Christ is Risen!!

Truly He is Risen!!

Those are the words that have echoed throughout the parish since midnight Saturday. In the services leading up to Pascha, there is so much humbleness given to our Lord, which is the way it should be. Warts and all, we give ourselves to the redeemer on the Cross. During the midnight vigil I spent a long time praying and reading Psalms. When one prays in front of Christ's tomb and really sees the solemnity surrounding his crucifixion, do you even begin to get a glimpse of what He has done for us.

Up until now, I've only lived and understood Christianity/the Bible as a 2 dimensional thing. Easter has been just this one day I celebrated with fake grass in a basket, white patent leather shoes, a purple frilly dress and egg hunts. Sure I knew what it was but I never really LIVED it. Until you fast, really reflect on your blessings, your trials, and take that inward critical look at yourself, you'll never understand the true meaning of Easter/Pascha. Orthodoxy truly makes it 3 dimensional, gives it depth and has breathed new life into me, something I probably would not have had, had I not rediscovered it.

I can't tear myself away from the monastic chants and Divine Liturgy celebrated in different languages.