Paschal Message of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’

To the Archpastors, Pastors, Deacons, Monastics, and All the Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

With these life-affirming and spiritually powerful words, I sincerely greet all of you and congratulate you on the great and radiant feast of Holy Pascha

The tradition of the Church calls this day the feast of feasts and the celebration of celebrations, for the Resurrection of Christ is the firm foundation of our faith and hope. In it is the transfiguration and renewal of every human being, the light of eternal life, and the source of abiding joy. The Resurrection of Christ has destroyed the most terrible enemies of humanity—sin and death—broken down the barrier between God and mankind, and delivered us from the dominion of evil.

Glorifying the Resurrection of the Savior, Saint Nicholas of Serbia wrote that “Christ’s victory is the only victory in which all human beings—from the first to the last—can rejoice. Every other victory on earth has divided and continues to divide people… But only the victory of Christ, like the sun, sheds its rays of light upon all who stand beneath it” (Homilies: The Gospel of the Conqueror of Death).

This means that every person striving for salvation, every believer who follows Christ, is given the opportunity to overcome sin and become, in the words of the Apostle and Evangelist John, a beloved child of God (1 John 3:1).

We celebrate Pascha, not as a mere transition from one land to another, even if it be the Promised Land, as the ancient Jews once celebrated the Old Testament Passover, rejoicing in deliverance from long years of Egyptian captivity. Our Pascha is of another kind. The Lord has delivered us from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death (Luke 1:79) and granted us the Kingdom of Heaven.

“To the light of freedom Christ has brought the sorrowful prisoners—He has lifted them to the heights of Paradise in exultation,” proclaims Hymn XXXVIII of Saint Ephraim the Syrian, expressing the deep mystery of Pascha—the mystery of man’s deliverance from the influence of evil. Evil has not disappeared, but man has received the power, through the grace of God, to fight against it and to conquer it through repentance, prayer, and participation in the Body and Blood of the Savior in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, with the Apostle Paul, we proclaim that the One who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in us (Romans 8:11).

The Pascha of Christ marks the transition from earthly corruption to eternal life with God, to communion with our Creator and Redeemer. Thus, rejoicing in the Risen Jesus who suffered for our sake, and gratefully receiving the Cup of salvation (Psalm 115:4), by which the Church gives us the true Food and Drink of immortality—the Body and Blood of Christ—let us unceasingly glorify the Lord with works of love and mercy, proving ourselves to be His faithful disciples.

Even though our striving toward the good and our success in God’s work may seem, at times, to be like the widow’s two small coins (Mark 12:42), we must always be diligent in ensuring that our steadfastness of faith and firmness of hope never diminish, knowing that our labor is not in vain before the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Let us then give glory and praise to the Risen Savior, embrace one another in love, and share the unfading Paschal joy with every person whom God brings into our lives—bearing witness in word and deed to the truth that:

TRULY CHRIST IS RISEN!

KIRILL, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL RUS’

Pascha of Christ 2025