Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!Greetings dear readers, I had a wonderfully prayerful Holy Week and attended one of the most beautiful liturgies this side of eternity. It was the Easter Vigil at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. If you like a prayerful environment, the Basilica was the place to be. The music was so celestial that I had to question within myself if all of us in attendance were actually still on this side of eternity. The staff of the Basilica and all those who served at that liturgy did a splendid job!
I’d love to read some your reflections/experiences on Holy Week and Easter – send me an email.
Below is the no-nonsense wisdom of Saint Melito of Sardis. Christ destroyed the grips of death – who will contend with Him?
Christ rose from the dead and mounted up to the heights of heaven.
When the Lord had clothed Himself with humanity, and had suffered for the sake of the sufferer, and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, and had been judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the one who was buried, He rose from the dead, and cried aloud with this voice: Who is he who contends with Me? Let him stand in opposition to Me. I set the condemned man free; I gave the dead man life; I raised up the one who had been entombed.
Who is My opponent? I, He says, am the Christ. I am the One Who destroyed death, and triumphed over the enemy, and trampled Hades underfoot, and bound the strong one, and carried off man to the heights of heaven, I, He says, am the Christ.
Therefore, come, all families of men, you who have been defiled with sins, and receive forgiveness for your sins. I am your forgiveness, I am the Passover of your salvation, I am the Lamb which was sacrificed for you, I am your Ransom, I am your Light, I am your Saviour, I am your Resurrection, I am your King, I am leading you up to the heights of heaven, I will show you the eternal Father, I will raise you up by My right Hand.
This is the One Who made the heavens and the earth, and Who in the beginning created man, Who was proclaimed through the law and prophets, Who became human by way of the Virgin, Who hung upon a tree, Who was buried in the earth, Who was resurrected from the dead, and Who ascended to the heights of heaven, Who sits at the right Hand of the Father, Who has authority to judge and to save everything, through Whom the Father created everything from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.
This is the Alpha and the Omega. This is the Beginning and the End, an indescribable Beginning and an incomprehensible End. This is the Christ. This is the King. This is Jesus. This is the General. This is the Lord. This is the One Who rose up from the dead. This is the One Who sits at the right Hand of the Father. He bears the Father and is borne by the Father, to Whom be the glory and the power forever. Amen.
I’d love to read some your reflections/experiences on Holy Week and Easter – send me an email.
Below is the no-nonsense wisdom of Saint Melito of Sardis. Christ destroyed the grips of death – who will contend with Him?
Christ rose from the dead and mounted up to the heights of heaven.
When the Lord had clothed Himself with humanity, and had suffered for the sake of the sufferer, and had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, and had been judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the one who was buried, He rose from the dead, and cried aloud with this voice: Who is he who contends with Me? Let him stand in opposition to Me. I set the condemned man free; I gave the dead man life; I raised up the one who had been entombed.
Who is My opponent? I, He says, am the Christ. I am the One Who destroyed death, and triumphed over the enemy, and trampled Hades underfoot, and bound the strong one, and carried off man to the heights of heaven, I, He says, am the Christ.
Therefore, come, all families of men, you who have been defiled with sins, and receive forgiveness for your sins. I am your forgiveness, I am the Passover of your salvation, I am the Lamb which was sacrificed for you, I am your Ransom, I am your Light, I am your Saviour, I am your Resurrection, I am your King, I am leading you up to the heights of heaven, I will show you the eternal Father, I will raise you up by My right Hand.
This is the One Who made the heavens and the earth, and Who in the beginning created man, Who was proclaimed through the law and prophets, Who became human by way of the Virgin, Who hung upon a tree, Who was buried in the earth, Who was resurrected from the dead, and Who ascended to the heights of heaven, Who sits at the right Hand of the Father, Who has authority to judge and to save everything, through Whom the Father created everything from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.
This is the Alpha and the Omega. This is the Beginning and the End, an indescribable Beginning and an incomprehensible End. This is the Christ. This is the King. This is Jesus. This is the General. This is the Lord. This is the One Who rose up from the dead. This is the One Who sits at the right Hand of the Father. He bears the Father and is borne by the Father, to Whom be the glory and the power forever. Amen.
