As is tradition each year in the Orthodox Church, on this day we hear the blessed Paschal homily once preached by St. John Chrysostom.

This sermon reflects on the Resurrection account in St. Matthew, drawing attention to the plural “Sabbaths” in the Greek to reveal the profound transition from the old covenant of rest under the Law to the new and eternal rest inaugurated by Christ. While Christ’s body lay in the tomb, His soul descended into Hades, as described by St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, to liberate Adam, Eve, and all the righteous, proclaiming victory over sin and death and calling humanity to rise with Him into new life. This moment marks not only the defeat of death and the devil, but the fulfillment of the Law and the beginning of a restored creation, where God’s commandments are no longer external but written on the hearts of His people. Living now in this “age after the Sabbaths,” believers are invited to enter into the eternal day of the Resurrection, where Christ, the Life Himself, leads humanity out of darkness and into the fullness of divine communion.

Tonight we have arrived where Christ has been leading us during the entirety of Lent. We have come to the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, love is manifest for us all to see and experience. Not that we feel love only, but that we become the love that we see. How far Christ our God went that we might regain all that we had lost. When we see His great sufferings, we encounter His great love. The Prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 52, tells us that Christ's sufferings would render Him unrecognizable. His disfigurement would make the for us to regain the original form that we lost in the fall of man.

On Maundy Thursday, we see two Divine and extraordinary actions of Christ our God on behalf of us all. The Lord of all disrobes and puts on the garb of a common household servant and washes the feet of His disciples. And, our Lord instituted the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, on the night He was betrayed. At the washing of the feet, blessed St. Peter had trouble coping with what Christ needed to do for Him. At first, he denied our Lord what He desired to to him. Receiving the love and ministry of Christ to us is not always naturally comfortable to us. Yet, we are the ones in great need of that very love and ministry. Tonight, we look at this, that we may thankfully receive and keep receiving the love of Christ that heals the soul.

As we gaze upon the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see the most wondrous revelation of the love of God for mankind. We see the immense suffering. We see how far God lowered Himself so that our nakedness from the fall could be clothed with His glory. But we most certainly do not stop there. As we look upon the suffering, we rejoice in the victory. Our deliverer has delivered us. His blood is shed to cover the sins of mankind, reaching back to Adam, the first to fall. That precious blood stretches forward to cover the sins of mankind until Christ comes again. Tonight, as St. Paul instructs us, we glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This sermon calls Christians to recognize Christ’s suffering not as a substitute that removes their own trials, but as the perfect model by which they are to measure and endure their own crosses. Emphasizing that Christ descended, suffered, and endured mockery to lead humanity into glory with Him, the message insists that the path to resurrection always passes through suffering. Drawing on the witness of the martyrs and the profound prayer of St. Nicholas Velimirovich—written amid the horrors of Dachau concentration camp imprisonment—the sermon highlights the transformative power of suffering when embraced with humility, even to the point of blessing one’s enemies. Ultimately, believers are exhorted to bear the particular cross given to them with patience and love, trusting that through these trials God conforms them to the image of Christ and leads them into true spiritual freedom and eternal glory.

In Mark 14, we are given the testimony of the woman with the alabaster jar of oil coming to Jesus. She falls at His feet, breaking the jar open and pouring the oil upon His head and feet. Jesus says that this woman's actions will be proclaimed in every Gospel throughout the whole world. How important is this to us, then? The Church has handed down to us that the infinitely valuable jar of oil is indeed the human soul. This sinful woman poured out her worship and repentance before Christ. Her soul was broken and poured out upon Him. And there, she received and experienced the Divine mercy of her Savior. May our souls be broken and poured out upon Christ that we may experience the same.

This sermon reflects on Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as both the fulfillment of Old Covenant prophecy and a foreshadowing of His final return in glory, emphasizing the contrast between those who laid down garments and those who offered only palm branches as a symbol of varying degrees of self-surrender to Christ. As Holy Week begins, the faithful are called to move beyond partial devotion and instead offer their whole lives—heart, soul, mind, and body—to the Lord, uniting themselves more fully to His Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection. The preacher urges intentional participation in the sacred liturgies of the week, renewed commitment to fasting and repentance, and a detachment from worldly concerns, reminding believers that this sacred time is uniquely filled with grace—enough to sustain the soul for the year—and that through sharing in Christ’s suffering, they may also share in His eternal glory.

Today is Passion Sunday. All of the Icons of our Lord Jesus Christ have been covered. What prompts this? In John 8, our Lord Jesus Christ reveals His true Identity, proclaiming Himself publicly in the Temple to be the "I AM." The masses took up stones to stone Him for His blasphemy, and we are told that He was hidden from them as He passed through them, for it was not yet His time. From whom was He hidden? He was hidden from those who rejected the true revelation of His identity. He was hidden from those whose souls did not perceive the need for Him. But our Lord would go on to be greatly revealed to those who believed that He had come to minister to them and heal their lives. We want to be a people who see Christ for Who He truly is, and not as we make Him out to be. We want to be those who receive Him and, in our need for Him, come to Him that He might minister to us. Christ is hidden from all others, not by His will, but by the will of those who keep Him at a distance.

Here, just beyond the midway point of Lent, we are given a Mass that bears the name "rejoice!" We remember today that "rejoice!" is not a suggestion, but rather a command. Our God is worthy of our praise, and we are in great need of making that offering. Rejoicing, thanksgiving, praising God; that spiritual discipline is oxygen to the Christian soul. We rejoice because, if we have failed in the little that Christ has asked us to do (to take the medication He has offered for our healing; fasting, prayer, and almsgiving), as long as we have breath we have another day to begin and experience Christ's healing and transformation. And we rejoice because He only asks us to offer a little. He fills what lacks in our offering with Himself and does wonders for our salvation.