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Patriarchal Pascha Encyclical 2024

The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2024

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By the Grace of God

Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

Christ is Risen!

“When You descended into death,
O Life immortal,
You slayed Hades with the splendor of Your Divinity;
and when from the depths You raised the dead,
all the powers of heaven cried out to You:
O Giver of Life, Christ our God, glory to You.”
(Troparion of the Resurrection, Tone-2)

Boldly and unwaveringly proclaiming the words of this divinely inspired hymn, let us join the holy forefathers, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, venerable ones, righteous ones, confessors, and teachers of the faith, as well as all the angelic choirs, who today in heaven celebrate the holy and life-giving Resurrection of the Lord! Let us also hasten with the myrrh-bearing women to the empty tomb of Christ so that we too can hear the words of the angel, filled with eternal joy:

“The time for sorrow is passed; weep not;
but announce the Resurrection to the Apostles!”

The Holy Nobleborn Prince of Serbia Lazar (Lazarus) lived during the XIV Century – at a time when the Turks, having conquered neighbouring lands, prepared an invasion of Serbia.

The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday. The Feast commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, a feast of the Jewish tradition. It also celebrates the establishment of the Church through the preaching of the Apostles and the baptism of the thousands who on that day believed in the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Feast is also seen as the culmination of the revelation of the Holy Trinity.

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The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2023

PORFIRIJE

By the Grace of God Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

Christ is Risen!

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed
in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.
But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed.
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.
He is risen! He is not here.
See the place where they laid Him.
(St. Mark 16, 5-6)

Let us rejoice, our dear spiritual children, let us rejoice and celebrate the Feast of feasts, the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from the dead. We rejoice and celebrate because we, as the myrrhbearing women of old, have heard the words of the angel: “Do not be afraid!” We rejoice and celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Christ as for more than eight centuries the white angel of the famous frescoe in the Mileseva monastery of Saint Sava has been pointing to the empty tomb and telling us: “He is risen, He is not here!” Let us rejoice because despite all circumstances and difficulties we are accompanied by the deep and peaceful “Old Serbian” eyes of the White angel – the most beautiful, the most beloved and the most glorious frescoe created in our nation- telling us that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified on the cross, is risen from the tomb.

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The Serbian Orthodox Church to her spiritual children at Pascha, 2022

+PORFIRIJE

By the Grace of God
Orthodox Archbishop of Pec, Metropolitan of Belgrade Karlovci and Serbian Patriarch, with all the Hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church to all the clergy, monastics, and all the sons and daughters of our Holy Church: grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, with the joyous Paschal greeting:

CHRIST IS RISEN!

This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us greatly rejoice and be glad in it.”
Psalm 117:24

Our dear spiritual children,

With these words from the Old Testament days, the king and prophet David enthusiastically cried out, foreseeing by the Holy Spirit the great day of Christ's victory over death and our spiritual celebration because of that. On this great and mysterious Day all creation is bathed in the light of eternity and with unspeakable joy sings the song of victory to the Lord who banished the darkness of sin and illumined us with the unfading rays of life. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it," (St. John 1:5) - so the essence of divine revelation and our Christian testimony was summed up by the Holy Apostle, Evangelist and Theologian John who during the Mystical Supper rested his head upon Lord’s bosom and took in all the power, beauty and mystery of His life-giving Being as the God-Man.

The darkness of the grave and the shackles of death could not overcome nor restrain the Light of Light born of the Father before all ages, through Whom everything came into being -- the Only-Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, although they tried to do so in every way. From the night he was handed over to the lawless, everything was so full of unbelief and violence that the crucified Christ finally had to cry out: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" (St. Mark 15:34). Seeing how the once glorious Jerusalem was shrouded in the spiritual darkness of sin, the Only-Begotten Son watched from the highly-raised Cross as the dark mouth of the tomb gaped before him in order to swallow him forever. From the stony ground of its sharp edges, the leaders of the faith and the people mockingly told the Lord to transform the Cross’ good news of salvation into a proud acceptance of the power of the fallen world: "Let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him." (St. Matthew 27:42)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, dear believers in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland.

CHRIST IS BORN, REJOICE!

Come forward today, Brothers and Sisters and bow to your knees before the modest manger illuminated by the divine glory because God’s Son Christ begins from here His holy journey on earth, we bow deeply and with reverence because here in front of the manger is the beginning of our salvation, the beginning of our eternity.

The Son of God brings to earth His peace and Christ the saviour with the feat of His short earthly life gifted man the peace of God. In so far as we live in our Orthodox faith God’s peace resides in our lives – Christ’s love and mercy.

The Lord Jesus Christ is announced to the world as a young child wrapped in swaddling clothes. The virgin mother bent over Him amazed before the unbelievable secret which has arrived in the world. The immaculate mother Virgin Mary, who presented the great secret benevolence, in that moment recognised complete joy because the Son of God had arrived on earth, with the Virgin Mary’s heavenly guest was welcomed and received gifts from the wise men of the East who together with the shepherds and the whole of creation were amazed by the mysterious secret and love of the Living God.