Christ rose from the dead in the body in which He was born, crucified, and died. Thus when He went to heaven following the resurrection, His disciples were troubled because they thought He was a spirit, as did the Emmaus disciples: “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, …

The only begotten Word of God ascended in the heavens with His flesh united to him, and this was a new sight in the heavens. The multitude of holy angels was astounded seeing the King of Glory and the Lord of Hosts in the form like unto us. And they said, “Who is this that comes from Edom (that is, from earth) in crimsoned garments, from Bosor?” But Bosor is interpreted flesh or anguish and …

Treat this body with care, I pray you, and understand that with this body you will rise from the dead to be judged. But, if any thought of doubt should steal into your mind, as though the thing were impossible, judge the things unseen from your own experience. For tell me—just think where you were, you, yourself, a hundred or more years ago. From what an extremely small and mean substance have you come to …

The death on the Cross, then, for us has proved seemly and fitting, and its cause has been shown to be reasonable in every respect; and it may justly be argued that in no other way than by the Cross was it right for the salvation of all to take place. For not even thus—not even on the Cross—did He leave Himself concealed; but far otherwise, while He made creation witness to the presence of …

Today, with great joy, we continue to celebrate our Saviour’s Resurrection and the commemoration of His Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos St. Mary.In the context of the Resurrection, we remember that it was St. Mary’s consent and acceptance to the will of God in her life that led to the Resurrection and everything else in the Gospel. Without human consent, there is no salvation. Without her response to the angel, we would still be in …

‘Christ is risen!’ and ‘Truly He is risen!’ have been planted in our bones! Scholars may reject it, and expunge it from their theology, and demean it in their science, but to no avail–the Resurrection is planted in our flesh, in our blood and bones. Resurrection is not mere vision, contemplation, theory or logic: it is life. Resurrection, beloved, is the action of a new life in man. – Fr. Matta Al-Maskeen (Matthew the Poor)

As we conclude our celebration of the Saturday of Light or Bright Saturday, commemorating our Savior’s entombment and descent into Hell, we recall that His tomb was only a short distance away from His Cross. As He hung on the Cross, He must have gazed on the tomb and remembered the words of the Righteous Job, “My spirit is wasted, my days are shortened, and only the grave remaineth for me” (Job 17:1).However, our Lord …

Today, we celebrate the Raising of Lazarus as a precursor to our celebration of our Savior’s victory over death next Saturday and His Resurrection next Sunday.We remember in these celebrations that the power of the Resurrection is not a separate power of God, but rather, it is the power of God’s love for mankind. God is Love and Love is Life. When Christ weeps at Lazarus’ grave, He weeps in His love for us as …