This time following Holy Pascha is a time of rejoicing. Having just completed Great Lent, we go from a season of fasting, repentance, and heightened spiritual vigilance, to feasting, rejoicing, and rest. And the days of Pascha are appropriate for celebrations and social gatherings.

But behind this change of season a subtle temptation awaits us: to identify the joy that we experience in this season with the joy of the Resurrection itself. Certainly, there is overlap, and our rejoicing stems from the Feast. But true and lasting joy comes not from festivities or from eating our favorite foods again, but from Christ who shines upon us in His Resurrection.

In the Paschal Canon written by St John of Damascus, we hear the following:

“Let us purify our senses and then we shall see by the unapproachable light of the Resurrection Christ shining vividly, and we shall distinctly hear Him saying, Rejoice, to us as we sing the triumphal hymn.”

We see that we experience the invitation of Christ to rejoice “by the unapproachable light of the Resurrection.” At the beginning of the Anastasis service we hear that beautiful hymn, “Come receive the light from never setting light,” as the priest begins to light our candles. We are careful to preserve this light, to keep the wind from blowing it out, so that we can leave and bless our homes with it. But all the more important is preserving that gift of grace which we receive during Great Lent and in our celebration of Holy Pascha. It is in and by this gift that we find Christ!

In order to see Christ and to hear Him more distinctly, St John of Damascus asks us to “purify our senses.” The life of Christian virtue is not assigned solely to the Great Fast. All of the virtues are valuable at all times, and practicing the life of virtue clears our soul and heart so that we can receive true joy. Fasting or not, pure senses are a precondition, just as the Lord Himself said. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

Every year we receive joy and light, and at some point, along the way it feels as though it has faded. The Lord allows this so that we will know that His “kingdom is not of this world,” (John 18:36) and that we ought to “look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.” We are in constant need of refreshment and renewal. That is why the Church gives us the annual Paschal Celebration.

But so long as we have the light of the Resurrection burning within us, before it has faded, let us continue to “purify our senses,” not with fasting at this time, but with temperance and thanksgiving for all of God’s gifts. We will see and hear Christ more distinctly saying, “Rejoice!” In this way we will experience a foretaste of the joy of the eternal and heavenly Pascha.  

Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς Ανέστη!
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!