In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.

Ekhristos Anesti, Alithous Anesti. Christ is risen, truly He is risen.

I congratulate you all on the glorious Feast of the Resurrection. The feast with which we conclude a holy fast that has lasted for fifty-five days. We celebrate the glorious Resurrection over the next fifty days, which we call the Holy Fifty Days.

On the glorious Feast of the Resurrection, we celebrate God’s work with us, whereby He granted us a triple blessing through His Resurrection. He granted us love, grace, and communion. This is what we always express in the short concluding benediction of all prayers. We say the love of God the Father, the grace of the Only-Begotten Son, and the communion, talent, and gift of the Holy Spirit. And this triple blessing we received in the glorious Resurrection, or because of the glorious Resurrection.

First, the love with which God loved us, so that He came into the world out of love for us. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). This was the glorious incarnation. The glorious incarnation was God’s passage to us on earth. His love was not theoretical, verbal, or remote, but true love. He came and was incarnate, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (John 1:14). This is how God loved the world. There is no love closer or stronger than for the lover to draw near to the beloved. Every person among us became beloved of the loving God.

Then came the great grace: the grace of resurrection, the grace of forgiveness, the grace of redemption, and the grace of renewal. We obtained and received these graces through the work of Christ. His incarnation on earth, then His death on the glorious cross for our sake. Then His resurrection for our salvation. This great grace grants mankind the grace of resurrection. As we know, the resurrection involves “the act of rising,” a powerful act. A person who was sitting then stood and continued to stand.  This is a sign of readiness, and a sign that a person is in complete health: rising. Therefore, we begin the daily midnight praise saying: Arise, O children of light, let us praise the Lord of hosts. The children of light are the children of resurrection. And we begin with the verb, “Arise.” This is the glorious resurrection that we enjoy.

Also, the communion of the Holy Spirit, Who unites us all in one Church, in one faith, in one work, in one hope, and beginning with one love. We all become members of the Body of Christ. And Christ becomes the head of this Body. The work of the Holy Spirit in us is to unite us all through the Holy Sacraments, through prayers, through readings, and all spiritual practices.

This is love, this is grace, and this is fellowship. Therefore, in every prayer, the priest concludes the prayer with this concluding phrase. He reminds us of God’s works with us in love, grace, and communion. This is our life program in church readings. This is found in the Gospels of the liturgies throughout the Coptic year. In the months of Tute and Babah, we learn the love of God the Father. In the seven months following that, from Hathor, we learn the grace of the Only Begotten Son, who worked with us. Then, in the remaining months, we learn the communion, talent, and gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Resurrection is a great power. One of the beautiful stories that symbolically tells the power of the Resurrection is: Some children went and asked fire, “Are you the strongest thing on earth?” It told them, “No, water is stronger than me.” So they went and asked water, “Are you the strongest thing on earth?” It told them, “No, the sun is stronger than me. It evaporates me.” They went to the sun, “Are you the strongest thing before the earth?” It told them, “No, the clouds shade me and cover me.” So they went to the cloud and asked it, “Are you the strongest thing on earth?” It said, “No, the air moves me from one place to another.” So they went to the air and asked it, “Are you the strongest thing on earth?” It told them, “No, the mountain is stronger than me because it changes my direction when I encounter a mountain, and I cannot cross it.” So they went to the mountain and asked it, “Are you the strongest thing on earth?” It told them, “No, man is stronger than me, because he can break me apart.” So they went to the man and asked him, “Are you the strongest one on earth?” He told them, “No, death is stronger than me. I cannot defeat death.” They said, “Let us ask death.” Are you the strongest thing?” It told them, “No, Christ is stronger because by death He trampled death. By Christ’s death on the cross, He trampled death. As the Apostle Paul teaches us: “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55) Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead to defeat death. In this way, we have been given eternal life. We say, “Christ is risen from the dead,  trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” 

I congratulate you all on the glorious Feast of the Resurrection. I congratulate all the Metropolitans, Bishops, Priests, Hegumens, and Presbyters. I congratulate the Deacons and Archons. I congratulate the servants, and all Coptic families celebrating the glorious Feast of Resurrection. I congratulate all the children and youth in every church, in every service, in every corner of the world. One of the fortunate coincidences of this year is that we all celebrate the glorious Feast of Resurrection together. All Christians worldwide celebrate the glorious Feast of Resurrection on the same day. This is fortunate, because this year we also celebrate the seventeenth-century anniversary of the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea. It is the Council that formulated the Creed: “Truly, we believe in one God.” I congratulate all the churches across the world. I congratulate all those who work and serve. And I convey to you the love of the Mother Church in Egypt. To all our churches in North America, South America, and Europe. In Africa, in the See of Jerusalem, in Asia, and in Australia. I congratulate everyone. I wish you a blessed feast and a resurrection with Christ. And joy that lasts throughout your life. And let us not forget love, grace, and communion. To our God be all glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.

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