Easter message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus'

Easter message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' to the archpastors, pastors, deacons, monastics and all faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church:

Beloved in the Lord, Most Reverend archpastors,
all-honorable priests and deacons, God-loving monks and nuns,
dear brothers and sisters!

CHRIST IS RISEN!

With these life-affirming words filled with great spiritual power, I sincerely greet you all and congratulate you on the great and radiant feast of Holy Easter.

It is no coincidence that Church tradition calls this day the feast of feasts and the triumph of triumphs, for the Resurrection of Christ is the firm foundation of our faith and hope. In it is the transformation and renewal of every person, the light of eternal life and the source of everlasting joy. The Resurrection of Christ destroyed the most terrible enemies of the human race - sin and death, destroyed the barrier between God and people and delivered us from the power of evil.

Glorifying the Resurrection of the Savior, Saint Nicholas of Serbia wrote that "the victory of Christ 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 divides people... But only Christ's victory is like the sun, pouring out bright rays on all those who stand under it" (Conversations. The Gospel of the Conqueror of Death).

This means that every person striving for salvation, every believer and follower of Christ is given the opportunity to gain victory over sin and become, according to the word of the Apostle and Evangelist John, a beloved child of God (1 John 3:1).
We celebrate Easter, not celebrating the transition from one land to another, even the Promised Land, as the ancient Jews celebrated the Old Testament Passover, rejoicing at their liberation from many years of Egyptian captivity. Our Easter is about something else. The Lord delivered us from the darkness of sin and the shadow of death (Luke 1:79) and granted us the Kingdom of Heaven.

“Christ brought out the sad prisoners into the light of freedom - He raised them up to the heavenly heights of Paradise, rejoicing” (Hymn XXXVIII) - these inspired lines of the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian express a deep experience of the Easter mystery - the mystery of man's salvation from the influence of evil on him. Evil has not disappeared, but man has acquired the ability, by the power of God's grace, to fight evil and overcome it through repentance, prayer, and partaking of the Body and Blood of the Savior in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Therefore, together with the Apostle Paul, we affirm that He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in us (Rom. 8:11).

Christ's Passover marks the transition from earthly decay to eternal life with God, to unity with our Creator and Redeemer. Therefore, rejoicing in Jesus, who was resurrected for us, and gratefully accepting the Cup of salvation (Psalm 115:4), in which the Church gives us the true Food and Drink of immortality - the Body and Blood of Christ, let us tirelessly and unceasingly glorify the Lord with deeds of love and mercy, showing ourselves to be His faithful disciples.

And although our striving for good and success in God's work may seem at times like a widow's modest mite (Mark 12:42), let us always be careful that the firmness of our faith and the steadfastness of our hope do not weaken in us, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).

Let us give praise and glory to the Risen Savior, embrace each other with love and share the unfading Easter joy with every person with whom God brings us together on our life's path, testifying in word and deed that

TRULY CHRIST IS RISEN!

PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW AND ALL Rus'

Christ's Easter
2025