes resemble the widow’s modest little coins (cf. Mark 12:42), let us always ensure that our faith and hope remain firm and unshakable, knowing that our labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).
Let us offer praise and glory to the risen Saviour, let us embrace one another with love and share the unquenchable paschal joy with every person whom God places on our path, bearing witness in word and deed that INDEED,
CHRIST IS RISEN!
PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUSSIA
Pascha of Christ
2025