NEW YORK – His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros Paschal (Easter) message follows:

My Beloved Christians,

Now all things are filled with light…

In this time of darkness: through the most difficult Lent in memory, we have finally arrived at the dawn.

Like the Myrrh-Bearing Women, going to the Tomb “very early in the morning, in the deep of the dawn” – we are yet in the depths of a darkness, from which we pray to be delivered. But we hold fast to the promise of this night: And the promise is that the light shines on in the darkness, never overcome by the darkness.

And if this year we cannot pass that light from candle to candle, we can still pass that same light from heart to heart.

For now, Christ is risen from the dead!

Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, let us rejoice in the light of the Resurrection that shines across the Heavens, the light that shines around the globe, and that shines in our hearts.

Embrace the light with all your heart, with your soul, your mind, and strength. Share it with everyone, in gratitude and in gentleness. Recognize its power to transform you, and to transfigure the world. And know, that the shadows we experience today, are fleeting. Christ our Light, is come upon us, to dispel every darkness, and to raise us up, with Him, to everlasting light and life!

Χριστ?ς ?νέστη! ?ληθ?ς ?νέστη!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

Source: goarch.org