The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. (Php.4:23)

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Christ is Risen!

Rejoice now and be glad, O Zion!

The Church addresses us today with a joyful greeting. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, calls us Zion. This is the place where God dwells.

God is with us, understand, O nations, and submit: for God is with us.

Today we feel and see God particularly clearly. We hear Easter hymns and rejoicings, and see our Savior Jesus Christ. This is God who became a man, so that each of us would receive the opportunity for deification and to become a god in Christ Jesus. Today and always we exclaim:

Having seen the resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus.

Surely, one may ask: How did you, Christians, see the Resurrection of Jesus Christ if He lived long before you were born? Even the Gospels say that no one saw the Resurrection of Jesus. Neither the apostles, who learned about it from the myrrh-bearing women, nor the myrrh-bearers themselves, who found the tomb of Christ empty?

The Venerable Simeon the New Theologian answers this question:

Does the church song want to teach us to tell lies?! God forbids! Stop the slander! On the contrary, we proclaim a perfect truth, reminding that Resurrection of Christ happens in each of us, the faithful. It is light-bearing and shining with the radiance of His Divinity and incorruptibility. The light-bearing presence of the Spirit shows the Resurrection of the Lord that has taken place in us. Even more, it gives us the grace to see the risen Christ the Lord Himself.

Therefore, we sing: God the Lord has appeared to us. Wishing to show his second coming, we add: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. In whom the risen Christ has appeared, He is seen with spiritual eyes. For when Christ comes to us by the grace of the Holy Spirit, He raises us from the dead, as we were until then, and gives life, and makes us see Him alive in ourselves, immortal and incorruptible.

This is the reason for our Easter rejoicing. We are redeemed by the Cross of the Lord. We are forgiven by His incalculable mercy. By the Resurrection of Christ, we are restored to what we were deprived of in the fall. Now we have communion with God, our Creator and Heavenly Father. This is the true communion of love. Can there be a greater joy than the joy of communion with the One whom you love and with the One who is Himself the source of love? We rejoice that we were blind from birth and became sighted by Grace, were covered with leprosy and were cleansed, were cripples and now have become healthy. And all this was granted to us by the Resurrection of Christ!

Thus, let us dedicate our entire life to our Savior. Let us offer ourselves as a voluntary sacrifice to Him. Let us dedicate all our thoughts, feelings and movements to Him, so that our human nature does not become an obstacle on the path of the inexhaustible Grace of God in our hearts, does not become an obstacle on the path of the Living Water, flowing into eternal life (John 4:14).

To Jesus Christ, our Lord, Glory forever!

Christ is truly risen!

Archpriest Andrii Kudriavtsev

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Randomly selected question to the priest (all questions)

Question №2

I've heard that there is a day when Church prays for people who committed suicide. When is it?

Andrei

Answer >>>

It is not true. Church never prays for the people who committed suicide. Death is the conclusion of the life of the person." Our Lord Jesus Christ said:" In what I find you, in that I will judge you" (Mr. Iustin Philosopher). What is the end of a suicide? It is a desperate, voluntary rejection of Christ. Why Christ? Because, Lord said:" whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me"(Mar. 8:34) And gave us an example," He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil.2:8). Suicide is refusing to carry his cross. That is why sin of suicide also called sin of Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus became desperate "went and hanged himself" (Matt.27:5). Apostol Peter also betrayed Jesus, had denied Him. After that for some time had lost the title to be called Apostol, but didn't fell into desperation and was forgiven by repentance.

Here is St. Philaret answer to this question :"WHY SUICIDE IS A GRAVE SIN? Suicide is the most unlawful out of all homicides. If it is against the nature to kill the one like us, a human, it is even more against the nature to kill thyself. Our life doesn’t belong to us like our own property, but to God, Who gave it to us"( St. Philaret, Mitropolit of Moscow. Lengthy Catechism).

The only reason when the Church allows us to pray for a person who committed suicide is when there is proven insanity of the person who committed this sin.

Question 14. If someone being insane commits suicide or through himself from the height should it be given the offering or not?

Answer. The priest should thoroughly consider it, was he truly insane when he did it? The relatives of the sufferer often want to bring offering and prayer for him, not saying the truth that he committed suicide while not “out of his mind.” It could be he suicided because of human insult or in case another reason of cowardice, - and about him shouldn't be any offering so he committed suicide. That is why the priest should surely investigate thoroughly, so he won't get under judgement.

Suicide is equal to homicide considered by the Holy fathers. That is why a person who tried to commit suicide but survived it was imposed the penance as for a murderer. Under the existing rules the last rites of the one who committed suicide during a fit of insanity, after all can't be performed by the priest without special permission of a Bishop, for whom it is necessary to present evidence of the reason to admit this suicide as committed during insanity (medical report, testimony of the trusted people)"( Canons of Orthodox Church. Part 3. Canon Messages of the Holy Fathers. Canon Answers of the Most Holy Timothy of Alexandria).

Regarding to the modern "humane" worldly ideas Russian Orthodox Church gave next explanation, which can be helpful during the discussion about suicide:" Therefore euthanasia is a form of homicide or suicide depending on the participation of the patient. In the last case the certain canon rules are applied according to which the intended suicide as well as assisting to commit one is considered as a grave sin. The person who is willfully committing suicide "did that from the man’s insult or any other reason of cowardice", is not worthy of Christian funeral and liturgical remembrance (Timothy of Alexandria rule #14). If the suicide was committed unconsciously "out the mind", that in the fit of mental illness the prayer of the Church is allowed upon the research of the case by the Bishop. Nevertheless it is necessary to remember that the guilt of the suicide sometimes share the people who were near him were unable to show active empathy and mercy. Together with Apostol Paul Church is calling: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”. (Gal.6.2.) (Foundation of social concept of Russian Orthodox Church). From this above mentioned quotation it is obvious the necessity of repentance of the relatives of the person who committed suicide on the reason of the possible lack of empathy, love which were some of the reason of a suicide.

Generally Fathers call suicide consciously unrepentant sin which leads to the loss of soul. From this point of view Adam already committed suicide because he knew: ”But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”.(Gen.2.17.) “But this part of the human race to which God has promised pardon and a share in His eternal kingdom, can they be restored through the merit of their own works? God forbid. For what good work can a lost man perform except so far as he has been delivered from perdition? Can they do anything by the free determination of their own will? Again I say, God forbid. For it was by the evil use of his free-will that man destroyed both it and himself, but after he has killed himself ceases to live, and cannot restore himself to life; so, when man by his own free-will sinned, then sin being victorious over him, the freedom of his will was lost. “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” This is the judgment of the Apostle Peter (2 Pet.2.19) (Blessed Augustine, bishop of Hippo. ”The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Charity).

Priest Andrei Kudryavstev

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