Several times we had discussions about Pascha sometimes seeming anti-climatic and too brief. I received a Pascha card from St. Paisius Monastery (Stafford, Arizona) this just this week as my parents brought me my Kansas mail and it quoted the following passage. It is nice getting Pascha greetings two months late…
“Why is it that we so strongly desire to prolong this Pascha, which comes and then passes? Haven’t we celebrated it time and again in previous years? Then as now, Pascha comes and it passes by, for there is nothing in this present time which is constant, but all is temporary and fleeting. And the days and the times of our life vanish like a shadow, they pass by like the sun, they run on like a sprinter, until each of us comes to the very end of his life… But there is another, most beautiful Pascha, which does not come just once a year, but always and every day. What is this Pascha? The cleansing of sins, a broken and lowly heart, tears of compunction, purity of conscience, estrangement from carnal passions and from every sin and passion. He who is deemed worthy to achieve such works of virtue celebrates the Lord’s Pascha and keeps the radiant festival not just once a year but throughout his life. On the contrary, he who does not achieve this, but is the slave of the passions and of carnal defilements, cannot celebrate as he should. Such things are impossible. For just as it is impossible for someone in the dark to see light, so is it impossible for those who commit sins to keep Pascha. And when we come to understand what is of the greatest value for us, which is the continual Pascha every day, then let us strive to achieve it, celebrating it by the mortification of the passions and the resurrection of the virtues. May we all be granted to achieve that, through the grace and love for man of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is due glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen."
St. Theodore the Recluse
And Romans 8:11-12 reminds us of who we are and what we are called to do so that we may enjoy this perpetual Pascha:
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.”
It is pretty easy typing these thoughts…may God grant us the strength and will to keep fighting against the passions to the glory of God.
