ONCE MORE THROUGH THOUSANDS OF YEARS , THE HUMAN(FROM HOOMA,HUMA,EARTH) RESURRECTED TO ANOO-THROOPOS (=HE WHO LOOKS AT HEIGHTS)

A)PATRIARCHATE  OF ANTIOCHEIA

I)SYRIAC ORTHODOX

We pray that the peace and joy of this most blessed time of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, be with you always. Christ suffered and died for us washing us clean from the sin of Adam and Eve, by His Precious Blood shed upon the altar of the Cross.

The uncertainties of today’s world and the large scale of natural calamities, which struck earth during the last few years, compel us to look deeper into the meaning of the Resurrection of our Lord and examine our faithfulness to His calling and commitment to His mission. How much of this can be changed by our willingness to take our responsibility towards our neighbor and our environment seriously and meaningfully?

As we share in the Joy of our salvation in Christ, let us praise and thank God, proclaiming with all creation:

Christ is Risen from the dead!

His Eminence Metropolitan Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim’s

II)ROMAN ORTHODOX -AUSTRALIAN ARCHDIOCESE

The Orthodox world is celebrating today the most important historical event that happened and will ever be happening. On this occasion like many other occasions, we will stop to reflect, pray and learn some lessons.

The most important lesson is our renewal, or rather our work and effort to reconcile with Him risen from the tomb. This lesson is a movement which distinguishes the believing church in this world and distinguishes its faithful. It is a movement of love and revolt between the human and his Saviour, sinned and went far from God, became pessimist. Christ comes and renew him and reconciles him with his father who becomes our father.

“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the Body of the Lord Jesus” (Luke 24: 1-3).

Jesus’ Resurrection galvanized the faith of early Christians. The empty tomb and the Lord’s appearances were the crowning proof that the Master they loved and served was not just another moral teacher or revolutionary. Christ was, as He claimed to be God in the flesh.

We, who read the account 2000 years later, need to remember that Christ’s Resurrection was not, as Paul will say: “done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Just the opposite. The Disciples testified in the public laboratory. To first Century Christians, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ was the pivotal event in history.

Their dramatic encounters with the resurrected Jesus were vivid and unforgettable.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched… this we proclaim concerning the word of life. “The life appears; we have seen it and testify to it; and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the father and has appeared to us” (John 1:1-2).

St. Luke wrote: “therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account…  so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (1:3-4).

The Disciples faced the test of informed public opinion, a jury of their contemporaries: “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know,” (said Peter in Acts 2: 22), “Jesus, Whom you Crucified, both Lord and Christ” (36). Remember, if the Disciples had been perpetrating a fraud or deceit, their testimony could have been easily overthrown. It wasn’t.

The willingness to risk all for the truth of the Resurrection was convincing testimony from fallible human beings… men who had earlier deserted Christ and fled (Matt 26:56). That willingness, and the powerful miracles being done in Jesus’ Name, made the Gospel compelling.

God in History:
The Christian Gospel is not primarily a code of Ethics or a Metaphysical System; it is first and for most “good news”, and as such, it was proclaimed by its earliest preachers… this good news is intimately bound up with the historical order, for it tells how, for the world’s redemption, God entered into history… The Eternal came into time… The kingdom of Heaven invaded The Realm of Earth, in the great events of The Incarnation, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

The Disciples were convicted by the Empty Tomb. The same Jesus Who walked the dusty trails of Galilee, is still alive today, alive and glorified and walks with us on the paths of our everyday life if we allow Him.

He intervenes for those of us who turn to Him in faith and belief, just as He did to Peter and to untold numbers of people throughout History.

To experience this Transforming Power ourselves, to “know Christ” and The Power of His Resurrection” (Phil 3:10), we will also have to believe in The Empty Tomb and in The Power of His Resurrection. It stands as stark evidence that our Lord and Saviour is Risen from The Dead”.

The Lord has spoken to many of you. He is inviting you every day of your life to celebrate Pascha with Him. He is waiting for you with an open heart. Do not leave this place tonight, leaving Him and His Church behind you until next year.

Let the Resurrected… use you as a Vessel for His Divine Purposes. Let The One Who is Risen, live in your hearts. Let yourself be able to sing every day, every moment of your life…” Christ is Risen”.

To all of you, may His light that lightened that night, lighten your life and your families throughout your life.

Amen
In Christ

+Paul

Metropolitan Archbishop Paul
Primate of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines

B)PATRIARCATO  DI MOSKA

Col cuore colmo di riconoscenza a Dio, reco a tutti voi un grande e salvifico annuncio:

CRISTO E’ RISORTO !

Di anno in anno, con quest’annuncio pasquale la Chiesa testimonia quest’evento di portata universale, successo quasi duemila anni fa. Allora, le donne giunte all’alba al luogo della sepoltura del loro Maestro trovarono il sepolcro vuoto. La forza divina di Cristo ha vinto la legge della morte. Egli è risorto, testimoniando a tutta l’umanità che la morte non significa la fine della vita, poiché la morte può essere superata dalla potenza di Dio.

La Resurrezione di Cristo, avvenimento unico della storia del mondo, per volere di Dio ha significato l’inizio della resurrezione anche per ognuno di noi. Se il Salvatore è venuto al mondo, ha sofferto la Passione, è stato crocefisso e si è rialzato dal sepolcro, ciò è avvenuto affinché anche ogni uomo possa attraversare l’esperienza della resurrezione dai morti, non in senso metaforico, ma in senso reale. Di ciò parla chiaramente l’apostolo Paolo: “Dio … risusciterà anche noi con la sua potenza” (1 Cor 6, 14).

Ecco perché la Pasqua è la festa della vittoria della vita sulla morte: con la Resurrezione di Cristo Salvatore, la resurrezione dai morti è donata anche a tutti noi. E per quanto possano essere difficili le circostanze della vita terrena attorno a noi, quali che siano le prove che ci visitano, per quanto possano cercare di spaventarci coloro che, non avendo alcuna forza spirituale, vorrebbero prevedere l’avvenire, la nostra visione del mondo deve restare serena e gioiosa, poiché Cristo è Risorto!

Nell’antica Russia la festa della Pasqua era sempre la più grande e luminosa. Negli ultimi decenni essa è ritornata in molte case e famiglie, e ora essa è celebrata anche in quei posti in cui prima non risuonava il saluto pasquale: negli ospedali e nelle carceri, nelle caserme e sulle navi militari, e perfino sulle stazioni spaziali. Voglia Dio che a questi cambiamenti esteriori, avvenuti nei paesi della nostra cultura russa, corrisponda un’autentica rinascita delle anime delle persone, che la gioia della Resurrezione di Cristo ricolmi il cuore di ognuno, che la luce dell’amore divino riscaldi non solo i nostri cari e parenti, ma anche tutti coloro che non possono partecipare alla funzione pasquale in chiesa, le persone anziane, i malati, i soli.

Attraverso la Resurrezione di Cristo, i credenti possono comunicare alla forza della Grazia mandata dall’alto per vivere secondo la verità e i comandamenti di Dio, essere misericordiosi e caritatevoli, onesti e ben disposti verso ogni prossimo, pronti a condividerne gioie e dolori.

Quest’atteggiamento cristiano verso il prossimo comprende anche l’impegno a favore del proprio paese, popolo, della propria famiglia e casa. Predicando la priorità dei valori spirituali eterni, la Chiesa esorta i suoi figli ad aver riguardo anche dei valori passeggeri del mondo creato da Dio, onorando la natura che ci circonda, il ricco tesoro della cultura umana, raccolto lungo i secoli dai nostri antenati. Essere custodi dell’eredità spirituale e della tradizione dell’Ortodossia significa impegnarsi attivamente alla trasformazione di se stessi, del proprio mondo interiore, e nel contempo sostenere e preservare la bellezza e l’armonia del mondo che ci circonda, e ristabilirla laddove è stata infranta dalla perfidia umana. Tale è la chiamata e la responsabilità del cristiano.

Il Signore non aspetta da noi imprese impossibili. Egli si rivolge all’animo di ogni uomo per ripetergli: «Venite a me, voi tutti, che siete affaticati e oppressi, e io vi ristorerò. Prendete il mio giogo sopra di voi e imparate da me, che sono mite e umile di cuore, e troverete ristoro per le vostre anime. Il mio giogo infatti è dolce e il mio carico leggero» (Mt 11, 28-30).  E per provare e capire quanto sia dolce e leggero il  carico che il Signore ci propone, bisogna imparare a fare del bene a vicini e lontani. In quest’arte, difficili sono solo i primi passi: sapersi fermare per tempo, per non rispondere alla volgarità con altra volgarità, al male col male, alla menzogna con la menzogna, alla condanna con la condanna. E, almeno una volta, esperimentare la soddisfazione di un’azione giusta e onesta, a vantaggio di un’altra persona: in famiglia o al lavoro, in parrocchia o nel rapporto con vicini o conoscenti. Questo sentimento di soddisfazione può crescere e diventare uno stato d’animo di gioia e ottimismo, se le buone azioni compiute non per interesse ma col cuore puro diventano parte essenziale della nostra vita. Soltanto quando vedremo il legame indissolubile tra il bene operato da noi individualmente e il benessere sociale, potremo avvertire che la realtà cambia in meglio anche nella vita sociale.

La motivazione evangelica sottesa a ogni nostra azione, sia nella vita personale, che in quella professionale e sociale, è capace di cambiare radicalmente noi stessi e il mondo attorno.

In questa notte luminosa noi esclamiamo: «Risorga Dio e si disperdano i suoi nemici!». Che Dio risorga nei nostri cuori e che si disperdano la menzogna, l’inimicizia, il male, i conflitti e ogni divisione nella nostra vita!

Amati fratelli e sorelle, di tutto cuore vi porgo i miei più fervidi auguri per la Santa Pasqua. Che il sostegno e la benedizione del Signore veramente Risorto accompagnino ognuno di noi nel nostro impegno a gloria della Chiesa, a vantaggio dei paesi nei quali viviamo, e per il bene di vicini e lontani.

+Kirill, Patriarca di Mosca e di tutte le Russie

Santa Pasqua dell’anno 2011

Paschal Message of His Holiness KIRILL, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, to the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics and All the Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church

C)ARCHIBISHOP OF  CANTERBURY’S

We’re now officially told that it’s a good idea to be happy.  Politicians have started talking about happiness rather than just prosperity, and there is even a research programme on the subject, trying to identify the essence of human well-being.  And it’s nice and entirely appropriate that we are being encouraged to some public displays of shared celebration next Friday: let a thousand street parties blossom!

Now it’s certainly a good thing that people have publicly acknowledged that there is more to life than the level of our Gross National Product, that we’re just beginning to say out loud that corporate prosperity divorced from personal and communal fulfillment or stability is an empty thing.  It’s when we try and put more flesh on this that it becomes more complicated – and, worse still, more self-conscious.  Some of you might just remember an episode of Doctor Who a couple of decades ago called ‘The Happiness Patrol’ where the Doctor arrives on a planet in which unhappiness is a capital crime, and blues musicians lead a dangerous underground existence.  But less dramatically, most of us know the horrible experience of a family outing where things aren’t going too well and Mum or Dad keeps saying, through ever more tightly gritted teeth, ‘This is fun, isn’t it?’

There’s the catch: the deepest happiness is something that has crept up on us when we weren’t looking.  We can look back and say, Yes, I was happy then – and we can’t reproduce it.  It seems that, just as we can’t find fulfilment in just loving ourselves, so we can’t just generate happiness for ourselves. It comes from outside, from relationships, environment, the unexpected stimulus of beauty – but not from any programme that we can identify.  It’s a perfectly good idea to test and tabulate the ways people measure their own happiness – but beware of thinking that it will yield a foolproof method for being happy.

We have just heard the beginning of the resurrection story – a narrative of shock and amazement, utter disorientation.  One of the things that makes these stories so believable is just that sense of unexpectedness – the disciples don’t come to the empty tomb and say, ‘Well, there you are; just like he said.’  They arrive never having really believed that their Lord would return from death, and now they find themselves in a disturbing new world where anything is possible; and so bright is the light in this new morning that even the familiar face of Jesus becomes unrecognizable.  But as the story goes on in John’s gospel, we are told that the disciples anxiously gathered in their locked room were ‘filled with joy’ when they saw Jesus among them.  They have been jolted out of the rut of what is usual and predictable – and joy springs on them without warning, ‘Christ the tiger’, in T.S. Eliot’s great image.

What was it like for those first few hours after the empty tomb had been found, after Mary Magdalene had delivered her breathless message?  It must have been a period of alarming uncertainty, half hope, half terror; which of us would really rejoice at the prospect of a miracle that would make us rethink most of what we had taken for granted?  But into that chaos steps a figure before whose face ‘the questions fade away’ – the words with which C.S. Lewis finishes his greatest book, Till We Have Faces.  And joy arrives, irresistibly.  The world is even more dangerous and strange than before, the future is now quite unimaginable; but there is nothing that can alter the sheer effect of that presence.

And that’s another thing about authentic happiness.  It doesn’t take away the reality of threat or risk or suffering; it’s just there.  This is one of the hardest things to get hold of here.  How can I feel ‘happy’ in a world so full of atrocity and injustice?  How can I know joy when I’m aware of my own failure, my own shabbiness, my own depression?  There are no answers in theory because this isn’t a matter of theory: it simply happens that way.  People in the middle of extreme stress will witness to this.  We might well remember today some of those in such situations – Christians facing threats and attacks in Pakistan or, right at the moment, in Northern Nigeria; and please pray and think of them, as some fanatics of all backgrounds seek to exploit religious differences there, even in the wake of what appears as a free and fair election.  Or we might think of an aid worker in Congo, or a nurse or teacher in a strained and under-resourced institution, or a carer sitting through the night with a terminally ill child – people such as this will sometimes speak, shockingly, of feeling joy in the middle of what they endure.  It is not – God forbid – feeling cheerful, it is not pretending that things aren’t so bad after all.  And it’s a grim reproach that that’s all too often what people half-expect from Christians, a glib and dishonest cheerfulness.  No, it is an overwhelming sense of being where you should be, being in tune with something or someone, being rooted in the moment in a way that doesn’t at all blur your honesty about what’s there in front of your eyes but gives you what you need to sit in the presence of horror and grief, and live.

More than just a feeling, then, a passing emotion, certainly more than a self-conscious determination to put a brave face on things.  Once again we have to be clear that it depends on something quite other than our efforts and our will power.  And that takes us into a further dimension of joy.  What we can contribute by our will or effort is not a system for making ourselves happy but a habit of readiness to receive.  The person whose mind is completely cluttered with anxiety, self-absorbed worry or vanity or resentment, is going to find it hard to give way to moments of gift and surprise.  That’s why people who are fairly used to taking time in silence and reflection may often be people in whom you see joy coming through.  It’s also why, for many of us, like the disciples at Easter, it takes something of a shock to open us up to joy, some experience that pushes its way through the inward clutter by sheer force and novelty.  Perhaps part of the message of Easter is very simply, Be ready to be surprised; try clearing out some of the anxiety and vanity and resentment so as to allow the possibility of a new world to find room in you.

But this means in turn that rather than battling all the time to lay hold of a happiness that we have planned according to our fantasies, we should concentrate on challenging the things that make us anxious.  About six weeks ago, I was visiting Manchester to see some of the work done by local churches and other faith groups for community regeneration; and I found myself listening more and more carefully for what these groups were saying about how the local people they worked with thought about well-being.   They didn’t have extravagant plans – but they simply identified a few conditions that would relieve loneliness, boredom and fear.  Good and reliable mental health care, specially for the young; access to fresh air and space; opportunities to be creative, whether in growing vegetables or running a drama group.  And it was impossible not to wonder where some of these hopes were on the scale of official priorities, in local or national government.  On the same visit, an unscheduled stop at a local library in a rather devastated council estate revealed a lively group of teenagers who were regular users, welcomed by staff, glad of a place to do homework, gossip and feel secure.  Space, opportunity, the time to discover a larger world to live in – where are the clearly articulated priorities in public discussion that would spotlight all this, so as to make us think twice before dismantling what’s already there and disappointing more hopes for the future?  Talk about the happiness of the nation isn’t going to mean much unless we listen to some of these simple aspirations – aspirations, essentially, for places, provisions or situations which help you lay aside anxiety and discover dimensions of yourself otherwise hidden or buried.

Because, ultimately, joy is about discovering that the world is more than you ever suspected, and so that you yourself are more than you suspected.  The joy of  the resurrection has a unique place in Christian faith and imagination because this event breaks open the shell of the world we thought we knew and projects us into the new and mysterious realm in which victorious mercy and inexhaustible love make the rules.  And because it is the revelation of something utterly basic about reality itself, it is a joy that cannot just be at the mercy of passing feelings.  It roots itself in the heart and remains as a foundation for everything else.  The Christian is not therefore the person who has accepted a particular set of theories about the universe but the person who lives by the power of the joy that is laid bare in the event of the resurrection of Jesus.  To be baptized ‘into’ Christ is to be given a lasting connection with joy, a channel through which the basic sense of being where we ought to be can always come through, however much we choke it up with selfishness and worry.  Sometimes, clearing out this debris needs a bit of explosive – encounter with an extraordinary person or story, experience of passionate love, witnessing profound suffering, whatever shakes us out of our so-called ‘normal’ habits.  But we can at least contribute to this by giving time to clearing the channel as best we may, in silence, in the space of reflection.  And we can also ask persistently what it is in our social environment that will most help create this for others, especially those who live with constant anxiety because of poverty, disability or other sorts of disadvantage.

Christian joy, the joy of Easter, is offered to the world not to guarantee a permanently happy society in the sense of a society free from tension, pain or disappointment, but to affirm that whatever happens in the unpredictable world – sometimes wonderfully, sometimes horribly unpredictable – there is a deeper level of reality, a world within the world, where love and reconciliation are ceaselessly at work, a world with which contact can be made so that we are able to live honestly and courageously with the challenges constantly thrown at us.  And on the first Easter morning, it is as if ‘the fountains of the great deep’ are broken open, and we are allowed to see, like Peter and John at the empty tomb, into the darkness for a moment – and find our world turned upside down, joy made possible.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams

D)ROMAN PATRIARCHATE  OF  HIERO-SALEM

ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΣ ὁ Γ’

Ἐλέῳ Θεοῦ Πατριάρχης τῆς Ἁγίας Πόλεως Ἱερουσαλήμ

καί πάσης Παλαιστίνης

παντί τῷ πληρώματι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, χάριν καί ἔλεος καί εἰρήνην

ἀπό τοῦ Παναγίου καί Ζωoδόχου Τάφου

τοῦ Ἀναστάντος Χριστοῦ.

«Χριστός ἐγερθείς ἐκ νεκρῶν, οὐκέτι ἀποθνῄσκει, θάνατος Αὐτοῦ οὐκέτι κυριεύει»  (Ρωμ. 6, 9 ).

Ποία αὕτη ἡ τῶν Ὀρθοδόξων εὐσεβής καί πολυπληθής μεσονύκτιος ὁμήγυρις; Πρός τί αὕτη ἡ λειτουργική σύναξις τιμίων μελῶν τῆς Σιωνίτιδος Ἐκκλησίας καί εὐλαβῶν προσκυνητῶν, ἀθρόως προστρεξάντων «ἐκ δυσμῶν καί βορρᾶ καί θαλάσσης καί ἑῴας;» Τίνα ζητοῦμεν; Τίνα ἀναμένομεν ἰδεῖν;  Τί τά μῦρα συμπαθῶς τοῖς δάκρυσι κιρνῶμεν;

Ὡς εἰκός ἐξήλθομεν καί ἡμεῖς, ὄρθρου βαθέος, δίκην μυροφόρων γυναικῶν, ζητοῦντες ἰδεῖν «Ἰησοῦν τόν Ναζαρηνόν, τόν ἐσταυρωμένον» (Μάρκ. 16, 6),  Οὗτινος τόν τάφον τοῦτον οἱ ἄρχοντες τῶν Ἰουδαίων «ἠσφαλίσαντο σφραγίσαντες τόν λίθον μετά τῆς κουστωδίας» (Ματθ.27, 66)  Πρό τούτου ἱστάμενοι ἔκπληκτοι καί ἔκθαμβοι, ἀκούομεν νοερῶς ὑπό τοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ καθίσαντος λαμπροφόρου ἀγγέλου: «ἠγέρθη, οὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε, ἴδε ὁ τόπος ὅπου ἔθηκαν Αὐτόν» (Μάρκ. 16, 6), «οὗτος προάγει ὑμᾶς εἰς τήν Γαλιλαίαν, ἐκεῖ Αὐτόν ὄψεσθε, καθώς εἶπεν ὑμῖν» (Μάρκ. 16, 7).

Ὄντως, αὕτη εἶναι ἡ πάνσοφος  οἰκονομία τοῦ Θεοῦ διά τήν σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν. Αὕτη ἡ οἰκονομία Αὐτοῦ διά τήν ἀπαλλαγήν ἡμῶν ἀπό τοῦ διαβόλου καί τοῦ θανάτου, ἀπό τῆς ἁμαρτίας καί τῆς φθορᾶς αὐτῆς, ἡ Ἀνάστασις τοῦ δι’ ἡμᾶς ἐνανθρωπήσαντος καί σταυρωθέντος  Μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ Αὐτοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Οὗτος τήν προσληφθεῖσαν  ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν  ἡμῶν ἔφερε μεθ’ Ἑαυτοῦ εἰς τόν Σταυρόν καί εἰς τόν ᾋδην καί ἀνέστησε καί εἰς τόν οὐρανόν ἀνεβίβασε  καί ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ Ἀνάρχου Πατρός Αὐτοῦ εἰς τό διηνεκές ἐκάθισεν.

Ὤ σοφίας καί δυνάμεως, ὤ εὐσπλαχνίας καί ἀγάπης  Θεοῦ ! Ὁ πλάσας ἡμᾶς, ἐν τῷ Σταυρωθέντι καί Ἀναστάντι  Υἱῷ Αὐτοῦ ἀνέπλασε  καί ἀνεμόρφωσε καί ἐζωοποίησε καί ἀνεκάλεσεν, ἵνα ζῶμεν ἐν κοινωνίᾳ μετ’ Αὐτοῦ καί μεθ’ ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ σώματι τοῦ Μονογενοῦς  Υἱοῦ Αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῇ ἀενάῳ καί σωτηριώδει ὀάσει καί τῷ τερπνῷ καί μυριπνόῳ παραδείσῳ  τῆς Ἐκκλησίας.

Αὐτοῦ ἀναληφθέντος εἰς τούς οὐρανούς καί τοῦ Παρακλήτου ἐπιφοιτήσαντος ἐπί τούς ἁγίους μαθητάς καί ἀποστόλους, ἡ Ἐκκλησία  ἀνά τήν Οἰκουμένην καί ἀνά τούς αἰῶνας ἀποτελεῖ φανέρωσιν τοῦ ἔργου τῆς δυνάμεως καί τῆς δόξης Αὐτοῦ.

Ἐν τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ  τά τέκνα τοῦ Θεοῦ, τά πρίν διεσκορπισμένα, συνηγμένα νῦν εἰς ἕν,  εὐσεβοῦν, σωφρονοῦν, ὁμονοοῦν, εἰρηνεύουν, ἐργάζονται καί συνεργάζονται καί δημιουργοῦν  ἔργον θαυμαστόν, ἐπιτελοῦν  «ὅσα εὔφημα, ὅσα ἅγια, ὅσα δίκαια, εἴ τις ἀρετή καί εἴ τις ἔπαινος πρέπει τοῖς ἁγίοις» (Φιλιππ. 4, 8). Τά μέλη τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἀποτελοῦν τήν μικράν ζύμην, ἥτις  ἀθορύβως μέν καί ἀνεπαισθήτως, δυναμικῶς δέ, ποιοτικῶς καί αὐξητικῶς ὅλον τό φύραμα τῆς κοινωνίας ζυμοῖ (Α΄ Κορ. 5, 7).

Τό ἔργον τοῦτο, ποιμαντικόν, φιλανθρωπικόν, κοινωνικόν προσκυνηματικόν καί εἰρηνευτικόν, ἐπιτελεῖ ἀνά τούς αἰῶνας καί ἡ Ἐκκλησία τῶν Ἁγίων Τόπων, ἡ ὁποία  ἀνοικταῖς ἀγκάλαις ὑποδέχεται ὑμᾶς, ὦ  εὐλαβεῖς προσκυνηταί, ἡ Ἐκκλησία, ἡ ζῶσα καί ποιμαίνουσα μετά τῆς Ἁγιοταφιτικῆς Αὐτῆς Ἀδελφότητος εἰς τούς τόπους τούτους τῆς κατά σάρκα  ἐμφανείας, τῆς σταυρώσεως καί τῆς ἀναστάσεως  τοῦ ἱδρυτοῦ Αὐτῆς.

Αὕτη ἡ Ἐκκλησία δέεται καθ’ ἑκάστην ἐπί τοῦ Παναγίου καί Ζωοδόχου  τούτου Τάφου καί ἐπί πάντων τῶν Παναγίων προσκυνημάτων, ὑπέρ τῶν ἐμπεπιστευμένων αὐτῇ πιστῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς καί τῶν εὐσεβῶν καί Ὀρθοδόξων Χριστιανῶν, προσκυνητῶν, Ἐπιτρόπων καί συνδρομητῶν, ὑπέρ ὑγιείας, εὐσταθείας, εὐημερίας, προκοπῆς, προόδου καί σωτηρίας.

Ἐν τῇ χαρᾷ, ὅθεν, καί ἐλπίδι καί δυνάμει τῆς Ἀναστάσεως, ἀναφωνήσωμεν: « Χριστός Ἀνέστη »,  δόξα τῇ Αὐτοῦ τριημέρῳ ἐγέρσει.

Ἐν  τῇ  Ἁγία  Πόλει  Ἱερουσαλήμ   ΠΑΣΧΑ   2011.

Μετά Πατρικῶν εὐχῶν καί Πατριαρχικῶν Εὐλογιῶν,

Διάπυρος πρός Κύριον Εὐχέτης,

ΘΕΟΦΙΛΟΣ Γ’

Πατριάρχης Ἱεροσολύμων.

E)PATRIARCHAT  D’ ALEXANDRIE

I)ROMAN ORTHODOX

THÉODORE II

PAR LA GRÂCE DE DIEU PAPE ET PATRIARCHE D’ALEXANDRIE
ET DE TOUTE L’AFRIQUE,
À TOUT LE PEUPLE DU TRÔNE APOSTOLIQUE ET PATRIARCAL D’ALEXANDRIE QUE SOIENT AVEC VOUS LA
GRÂCE, LA PITIÉ ET LA PAIX DE NOTRE SEIGNEUR, DIEU ET RÉDEMPTEUR JÉSUS-CHRIST,
QUI EST RESSUSCITÉ DES MORTS.

Mes chers Frères,

                                            Christ est ressuscité!
           Je vous adresse mon message de Pâques du pays où le Fils et la Parole de Dieu le Père a fait ses premiers pas; du pays où notre Seigneur, chassé par la furie d’Hérode, a vécu, comme un immigrant itinérant, les premières années de Sa vie; une vie seulement temporairement terrestre et mortelle, comme on a été démontré par Sa Résurrection, qui a remporté définitivement la mort.
Je vous adresse mon message de Pâques de l’Égypte qui s’est retrouvée une fois de plus à l’avant-garde des développements historiques. Cette fois, parce que son peuple a été déterre de la tombe de l’injustice politique et sociale; parce que son peuple a exigé pacifiquement et a gagné le droit du respect de la vie humaine, le droit à la liberté de la parole et d’action; parce que son peuple a attire l’admiration mondiale en convertissant l’incertitude et la peur du changement radical en une explosion de dignité et d’espoir.
Mais dans le cœur de millions de personnes dans tout le continent africain et dans le monde entier, l’espoir diminue sévèrement. Cette nuit de la Résurrection, ma pensée est avec ceux qui cherchent des issues a travers les blocages de leur vie; avec ceux qui sont pris au piège d’une réalité qui ne leur fournit aucune perspective; avec ceux qui sont incapables de s’offrir des moindre besoins .
Ma pensée est avec ceux qui sacrifient leur droit de la liberté individuelle  afin de survivre; avec ceux qui tombent entre les mains des trafiquants d’êtres humains et sont forcés à être vendus et ainsi devenir victime de toute sorte d’exploitation.
En cette nuit de la Résurrection, ma pensée est avec les victimes des traffiquants; cette forme moderne d’esclavage; ce crime contre l’humanité qui nous honte a tous.
Lors d’une de mes voyages missionnaires en Afrique de l’Ouest, j’ai rencontré une femme qui avait été «achetée» et «vendue». Ses mots m’ont brise. Elle m’a dit: “Ils ont volé ma vie…Je ne saurais jamais la recupere.”  La façon dont elle me regardait, m’a vraiment donné un choc. À ses yeux, j’ai vu l’inaptitude, la peur et la honte. Dans ses yeux c’était reflété tout un continent qui saignait de précieuses ressources humaines.
Je me sentais perplexe. Est-il possible, lorsque les marchés du travail et de transport sont globalise, les pays développés elevent des murs impénétrables aux non privilégiés? Est-il possible d’appliquer de mesures plus restraintes pour transformer l’espoir d’une vie décente en un produit commercial? Est-il possible que le gage du besoin desespere de travailler soit sa propre liberte?
Notre Mission fait de son mieux afin de protéger les groupes de population vulnérables: les femmes et les enfants; les victimes principaux du commerce moderne des esclaves. Elle donne la priorité à obtenir des nouveaux moyens d’existence et à promouvoir des programmes d’educations. Elle aide le peuple faible pour acquérir la confiance en soi. Elle crée des réseaux de soutien local pour la protection contre les sirènes de fausses promesses.
Je crains profondément cependant, que l’inondation du désespoir, tôt ou tard, deviendra incontrollable. Il est temps de gerer localement les circonstances que les gens choissisent  afin de les aider a ne pas etre des victimes et  succomber aux eaux sombre de l’exploitation. Il est temps de donner à chaque être humain, le droit de  l’existence personnelle, une image parfaite et complète de Dieu, et les moyens de décider librement de sa vie. Et il est temps, bien que cela semble dur, que certains Il est temps, quoi que cela soit difficile, que les chretiens de nom seulement, mettent fin par n’importe quel moyen, a l’exploitation de ces peuples belligerents.
Que les puissants de cette terre n’oublient pas les mots du romancier lauréat du prix Nobel Gabriel Garcia Marquez: «Un homme n’a le droit de regarder vers le bas sur un autre homme, que lorsqu’il c’est pour l’aider à se tenir debout». Seulement quand l’amour envers nos autres humains cesse d’avoir des limites conventionnelles; seulement quand nous sommes conscients que la raison d’être est basée sur la coexistence avec les autres; que sera plante à nouveau dans nos cœurs, non seulement la joie de la Résurrection de notre Seigneur, mais aussi la joie de la renaissance de notre humanité.
† THÉODOROS II
Pape et Patriarche d’Alexandrie et toute l’Afrique

Dans la grande ville d’Alexandrie
Sainte Pâques 2011

II)COPTIC ORTHODOX

Easter Message

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III

Pope of Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark

April 2011

My beloved children in the lands of immigration, both clergy and laity.

I congratulate you for the Glorious Feast of the Resurrection, wishing you all that the Lord returns it upon you with all goodness and blessing.

The resurrection of the Lord Christ was distinguished with an amazing power. He is the only One who was victorious over death by Himself. In His resurrection, He crushed death, and arose with the power of His Divinity. Also, by His power, He came out of the closed tomb which had a great stone upon it, without anyone seeing Him. Also with the same power, He entered the upper room where the disciples were, while its doors were shut. After He spent forty days with them speaking to them about matters pertaining to the Kingdom of God, He ascended to the heavens with a great power, which is against all the laws of gravitational force. Of course, it is the power of His Divinity.

Therefore, St. Paul the Apostle said about Him, in the Epistle to the Philippians 3:10 “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” This is why we also praised Him throughout the Holy Week, confessing His power and saying to Him: “To You is the power … Thok te tee gom.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who arose with power, and ascended with power, also grants us power. The Church started its history with power, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the pure disciples. The Bible says: “And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.”

This power remained in the life of the Church. With great power, St. George was able to tear the decree of the emperor. Even all the martyrs received death with power, and they did not fear it. Instead, they reiterated the expression “…having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” (Philippians 1:23)

Therefore, my beloved children and brethren, always be powerful. I mean, that you have spiritual power by which you defeat Satan, all the power of the enemy, all the wars of the ego, and all evil desires.

And in your victory, do not attribute this to your own personal power, but to the power of God which works in you, now and always.

Lastly, be well and absolved from the Holy Spirit; and pray for me.

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III

Glorious Feast of Resurrection

April 2011

ΠΗΓΕΣ  ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΕΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ-ΔΑΜΑΣΚΟΥ , ΙΕΡΩΝ ΣΟΛΥΜΩΝ , ΜΟΣΧΟΒΙΝΩΝ ,  Durovernum Cantiacorum ,ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑΣ