Orthodox Quote for June 29
“You said it* like a hurried chanter. Listen to what fearful things this hymn says: Christ by His Resurrection did not cross us over a lake, over a crack in the earth, over a canal, over a river like the Red Sea. He brought us over an abyss, of which it was impossible for man to cross alone. For centuries we awaited this Pascha, for this passage. Christ brought us from death to life. This is why today we ‘celebrate the death of death, the destruction of hades’. Death is lost. Do you understand? Today we celebrate ‘the beginning of eternal life’, a life near Him.”
(Elder Porphyrios speaking to his doctor)
*”We celebrate the death of death, the destruction of hell, the beginning of eternal life. And leaping for joy, we celebrate the Cause, the only blessed and most glorious God of our fathers.” (Paschal Canon Ode 7)