Web Site Home - Theology Home - Hierarchy Home - Locations Home - Education Home - Stewardship Home - Links Home - Vendors Home - Alphabetical Index Home - Thesaurus Home - Sitemap Home - Arabic fonts Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information CenterFeast of Feasts Holy and Glorious Pascha - Fesakh - Hajmeh - Celebration First Day - Homily of Our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Patriarch of ConstantinopleAccording to tradition, the Pascha Homily of Our Father among the Saints John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople is said during every Pascha Divine Liturgy. LET ALL PIOUS MEN and all lovers of God rejoice in the splendor of this feast; let the wise servants blissfully enter into the joy of their Lord; let those who have borne the burden of Lent now receive their pay, and those who have toiled since the first hour, let them now receive their due reward; let any who came after the third hour be grateful to join in the feast, and those who may have come after the sixth, let them not be afraid of being too late, for the Lord is gracious and He receives the last even as the first. He gives rest to him who comes on the eleventh hour as well as to him who has toiled since the first : yes, He has pity on the last and He serves the first; He rewards the one and is generous to the other; he repays the deed and praises the effort. Come you all: enter into the joy of your Lord. You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward; you rich and you poor, dance together; you sober and you weaklings, celebrate the day; you who have kept the fast and you who have not, rejoice today. The table is richly loaded: enjoy its royal banquet. The calf is a fatted one: let no one go away hungry. All of you enjoy the banquet of faith; all of you receive the riches of his goodness. Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone from the grave; let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free: He has destroyed it by enduring it, He has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom, He has angered it by allowing it to taste of his flesh. When Isaiah foresaw all this, he cried out: "O Hades, you have been angered by encountering Him in the nether world." Hades is angered because frustrated, it is angered because it has been mocked, it is angered because it has been destroyed, it is angered because it has been reduced to naught, it is angered because it is now captive. It seized a body, and, lo! it discovered God; it seized earth, and, behold! it encountered heaven; it seized the visible, and was overcome by the invisible. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?
For Christ, being risen from the dead, has become the Leader and Reviver of those who had fallen asleep. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. Web Site Home - Theology Home - Hierarchy Home - Locations Home - Education Home - Stewardship Home - Links Home - Vendors Home - Alphabetical Index Home - Thesaurus Home - Sitemap Home - Arabic fonts Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center Martha Liles Web URL address: Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center or https://www.mliles.com/melkite/ E-mail: mliles@mliles.com or mliles@mliles.com Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center is
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dedicated to my cousins: Bucky (Richard C. Liles), Shirley (Shirley Jean Liles Buck), and Donna (Donna Bertha Liles Campbell). Bucky fell asleep in
the Lord on Dec. 12, 2000, Shirley fell asleep in the Lord on Nov. 8, 2001, and Donna fell asleep in the Lord on March 9, 2020. This site copyright©2000,2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020 Martha Liles. All rights reserved.
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