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By the Mercy of God, Archbishop of
Constantinople,
New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch
To the Entire Body of the Church
Grace, Peace, and Mercy
From Christ the Saviour Who Rose in Glory
Brethren and concelebrants,
faithful and God-loving sons and daughters of the Church,
"You healed the brokenness of
humanity, O Lord, having restored it by Your divine blood", sings St. John
Damascene, addressing our Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified, suffered, and
rose from the dead. And another hymnographer exclaims, "You were captured,
I am not ashamed of it; You were lashed, I do not deny it; You were nailed to
the Cross, I do not hide it; I boast of Your resurrection; for Your death is
life to me, O Almighty and philanthropic God; Glory to You" (Sticheron of
the Sabbath, Grave Tone).
In the passage of time humanity has
repeatedly prepared its own brokenness. Indeed, every time it adopts pride and
the mindset of Babel, i.e., the usurpation of divine might and substitution of
the law of God by human desires and ambitions, it returns to the confusion of
Babel, to discords, disagreements, conflicts, and ruins. There have been many
who destroyed prosperous empires in their desire to make them greater; many who
became self-destructive in setting before them aims of conceited pride; many
who were humiliated in raising their own stature against God's moral law; many
who destroyed others in their desire to lord and dominate over them; who
realized in the end that the damage that they incurred on themselves was far
greater than that which they caused.
In contrast to those who through
haughtiness, or pride, or ambition, or any such egocentric impulse caused the
brokenness of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ accepted with an excess of
humility to undergo all those things that the leader of this world and his
emissaries wished to impose on him in order to turn him into naught and to
secure for themselves the domination of the world. He was captured as a
conspirator, He who was the peacemaker; He was flogged as an evildoer, He who
was a benefactor and healer; and, ultimately, He was crucified as a criminal, He
who was innocent and the model of all goodness.
And what was the result?
When all the opponents of humility
and peace thought that the gravestone covered forever Him who preached sermons
that overturned their convictions as to what was right and expedient, He rose
again, incorruptible out of the tomb, the healer of the brokenness of the
world. Since then He continues to heal any brokenness of humanity, because He
has the power to reconstruct it, to renew it, to offer it regeneration.
There are many ruins of humanity
that we encounter in our time; ruins of buildings and other such works, ruins
of human bodies and parts, ruins of the natural environment, and above all,
ruins of moral values that pertain to civilization. All these are destroyed by
haughtiness, which is accompanied by acquisition of power. The only way for the
healing and for the therapy of these ruins is He who humbly received upon
Himself human brokenness and was made worthy of the resurrection in His
humanity.
In the midst of so many deaths and
the hearing of new violent deaths, the message of the resurrection sounds as
the greatest paradox! And yet, it is the only message that brings hope and the
truth. It is the greatest message, beyond any other, since life is a far
greater reality than any attempt made to extinguish it. This is because life is
the effluence and manifestation of the creative activity of God that love
undertakes, and no deadly power that militates against life can successfully
prevail over this divine activity.
Foretelling his death to his
disciples, the Lord offered them this admonition, "Have courage; I have
overcome the world!" He won by reversing human values, by accepting
humility that was hateful to many as being of superior value, at a time when
everybody sought after glory and honour, as many continue to do today. It is
this same admonition that we too offer to you today as a father to his beloved
children in the Lord. Take courage and rejoice because Christ's victory over
the world, a victory that is spiritual and unrelated to worldly domination, is
offered to all who desire and accept the value of humility through which this
victory is acquired.
Let all flesh that speaks contrary
to this be silent. Behold the King of Glory comes out of the grave! Christ is
Risen, demonstrating the infinite might of humility and peace. Nothing else can
conquer death.
May the Risen Lord heal all
brokenness of contemporary humanity and grant peace and life to all human
beings, removing all hatred and bloodshed, and exchanging them with peaceful
cooperation for the good of all. Amen.
Holy Pascha 2003
Your fervent supplicant before the Risen Christ
+Bartholomew of Constantinople
Protocol 368
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