Homily I on the Holy Pascha
Hesychius, a presbyter of Jerusalem (fl. c. 412–450), preached this homily for the holy night of Pascha. It is his first homily on the holy Pascha; the second is a separate work.
The Night of Victory§1
1Of the blessed Hesychius, presbyter of Jerusalem, on the Holy Pascha.
The sky is bright, lit up by the dance of the stars, and the whole universe is brighter still when the morning star rises. Yet this present night is lit up not so much by the stars as it now exults because our God and Savior has conquered. For 'Take courage,' he says, 'I have overcome the world' (John 16:33). And since God has conquered the invisible enemy, we too shall rightly win the victory over the demons. Let us, then, stay beside the saving cross, so that we may win the first fruits of the gifts of Jesus. Let us keep this holy night as a festival with holy torchlight, raising a song inspired by God and singing out a heavenly hymn. 'The sun of righteousness' (Malachi 4:2), our Lord Jesus Christ, has lit up this present day for the whole circle of the world; he rose through the cross; he saved the faithful.
Let no one, then, distrust the emblems of the cross; rather, let him worship the blessed and thrice-blessed wood of the cross, and the emblems of the cross that opened the doors of heaven to us. No longer do 'they light a lamp and put it under the basket' (Matthew 5:15), and by the basket I mean the Law, 'but on the lampstand', and by the lamp I mean the Word. For the Word was under the Law and was hidden from unbelievers, as under the basket; but when he came to the cross and was set on the lampstand, then across the world's…
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The Wood of the Cross§2
2…whole circle he shone out.
Look, beloved, at Rome, the imperial city, glorying in the emblems of the cross in the middle of her marketplace. Look at Paul, writing his undying letters and recording himself as a servant of the cross. He was not ashamed of the cross, the stumbling block of the Jews; what the Gentiles call foolishness he took up as a safeguard of wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:23). By the wood of the cross he roused the churches throughout the world.
A single rod of Moses drove off the plagues of the Egyptians, but a rod akin to the wood of the cross puts an end to the sins of humankind. There Pharaoh is drowned in the sea while pursuing Israel (Exodus 14:23–28); here the devil is overthrown, and those who worship the Savior are saved. There Adam stretched out his hands and drew death upon us (Genesis 3:6); but our Master, by stretching out his hands, saved all things.
But O wood, more magnificent than heaven and higher than the vaults of the sky! O thrice-blessed wood, ferrying our souls across to heaven! O wood that won salvation for the world and drove out the devil's army! O wood that hurled the thief into paradise like a javelin and set him dancing with Christ: 'For truly, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise' (Luke 23:43).
Let us imitate the good resolve of the murderer, or rather of the bearer of the Spirit…
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Remember Me in Your Kingdom§3
3…because of the faith that came afterward. For what does he say? 'Remember me, Lord, in your kingdom' (Luke 23:42). And by a single assent of faith he dwells in paradise and walks about the heavens. 'For truly I say to you,' he says, 'today you will be with me in paradise' (Luke 23:43).
Let us too remain beside the Savior's cross, saying these very words: 'Lord, remember me in your kingdom' (Luke 23:42), so that we too may become sharers in paradise and enjoy the kingdom of heaven.
The present festival, brothers, is a feast of victory, the victory feast of the Son of God, the King of all. For today the devil has been defeated through the one who was crucified, and our race rejoices because of the one who rose.
For this day cries out to me as I rise, and says: "In my course I saw a new sight: a tomb being opened, and a man being raised, and bones exulting, and souls rejoicing, and human beings being fashioned, and the heavens being torn open, and the powers crying out, 'Lift up your gates, you rulers' (Psalm 24:7), and the rest. Today I saw the heavenly King ascending, girded with light, above lightning and sunbeams, above the sun and the springs of waters, above the clouds, and with a spirit of power and eternal life."
For he was hidden, first…
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The Lord Risen and Enthroned§4
4…in a womb of flesh, and then in the womb of the earth: in the one, sanctifying those who are born, through his being carried in the womb; in the other, giving life to the dead, through his resurrection. 'For pain and sorrow and sighing have fled away' (Isaiah 35:10). 'For who has known the mind of God, or who has been his counselor?' (Romans 11:34; Isaiah 40:13) Who, except the Word, who became flesh, was nailed to the wood, rose from the dead, and was lifted up into the heavens?
This day is the good news of joy. For on this day the Lord rose, and raised with him the flock of Adam. For he was born for the sake of man, and he rose in man.
Today, through the one who rose, paradise has been opened, Adam is given life, Eve is comforted, the calling is multiplied, the kingdom is made ready, man is saved, and Christ is worshipped. For he trampled down death, took the tyrant captive, and plundered Hades, and then he went up into the heavens as a victorious king, as a glorious commander, as a charioteer never overtaken, saying to the Father, 'Here am I, and the children whom you have given me, O God' (Hebrews 2:13; Isaiah 8:18), and the rest. And he heard from the Father, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet' (Psalm 110:1).
To him be the glory, now and to the ages of ages. Amen.
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