The Vespers Service of the Resurrection of the Lord Celebrated by His Beatitude Daniel
4/4/2010
The Vespers Service of the Resurrection of the Lord Celebrated by His Beatitude Daniel, Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, at the Patriarchal Cathedral
Romanian Orthodox Church
On the first Easter day the Vespers Resurrection was celebrated by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel together with His Grace Mihail, Orthodox Bishop of Australia and New Zealand, His Grace Ciprian Campineanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch, His Grace Varlaam Ploiesteanul, Assistant Bishop to the Patriarch and His Grace Varsanufie Prahoveanul, Assistant Bishop to the Archdiocese of Bucharest, assisted by a group of priests and deacons.
During this holy religious service a fragment of John’s Gospel, chapter 20, lines 19-23, was read.
During the Resurrection Vespers, the Gospel is read by all the celebrants, in several languages, in 12 languages, if possible, according to the number of the Saint Apostles, as the book entitled “Resurrection Service”, published by the Publishing House of the Bible and Orthodox Mission Institute of the Romanian Patriarchate, reads. The Protos reads the first line in Romanian and then the other ones take turns in repeating it in a different language. The end of each line is marked by one beat in a wooden board and by a ring of the bell, while the end of all the readings of the Gospel is marked by long beatings in the wooden board and rings of bells.
The Gospel fragment was read in 12 languages at the Patriarchal Cathedral. His Beatitude delivered a sermon in which he showed the significance of the Holy Gospel read: “This service comprises the reading of the Gospel of Saint John the Evangelist which refers to the meeting of Jesus Christ, the Saviour, Risen from the dead, with His disciples. This Gospel was read in 12 languages. The Gospel fragment reading about the encounter of Christ, our Saviour, Risen from the dead, with His disciples has a special significance, namely Jesus Christ, our Saviour, has not been raised from the dead only for the Jewish people, but for all peoples. He has come to save the entire humankind, all peoples, and to give the chance to have their sins forgiven to all those who wish salvation through repentance”.
The Patriarch of Romania has also emphasized the fact that the Resurrection cannot be separated from the Crucifixion: “We see that the mystery of the cross is not separated from the Resurrection because the Resurrection was hidden in the cross, and the cross shows its glory in the Resurrection. The Saviour showed that He was both the Crucified and the Resurrected one. When the women of myrrh went to the tomb, the angel asked them: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen”. So, they were looking for the Crucified one but found the Risen One. The Crucified and the Risen are one and the same person. In other words, the mystery of the cross remains hidden in the Resurrection, included in the Resurrection, the same as the Resurrection is mysteriously hidden in His sacrificial, humble and almighty love. This is why the Church never separates the cross from Resurrection and the Resurrection from the cross. The Cross, without Resurrection, leads to despair, the Resurrection, without cross, leads to pride, to arrogance.
The Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church has also shown that Christ, besides the gift of peace and joy, gave His disciples the power to forgive the sins: “Besides the gift of peace, Christ also offers a great holy gift, namely the power to forgive sins. But this power is not juridical, but spiritual”.
The Vespers celebrated on the first day of the Easter has a special character both through the Gospel read in several languages, and through the solemn rite according to the Great Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord.
