PASCHA
IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
Holy Pascha!
Glorious Pascha!
Delightful Pascha
Pascha of the Faithful!
Pascha with its beauty and divine majesty is not clearly visible to those who neglected to accompany Christ as He suffered in His voluntary passion and crucifixion during the days of Holy Week. However, both those who fasted and followed His passion, and those who ignored His Passion are invited to share and celebrate this day, entering into the joy of His Resurrection! In the Resurrection everyone is forgiven everything, and Pascha is a new beginning to avoid being shut out of the kingdom of heaven. The celebration of Pascha surpasses every other celebration, for by it every man can return to Paradise, which was lost by our foreparents and our own sins.
Concerning the Paschal Canon
In the service books used in the Greek Archdiocese for Holy Week most of the Paschal Canon is missing, and so is not used in the churches, resulting in a loss for believers who kept the fast and looked forward to the glorious celebration of Holy Pascha. The Canon of Pascha, begins with: “It is the day of Resurrection, let us be radiant O people.” This service is complete and is derived from the official Church book: the Pentecostarion. Divided into nine odes, only the first one of each Ode is in the Holy Week books, which is a great loss of beautiful hymns for the faithful. We are publishing them here in their entirety as in the Pentecostarion. It is uplifting to the soul to use this entire Resurrection Canon during the forty days after Pascha! Each Ode is followed by: “Christ is risen . . .” and “Jesus having risen . . .”
THE RESURRECTION CANON:
ODE 1
It is the day of Resurrection; let us be radiant O people! It is the Pascha, Pascha of the Lord. From death to life, from earth to heaven, Christ our God has brought us over, who sing the song of victory!
