Frescos in St. George Church in Macedonia show Jesus and the harrowing of hell
From a sermon by St. Maximus of Turin, Bishop, 5th Century AD:
“I have caused an unfailing light to rise in heaven.”
And as in heaven no night can follow day, so no sin can overshadow the justice of Christ. The celestial day is perpetually bright and shining with brilliant light; clouds can never darken its skies. In the same way, the light of Christ is eternally glowing with luminous radiance and can never be extinguished by the darkness of sin. This is why John the evangelist says: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never been able to overpower it.’
And so, my brothers and sisters, each of us ought surely to rejoice on this holy day! Let no one, conscious of sin, withdraw from our common celebration, nor let anyone be kept away from our public prayer by the burden of guilt. We must not despair of pardon on this day which is so highly privileged; for if a thief could receive the grace of paradise, how could a Christian be refused forgiveness!
“In the Greek Orthodox tradition there is the custom of the priest walking up the aisle of the church on HolySaturday morning scattering rose petals or flowers left and right as a sign of Christ’s triumph over Death and our release from Hell.
“It is quite a surprise then to walk into an Orthodox church for the Pascha/Easter service and instead of finding everything tidy and neat, one sees a joyous mess — the floor all covered with flowers. In a little while the walls of the church will reverberate with shouts of: ‘Christ is Risen!’ and the response: ‘Truly He is Risen!'”
-from Robert Arakaki
