Pascha and All Its Brightness

I am very young and a young convert at that – I believe this was my 5th Pascha. I am still getting the rhythm of Pascha, the verses, the order, the joy. It is like floating, the bright light, the incredible singing – esp. Shine New Jerusalem – suddenly I am in heaven and startled to be there.

I stood in Pascha and lived. Aware also that heartbreak on earth does not stop after Pascha. This too is another mystery. How does suffering exist after celebrating Pascha?! But it does. I see it in my own heart and in others. Tears on Pascha. As if we are still Mary, weeping for our Lord.

Pascha this year, even more, brought me to beg Jesus to come back.

To come and rescue us, to take us from the pit of hell. The cup of the Lord’s may be ours to drink, but sometimes our hearts beg the Lord that it pass from us. Yet, once one has tasted Pascha, somehow we can say Thy Will be Done.

The icons of Christ’s Crucifixion and Christ’s Resurrection cannot be separated. Liturgically in practice, in the Icons, in the hymns throughout Holy Week, and on Pascha, it is clear.

The place of hell becomes the place of salvation. The tomb becomes the bridal chamber. The tomb is where Christ’s resurrection took place. Let us stay there to welcome the Christ, the Bridegroom, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

O Christ, now that we have been given Your Pascha, help us to stay within Your joyous light, until you return, and there will be no more tears...