Paschal Homily by St. John Chrysostom

If any man be devout and loveth God,
Let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast!
If any man be a wise servant,
Let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.

If any have laboured long in fasting,
Let him how receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour,
Let him today receive his just reward.
If any have come at the third hour,
Let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
If any have arrived at the sixth hour,
Let him have no misgivings;
Because he shall in nowise be deprived therefore.
If any have delayed until the ninth hour,
Let him draw near, fearing nothing.
And if any have tarried even until the eleventh hour,
Let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness.

For the Lord, who is jealous of his honour,
Will accept the last even as the first.
He giveth rest unto him who cometh at the eleventh hour,
Even as unto him who hath wrought from the first hour.
And He showeth mercy upon the last,
And careth for the first;
And to the one He giveth,
And upon the other He bestoweth gifts.
And He both accepteth the deeds,
And welcometh the intention,
And honoureth the acts and praises the offering.

Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord;
Receive your reward,
Both the first, and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival!
You sober and you heedless, honour the day!
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted
And you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously.
The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy ye all the feast of faith:
Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness.

Let no one bewail his poverty,
For the universal Kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one weep for his iniquities,
For pardon has shown forth from the grave.
Let no one fear death,
For the Saviour's death has set us free.
He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it.

By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive.
He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh.
And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry:
Hell, said he, was embittered
When it encountered Thee in the lower regions.

It was embittered, for it was abolished.
It was embittered, for it was mocked.
It was embittered, for it was slain.
It was embittered, for it was overthrown.
It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains.
It took a body, and met God face to face.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is thy sting?
O Hell, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and thou art overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave.
For Christ, being risen from the dead,
Is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be glory and dominion
Unto ages of ages.

Amen.

Paschal Canon (Canon of Pascha)

This Paschal Canon was excerpted from The Old Rite Prayer Book.

Ode 1

It is the day of Resurrection, let us be radiant, O ye peoples;

Pascha, the Lord's Pascha; for Christ God hath brought us

from death unto life, and from earth unto heaven as we sing the triumphal hymn.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Let us purify our senses and we shall behold the unapproachable light,

radiant in the Resurrection of Christ, and we shall clearly hear Him say:

Rejoice! as we sing the triumphal hymn.

Christ is risen from the dead!

For meet it is that the heavens should rejoice, and that the earth

should be glad, and that the whole world, both visible and invisible,

should keep the feast; for Christ God, the everlasting Joy, hath risen.

Ode 3

Come let us drink a new drink, not one marvelously brought forth

from a barren rock, but the Source of incorruption, which springeth

forth from the grave of Christ, in Whom we are established.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Now are all things filled with light; heaven and earth, and the

nethermost regions of the earth.  Let all creation, therefore, celebrate

the arising of Christ, whereby it is established.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Yesterday I was buried with Thee, O Christ, and today I arise with

Thine arising.  Yesterday I was crucified with Thee; do Thou Thyself

glorify me with Thee, O Saviour, in Thy kingdom.

Hypakoe

They who were with Mary forestalled the dawn and found the

stone rolled away.  They heard from an angel: Seek not, as though

He were but a man, Him Who abideth in everlasting light.  Behold

the grave-clothes.  Go quickly and proclaim to the world that the Lord 

is risen, and hath put death to death; for He is the Son of God,

Who saveth the race of man.

Ode 4

Let the Prophet Habakkuk, the proclaimer of divine things, keep

the divine watch with us, and show forth the radiant angel who with

resounding voice hath declared: Today doth bring salvation to the world,

for Christ is risen as omnipotent.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Christ was of the make sex when He opened the Virgin's womb, and

as a mortal was He called the Lamb.  Thus, without blemish is our Pascha, 

for He tasted not corruption, and He revealed Himself as true and perfect

God.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Christ, our blessed Crown, like a yearling Lamb, of His own good will

did sacrifice Himself for all, a Pascha of purification: and from the grave the 

beautiful Sun of Righteousness, shone forth again upon us.

Christ is risen from the dead!

David, the ancestor of God, danced with leaping before the symbolic

Ark of the Covenant.  Let us also, the holy people of God, beholding

the fulfillment of the symbols, rejoice in godly wise: For Christ

is risen, as omnipotent.

Ode 5

Let us arise in the deep dawn, and instead of myrrh, offer praise

to the Master; and we shall see Christ, the Sun of Righteousness,

Who causeth life to dawn for all.

Christ is risen from the dead!

When those held captive in the bonds of Hades beheld Thy

boundless compassion, O Christ, they hastened to the light 

with joyful step, exalting the eternal Pascha.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Bearing lights, let us go forth to meet Christ, Who cometh forth

from the grave like a Bridegroom.  And with the ranks of them 

that love and keep this festival, let us celebrate the saving

Pascha of God.

Ode 6

Thou didst descend into the deepest parts of the earth, and

didst shatter the everlasting bars that bound those nether

regions, O Christ.  And on the third day, like Jonah from the

whale, Thou didst arise from the grave.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Having kept the seals intact, O Christ, Thou didst rise from 

the tomb, O Thou Who didst not break the seal of the Virgin

by Thy birth; and Thou hast opened unto us the gates of

Paradise.

Christ is risen from the dead!

O my Saviour, the living and unslain Sacrifice, as God, Thou

didst of Thine own will offer Thyself unto the Father.  Thou

didst  raise up with Thyself the whole of Adam when Thou

didst rise from the grave.

Kontakion

Though Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal One,

yet didt Thou destroy the power of Hades, and didst arise

as Victor, O Christ God, announcing jow to the myrrh-bearing

women, and giving peace to Thine Apostles, O Thou Who

dost grant resurrection to the fallen.

Oikos

The myrrh-bearing maidens anticipated the dawn, seeking,

as it were day, the Sun Who was before the sun and Who

had set in the tomb, and they cried out one to another:

O friends!  Come, let us anoint with sweet-smelling spices

the life-bringing and buried Body, even that Flesh that raiseth

Fallen Adam, who lieth in the grave.  Let us go hence, let us

make haste, like the Wise Men, and let us adore and offer

before Him myrrh as it were a gift to Him, Who is no longer

wrapped in swaddling bands, but in a winding-sheet.

and let us cry aloud with lamentations: Arise; O Master,

Thou Who dost grant resurrection to the fallen!

Ode 7

The only blessed and most glorious God of our fathers,

who hath redeemed the children from the furnace, is become

man, and, as a mortal doth offer, and through suffering doth

clothe mortality with the grace of incorruption.

Christ is risen from the dead!

The godly-wise women followed after Thee in haste with

myrrh.  But Him Whom they sought with tears as dead, they

joyfully adored as the living God, and they announced unto

Thy disciples, O Christ, the glad tidings of the mystical Pascha.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Truly sacred and supremely  festive is this saving night,

radiant with light, the forerunner of the bright-beaming

Day of Resurrection, whereon the Timeless Light in bodily

form shone from the grave for all.

Christ is risen from the dead!

We celebrate the death of death, the destruction of Hades,

the beginning of an everlasting life.  And with leaps of joy

we praise the Cause thereof, the only blessed and most

Glorious God of our fathers.

Ode 8

This chosen and holy day is the first of the Sabbaths,

the king and lord, the feasts of feasts, and the festival

of festivals, wherein we bless Christ unto the ages.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Come ye children of the new vine, on this singular day of

the Resurrection, let us partake of the divine gladness of

the Kingdom of Christ, praising Him as God unto the ages.

Christ is risen from the dead!

Cast thine eyes about thee, O Sion, and behold! For lo, like

divinely-radiant luminaries, from the West, the North, the

sea and the East have thy children assembled unto Thee,

blessing Christ unto the ages.

Most Holy Trinity our God, glory to Thee!

Father Almighty, the word and the Spirit, one Nature in

three Hypostases united, transcending essence and

Supremely Divine!  In Thee have we been baptized, and

Thee will we bless unto all the ages.

Ode 9

Shine, shine, New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord

is risen upon theee.  Exult now, and be glad, O Sion; and

Thou, pure Mother of God, rejoice in the rising of thy Child.

Christ is risen from the dead!

O Thy divine and beloved and sweet voice; Thou hast truly

promised that Thou wouldst be with us unto the end of

the world, O Christ; and we faithful rejoice, having this as

a mighty hope.

Christ is risen from the dead!

O great and most sacred Pascha, O Christ; O Wisdom and

Word and Power of God.  Grant that we partake of the Thee

fully in the unwaning day of Thy Kingdom.