Though the tomb had been sealed, from the tomb You arose, O Life and Christ our God. Though the door had been locked, You appeared among the  Disciples, O Resurrection of All; and thus You restored an upright spirit for us according to Your great mercy. Tropar

Christ IS Risen! Indeed He IS Risen!

This weekend we celebrate the Anti-Pasch, which brings to a close, in imitation of the First Passover, our eight day celebration of the New Passover. Just as Moses led the Jewish people out of captivity in Egypt, so Christ our Savior, through His Resurrection from the dead, has led us out of captivity to sin and death and to God’s Promised Kingdom. The Resurrection is the new Exodus (Passover) and Christ is the new Moses.

During Bright Week, which we have just completed, we celebrated the Lord’s Resurrection every day (in fact Resurrection Matins can traditionally be celebrated every day of this special week). After this special week, the Church celebrates the Resurrection of Christ only on  Sundays (this is why we have the eight different Tones for our Proper Prayers during the remainder of the year).

Bright Week also initiates a change in our liturgical calendar. During the 50 days between Easter and the feast of Pentecost, Sundays become the first day of the week (during Ordinary Time, the rest of the liturgical year, Sundays are considered the last day of the week).

The Eastern Church is brilliant in her celebration of this great feast. On the very first weekend after Easter she recalls, for the sake of building our faith, that even one of Christ’s Disciples, Thomas the Twin, had refused to believe that Christ arose from the dead. She shares the story of Thomas’ disbelief so that we might believe rather than disbelieve in the Lord’s Resurrection.

Many modern people find it difficult to believe that Jesus arose from the dead and dismiss this story as a myth or a contrivance by the disciples. Even the disciples had a difficult time, at first, to believe in this miracle. But many experienced Jesus as alive, as did Thomas, and disbelief was changed in to belief. Our faith in this mystery is fortified by the testimony of first-hand witnesses. All we know about the disciples and followers of Jesus tell us that they were not deceivers. The proof? They were willing to die for their belief. It is difficult to deny the truthfulness of   people who were willing to die for what they knew to be true. Believe! This truth will set you free.     Христос Воскрес