Easter. Holy Resurrection of Christ. Resurrection of Christ - victory over death

Resurrection [gr. ἀνάστασις; lat. resurrectio] of Jesus Christ, the return of Jesus Christ to life after His death and burial caused by the crucifixion on the Cross. The great Christ established in memory of this event bears the same name. a holiday called the Bright Resurrection of Christ or Easter.

Sunday night events

The events of the night on which Jesus Christ was resurrected are described in the 4 Gospels (Mt 28:1-10; Mk 16:1-11; Lk 24:1-12; John 20:1-18). A brief mention of some of them is in the 1st Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (15:4-5). Since the descriptions of the evangelists differ significantly, attempts have been made since ancient times to compile a general chronology of Paschal events (Tatian, Hesychius); in Russian to biblical studies, the sequence of events of Easter night is given by the priest. T. Butkevich, A. Pakharnaev, prot. M. Sobolev and others. But, except for the facts known from the Gospels, all chronologies are in the nature of assumptions. The facts about which the Gospels testify are as follows.

On Saturday late in the evening (ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων; in the Synodal translation: “after ... Saturday” - Mt 28. 1), when the 1st day of the week began (τῇ ἐπιφωσκούδηι εἰς μίαν σαββάτων; in the Synodal translation “dawn of the first day of the week"; in the East, a new day began in the evening), the Galilean women came to the tomb, in which they put Jesus Christ, in order, according to Jewish custom, to anoint His body with embalming substances, which they did not have time to do on Friday, the evening of the swarm was already considered the beginning of the Sabbath, that is, the "day of rest." Some wives are mentioned by St. Matthew (28.1), others - ap. Mark (16. 1), "and Mary Magdalene was the companion of all, as the most diligent and zealous" His disciple (Theoph. Bulg. In Matth. 28). They found that the stone had been rolled away (Mk 16:4; Lk 24:2; Jn 20:1) and the tomb was empty. After Saturday evening, the Lord Jesus Christ had already risen. “God raised Him up, breaking the bands of death, because it was impossible for her to hold Him” (Acts 2:24). How the Resurrection happened, not a single Gospel tells - this is the Mystery of the omnipotence of God, which cannot be described. Some interpreters believe that along with the women there was the Rev. The Theotokos is “another Mary” (the liturgical Tradition is about this in the synaxar reading on Holy Week of Easter; compare with Theophylact of Bulgaria: “Under Mary, the mother of Jacob, understand the Mother of God, for She was so called as the imaginary mother of Jacob, the son of Joseph, I mean brother of God "- Theoph. Bulg. In Luc. 24. 1-12), others believe that it was Mary Cleopova or Mary Jacobleva (perhaps this is the same person; cf.: Euseb. Hist. eccl. III 11 ), Eusebius of Caesarea believes that there were 2 Marys from Magdala, which is why the 2nd Mary is called the “other Mary” by the evangelist (Euseb. Quaest. evangel. // PG. 22. Col. 948). The facts of indirect evidence of the accomplishment of the main event do not require accuracy from the evangelists. According to the Gospel of Matthew, at the moment the women arrived, “there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, having come, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were as white as snow” (Mt 28:2-3). An angel of the Lord (or “a young man ... dressed in white clothes” - Mk 16.5, or “two men in shining clothes” - Lk 24.4; cf.: Gen 19.5 ff.) informs the wives about the accomplishment of the great Mystery . It is only clear that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ took place in a closed tomb on the third day, as Christ Himself told the disciples about this (Mt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Mk 8:31; 9:31; 10:34; Lk 9.22; 18.33; Jn 2.19-22) and how the angel preached to the myrrh-bearing women: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here: He is risen; remember how He spoke to you when he was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must rise on the third day” (Lk 24:5-7; Mt 28:5-6; Mk 16:6).

Mary Magdalene reports St. Peter and “another disciple whom Jesus loved (the apostle John, cf. John 21.20, 24.-M.I.): “They carried the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they laid Him” (John 20.1 -2). Both disciples, as well as, apparently, Mary Magdalene, run to the cave and find in it only “the linens lying and the cloth that was on His head, not lying with the linen, but especially wrapped in another place” (Jn 20. 3-7). Ap. John immediately “believed” that Christ had risen (Jn 20:8), this is the first revelation of faith in the Risen One (“he who had not seen and believed”; cf.: Jn 20:29). Then the disciples returned to Jerusalem, and Mary remained at the tomb and wept. At that time, she saw 2 angels in the cave, who asked her: “Wife! Why are you crying?" Mary Magdalene answered: “They have carried away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him. Having said this, she turned back and saw Jesus standing; but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus says to her: Wife! Why are you crying? who are you looking for? She, thinking that this is a gardener, turns to Him: sir! if you have carried it, tell me where you have put it, and I will take it. Jesus says to her: Mary! She turned and said to Him: Rabbi! - which means: "Teacher!" Jesus says to her: do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and say to them: “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” (Jn 20:11-17). Mary Magdalene leaves the burial place to fulfill the command of the Divine Teacher (Jn 20:18). At dawn, other myrrh-bearing women also come to the cave. They also saw a stone rolled away from the entrance to the cave, and in the cave itself - an angel and were horrified (Mark 16. 1-5). The angel said to them, “Don't be terrified. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene crucified; He is risen, He is not here. Here's the place where He was laid. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is ahead of you in Galilee; there you will see him…” (Mk 16:6-7). The women “ran with fear and great joy to tell His disciples” (Mt 28:8). On the way they were met by the resurrected Christ “and said: rejoice!” (Matthew 28:9).

The appearance of an angel, whose appearance “was like lightning”, caused a strong fright among the guards guarding the cave, “the guards trembled and became like dead people” (Mt 28. 2-4). They told the Jewish high priests about this, and they, after conferring with the elders, gave the soldiers “enough money” to spread the false version of the disappearance of the body from the tomb, according to which the disciples of Christ stole His body, which was not noticed by the guards sleeping at that time ( Matthew 28:11-15).

The description of the Resurrection event itself, that is, how Jesus Christ came to life and found himself outside the burial cave, is absent in the canonical New Testament texts and is available only in the apocryphal Gospel of Peter. Nobody saw this event. Even Rev. The Virgin, to whom, according to Church Tradition, the Risen One appeared first, sees Christ after His Resurrection. Therefore, the event of V. as such was never depicted in Byzantium. and ancient Russian. iconography.

Testimony of Jesus Christ and the Apostles about the Resurrection

Having power over life and death (Jn 11:25), Christ not only resurrected the dead (daughter of Jairus - Mt 9:18-19, 23-25; son of a widow from the city of Nain - Lk 7:11-15; Lazarus from the village of Bethany - Jn 11.1 ff.), which foreshadowed His own resurrection from the dead, but also predicted His Resurrection. He repeatedly told His disciples, “that the Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him, and after he has been killed he will rise again on the third day” (Mark 9:31; cf.: 8:31; 10:34). At the same time, Jesus Christ referred to the Old Testament “sign of Jonah”, “for as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Mt 12. 39-40). He also spoke “about the temple of His body” (John 2:21): “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19; cf. Mt 26:61). These words were not understood by those to whom they were addressed (John 2:20). And only the disciples of Christ, “when ... He rose from the dead, they remembered that He had said this, and believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus spoke” (Jn 2:22). However, they do not come to faith in the Resurrection of Christ immediately. They do not believe what they are told about the events of the Paschal night of the myrrh-bearing wife (Mark 16:11; Luke 24:11); app. Thomas does not believe that "the other disciples" "saw the Lord" (John 20:25); "two of them" (Cleopas - Luke 24.18 and, possibly, the Evangelist Luke, which is why he hid his name; cf.: Theoph. Bulg. In Luc. 24.13-24), called by Jesus Christ "foolish and slow heart” because of their unbelief “in everything that the prophets foretold (about Christ. - M. I.)” (Lk 24:25), believed in the Risen One only when He Himself, “beginning from Moses”, explained “to them what was said about Him in all Scripture” (Lk 24:26-27), and at the end of the meeting he was revealed to them “in the breaking of bread” (Lk 24:35). The resurrected Christ appeared to His apostles and disciples "in the course of forty days" (Acts 1.3) ("in the course of many days" - Acts 13.31). He explained the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:27:44-46), revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), to assure them of His Resurrection “He showed them His hands and feet and His ribs” (Jn 20:20:27 ; Lk 24.39), ate food with them (Lk 24.41-43; Jn 21.9-15), prepared them for bud. evangelistic ministry (Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15; John 20:21-23). The information of the evangelists about the appearances of the risen Christ is supplemented by St. Paul. He points out that Christ "appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time"; then - “to James, also to all the Apostles; and after all he appeared to me too, ie, ap. Paul (1 Cor 15:6-8), although the appearance of Jesus Christ to the apostle took place much later than the previous appearances (Acts 9. 3-6). Despite the fact that the disciples see the Risen One, touch Him, eat with Him, the body of Christ was no longer subject to the usual conditions of earthly life. On the day of His Resurrection, according to the testimony of the Evangelist John, “when the doors of the house where His disciples gathered were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle and said to them: Peace be with you!” (20.19). Through locked doors Christ comes to His disciples 8 days after the Resurrection (Jn 20:26). He is not recognized even by people close to Him, for their eyes are "retained" (Lk 24:16; Jn 20:15). During the breaking of bread in the village of Emmaus, when "the eyes" of Jesus Christ's companions "were opened" and they recognized Him, "He became invisible to them" (Luke 24:30-31). The resurrected Christ appears "not to the world" (John 14:22), but only to a limited circle of those whom He has chosen, because for the world lying in evil (1 John 5:19), He is "the stone that the builders rejected.. ... stone of stumbling and stone of stumbling" (1 Peter 2:7). Therefore, even the guard does not see Him, although at the time of the Resurrection she is directly at the burial cave.

Apostolic preaching from the time of the founding of the Church was a preaching about the resurrected Christ, and the apostles themselves called themselves "witnesses" of the Resurrection (Acts 2.32; 3.15). His resurrection for them is the basis of Christ. faith, for “if Christ is not risen,” says St. Paul to the Christians of Corinth, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain” (1 Cor 15:14). “And if in this life alone we hope in Christ,” not believing in His Resurrection, which became the guarantee of the resurrection of all people, “then we are more unfortunate than all men” (1 Cor 15:19). Despite the fact that they were not witnesses of the very moment of the rise of Jesus Christ from the tomb, the apostles testify first of all to the very fact of the Resurrection (Acts 2.24; 4.10, etc.) Old Testament prophecies about Christ). Yes, app. On the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, Peter revealed to the audience the messianic meaning of the 15th psalm, pointing out that the words of Prop. David: “You will not leave my soul in hell and you will not let Your holy one see corruption” (Acts 2.27) - they do not refer to the prophet himself, for “he both died and was buried” (Acts 2.29), but to the risen Christ (Acts 2:30-31). Addressing the members of the Sanhedrin, St. Peter explains that under the Old Testament image of the cornerstone (Is 28:16; cf. Ps 117:22) one should also understand Jesus Christ whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead (Acts 4:10-12). In the Resurrection of Christ, St. Paul sees the fulfillment of the promise "given to the fathers" (Acts 13:32), while emphasizing that the Risen One "will no longer return to corruption" (Acts 13:34). The theme of the Resurrection is constantly present in his sermon: not only when he addresses the Jews with their messianic aspirations, but also to the pagans who worshiped the “unknown God” (Acts 17.23, 31-32). 15th ch. his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians can rightfully be called, as Fr. Georgy Florovsky, “The gospel of the Resurrection” (Florovsky G. On the Resurrection of the Dead // Relocation of Souls: Problems of Immortality in Occultism and Christianity: Sat. Art. P., 1935. P. 135). In it app. Paul writes not only about the very fact of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also about the significance of this event in Christ. soteriology, correlating it with Bud. the general resurrection of the human race.

The theme of V.I.Kh. in the patristic heritage

Continuing the apostolic tradition, patristic thought constantly turns to this theme. Already at the turn of the I and II centuries. in the most ancient Eucharistic prayer, placed in the Didache, the first Christians thank the Heavenly Father for "immortality", which He "revealed through Jesus, His Son" (Didache. 10). At the same time, schmch. Ignatius the God-bearer opposes docetism, rooted in Gnosticism, which denied the reality of the physical body of Jesus Christ and, accordingly, recognized His suffering and resurrection as imaginary. Christ, emphasizes schmch. Ignatius, “suffered truly, as truly, and resurrected Himself, and not as some unbelievers say, as if He suffered illusory. They themselves are a ghost ... ”(Ign. Ep. ad Smyrn. 2). Appealing to the gospel facts of the appearance of the risen Christ, schmch. Ignatius points out that Christ, after the resurrection, ate and drank with the disciples "as if he had flesh, although he was spiritually united with the Father" (Ibid. 3). He, according to schmch. Ignatius, gave the apostles to touch Himself, so that they would be convinced that He was “not an incorporeal spirit” (Ibidem). Shmch. Polycarp, Ep. Smirnsky. In the Epistle to the Philippians, he writes about Christ, “Who suffered death itself for our sins, but whom God raised up, breaking the bonds of hell” (Polycarp. Ad Phil. 1; compare with the sermon of the Apostle Peter, in which he testifies, that “God raised Him (i.e. Jesus Christ. - M. I.), breaking the bonds of death” - Acts 2. 24).

The patristic thought pays special attention to the expression “the first-born of the dead”, Krym ap. Paul names the resurrected Christ (1 Cor 15:20:23). At the same time, she correlates it with the name "last Adam" given by the same apostle to Jesus Christ (1 Cor 15:45). Comparing after the apostle the two Adams (1 Cor 15.21-22, 45, 47-49), schmch. Irenaeus, Ep. Lyonsky, notes that Christ, as the new Adam, “headed (recapitulavit) all of humanity, giving us salvation, so that what we lost in (first. - M. I.) Adam ... we again received in Christ Jesus” (Iren. Adv haer III 18.1, cf. III 18.7). As the head of the human race, Christ, according to schmch. Irenaeus, can be called the “Head”, which is “risen from the dead”, so humanity is a “body”, “copied through connections” (Eph 4. 15-16) with this “Head” and resurrected together with Her (Iren Adv. haer III 19. 3). Continuing this exegetical tradition, St. Theophan the Recluse writes: “Christ, as the Firstborn, had to go through the whole path of restoration in order to pave the way for those who are being restored. For this (He. - M.I.) dies in order to destroy the power of death, for this he rises in order to lay the foundation of resurrection for everyone, for this he enters into glory, so that everyone can open the door to entry into this glory ... Behind Him how the Firstfruits will certainly be followed by all mankind" ( Feofan (Govorov), en . Interpretation of the First Epistle of St. app. Paul to the Corinthians. M., 1893. S. 547, 549).

Reflecting on the Resurrection, St. The fathers ask themselves: what fate would have awaited humanity if Christianity had not been crowned with the Resurrection of its Founder? According to St. Gregory, Ep. Nissky, humanity in this case would have lost the most important thing - the highest meaning of its existence. If death is not conquered by Christ and “there is a limit to life”, “if there is no Resurrection, then because of what do people labor and think philosophically”, entering into a struggle with evil and with the anomalies of the surrounding world? If the dead are not raised, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” (1 Cor 15:32). (Greg. Nyss. In sanct. pascha. Col. 676). To this text, App. Paul, quoted by St. Gregory, and addresses St. Filaret, Met. Moskovsky, calling it a "rule", which the apostle said "on behalf of those who do not know or do not want to know the resurrection." This "rule," remarks St. Filaret, "it would be suitable for the moral philosophy of the dumb, if they had the advantage of philosophizing." It “would make up all wisdom, all morality, all laws among people, if the thought of a future life were removed from them. Then do not be angry, neighbor and brother, if you also become the food of people who love to "eat and drink," for if it is not worth the trouble to build up your own life, because "we will die in the morning," then it is also not worth the trouble to spare the life of another, which Tomorrow, the grave will swallow without a trace. "Philosophy of the wordless" Metropolitan. Filaret opposes faith in the resurrection and eternal life, the beginning of which was laid by the risen Christ ( Filaret (Drozdov), Met. Words and speeches. M., 18482. Part 1. S. 83). Realizing that it is very difficult to have such a faith (cf. Acts 17:32), St. the fathers offer to go to her through the images of the resurrection observed in the surrounding nature. “Lord,” writes schmch. Clement, Ep. Roman - constantly shows us the future resurrection, which the Lord Jesus Christ made the Firstfruit, raising Him from the dead. Images of the resurrection ssmch. Clement sees in the change of day and night, in the appearance of new shoots from grain thrown into the ground, in the mythological legend about the Phoenix bird, which was widespread at that time, a worm is born from a rotting body, which then turns into a new bird (Clem. Rom. Ep. I ad Cor. 24, 25). “Since the miracle of the resurrection is great and exceeds faith, the Lord ... - according to St. Gregory, Ep. Nyssa, - as if accustoms us to faith "in this miracle through his other miracles, in which the victory of life over death is seen. “Beginning with the lower degrees of miracle-working” (by which St. Gregory means the healings from various diseases performed by Jesus Christ described in the Gospels), the Lord “exceeds” them with new miracles - the resurrection of people. And finally completes them with His own Resurrection (Greg . Nyss . De hom. opif. 25).

A deep and comprehensive theological analysis of the mystery of the Resurrection is given by St. Athanasius I the Great. In explaining this mystery, he goes far beyond the framework of Christology and uses the doctrine of God, the Creator of the world, of human nature, and of sin. Before him stood one of the main questions of Christ. soteriology: who and how could defeat the mortality of human nature. Although the saint himself recognized the potential mortality of this nature even before it committed a sin, however, when this mortality from potential became real, the catastrophe that occurred turned out to be so significant that only He Who with omnipotence created the world “out of nothing” by His Word could overcome it. The same Word, as the "Father's Image," recreates man, and He, as the "original life," resurrects the mortal, becoming, thus, "the firstfruits of the common resurrection" (Athanas . Alex . De incarn. Verbi. 20). The Resurrection of Christ radically changes the meaning of death in the fate of man. The tragedy of death is overcome; we are now “because of the mortality of the body, we are resolved (that is, we die. - M. I.) only for a while ... so that we can inherit a better resurrection” (Ibid. 21). Death is terrible only outside of Christ; “those who die as lost” are mourned by those who have no hope of the resurrection. For Christians, "death is defeated and disgraced by the Savior on the cross, bound hand and foot." Therefore, "all who walk in Christ" tread it down and even laugh at it (Ibid. 27).

For St. Cyril, Ep. Jerusalem, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a “diadem of victory over death”, which replaced the crown of thorns and crowned Christ at the time of His Resurrection (Сyr. Hieros. Catech. 14). In the fact of the Resurrection of Christ, St. the fathers note 2 most important truths: human nature, perceived by the Savior, was resurrected “by the power of the Divinity dwelling in it and united with it” and “passed into a state of incorruption and immortality”, “putting aside corruption with passions” (Сyr. Alex. De incarn. Domini .27).

Christ's victory over death in patristic writings is usually portrayed through his victory over hell. Hell, according to St. John Chrysostom, "confounded" by the Lord descended into him, "mortified", "deposed", "bound" (Ioan. Chrysost. Hom. in Pascha). The Risen Christ, says St. Gregory the Theologian, "repelled the sting of death, crushed the gloomy gates of a dull hell, granted freedom to souls" (Greg. Nazianz. Hymn. ad Christ.). Using figurative language, St. John of Damascus likens death to a predatory fish, which, like hell, swallows sinners. “Having swallowed the Body of the Lord as a bait, (she. - M. I.) is pierced by the Divine, as if with a hook, and, having tasted the sinless and life-giving Body, she perishes and gives back all whom she once swallowed” (Ioan. Damasc. De fide orth.).

Theology of the Resurrection

The basis of Christ. The dogma of the Resurrection is made up of the words of Jesus Christ Himself: “I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn 11:25). The entire New Testament Paschal Gospel is built on them. Christ also points out that He is not only Life itself (John 14:6), but also the Source of life, “for just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself” (John 5:26) . Death, who reigns supreme over fallen humanity, has no power over the Son. And although He passes His human nature through the gates of death, subject to the conditions of a sinful existence, death cannot hold Him. It is omnipotent only in the world, which “lies in evil” (1 Jn 5:19). Before Christ, she shows her complete impotence. Jesus Christ resurrects Himself and resurrects others as the Head of life (Acts 3:15).

The mystery of the Resurrection, revealed in all its power and glory on Paschal night, begins to be revealed already on the Cross. The Cross of Christ is not only an instrument of shame, but also a sign of victory and triumph. “Today we are celebrating a feast and a celebration,” writes St. John Chrysostom, - for our Lord is nailed on the Cross ”(Ioan. Chrysost. I De cruce et latrone. 1). The death of Jesus Christ destroys the very foundation of death, tears out, according to ap. Paul, her "thorn" (1 Cor 15:55). St. Cyril of Alexandria even calls the death of Christ "the root of life" (Сyr. Alex. In Hebr. // PG. 74. Col. 965). On the Cross, by His death, Christ tramples death (troparion of the feast of St. Pascha). Therefore, the "power of the Resurrection" is precisely the "power of the Cross", "invincible and indestructible, and the Divine power of the honest and life-giving Cross." On the Cross, the Lord “lifts us up to the first blessedness,” and “Joy to the whole world comes through the Cross” (Florovsky, On the Death of the Cross, p. 170). “Every, of course, the deed and wonderworking of Christ,” writes St. John of Damascus is very great, divine and amazing, but most amazing of all is His honest Cross. For nothing else, as soon as death is abolished by the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, the ancestral sin is resolved, hell is deprived of its prey, the resurrection is granted ... the return to original bliss is arranged, the gates of paradise are opened, our nature is seated at the right hand of God, and we have become children of God and heirs. All this is accomplished by the Cross ”(Ioan. Damasc. De fide orth. IV 11). After death, the soul of Christ descends into hell, remaining in it united with God the Word. Therefore, the descent into hell is the manifestation and victory of Life. “When you descended to death, Lifeless Life, then hell killed you with the radiance of the Divine” (Sunday troparion, tone 2). The Lord Jesus Christ as the Head and Savior (Acts 5:30-31) “destroys” the “mortal habitation” (the Theotokos of the Paschal canon, 4th ode) of “the all-kind Adam” (Paschal troparion of the 6th ode) and brings him out of there. It was this event that, under the influence of the Paschal hymnography, began to portray itself in Byzantium. iconography of the Resurrection of Christ.

The life path of suffering, culminating in the death of the Cross and the descent into hell, leads Jesus Christ to the glory of the Resurrection. This glory is the seal of the entire redemptive feat of the God-man. He foretells about it already at the Last Supper with his disciples: “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, then God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him” (Jn 13:31-32). The path to this glory lay through suffering and death, because the Son of God, united with fallen human nature, thereby subjected Himself to the conditions of an abnormal existence caused by human sin. He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; humbled himself, being obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8). Through obedience to God the Father, Christ healed man from self-will that led him to sin, and revived his nature in Himself (see v. Atonement). That is why "God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth..." (Philippians 2:9-10). The Incarnate Word enters into that glory which It had with the Father "before the world was" (John 17:5), and introduces there the regenerated human nature. The latter, therefore, reaches such greatness that it is honored “in heaven” to sit “at the right hand” of God the Father “above all principality, and power, and strength, and dominion, and every name that is called not only in this age, but also in the future” (Eph 1:20-21). God the Father, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead (Eph 1:20), “subjected all things under His feet and set Him above all things” (Eph 1:22). That is why the resurrected Christ tells His disciples that “all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him” (Mt 28:18).

By His Resurrection, having conquered death in Himself, Jesus Christ thereby conquered it in the entire human race, since He is the “last Adam” (or “Second Adam”) (1 Cor 15:45-49), from whom people inherit new nature and eternal life. “We celebrate the mortification of death, hellish destruction, another life of the eternal beginning” (troparion of the 2nd song of the Easter canon). This beginning is "..."a new creation", ἡ καινὴ κτίσις. One might even say, an eschatological beginning, the last step on the historical path of salvation. (In the NT, the word καινός means not so much something “new” as “final”, “referring to the final goal.” Throughout the text, the word obviously has an eschatological meaning.) ”(Florovsky G., prot. Dogma and history. M ., 1998, p. 245). The "mortification" of death, however, does not mean that after the Resurrection of Christ, people should no longer die. The resurrected destroys only the absoluteness of death. Although “even now,” as St. John Chrysostom, - we are still dying the old death, but we do not remain in it; but this does not mean dying... The power of death and true death is that when the deceased no longer has the opportunity to return to life. If, after death, he comes to life, and, moreover, a better life, then this is not death, but dormancy ”(Ioan. Chrysost. In Hebr. 17. 2).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ brought out of the ontological impasse not only the human race. Its life-affirming power has a cosmic dimension. How high the dignity of nature, cosmos, matter, is already evidenced by the Incarnation itself. The hypostatic Word became flesh. It took over the whole created world; “all the matter of heaven and earth was concentrated in His body, from the simplest to the most incomprehensible” (Antony [Bloom], Metropolitan of Surozh. Word on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord // ZhMP. 1967. special issue “50th anniversary of the restoration of the patriarchate” pp. 67). “Dust”, taken from the earth and constituting the bodily human organism, is perceived by the Divine in the Incarnation, again sanctifying and affirming in this act the path of the material world to transfiguration. The body of Christ cannot be imagined only as a certain part withdrawn from the cosmos and therefore not belonging to the latter. The incarnation was the real beginning of the transformation not only of man - the bearer of the image of his Creator, but also of matter itself - the work of the Creator's hands. After the Resurrection of Christ, “everything rushes to ἀποκατάστασις τῶν πάντων (“restoration of all kinds”) - that is, to the complete restoration of everything that is destroyed by death, to the illumination of the entire cosmos with the Glory of God ... ”(Lossky V. Dogmatic theology. S. 286) . In the Resurrection, the universality of the Kingdom of God was revealed, in which, along with man, heaven, i.e., the spiritual world, and earth, i.e., the material world, are called. They are called to become the new heaven and the new earth (Rev. 21:1), so that God becomes “all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). That is why “the whole creation,” writes St. Athanasius the Great - solemnly celebrates the feast (of the Resurrection of Christ. - M. I.) and every breath, according to the Psalmist, praises the Lord (Ps 150.6) ”(Athanas. Alex. Ep. pasch. 6. 10).

Lit .: Sobolev M ., prot. The reality of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. M., 1874; Butkevich T., Fr. The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ: An Experience in the History of Crete. presentations of the gospels. stories. SPb., 1887. S. 761-795; Voronets E. N . Resurrection of Christ // Wanderer. 1889. Apr. pp. 629-661; Tsarevsky A . FROM . Resurrection of Jesus Christ. K., 1892; Glebov I . The Resurrection of the Lord and the Appearance to His Disciples after the Resurrection. Kh., 1900; he is. The Historical Authenticity of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Kh., 1904; Tareev M . M . Christ. Serg. P., 1908. S. 340-358; Bulgakov C . The Resurrection of Christ and Modern Consciousness // Two cities: Sat. Art. M., 1911. T. 2. S. 166-176; Tuberovsky A . Resurrection of Christ. Serg. P., 1916; Florovsky G., prot. On the death of the godmother // PM. 1930. issue. 2. S. 148-187; Dani e lou J . La resurrection. P., 1969; Balthasar H. V. von. Theologie der drei Tage. Einsiedeln, 1969; Pannenberg W. Die Auferstehung Jesu und die Zukunft des Menschen. Munch., 1978.

M. S. Ivanov

hymnography

The contemplation of the saving mystery of V.I.Kh. and the glorification of this most joyful event in history find various expressions in the liturgical life of the Church. The center of this glorification is Easter, according to St. Gregory the Theologian, - “holidays are a feast and a triumph of triumphs” (PG. 36. Col. 624), which is also quoted in the Paschal canon (irmos of the 8th song). In addition to this annual holiday, which continues many days, V.I.Kh. is glorified weekly on Sundays, and Oktoeh contains 8 different Sunday services, respectively, 8 voices. The Paschal succession of the Colored Triodion (the texts of which are not called Sunday or festive texts in the Typicon, but always “Easter”) and 8 vowel Sunday successions of the Octoechos (the Octoechos system also includes 11 (corresponding to the number of Sunday morning Gospels) Sunday exapostilaries and gospel sticheras of Oktoechus and 2 Sunday troparions according to the great doxology of Matins) make up in present. time the main corpus of hymns of the Orthodox. Churches dedicated to V.I.Kh. Along with these 9 followings, V.I.Kh. is mentioned in the following of the feasts of the Ascension of the Lord (Thursday of the 6th week after Easter), Renovation of the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem (September 13), Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (Sept. 14) and others. Many hymns dedicated to V. I. Kh., now not used, have been preserved in manuscripts.

The main themes of Sunday and Easter hymns are reflections on the relationship between the Passion and the Resurrection of the Lord (and more broadly - the contemplation of the entire economy of salvation accomplished by Christ), the disclosure of the meaning of V.I.Kh. as a victory over death and sinful forces, a story about the historical circumstances of V.I. X.

The interrelation of the Passion and the death of Christ on the Cross and His Resurrection as the mystery of saving economy is the central theme of the Sunday hymns: (troparion "Seeing the Resurrection of Christ"), (Eastern stichera at Vespers of the 1st tone), (sedal is Sunday of the 5th voice).

The connection between the Cross and the Resurrection of the Lord is constantly mentioned in the morning canons of the Sunday services of the Octoechos (in each tone there are 2 canons dedicated to V.I.Kh. The 1st troparion in them is usually dedicated to the Cross, the 2nd - to V.I.Kh.), although the theme of the Passion is also present in the 1st, Sunday, canons (for example, 1st tone: (troparion of the 1st song), (troparion of the 3rd song), etc.). Mn. Sunday hymns open with the glorification of the Passion and end with the glorification of the Resurrection of the Lord. In the period between Antipascha and the Ascension of the Lord, when the Sunday and weekly followings of the Octoechos are combined on weekdays, on Wednesdays and Fridays, Sunday hymns are performed not before, but after the seventh (which are dedicated to the Cross on these 2 days); as the Colored Triod explains, hymns of the cross are sung before Sundays,. In the Easter texts, the theme of the suffering and death of the Lord is present, but not so pointed: (troparion of the 3rd song of the canon), (troparion of the 6th ode of the canon).

The chants emphasize the universal character of the Passion: (troparion of the 3rd ode of the Sunday canon of the 2nd tone), (troparion of the 3rd ode of the Sunday canon of the 6th tone) and of the Resurrection: (troparion of the 3rd ode of the Easter canon), (refrains on the 9th ode of the Easter canon). In addition to the Cross and the Resurrection, Sunday hymns touch on topics that are somehow connected with the mystery of the economy of God - the Incarnation of God the Word ( (troparion of the 9th song of the Sunday canon of the 8th tone), (Sunday stichera on the verse of the 5th tone); the connection between the Incarnation and V.I.Kh. is also manifested in the hymns of the Mother of God in Sunday aftermaths), His self-impoverishment in the perception of human nature ((troparion of the 7th song of the Sunday canon of the 8th tone)), Ascension, etc.

The most important theme of Sunday hymns is the disclosure of the meaning of V.I.Kh. as victory over hell and death: (3rd stichera east at Vespers of the 2nd tone), (2nd troparion of the 3rd ode of the Sunday canon of the 6th tone); as the basis for the salvation of the faithful: (Ipakoi of the 6th voice) and the whole world: (1st Sunday troparion according to the great doxology); as the beginning of a new life: (troparion of the 7th ode of the canon of Pascha); as a representation of the universal Resurrection at the end of time: (troparion of the 7th ode of the canon of Pascha).

The historical description of the events associated with V.I.Kh. is reflected in Sunday hymns, for example: (a dismissive troparion of the 1st tone); (sedal is Sunday of the 1st voice). A number of chants mention the apostles as direct participants in the events of those days, about their state and actions before and after V.I.Kh., about their preaching around the world: (troparion of the 7th ode of the Sunday Cross canon of the 8th tone); about the myrrh-bearing women together with the apostles: (sedal is Sunday of the 2nd tone or separately: (Eastern stichera on praises of the 2nd voice); about the righteous Joseph and Nicodemus: (sedal is Sunday of the 2nd voice). About the attempt of the chief priests and scribes to conceal V.I.Kh. . Some chants are built in the form of dialogues or monologues of the participants in the events: (Hipakoi Easter).

The retelling of the gospel narratives about V.I.Kh. is the main content of the gospel stichera and exapostilaries. Often it goes into interpretation, for example. in the 6th exapostilary: or in the prayer address and glorification of the Savior. In some, there is a call for contemplative empathy with the gospel events, as, for example, in the 1st exapostilary: .

In Sunday hymns, Old Testament prototypes are recalled: the giving of water and food to Heb. people in the desert (which is opposed to bile, which the Savior tasted on the Cross): (troparion of the 3rd ode of the Sunday canon, 5th tone); the sacrifice of the Passover lamb (representing Christ): (troparion of the 4th song of the canon of Easter), etc.; the old Adam is opposed to Christ - the Second Adam, for example: (troparion of the 6th song of the Sunday canon of the 2nd tone).

Sunday hymns are not devoid of repentant content, for example: (Sunday verse stichera of the 6th tone), (alphabetical stichera of the 5th tone); same in easter follow :p (troparion of the 1st ode of the canon of Pascha).

Irmos (now incorrectly referred to as the 1st troparion) of the Sunday troparions on the blessed is dedicated to the theme of repentance and forgiveness of the robber crucified at the right hand of the Savior, which is due to the initial phrase: (the words of the robber - Lk 23.42), set before the verses of the beatitudes. Troparia on the blessed are dedicated to the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the liberation of Adam, the myrrh-bearing women and the apostles; sometimes they also contain the theme of thieves crucified together with Christ (for example, in the 2nd troparion of the 1st tone: ; in the 5th troparion of the 5th tone:).

Some of the hymns of Sunday services have become melodic-rhythmic samples, self-similar for compiling other hymns: 1st stichera for praises of the 8th voice, 3rd stichera for praises of the 6th voice, 1st sedalion for 1st versification of the 1st tone, etc.

V.I.Kh. is often mentioned in euchological texts, especially in the texts of the Divine Liturgy: all anaphoras somehow mention the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord (for example, in the anaphora of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom:); according to the accepted in present. time in the Orthodox Church rank, immediately after Communion, the clergy read several. hymns of the Easter follow-up (“Seeing the Resurrection of Christ”

Compared to other holiday icons, it has a long history of formation. A feature of its development is that its lit. the basis that developed in the early period did not undergo significant changes, and the image during the III-XVII centuries. changed. Texts of the Holy Scriptures, patristic writings, hymnography, as well as apocrypha, which underlie the image of V.I.Kh., developed one and the same theme of the victory of the risen Christ over hell and death. However, the creation of an iconography of a mysterious event, for which there were no eyewitnesses on earth, was a difficult task. Due to the fact that in the Gospels there is no description of V.I.Kh., in the early Christ. in art, it was depicted symbolically through the prototypes contained in the OT, for example. in the signs of the prophet Jonah (Mt 12:40; 16:4). Numerous compositions on this theme have been known since the 3rd century. They are preserved in the paintings of the catacombs of the III-IV centuries. (Priscilla, Peter and Marcellinus, Pretextatus, May Cemetery, Giordani), in the mosaics of the Cathedral of St. Theodora in Aquileia (4th century), on the reliefs of sarcophagi. A similar composition is found in the art of a later time. So, on the miniature of the Khludov Psalter (GIM. Greek 129. L. 157, middle of the 9th century), the image of Jonah in the belly of a whale illustrates the text: “From the womb of hell my cry, thou hast heard my voice.”

In the Early Byzantine. In art, the desire to overcome symbolism led to the development of historical composition, in which the illustration of the gospel narrative and the image of the tomb of the Savior in the form of a cross or a temple built by imp. Constantine the Great on the site of V.I.Kh. On the relief of the sarcophagus of the 4th century. (Lateran Museum, Rome) there are 2 warriors on the sides of the cross, crowned with a laurel wreath with the monogram of Christ, one of the soldiers is sleeping, leaning on a shield; the scene is framed by trees, their crowns are closed, like an arch. This image indicates the scene - the olive garden, where the tomb is located. On the wings of a diptych (5th century, Cathedral in Milan (Duomo)), the reliefs of which are dedicated to the Passionate events from the “Washing of the Feet” to the “Assurance of Thomas”, V. I. Kh. is presented in 3 scenes: sleeping soldiers at the temple - rotundas of the Resurrection of Christ, the appearance of an angel to the myrrh-bearing women and the appearance of Christ to Mary. The last two scenes become the most common images of V.I.Kh. in the 5th-6th centuries. On a carved plate (420, British Museum) - wives and warriors at the temple with an open door; on the salary of the Gospel (5th century, Milan Cathedral (Duomo)) - an angel and a wife standing in front of an open tomb in the form of an ancient temple on a high foot; on a plate (5th century, Castello Museum, Milan) - the wives fall to the angel sitting on a stone near the temple with the door ajar; on a plate (5th century, Bavarian National Museum, Munich) in the upper part of the composition above the wives, a young Christ is depicted ascending a mountain, holding on to the Divine right hand; on the miniature from the Gospel of Ravvula (Laurent. Plut. I. 56, 586) - the appearance of an angel to the myrrh-bearing women and the appearance of Christ to Mary, the “Crucifixion” is depicted in the upper part of the sheet; on the cover of the reliquary (6th century, Vatican Museums) - the appearance of an angel to wives against the background of a rotunda with open doors, similar to the royal doors of the altar, with a throne covered with indium; on the ampulla of Monza (VI century, treasury of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Monza, Italy), as well as on the miniature of the Gospel of Ravvula, the composition “The Appearance of an Angel to the Myrrh-Bearing Women” is combined with the “Crucifixion”. These scenes, as episodes of Passionate Events, continue to exist in art in parallel with the developing iconography of V.I.Kh. XIII century, icon of the festive row of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, 1425-1427). The compositions side by side illustrations to the Gospel text, which tells about the appearance of an angel, and images of the realities of the Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of Christ. So, on the fresco of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Pskov Snetogorsk Monastery (1313), there is a cuvuklia over the Holy Sepulcher with hanging lamps. Iconography of the historical type could not reflect the theological content of V. I. Kh., which was thought of as the victory of Christ over hell and death starting with the Epistles of St. Peter (1 Peter 3:18-19). A new iconographic solution aimed at revealing this theme is reflected in the composition "Descent into Hell" with the inscription: "h anastasis", known from miniatures from the Psalms. Early examples are miniatures from the Khludov Psalter, in which several. once there is a scene depicting Christ trampling down a defeated giant in the form of Silenus, from the womb or from the mouth of Silenus, the Savior leads Adam and Eve by the hand (illustrations to Ps 67.2 (“Let God rise again” - L. 63), 7 (“God instills like-minded people in the house, harassing the chained "- L. 63v.), 81. 8 ("Rise, God, judge the earth" - L. 82v.). Christ is surrounded by a halo of glory, hell is depicted in the form of an ancient personification, which reflects not only the tradition widely spread in Christian iconography (personifications of the Jordan, the sea, the earth, the desert, etc.), but also the attitude towards hell as an animated character, resounding in narrative, hymnographic and patristic texts.

The iconography of the "Descent into Hell" as an image of V.I.Kh. received its current form by the 10th century. The earliest examples are known from miniatures from the Gospel of John read at Easter (eg Iver. Cod. 1; RNB. Gr. 21+21A. 21). The Savior, surrounded by a radiance of glory, with a cross in his left hand, descends into the dark cave of hell and leads Adam and Eve out of the tombs in the form of sarcophagi. The Old Testament righteous are depicted on the sides, in the foreground - the prophet. David and King Solomon. In the cave of hell lie doors torn off their hinges, locks, iron ropes. Next to Christ, St. John the Baptist with a scroll in his hand, who “brought the good news to those in hell of God who was flesh” (troparion of the 2nd tone).

V. I. Kh. is an obligatory element of the temple decoration program (“The Descent into Hell” in the catholicon of the monastery of Osios Loukas in Phokis (Greece), 30s of the XI century, - Christ with a cross in his left hand stands on plucked door, leads Adam, on the sides - the righteous in sarcophagi, in the foreground - the prophet David and King Solomon; the catholicon of the monastery of Nea Moni on the island of Chios, 1042-1056, - ​​next to Christ - St. John the Baptist with scroll, Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Daphne, circa 1100, Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello, circa 1130, - under the composition "Descent into Hell" is depicted the "Last Judgment"). The iconographic scheme is repeated almost unchanged on the icons (2 epistyles of the 11th and 12th centuries, folded, 12th century, from the monastery of the Great Catherine on Sinai; the icon "Twelve Feasts", 12th century, GE, - the Savior is represented in the center with arms spread apart, as if showing ulcers from nails, on the sides - Adam and Eve).

In the Paleologian era, the iconography of V.I.Kh. undergoes some changes: a large number of characters are introduced, resurrected people in shrouds are depicted in the coffins, the composition becomes more impetuous and dynamic (for example, the church of the Holy Trinity of the Sopochani monastery ( Serbia), about 1265). In the mon-re Hora (Kakhriye-jami) in the K-field (1316-1321), V.I.Kh. is placed in the conch of the apse of the pareklesion: Christ, standing on the torn doors of hell, in an almond-shaped radiant halo, holds Adam and Eve with both hands , depicted as rebels from sarcophagi; on the right behind Eve is Abel with a shepherd's staff, on the left behind Adam are the kings and prophets. This iconographic version was widely used in the XIV-XVI centuries, including in Russian. monuments, for example. in painting c. vmch. Theodore Stratilates on the Creek in Novgorod (angels hold a cross over Christ crowned with a laurel wreath - a sign of victory over death), on Pskov icons (XIV century, Russian Museum; XV century, PIAM; XVI century, State Tretyakov Gallery; XVI century, Russian Museum ). The latter have a number of features: Christ is depicted in red robes, the outer ring of the mandorla is filled with seraphim and cherubs; in a cave, angels bind Satan; the doors of hell torn from their hinges are depicted standing vertically below, and above them, under the mandorla, are the open doors of paradise, where the eyes of the righteous are fixed; along the outer edge of the cave there is a wall with towers; above the halo are angels.

Lit. The basis of the composition "Descent into Hell" are apocryphal texts, the most complete reflection in the iconography was received by the "Gospel of Nicodemus" and "The Word of Eusebius about the descent into hell of St. John the Baptist". The Gospel of Nicodemus is written on behalf of the resurrected sons of rights. Simeon the God-Receiver, who, like all the Old Testament righteous, were in hell and witnessed the previous events and the very descent into hell of the Savior. Hell in this narrative acts as a character talking to Satan. Resurrection of rights. Lazarus was alarmed by hell, fearing that Christ would destroy its dungeons. Hell strengthened its doors with iron rods, but the Savior descended there tore down the doors, crushed all the locks and illuminated the spaces dark from the ages. Enumerating the prophets and righteous who were in hell, the author also tells about what happened in paradise during the Resurrection of Christ, about how He handed the cross to the thief, about the conversation of the prophets Enoch and Elijah with Him. In "The Word of Eusebius about the descent into hell of St. John the Baptist” tells about the sermon, which St. John the Baptist brought to the gloomy cloisters about the rejection of this sermon by sinners and about the joy of the righteous. Dialogues of St. John the Baptist with the prophets are reflected in the inscriptions on the scrolls in the hands of the prophets (for example, on the icon of the XIV century, NGOMZ).

In con. 14th century the iconography of V. I. Kh., based on apocryphal narratives, is enriched with motifs drawn from ascetic literature, the number of characters increases. In the halo around Christ, angels are depicted with lamps, with the names of virtues and with spears, with which they strike demons in the cave of hell; above the demons are written the names of the vices overcome by the corresponding virtues; above the halo - angels with a cross, in the cave - angels bind Satan. Thus, V.I.Kh. is portrayed as a victory over death and its cause - sin. This composition is repeated in a number of icons of the XIV-XVI centuries. (end of the 14th century, from Kolomna, State Tretyakov Gallery; letters from Dionysius, 1502, from the Ferapontov Monastery, State Russian Museum; 16th century, State Historical Museum).

In the 17th century the complicated iconography of V.I.Kh. is spreading, where, in addition to the “Descent into Hell”, the “Rise of Christ from the tomb” and a number of scenes from Passion stories to the Ascension are depicted. As in the early Byzantium. monuments, in these compositions the historical narrative comes to the fore. Christ, surrounded by a halo of glory, is depicted twice: over an open coffin with swaddling clothes and descending into hell. On the icon “Resurrection - Descent into Hell” (40s of the 17th century, YHM), to the left of Christ, standing over the tomb, a host of angels rushes down to the gates of hell; many people come out of hell, among them Eve, Christ, holding Adam with one hand, with the other pointing upwards at the gates of heaven; the righteous with unrolled scrolls in their hands move towards the heavenly palaces following the winged St. John the Baptist; in paradise - a prudent thief before the prophets Enoch and Elijah; scenes are placed around: “The Crucifixion”, “The Entombment”, “The Appearance of an Angel to the Wives”, “The Appearance of Christ to Mary”, “Peter at the Empty Tomb”, “Meeting at Emmaus”, “Assurance of Thomas”, “Appearance on the Sea of ​​Tiberias” , "Ascension".

In the future, the iconography of the "Descent into Hell" is replaced by the composition "The Rise of Christ from the Sepulcher". Following Western Europe. engraving and painting samples, the artists depict a naked Christ in a girdled belt, with a flag in his hand, hovering over the coffin surrounded by cloudy radiance (for example: the icon of the 17th century, the Church of the Intercession in Fili, TsMiAR; the icon "Annunciation with stamps", 18th century ., YAHM; icon of the 18th century, Irkutsk Art Museum).

Lit.: LCI. bd. 1 Sp. 201-220; bd. 2. sp. 322-331; Pokrovsky N . AT . The gospel in the monuments of iconography. M., 2001 pp. 482-519.

N. V. Kvlividze

What is the meaning of the procession at Easter?

Let us remember what happens in the church when Easter Matins is served.

First, a service called the Midnight Office is performed. We say goodbye to the buried Christ, weep over His body. Then the icon with the image of the deceased Savior (shroud) is taken to the altar. After that, silence is established in the temple for a short time. It's like we're in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Then night fell. It's dark in the temple. All the light is extinguished, and only lamps and candles flicker at the icons and in the hands of people. But here comes from the altar: “Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in Heaven, and make us on earth glorify You with a pure heart.” First, the clergy sing, the second time the choir picks up the hymn, and, finally, the whole people. The temple lights up. The royal doors open, and clergymen in white vestments come out of the altar. The procession begins. This is not the Resurrection yet, this is a premonition, the hope of the Resurrection. This is the path of the myrrh-bearing women to the tomb, where they go to mourn the Dead for the last time and anoint His body with incense. Ahead they carry a lantern, a cross, banners, that is, church banners, a symbol of victory over death and the devil. All people sing the Easter stichera: “Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior…”

Having gone around the temple, the procession stops in front of the closed doors to the temple. The temple symbolizes the tomb of Christ, therefore it is locked, the procession is the procession of myrrh-bearing women. The priest proclaims: “Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity, always now and ever and forever and ever…” The temple opens, it is flooded with light, great joy was revealed to man: the Risen Lord. The procession enters the temple and sings the troparion of the feast: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and bestowing life on those in the tombs." And here begins the feast of grace and joy! Death! where is your pity? hell! where is your victory?(Os. 13, 14).

Christ is risen. What did he feel?

We do not know what happened at the time of the Resurrection of Christ, we cannot imagine what physical, chemical or other processes took place in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the fact remains: the dead body has risen!

If the Church believes that each of us will be resurrected in due time, at the second glorious coming of Christ, this means that something similar to the Resurrection of Christ will happen to us. For most people, and the bodies of most of us will decay, this will be a special experience, unimaginable to us today. We will see how, suddenly, by a creative act of God, we acquire new bodies... Another thing is the resurrection from the dead of those whose bodies have not decayed, have not dissolved in the cycle of substances of nature: someone died recently, someone's body is mummified. Will we understand then what happened? What will our soul experience when it sees how a humble and by no means pleasant-looking body will be transformed by the power of God into a light-bearing and spiritual one?..

Ap. Paul, reflecting on how this could happen in the case of Christ, says that something similar happens with the seed sown in the ground. The seed, the grain, decays and disappears, and something new comes out of it. And when you sow, you sow not a future body, but a bare seed, whatever happens, wheat or whatever; but God gives him a body as he wants, and each seed has its own body(1 Corinthians 15:37-38).

Where is it written about the Resurrection of Christ?

All four evangelists tell us about this: Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. Their reports vary in detail, but the evangelists, interestingly, do not try to artificially bring their testimonies into agreement and uniformity. Because it is evidence of the experience of different eyewitnesses.

You know, as it happens with us: we were honored with a unique experience and then we talk about it. And a man standing next to us also saw something, but in a slightly different way. We do not argue with him, but we defend our experience, because for us it is precious, we can guarantee with our lives that it was like this. The Evangelists brought to us the experience of the witnesses of the Resurrection, who speak of what they heard, what they saw with their own eyes, what they looked at, and what their hands touched.

How did the Resurrection of Jesus Christ happen?

First - the death of the God-man, something that echoed in the hearts of the apostles with deep pain. That for which they left everything - both families and relatives ... - and followed Christ, all their faith and hope collapsed when their Teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, was raised to the Cross. The soldiers make fun of Him and the crowd laughs at Him, His clothes are divided among themselves. He dies painfully, refusing the narcotic drink that brings oblivion and dulls the pain (see Mk. 15:22-32).

A hot night fell on Palestine. People who were staring at the execution rush home to the Easter table.

The students don't sleep. Did they sleep on those two nights, from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday? What were they thinking? How was the Sabbath for the apostles and people close to Jesus?

The death of Jesus put an end to all their dreams and hopes. Never before has a person spoken the way their Teacher spoke, never before has a person heard that God is His loving Father, no one has ever said that sinners (collector, harlot) have the right to life and respect and that God loves them and waits their repentance… Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is coming, He said that the prince of this world – Satan – is now driven out. He was mistaken... The lifeless body on the Cross serves as proof of this.

The evangelists say nothing about these two days. Apparently, even decades later, it was too scary to remember the days of Christ's stay in the tomb. When it seemed that nothing was irreparable. However, they begin to talk about what happened on Sunday morning - eagerly, getting confused in details, they tell, starting with what literally blew up their world ...

According to Jewish custom, on the third day after the burial, while it was still dark, the women went to the tomb, where the body of the Teacher had been laid, to rub Him with aromatic oil and anoint Him with incense. But what do they see? A huge stone, weighing up to several tons, which closed the entrance to the cave, was thrown away by an unknown force, the Roman guards stationed at the tomb fled.

What happened?.. The coffin is empty, and only the cloth, the shroud, which wrapped the body of the Crucified One, turns white in the darkness of the cave, and the bandage on the face. The deceased has disappeared.

The Evangelists give us only indirect indications of how the miracle of the Resurrection of Christ took place, using a conventional language borrowed from the Old Testament: an earthquake, a blinding light, the appearance of an Angel. Christ is truly, truly, risen! He resurrected in the same body that he had, but this body itself has changed, it has become completely different. This is the same body, but transfigured, spirit-bearing. After that, Christ appears to the apostles more than 10 times, and once appeared to a group of people of several thousand people. And it becomes finally clear to everyone, and even to the skeptic Thomas, that He actually resurrected, conquered death by Divine power. Thus confirming that He is the true Son of God.

What does the Resurrection of Christ have to do with us?

The most direct. “From death to life and from earth to Heaven” - this is how the Church in her hymns testifies to the change that took place in human nature at the time of the Resurrection. Pay attention - in human nature! The path that Christ went through now becomes the expected reality for us. As St. Gregory of Nyssa, Christ, by His Resurrection, “paved the way to heaven” for every person. We wait to be resurrected, just as Christ was resurrected. Not corruption and death, but eternal life in a triumphant glorified body – this is what is promised to the world, this is what from now on becomes the perspective of every person faithful to God.

You say that Jesus was resurrected in a transfigured body. What was His body after the Resurrection?

We can talk about this only very conditionally, based on the gospel testimonies.

Christ was resurrected in the same body he had. All evangelists emphasize the fact of the empty tomb. They were so struck by this empty coffin that they constantly return to this topic. That is, the body of the Risen One is the same body that He had before, but in the Resurrection it changed, transformed. The new physicality of Jesus is so inspired, permeated with the Holy Spirit, that the Apostle Paul directly calls the Risen Christ the Spirit (see 2 Cor. 3:17).

In the 15th chapter of his 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, he says that just as a plant grows from a grain sown into the ground, unique, beautiful, not at all like grain, so the body of the Risen Christ came from the former body, but became completely different.

The Risen One has changed. He changed so much that from now on he passed through walls and closed doors, He could remain unrecognized, and He was recognized only in some special, personally familiar gesture or word. At Emmaus it was the breaking of bread with two disciples... Or Christ could be recognized in some specific word, expression. Let us remember how Mary Magdalene takes the Risen Christ for a gardener, asks if he took out the body of the Teacher and hid it somewhere, Jesus says only one word to her: “Mary!”, and Mary immediately understands Who is in front of her.

Christ has changed. This is the affirmation of the Gospel and the Church. Yet Christ was corporeal. He had a body, and this is emphasized many times by the fact that He ate and drank, and once even suggested that Thomas (Thomas doubted whether it was a ghost in front of him, not a hallucination) to touch his wounds with his fingers.

Let us repeat once again that Christ had a body, but it was completely different from the ordinary, earthly body, the body given to us in this life.

Why did the Risen Christ not appear to His murderers?

This is a very important question. Indeed, we do not meet a single indication of a meeting with the Risen One of His enemies or ill-wishers. But it would be so easy to appear and prove to everyone that Jesus was not a simple carpenter from Nazareth, but the Son of God. But none of this happened.

Why? First of all, because Christianity does not impose a new and blessed life in unity with God, does not force it, but bears witness to it.

You know, it's like a child. We, parents, are happy when he trusts us, believes us out of love, at the behest of his heart, and not under duress, not because we forced him to believe us.

Note that Christ appeared only to those who loved and waited for Him. He appeared in such a way that he might not have been recognized… Only some of His word, gesture – and the eyes of those who loved were opened. And then the disciples asked themselves: did not our hearts burn within us when we spoke with this man? But these people looked at Jesus, even talked ... and did not recognize, as if a veil was on their eyes. There is probably such a mechanism here: when a person internally becomes ready for a meeting with the Resurrected, it happens.

It is the same in our prayer life. While we run around with our skepticism, criticism of the sacred stories of Scripture and Tradition, closed in ourselves, separated from people, we do not feel God. But when we somehow internally open ourselves to the Lord, a meeting takes place. And we truly feel in our lives the presence of the Risen One and that He really, truly has risen.

I read somewhere that the meetings of the apostles with the Resurrected Jesus were a fact of their inner experience. That is, that in fact they did not exist, they were only subjectively, in the soul, felt by the apostles ...

In the stories about the meeting with the Resurrected, there is a lot of personal, intimate experience. In any case, when we constantly read about this paradox: not recognized and suddenly recognized, what is this, if not evidence that in order for a meeting to occur, it is necessary to be internally disposed to this ...

But nevertheless, it is impossible to reduce the meetings of the apostles with the Risen One to one inner experience.

The apostles faced a completely unique task. The highest task is to testify before the face of the world about the Good News of Jesus Christ, about the Resurrection.

We are already largely benefiting from this experience of theirs, which they witnessed with fearlessness, firmness and clarity. Remember the sermon of the Apostle Peter: Men of Israel! Hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man, testified to you from God by powers and wonders and signs, which God did through Him among you, as you yourselves know, Him, betrayed by the definite counsel and foreknowledge of God, you took and nailed with the hands of the lawless, killed; but God raised Him up, breaking the bands of death, because it was impossible for her to hold Him ... This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses(Acts 2:22-24:32).

To which we are all witnesses! These are the words of people who have undoubtedly seen the Risen Jesus. This is not poetry!

Therefore, for these people, the apostles, the inner experience had to be supported, I think, by their outer experience.

At night, after the Easter service, some kind of round bread is consecrated. Then they wear it throughout the Easter week during the procession and on Saturday, cut into pieces, they distribute it to believers. What is this custom?

This bread is called artos. Artos (gr."bread") - consecrated bread in the form of a large prosphora, baked with the image of the Cross (without the Savior) or with the image of the Resurrection of Christ. This bread is consecrated in accordance with the ancient apostolic tradition. After the Ascension of the Lord, the apostles left a free place at the table and put a piece of bread for the Savior, which at the end of the meal, giving thanks to God, they raised it with the words: “Christ is risen!” This custom has survived to this day.

Artos is carried out during the procession during the entire Bright Week (as it is correct to call the Easter week). In the monasteries of the Bright Week, the artos is solemnly transferred daily from the temple to the refectory, where it is laid on a special table - an lectern, after the meal is over, to the bell ringing and with chants, it is returned to the temple.

This custom came to Russia from Greece. In the 17th century, artos was baked in the bakery at the royal palace, from there it was delivered to the Great Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. On the first day of Pascha, after the Liturgy, the Patriarch, accompanied by the clergy, walked in procession to the royal palace, where he raised the artos and kissed it.

Artos is crushed and distributed to believers on Saturday in Bright Week.

What is the best thing to eat for Easter?

No Easter cake, no colored egg ... This is also important, but not the main thing. The most appropriate, so to speak, Easter food is the Resurrected Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ - Holy Communion. Therefore, on Easter it is necessary (!) to visit the temple and take communion.

Why are eggs painted at Easter?

On the eve of Easter, many families paint eggs. They are painted in various colors, decorated with ornaments, drawings. And never forget to paint some of the eggs red. The red egg is a very capacious symbol. On the one hand, the egg itself has always symbolized life; life triumphing over death (a hard and dead shell, and behind it lies life - a chicken). On the other hand, the red Easter egg reminds us of the redemption of mankind by the sacrificial Blood of the Savior.

But what an unusual interpretation of the Easter egg gives an old Russian document of the 16th century. The egg indicates the whole of creation: the shell is like the sky, the film (separating the shell from the egg itself) represents the clouds, the protein is like water, the yolk is our earth, and the "dampness", the liquid state of the egg itself, is like the sin in the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, renewed the whole creation with His Blood, just as a hostess decorates an egg, and “dried up the dampness of sin, as if thickening an egg.” That is, the hardening of a boiled egg is compared by an ancient Russian author with the process of transfiguration of creation.

According to an old tradition, the custom of giving red eggs for Easter was introduced by St. Mary Magdalene, who, having come to Rome to preach the Resurrection of Christ, presented a red egg to Emperor Tiberius with the words: “Christ is risen!”

However, this is most likely just a legend. Neither St. John Chrysostom, nor St. Basil the Great, nor other fathers of that time, did not know the custom of dyeing eggs. But already in the V-VI centuries it is known. The antiquity of the custom is also evidenced by the fact that it was preserved in communities that fell away from Orthodoxy around the 5th-6th centuries - among the Armenians, Maronites and Jacobites.

What is an Easter cake?

In addition to colored eggs, Orthodox Christians of the Slavic countries bake Easter cakes for Easter (in Ukraine, Easter cakes are called Easter cakes): sweet breads with raisins, candied fruits, nuts ...

Even the ancient pagans prepared sweet fragrant bread for spring, symbolizing the joy of awakening from winter and darkness to summer, warmth. But Christians have rethought this custom. Christians began to bake delicious fragrant bread for Easter as a sign of Easter joy and celebration! In addition, bread was considered in ancient times the most necessary food. Easter bread is, as it were, opposed to ordinary bread. We know that Easter is the beginning of the next century, a sign of a new era. This is how Easter bread - Easter cake - figuratively reminds us of the bread that we will eat in the Kingdom of Heaven (if we are worthy).

What else can believers prepare for the Easter table?

What else, besides colored eggs, fragrant and sweet Easter cakes, makes gastronomically feel the joy of the Resurrection of Christ?

These are, first of all, cottage cheese Easter in the form of pyramids. This cottage cheese Easter symbolizes the Church of Christ. After all, what is cottage cheese? Curdled milk. What is the Church of Christ? From people transformed by the Holy Spirit. Cottage cheese Easter refers to the members of the Church gathered together and transformed by the Holy Spirit. That is why the sign of the Cross of Christ is erected at the top of the curd pyramid.

In Russia, in general, the Easter table is quite extensive. There are also such original dishes as butter in the form of lamb, Thursday salt. This salt is prepared on Maundy Thursday (Thursday of Holy Week). Let me remind you that, according to the testimony of the evangelists, on the table during the Last Supper there was a dish with salty sauce - salt (glory.). Hence the Russian custom to cook Thursday salt. What it is? This is coarse rock salt mixed with thick kvass, dissolved in this thick, and then evaporated in a frying pan over low heat. After the mixture has cooled down, the dried kvass grounds are removed from the salt. This salt has a slightly coffee (beige) color and a special pleasant taste. In the old days, Easter eggs were eaten only with Thursday salt ...

Is drinking allowed?

On the Easter table, of course, there can be wine, vodka, liqueurs, and so on.

It must be remembered that the Church does not condemn alcohol as such. However, they must be used wisely. Drunkenness, addiction to alcoholic beverages is a sin.

Is it necessary to consecrate Easter cakes, colored eggs, etc.? in the temple?

Of course! During Great Lent we fast… I think that every person should fast at least once a year – on the days of Great Lent, this is a sacred thing. Then we prepare for the meeting of the Resurrection of Christ, prepare something for the festive table and bring it all to the temple. There the priest reads a prayer and sprinkles the brought food with holy water.

But remember: this is not the consecration of eggs or Easter cakes, as we usually say, but simply their blessing. Therefore, for example, shells from colored eggs, spoiled products can be thrown away. If these items were consecrated, they should have been destroyed in a special way: burned or buried in a clean place. (How do we deal with moldy parts of prosphora, candle ends, etc.)

Not far from our house, Easter cakes are blessed right in the supermarket. For us it is more convenient than going to the temple…

In recent years, more and more parishioners have been asking about this... Of course, it's more convenient, but it doesn't agree with church custom. The consecration of food is not a procedure in itself, divorced from the Easter service, but an element of the holiday. Easter dishes are consecrated in the porch of the temple! For fasting people! For them, it's like a celebration.

And for someone who is still on the path to faith, this is an opportunity to once again enter the temple, see the icons, hear the church prayer. Perhaps this coming to the temple will remove the last barrier on the way to the Church.

So there can be no consecration in supermarkets. As a last resort, if you cannot come to the temple on Saturday, on the eve of Easter, then just sprinkle food with holy water at home. It will be more correct.

Last update - 01/25/2017

Easter - the Bright Resurrection of Christ, the main holiday of Christians, Orthodox and Catholics in 2017 celebrate April 16.

The Church celebrates Easter for 40 days - the same as Christ was with the disciples after His Resurrection. The first week after the Resurrection of Christ is called the Bright or Easter week.

Icon of the Resurrection of Christ.

Christ's Resurrection in the Gospels

The gospels say that Jesus Christ died on the cross on Friday at about three o'clock in the afternoon and was buried before dark. On the third day after the burial of Christ, in the early morning, several women (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome and Mary of Jacob and others with them) carried the incense they had bought to anoint the body of Jesus. Going to the burial place, they grieved: “Who will roll away the stone for us?” - because, as the evangelist explains, the stone was great. But the stone had already been rolled away, and the tomb was empty. This was seen by Mary Magdalene, who was the first to come to the tomb, and Peter and John, who were called by her, and the myrrh-bearing women, to whom the young man sitting at the tomb in light-bearing clothes announced the Resurrection of Christ. The four Gospels describe this morning in the words of various witnesses who came to the tomb one after another. There are also stories about how the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples and talked with them.

The meaning of the holiday

For Christians, this holiday means the transition from death to eternal life with Christ - from earth to heaven, which is also proclaimed by Easter hymns: “Easter, Easter of the Lord! From death to life, and from earth to heaven, Christ God has led us, singing victoriously.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ revealed the glory of His Divinity, hidden until then under the cover of humiliation: a shameful and terrible death on the cross next to the crucified criminals and thieves.

With His Resurrection, Jesus Christ blessed and confirmed the resurrection for all people.

History of Easter

The Old Testament Passover (Pesach) was celebrated as a remembrance of the exodus of the sons of Israel from Egypt and deliverance from slavery. What is Pesach

In apostolic times, Easter united two memories: the sufferings and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The days preceding the Resurrection were called the Passover of Suffering. Days after the Resurrection - Easter of the Cross or Easter of the Resurrection.

In the early centuries of Christianity, different communities celebrated Easter at different times. In the East, in Asia Minor, it was celebrated on the 14th day of the month of Nisan (March-April), no matter what day of the week this number falls on. The Western Church celebrated Easter on the first Sunday after the spring full moon.

At the First Ecumenical Council in 325, it was decided to celebrate Easter everywhere at the same time on the Alexandrian Paschalia. This continued until the 16th century, when the unity of Western and Eastern Christians in celebrating Easter and other holidays was broken by the calendar reform of Pope Gregory XIII.

The Orthodox Church determines the date of the celebration of Easter according to the Alexandrian Paschalia: the holiday must be on the Sunday after the Jewish Passover, after the full moon and after the spring equinox.

Church celebration of Easter

Since ancient times, the Easter service has been held at night. Like the people chosen by God - the Israelites, who were awake on the night of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery, Christians do not sleep on the sacred pre-holiday night of the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

Shortly before midnight on Great Saturday, the Midnight Office is served, at which the priest and deacon approach the Shroud (a canvas depicting the body of Jesus Christ taken down from the cross) and take it to the altar. The shroud is placed on the throne, where it must remain for 40 days until the day of the Ascension of the Lord (June 13, 2014) - in memory of the forty days of Christ's stay on earth after His Resurrection.

Exactly at midnight, with the Royal Doors closed, the clergy in the altar quietly sing the stichera: “Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and vouchsafe us on earth with a pure heart to glorify Thee.” After that, the curtain is drawn back (the curtain behind the Royal Doors from the side of the altar), and the clergy again sing the same stichera, but loudly. The Royal Doors open, and the stichera, in an even higher voice, is sung by the clergy for the third time up to the middle, and the choir of the temple sings the end. The priests leave the altar and, together with the people, like the myrrh-bearing women who came to the tomb of Jesus Christ, go around the temple in a procession with the singing of the same stichera.

Procession

The procession of the cross means the procession of the Church towards the resurrected Savior. Having gone around the temple, the procession stops in front of its closed doors, as if at the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. The ringing stops. The rector of the temple and the clergy sing the joyful Easter troparion three times: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and bestowing life (life) on those in the tombs!”. Then the abbot recites the verses of the ancient prophetic psalm of King David: “May God arise and His enemies (enemies) be scattered…”, and the choir and the people sing in response to each verse: “Christ is risen from the dead…”. Then the priest, holding a cross and a three-candlestick in his hands, makes the sign of the cross with them at the closed doors of the temple, they open, and everyone, rejoicing, enters the church, where all the lamps and lamps are lit, and they all sing together: “Christ is risen from the dead!” .

Matins

Then they serve Paschal Matins: they sing the canon compiled by St. John of Damascus. Between the songs of the Paschal Canon, priests with a cross and a censer go around the temple and greet the parishioners with the words: “Christ is Risen!”, To which the faithful answer: “Truly Risen!”.

At the end of Matins, after the Paschal canon, the priest reads the "Word of St. John Chrysostom", which tells with inspiration about the joy and significance of this day. After the service, all those praying in the temple christenate with each other, congratulating on the great holiday.

Immediately after Matins, the Easter Liturgy is served, where the beginning of the Gospel of John is read in different languages ​​(if several priests serve). On Easter, all those who pray, if possible, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

After the end of the festive service, Orthodox Christians usually "break their fast" - they treat themselves to consecrated painted eggs and Easter cakes at the temple or at home. About the tradition of baking Easter cakes

Why are eggs painted at Easter?

In Palestine, the tombs were arranged in caves, and the entrance was closed with a stone, which was rolled off when they were supposed to lay the deceased.

The word "Passover" from the Hebrew language is translated as "exodus, deliverance."
The holiday itself, called Easter among the Jews, is associated with their liberation, on this day the prophet Moses helped his people begin liberation after four hundred years of Egyptian slavery.

The night the Israelites planned the exodus, they celebrated the first Passover meal in history. In each family, a one-year-old lamb (lamb or goat) was slain and the doorposts were smeared with its blood (Ex. 12:11). And the sacrifice itself, baked in the fire, had to be eaten in such a way that its bones remained intact:

“So eat it like this: let your loins be girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord. And this very night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to cattle, and I will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. And your blood will be a sign on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood and pass over you, and there will be no destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:11-13).

The exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt turned out to be the most significant event in the history of the Old Testament. And Easter, which coincided with this exodus, in remembrance of this, began to be celebrated every year.
During the "tenth plague", the angel of the Lord, who struck Egypt, saw a special sign on the doors - the blood of the Paschal lamb. Then he passed by these Jewish houses and spared Israel's firstborn (Ex. 12:13). This confirms the exact translation of the word "Easter", from the Jewish Pesach - "passage", "mercy".

Later, in special prayers, the historical events of the Easter holiday began to be expressed. And the ritual meal, which consists of lamb meat, bitter herbs and sweet salad, recalls the bitterness of Egyptian slavery and the sweetness of the freedom received. Unleavened bread symbolizes the hasty harvest, and the Passover meal itself is accompanied by four cups of wine. This historical night is considered the second birth of the Israeli people, from which they began their independent history.
But the complete and final salvation of the world, the victory not over the physical, but the spiritual "Egyptian slavery", was to be carried out from His Resurrection after many centuries by God's Anointed of the lineage of King David, the Messiah (in Greek - Christ). So they called all the biblical kings until the real Savior was born. And so, every year, on Easter night, the Israelites waited for the appearance of Christ.
For Catholics, Christmas is considered the main holiday, since on this day the Savior came to our world.
And for Orthodox believers, the most important holiday is considered to be Christian Easter. On this day, almost 2000 years ago, the most important event of mankind happened - the Resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ!

WHEN EASTER IS CELEBRATED

At the holiday Easter there is no fixed date, it is calculated every year according to the lunar calendar. Such a decision was made at the first Ecumenical Christian Council in Nicaea (325), the participants of which were saints and.
Easter is celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox, on the first Sunday after the full moon, but if the full moon fell on Sunday, then Easter is postponed to the next week.

These are "Holidays Feast" and "Celebration of Celebrations".

The bright feast of the Resurrection of Christ is named Easter according to its internal relationship with the Old Testament feast of Passover, which, in turn, was so named in remembrance of the event when, during the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, the angel who destroyed the firstborn of Egypt, seeing the blood of the Paschal sacrificial lamb on the doors of Jewish dwellings, passed by (Heb. " Pesach" - lit. "transition", transl. "deliverance"), leaving inviolable the Jewish firstborn. In accordance with this Old Testament memory, the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, denoting the passage from death to life and from earth to heaven, received the name Easter.

The meaning of the Resurrection of Christ

With the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the Divine-human feat of salvation, the re-creation of man, was completed. The Resurrection was evidence that Jesus Christ is the true God and Lord, Redeemer and Savior. Christ died in the flesh, but His flesh is united into one hypostasis, unmerged, unchanging, inseparable, inseparable from God the Word. Christ is resurrected, for death could not hold in its power the body and soul of Christ, who are in hypostatic unity with the Source of eternal life, with Him Who, according to His Divinity, is the Resurrection and Life.

In the Dispensation of Salvation, the Resurrection of Christ is a manifestation of Divine omnipotence: Christ, after His death, descended into hell, "like a desire", overthrew death, "like God and Master." He is risen three days and with Himself resurrected Adam and the entire human race from the bonds of hell and corruption. Having broken the gates (stronghold) of death, Christ showed the way to eternal life.

Jesus Christ has risen as the firstfruits of the dead, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18). Having risen, He sanctified, blessed and approved the general resurrection of all people who will rise from the earth on the universal day of resurrection, as an ear grows from a seed.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ testifies that He truly is the Son of God - "he is risen like God." It revealed the glory of His Divinity, hidden before under the cover of humiliation.

The body of Jesus Christ has risen in glory. In Him, a great and saving new-creative action takes place. He in Himself renews our nature, which has fallen into decay.

Christ is risen by conquering death. But even after His Resurrection, death in humanity temporarily still continues to carry away its victims. But it only melts down the vessels of our soul - the body to be recreated on the day of resurrection in a new, spiritually renewed form. And since flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, and corruption does not inherit incorruption, our soul-body life is only a seed for sowing, which must rot - in death, in order to give an ear - new life. Our corruption in death is the path to incorruption. Just as Christ died according to the flesh and came to life in the Spirit, so we too are freed by Him from the law of sin and death according to the law of the Spirit and life in Him (Rom. 8:2).

Through His Resurrection, Christ made us conquerors of death, and by life in Christ we receive the forerunners of immortality granted by His Resurrection to our mortal nature: “Let no one be afraid of death,” exclaims St.

Therefore, the soul of a Christian is so enthusiastic on the day of Holy Pascha: the saving and luminous night of the Resurrection of Christ is the herald of the future day of the general resurrection. This is truly a great Pascha, Pascha, which opens the doors of paradise to us, for death passes away, incorruption and eternal life appear.

history of the holiday

Easter is the oldest holiday of the Christian Church. It was established and celebrated already in apostolic times. Probably, the circle of holidays of the Ancient Church until the century was exhausted by Sunday afternoon. Hardly in words. Paul: “Our Passover was devoured for us by Christ; let us celebrate the same, not in kvass vets” (1 Cor. 5, 7-8), one can see an indication of the Christian Easter as opposed to the Jewish one. Rather, such an indication can be seen in the thoroughness with which St. John the Theologian notes the coincidence of the death of Christ with the Jewish Passover (John 19:4; John 18:28; compare John 13:1). The persistence with which Christian tradition has always attributed the institution of Great Lent to the apostles themselves allows us to look for at least its beginnings in that time. It is possible that the words of the Savior: “When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they fast,” cited by Tertullian as a possible basis for Great Lent, were understood in this sense by the apostles themselves and encouraged them to sanctify each year with fasting, which they generally loved (Acts 13 2), the day of the Lord's death. Since this day fell on Jewish Passover, when the observance of Jewish holidays by Christians ceased, the latter could easily come to the idea of ​​consecrating the day of Passover with fasting in remembrance of the death of Christ. In the form of such a fast, the Pascha of Christ originally existed, as can be seen from the testimony of St. Irenaeus of Lyon (v.).

In this regard, an important passage from the letter of St. Irenaeus, Ep. Lyons, to the Roman Bishop. Victor, preserved by Eusebius of Caesarea. It sheds light on the original character of the Passover feast. The epistle was written about the disputes about the time of the celebration of Easter, which began even under St. Polycarpe, ep. Smyrna (+167), which caused a series of councils and continued with even greater force under St. Irenaeus (+ 202). The disputes concerned the question: to celebrate Easter together with the Jewish one (on the 14th - 15th day of the first spring lunar month) or on the first Sunday after this day.

An excerpt from the text of St. Irenaeus shows that the dispute about the time of Easter arose because by this time the nature of the holiday itself, the view of it, gradually began to change. If earlier they looked at Easter as a fast in honor of the death of the Savior, who died precisely on the day of the Jewish Passover, now they wanted to combine with it the joyful remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ, which could not be combined with fasting and was more suitable not for any day of the week, on which fell on the Jewish Passover, but on Sunday.

In Rome, the Passover of Christ very early began to acquire such a character, while in Asia Minor church life did not move with such speed, and the original ancient view of Pascha was preserved longer. Therefore, the bishops of the West and the East simply did not understand each other.

To this passage from St. Irenaeus Eusebius adds his story about the dispute regarding Easter at St. Policarpe, when, during a visit by the last Roman Bishop. Anikita, it turned out their disagreement both on this issue and on others, then “both of them did not argue much among themselves regarding other subjects, but they immediately agreed, but they didn’t want to argue about this issue, even Anikita could not to convince Polycarp not to observe what he always observed while living with John, the disciple of our Lord; neither Polycarp persuaded Anikita to observe, for Anikita said that he was obliged to preserve the customs of the presbyters who preceded him.

After St. Polycarp, Meliton, ep. Sardis, who wrote "Two books about Easter" (c. 170). Her opponents (literary) were Apollinaris, ep. Hierapolis, Clement of Alexandria and St. Hippolyte, Ep. Roman. Councils were held in Palestine, Rome, Pontus, Gaul, and Greece in favor of Roman practice. Dad