Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection (Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris)

Homily for Great Saturday and the Holy Resurrection 

By Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris (+ 1258)

(Below is an excerpt translated from the Modern Greek rendering by the fathers of the Monastery of Chrysopodaritissa in Nezera of Patras.)

Christ is risen from the dead; this the angel said; this the women saw; this even the seals of Pilate testify; the empty tomb proclaims it loudly; the rolled-away stone bears witness; the guards are exposed by their flight; the watch confesses it and receives money; the high priests (Annas and Caiaphas) are proven guilty; Pilate feels shame; the centurion, at the tearing of the veil, believes; the sun had already shown it beforehand by darkening at the Cross; the resurrected bodies of the dead proclaimed the truth; all creation bore witness to the Resurrection, which took place at the end of the Sabbath, toward the beginning of the first day.

Rejoice, O people; Christ is risen from the dead; the testimony is entirely true. Be glad, you have been set free. Hades has been bound — rejoice; it is the day of Resurrection — lift up your voice; the Author of our salvation has risen from the dead. Let heaven and earth rejoice; behold, harmony between angels and men through the Resurrection. Rejoice, O plants; the death of Christ took place on the Cross, but through it the Resurrection was accomplished. He raised up Adam with Himself; Eve has been freed from her bonds; the prophets go before the Master; the kings, Solomon and David, offer hymns of victory.

Rejoice, O people; the darkness has diminished, the Light has entered; the shadow has fled swiftly, grace has come; the springtime of life has dawned. Does anyone need to teach the Lord? Do not all know that He has risen from the dead? Why then does Pilate rage in anger? Caiaphas considers where the council of the rulers should assemble. Rejoice also, O thief, and enter with the assembly of all into Paradise; behold, the flaming sword has turned back; the forefather has been set free; his children, rejoice. From the first mother Eve came the fall; from the pure Mother of God came restoration. Through disobedience came death; through the humility of the Son of God the Resurrection was granted as a reward.

And again I say: Rejoice, O people; Hades has been bound. Hasten quickly upward; let every lover of God and of virtue run to see the Resurrection. Let not the sluggishness of women prevail, but let courage go before; the women cry out: Rejoice henceforth; as more fervent in zeal, they hasten; and let us not grow dull; for this journey is not for spectacle, but for the sake of the Resurrection of Christ is the sound of the trumpets. Already in the assemblies resounds the proclamation of the women, spoken before at the Resurrection of Christ. From a woman came the fall, and by a woman the Resurrection is proclaimed.

Christ is risen from the dead; let the clouds sprinkle with water of rejoicing; let the plants put forth green leaves, and let the earth yield its fruit; the Creator of all has risen from the dead — so you also blossom; let the branches of virtue flower, for the Author of life has risen from the dead. Who does not rejoice today? Who is not filled with wonder? Who does not delight? And who, to put it simply, does not exult?

He rose from the dead and destroyed the kingdom of Hades; He rose and rendered the devil powerless; He rose and wiped away sin; He rose and diminished idolatry; He rose and drove away deception; He rose and saved Adam; He rose and made the angels unshakable toward evil; He rose and saved humanity; He rose and united the heavenly with the earthly, revealing Himself as the universal King and supreme Master of all: of angels, of humans, of the elements, of created beings, and — astonishingly — of demons. Rejoice, then, with inexpressible joy; all who hear that Christ is risen from the dead, be glad. Who does not worship the First and the Last, according to the God-inspired voice? Who does not glorify Him? The darkness has been dissolved; we have been freed from bonds; we have been lifted up to the kingdom above.

It is the day of Resurrection; and who will not take up a spiritual lyre to sing a repeated hymn, with odes and psalms and great rejoicing, and with a resounding melody cry out and proclaim: He is risen from the dead? Christ is risen from the dead. Let every demonic host flee far from us; and you, ruler of darkness, descend with your army into the depths; for the Author of life has risen and has plundered your kingdom.

Let no one, O faithful, come to the feast in poor garments; let us, the Orthodox, be clothed in brightness, both in our bodily senses and in our inner life, with the virtues; let us be clothed in light, O Orthodox; the adversary (the devil) has perished; the Master has risen; yesterday’s sorrow has been changed into joy. What prevents us from singing together with the disciples? From chanting the hymns of victory with the Marys? The divine economy has been fulfilled: the condescension, the conception, the birth from the Virgin, the Baptism, the divine signs, the Passion, and the Resurrection. Christ is risen from the dead; rejoice, O peoples, and be glad.

Thus, on Great Saturday, we also hymn with divine song Christ the Master, who has risen from the dead — truly risen, truly and beyond all doubt. And for us, O Lord, from where shall the grace for our petitions be sent?

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.