CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

"Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem! For the glory of the Lord is risen upon Thee"

Lift your glowing Paschal candle and draw it closer to your countenance. Listen to its resplendent voice proclaiming: "Shine, shine, O new Jerusalem." It is addressing each and every one of you, for you are the new Jerusalem. Fill your entire being with its glimmering light; be radiant with joy, you who are the new creation, the faithful believer saved by the Risen Christ.
In the countenance of all of you here and throughout the world who are celebrating this day, the Great Feast of Pascha, the glory that has shown forth from the life-giving tomb casts its brilliant rays upon believers everywhere. It is the glory of the Lord, and it has come to penetrate and implant in the hearts of all people the new creation, which the Church understands as the new man whose life is in Christ.