Христосъ Воскресе! Christ is Risen! Hristos a înviat! Chrystus zmartwychstał! Kristus vstal zmŕtvych! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
I greet you all with the Bright Resurrection of Christ.[1] Despite all we’ve been through this year, especially the horrible invasion of our beloved Ukraine, (the trauma and literal consequences of which have prevented me from writing sooner) let nothing prevent us from saying triumphantly: Truly He is Risen!
Below I would like to share the meaning of Pascha — Easter for Orthodox Christians and broadly speaking, for Eastern Christians and Christians of a “little ‘c’” catholic tradition.[2] Even if you’re not a Christian, it may interest you to know why our people have believed this way, and continue to do despite 2000 years of persecution.
The Meaning of Pascha — The Bright Resurrection of Christ
Pascha, Easter, the Bright Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is not in any way a national or cultural tradition. Pascha is our Passover, when we as mortals were carried over from death into eternal life, because the Deathless and Immortal One took on our flesh, and died as man a painful death, so that as God He would rise as the firstborn of the dead, deifying and immortalizing our human nature which He took from the Ever-Virgin Mary, and calling all people to join in His victory.
This victory is no earthly victory, but in Jesus’s times, the pharisees were awaiting just that. They understood the prophecy of the Messiah in a very earthly physical sense, they were waiting for a human ruler, a great king, a man of war to come and lay all the kingdoms of the earth at their feet. And so when they saw Christ, come in the form of a servant, say things like “Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek.” And “My Kingdom is not of this Earth.” They rejected him. He came like a lamb, and they led him to the slaughter because they were awaiting a conqueror, not a peacemaker.
But little did they know, that yes, He was the Lamb of God, but He was also the Lion of Judah. He was the greatest conqueror in the history of the universe, and just as His Kingdom is not of this earth, his war was with earthly powers and principalities which are beneath him. He came to conquer one enemy that no mere man or even empire can defeat.
Indeed, there was one despot, one tyrant so powerful, that held the entire human race beneath his iron fist. Think about it, humanity can achieve great things when we work together, even when we fight each other. But what is the one inevitable thing that we are physically incapable of preventing forever, the one constant and assured thing that awaits us?
Death. Cold, formless, eternal death.
St. John of Damascus, one of the greatest doctors of the church, often called the “last of the Greek fathers” reminds us of the words of the prophet, that we “are but earth and ash.”
And if we look upon the tombs, for example, the Pyramids of Egypt or the great mausoleums of Greece and Rome, and see the bones therein, we could ask ourselves: “Who is the king and who the soldier? Who are the wealthy and poor?” As there lie their dry bones all the same, bereft of flesh.
Thus, we can say that, as our hymnology continues to teach us, truly everything is vanity. And this life is a shadow (umbra) and a dream. Vainly every mortal troubles himself, for you could gain the world, but you will inevitably come to dwell in a grave. And here kings and poor are at last together.
In the end, death comes for all men. “Thus, do all we mortals make our way singing the funeral hymn.”
And nobody, not all the kings of the earth, not the mightiest conquers, not Egypt, not Persia, not Alexander the Great, not Roma-yet-Invictus, nobody could conquer death.
Beyond all life on earth, beyond time, pale death watches over all. It strikes down the young and old, the rich and the poor, and even the stars in the sky can die.
Thus, death is truly the slave-master of man. The earthly conqueror that the pharisees were waiting for could have even conquered the whole world for their understanding of the Kingdom of Israel,[3] and they still would have died. Why would God need to send the Messiah (meaning Christ in Greek), his Anointed One, the Divine Son of Man, to conquer the earth, when He could have sent any judge or prophet.
Thus, the Messiah did not come to conquer the earth, which was already, as it were, conquered by death. He came to conquer our conqueror.
He came with a single purpose: to destroy death and break its curse upon the human race. And that He did.
Anyone who thinks Christ was only a gentle man of peace has no idea what power greater than any god of war he unleashed against hell itself. It was a fight only the dead in Hades could have seen, for surely if any man living were to see that awesome glory he would have died.
To understand what truly happened between Christ’s death and resurrection, we have to understand a little bit about our ontology, and what makes us human.
We as Orthodox Christians believe that man was created, “male and female” by God ex nihilo, not out of any need of his, but out of his love and desire to share love with his creation. We were created “in the image and likeness of God”, to “become by grace, what God is by nature.”
That means that although man was created without death, and without sin, neither of which existed at the time nor were created by God, man was not yet perfected, but was called to be perfected in God. This is one distinction between Eastern and Western Christian thought, is that western Christians, beginning with St. Augustine and later exemplified in Roman Catholic thought, generally tended to see Adam the first created man as perfect and completed, whereas Eastern Christians would say that Adam was innocent, that is to say, he was created with no faults, but he was not yet perfected but was called to perfection or deification in God. This concept is called Theosis, as the patristic maxim above stated, though man is not God by nature, that is to say, he is created, the grace which is a divine freely given aspect of God’s love can transform man into something like God, united with him, still a creature, by sharing in God’s divinity through unity and synergy with him.
Thus, man was created for the purpose of perfect unity, love, and communion with God.
So, what went wrong from this perfect vision? Well, there is one more key element concerning man’s creation that is key to understanding how we got here, and why we needed Pascha. And that is free will.
We believe that man’s free will is part of his nature, it comes from the image of God within him. Because the image of God can never be enslaved, thus just as God is free, by virtue of being endowed with His Image, man also possesses inherent free will. As it turned out, this free will was key in both man’s own damnation and salvation.
Man, deceived by the devil, a fallen angel who envied man’s place as higher than even the angels (because angels were not created in the image and likeness of God), made a choice. What that choice was specifically, it doesn’t really matter. Our tradition says it was to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. But regardless of what that choice was, it was in direct disobedience of God’s commandment. God warned man that he could rule all things but he must not break this one command, because it would lead to his death — a concept that did not exist at the time. In any case, this choice would break God’s will and lead to separation from God, and that is true death.
And man, as we know, made that choice. Thus, we often say it’s human nature to want to do what’s forbidden, as this was our ancestral sin.
By man’s choice, sin entered into the world, and by sin, death. This, in our belief, is the source of all the suffering and evil in the world, this choice of man.
Sin means from the Greek “missing the mark”, i.e. missing the goal of communion and unity of mind and purpose with God. Here is another distinction between Eastern Orthodox and western thought. In the west, for example, exemplified in Roman Catholic doctrine, there is the concept of original sin, or rather even original guilt, that everyone is born with a certain degree of the guilt of Adam and Eve.
The east never recognized the concept, preferring instead “Ancestral Sin” which is to say that, our ancestors brought this sin into the world, and we are not guilty or need forgiveness for their sin, but we inherit the full consequences of this sin — death, which is what we need redeeming from.
From that moment our human ontology was changed, we became subjects and slaves to death, which not even the mightiest men could free themselves from.
The Church has often used medical analogies, seeing herself as a hospital for sinners and sin as a disease. Thus, in this sense, if you’ll permit the modern analogy, think of ancestral sin as a mother addicted to drugs and using them while pregnant, and the child, though certainly not guilty of any crime in the womb, still may inherit medical consequences of the mother’s disease — addiction and fatal health defects.
That is sin, it’s a deep rotting disease in the heart of man and the source of all our suffering. Suffering and death are not God’s creation, it is not his intention for us, and thus people have always wondered, how can an all-good and all-powerful God allow this?
Human free will is the answer here. Simply put, God loves us and respects our free will so much he will never enslave us and force us to do good. We, as mortals can’t imagine anything worse than death but there are things far worse than death for our immortal souls, not the least of which would be to lose our freedom and divine imprint. And thus, God will never take this way from us, which necessarily means, that humans are free to make choices, good or bad, and we just live with these consequences. Because if God were to simply intervene and lobotomize us to make us only do good, we would be robots, slaves, and not free creatures. And the image of God in us cannot be made a slave. And so, we have the world we live in as a result of our free will, but it’s also our free will that plays a key role in our salvation.
It was prophesied from the beginning by Moses. In Genesis, immediately after the fall of man, his redemption was foreshadowed when God said that there would forever be enmity between man and the snake, the devil.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it [She][4] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
That snakes (representing the devil) would always bite at the heel of man, but in response, a woman would crush his skull. That woman would be the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary who would give birth to Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Let us take a moment to remember Our Lady, this was all possible because of her free will because she said “yes” to God. If there is anything humanity is able to boast of, it’s Our Lady. She gave birth to the Pre-Eternal God, to her and our creator. God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, is clothed in her flesh and blood. So let nobody ever say that the Church has a low place for women, because, in fact, it’s not the opinion of this author but the dogma of the church, which all Christians must believe, that the highest created being was a woman, and at around 15 years old she was more exalted than any mere human who would ever be born. She is more honorable and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, the highest of angels. She is the queen of heaven and earth.
Because she chose to do what God asked of her, which was impossible, to give birth to God. A paradox beyond even the understanding of the angels. And she said yes. With one word she saved the human race.
So, it was that humanity fell by a man, a woman, and a snake, and we were redeemed by a woman, freely choosing to cooperate with God, and give birth to the God-man, and in this, she crushed the skull of the snake.
This is called the Protoevangelium or literally the First Good News, as it was the first Messianic prophecy, the first spark of hope. We see from the very beginning, immediately after betraying God, God did not destroy man but immediately began working for his salvation.
First, he sent the prophets, but man did not listen to them, then he sent Kings, but man became more interested in an earthly kingdom than the heavenly kingdom. And so finally, in the fullness of time, he sent his Son, the Messiah — the Christ, but man was already distracted by these earthly ideas of kingdoms and earthly victories, he didn’t recognize him! They didn’t recognize His message of victory over death, even if He demonstrated it a week before by resurrecting Lazarus.
He came to his own, but his own did not receive Him. They were waiting for a king to conquer the earthly kingdoms and did not understand He had finally come to destroy death and save us from our ancestral curse. They wanted money, they wanted empires, they wanted power, all things which would die with them in less than a century let alone the billions of years it takes for stars to die, which is like a moment for God.
We call Christ the Lamb of God, and He is, but we should not forget that He knew well what was going to happen to him ever since the fall of man, and He went willingly to his death in the flesh, because this was not his defeat but part of his brilliant strategy to conquer death and free man. So, remember He was never defeated, never conquered, and went to death willingly, a death He could have escaped from.
On the night in which He was betrayed, or rather when He gave himself up for the life of the world, He could have summoned thousands of archangels, and tens of thousands of angels, the many-eyed cherubim and the six-winged seraphim whose light is so bright it would burn out the sun, to come to his rescue. But instead, He allowed himself, of his own free will, to be led to judgment, condemned, mocked, beaten, tortured, and nailed to a piece of wood to die a humiliating death.
They hung on a cross He who hung the entire earth upon the waters, and all the stars along the Milky Way. And he allowed this humiliation to happen willingly.
Why? Does He simply like suffering, our suffering, and his? Why, if He’s all-powerful, couldn’t He simply fix the way the world was, restore our immortality and sinlessness? Why all this passion, this suffering?
It comes back to free will. God respects our free will so much, that He will not force us to be with him, for our nature to change. He did not change it in the fall, we did, and we live with the consequences. So, he won’t change us, force us to return to him, but He will—the changeless one, without change—become man, and die for us, taking all our sins with them. He came down and did this as man, sacrificed himself, on behalf of us, and for us all. And He did it to lie a final trap for the devil and death!
The devil did not fully understand who this good man was. He perceived him to be holy, but the mystery of the incarnation was incomprehensible even to the angels, thus the demons certainly didn’t understand it better. At best, we can only say the devil understood he was a holy man, maybe, probably even the Messiah, but he could not be sure if this Son of Man was truly clearly God. And when he died, almost surely he thought for but a moment that he won, that he condemned this holy man.
And this is where he was wrong. This is where the trap, what the theologians call “the devil’s mousetrap” was sprung.
Christ, like all men, descended into Sheol, into Hades. But He was not just like all men, because He was also God. And remember that army of angels, who would have been ready at any moment to intervene if He wanted, they came with Him to the gates of hell, and they came knocking on the doors of Hades.
This is what the prophets and hymnographers write, that at this moment, Hades was mortified! It was struck with horror and terror. It was, as St. John Chrysostom famously said, and as we read every Pascha, the people repeat after the priest “embittered!”
It’s a great joy for the forces of good, to think for just a moment from the side of ‘devil’s advocate”, to think from the perspective of Hades for just a moment here.
Can you imagine what the devil was thinking?
They were celebrating at first, they thought they condemned a great prophet, made him fall to his death, and likely blasphemed, for claiming he was the Son of God. “Surely he wasn’t! God doesn’t have a human son. We won! We made a holy man fall” They thought.
And then…they heard it. Knocking, beating, louder than all the thunder. The gates of the princes of Hades being beaten, those eternal doors being caved in. And they heard it:
“Lift up ye gates, oh you princes, and be lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!” «Возмите врата князи ваша, и возмитеся врата вѣчная: и внидетъ царь славы!»
Imagine for a moment the pathetic terror of the demons, as they feebly answer back in horror of their doom “Who is the King of Glory?”
And then finally they saw the impossible. Those ancient eternal gates which stood since the fall of man, imprisoning man post-mortem eternally, shatter into forty thousand pieces—if death was up to that moment eternal, then eternity was killed—and the bright uncreated light of the Pre-Eternal God shown where light has never shined, as the heralds of the heavenly host announce.
“The Lord Strong and Mighty, the Lord Strong in Battle, The Lord of Sabaoth,[5] He is the King of Glory! Christ is Risen!”
And there standing at the gates, hades smote beneath their ruin, on a white horse was the Son of Man, the Son of Mary they thought they killed, the Pre-Eternal God himself.
At that moment the hymnographers say Hades was destroyed “by the lighting of [his] divinity” and He preached to all those in Hades, and with himself, He raised all the dead who would receive him. In the iconography you see him surrounded by the righteous dead, and he holds in his arms Adam and Eve, lifting them up from their knees, redeeming them. Behind him are the Patriarchs and prophets, King David and the righteous. Beneath the feet of the conquering Christ we see the shattered and destroyed gates of hell, and beneath them, a dark figure representing the devil/death, smote beneath their ruin, trampled by Christ and beaten by armies of angles.
This attack, this assault, the storming, conquest, and destruction of Hades by the Messiah fulfilling the prophecy of his coming conquest — a conquest not of mortals but of death itself is known in English as the Harrowing of Hell.
Harrowing meaning literally digging up, uprooting, or more poetically emptying out or desolation, this is the term for the descent of Christ into Hades and his subsequent destruction of it and freeing of man trapped there. This was what he was doing between his death in the flesh and his resurrection, while his body was in the tomb, and thus we celebrate this, especially on the night between Holy Friday and Holy Saturday.
To paraphrase our liturgical tradition, He was at the same time in the grave bodily, but in hades with His soul as God, but also in Paradise with the thief, and as the Son of God who can never be separated from the Father, he was thus always there seated on the throne with the Father and the Spirit. This is what He did as he fulfilled everything — Christ the Inexpressible One.
Our hymnology beautifully speaks to us, saying to us how much more beautiful than any bridal chamber, how life-giving, how much more resplendent than any royal palace was His tomb shown to be, for from the rock of his tomb poured forth the waters of eternal life and the source of our resurrection. He was sealed in his tomb with a heavy rock but it could not hold back His resurrection, but His was the rock which fell on Hades and smote it into ruin.
According to one pious (though non-dogmatic tradition), likely connected to St. Justin the Philosopher, He also brought with him Socrates, who was among the first of the “Christians before Christ” who confessed to him the moment he saw him in Hades as “the Logos” (the Word).
He took all the righteous, and by the power of His word and breath, and immortalized them, and renewed their nature to be like his, bringing them with him.
And the fact that He did this not just as God, but as man had made all the difference.
As said, he could have simply snapped his fingers and ended all death, made man like before the fall, and done all this only as God. But that would involve changing our nature, forcing this change on us. And He won’t force us to love him or to be with him.
So instead of making us come up to Him, He came down to us. He suffered and died for us. He went down into Hades, like us, as a man. But as God He also destroyed Hades. He did all this to unite with us, even to death.
But because the Author of life and the Immortal and deathless God can never be a slave of death, in that moment, all the laws of physics and metaphysics broke. Death was forced to surrender to him, and to surrender to his human nature while simultaneously being fully God. Death, at the same time, bowed to God, and to the Son of Mary, the Son of Man.
Man cannot be God, but God became Man, and deified the nature of man, thus, as the angel said to Mary, though it’s not possible with man, with God, all things, even this joining of God and man is possible. God cannot die but Christ our God died in the flesh, and because He can’t truly die, he can’t become a slave, he necessarily rose from the dead, conquering and trampling down death by death.
This is the meaning of the beautiful Paschal troparion.
Christ literally trampled down death by death, that is to say by means of his own death, by dying, He destroyed death — forever. Humans can still biologically die, but those who believe in Him and commune with Him will rise with Him just as He did.
And He did all this as man, thereby, essentially punching a human-sized hole in the wall between death and eternal life, and now, though man could never do it before because Christ did it as man, He made it possible for man to follow him along his way, bridging heaven and earth.
In the moment of his resurrection, an angel was immediately sent first to the Theotokos, to the Virgin Mary, to announce, to cry to the Lady Full of Grace: Hail! Rejoice o Pure Virgin! Again, Gabriel said to her, Rejoice! Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
And he told her that with himself, He had raised all the dead and that death, the eternal enemy of man was defeated, embittered, and mortally wounded by the resurrection of God, She crushed the skull of the serpent who first brought death to man, by the resurrection of the baby she bore. He won. She won. We won.
A very important moment that came next was the story of the myrrh-bearing women including St. Mary Magdalene who rushed to the tomb of the Savior very early in the morning to anoint his body with oil. We recall that at his birth myrrh was among the gifts of the wise men.
For the myrrh-bearing women, this was a time of great sadness, as they went to the tomb, with great personal risk, and with no means of unrolling the guarded massive stone placed over it. They came at the end of all things, expecting to find a body, and instead found the stone cast aside and an angel awaiting them who said “Why do you mingle sweet-smelling spices with your tears of pity; Why do you seek the living numbered among the dead?” and the angel instead showed them the tomb was empty.
Then the angel came towards them saying “The time for Lamentation is past! See, He has Risen as God! Now go and announce to the apostles the resurrection!” and thus the women set out to bring the first news of the resurrection. This is another important moment when God choose women for a special role. They were the apostles to the apostles, the first to witness the resurrection and bring the first good news.
And so the first Pascha, the Angel said, was to certain poor women who came seeking a Living Man among the dead.
Thus, Pascha for us is the great and victorious joy of resurrection and life for the world. It is not and cannot be reduced to simply a cultural tradition, because we truly believe that this is our very real resurrection in Christ, and if we follow him, he will lead us to eternal life.
There are however many beautiful and bright folk traditions associated with Pascha in every country. I wish to share just one of these liturgical traditions with you, one practiced in the Carpathian region, which comes from the ancient Christian world.
This is the beautiful tradition of what’s called the Paschal Rush Service or the Paschalnaya Zautrenia.
The Paschal Matins “Rush” Service
The Paschal Rush Service is essentially the beginning of the midnight service on Saturday going into Paschal Sunday, (the midnight office to the cross procession of matins) however in particular it refers to a unique rite performed in the Antiochian, Greek, and Carpathian Paschal liturgical tradition.
In Slavic, this service is called the Zautrenie, however, more importantly, we know it by its Arabic name Hajme (هجمة), which is usually translated in our liturgical language as “Rush” referring to the myrrh-bearing women rushing to the tomb of the Savior, hence its English term “the Paschal Rush Service”. A more literal translation of the Arabic, however, would be: “attack” or even “assault, strike”, which reveals the deeper symbolism of this service, which represents Christ’s conquest or harrowing of hell.
The Order of the Service
In general, service begins as such. On Saturday night, a special nocturns is served, usually around 11:30 PM in a dark church. This is centered around, in the Slavic tradition what is called the Плащаница (Plashchanitsa) which is an embroidered tapestry or shroud depicting the burial of Christ, which is entombed on Great Friday in bier of sorts, hence the Greek term επιτάφιος (epitaphios—over the tomb) and the Canon of Holy Saturday is read again, after which the priest and deacon escort the shroud into the altar, and the royal doors are closed for what remains of nocturns.
Then, if one is silent and attentive, as they should be at this moment, they may perceive something special. The church is dark, only ashes and the smoke from incense remain. The royal doors of the altar are closed shut and the white curtain is drawn.
Then, in the middle of the darkness, depending on the thickness of the curtain and one’s attentiveness, you’ll see it. A light is kindled in the darkness.
Then the priest, vested in white, opens the royal doors, and with a candle in hand chants or exclaims “Come receive the light from the eternal light (or “the light which is never overtaken by night”) “and glorify Christ who is Risen from the dead!” (In Greek: Δεῦτε λάβετε φῶς ἐκ τοῦ ἀνεσπέρου φωτός, καὶ δοξάσατε Χριστὸν τὸν ἀναστάντα ἐκ νεκρῶν).
Then the clergy, choir, and people sing “Thy resurrection o Christ our Savior the Angels sing in Heaven, and us also on Earth grant with Purity of Heart to Glorify Thee.” and the priest, lighting candles in the crowd, begins the paschal cross procession out the doors and around the church as they sing. It may go three times around the church, stopping in three times, or once, however, it always stops at the main entrance to the church, by which the people exited, who will now find these doors have been barred shut. Then, in the Greek (and Romanian) tradition a Paschal Gospel reading (Mark 16:1-8) is read commemorating the myrrh-bearing women running to the tomb of Christ which had been sealed with a massive stone, which is rolled aside by an Angel revealing Christ is Risen.
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing everlasting life! — The Paschal Tropaion
After the Gospel, the priest gives the typical opening doxology beginning matins “Glory to the holy, consubstantial, life-giving and undivided Trinity, now and ever, and unto ages of ages.” and the people sing the Paschal Troparion “Christ is risen…” interspersed with the priest chanting the psalm 68/67 “Let God Arise…” as such:
Verse 1: Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and let them that Him flee from before His face.
Choir: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing everlasting life.
Verse 2: As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish; as wax melteth before the fire.
Choir: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing everlasting life.
Verse 3: So let sinners perish at the presence of God, and let the righteous be glad.
Choir: Christ is risen…
Verse 4: This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad therein.
Choir: Christ is risen…
Priest: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…
Choir: Christ is risen…
Priest: …Both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Choir: Christ is risen…
Priest: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs…
and the Choir completes the hymn: “…bestowing everlasting life.”
Here is when this service becomes particularly unique and beautiful in our tradition.
Who is the King of Glory?
After the final singing of Christ is Risen, (in some Greek traditions the litany of peace ending with the vozglas “Ότι πρέπει Σόι…/Яко подобаетъ тебе” is served, in the Slavic it is not), then the Priest takes the cross, (either the hand cross or even the baring cross) and loudly bangs on the door three times in the form of a cross.
What is most important at this moment is a special dialog that occurs between the priest and someone on the other side of the door.
The priest strikes the door with the cross and then says the verses of Psalm 23 (24):
—”Lift up ye gates, oh you princes, and be lifted up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!”
And now, behind the door, a chosen parishioner, often the starosta, warden, or otherwise usually one of the oldest parishioners, or monk in a monastic setting, yells back:
—“Who is the King of Glory?”
And again, the priest strikes the door with the words of the psalm, and again receives the same response.
Finally, the priest strikes the door the third time and says:
—“The Lord Strong and Mighty, the Lord Strong in Battle, The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory! Christ is Risen!”
And the doors of the church are thrown open as the people loudly and joyfully sing Christ is risen, usually in a quick melody, and the priest then processes to the altar and then Paschal Matins proceeds as normal with the litany.
The Origins of the Rite
The exact origins of this ancient service are not known, local Antiochian and Jerusalem traditions claim it originated there, which this author is inclined to believe, however, it appears the earliest extant typica (liturgical rubrics books) describing this practice are of the Constantinopolitan rite, and in any case the service definitely belongs to the broader Greek traditions (which includes the rites of Antioch, Constantinople and Jerusalem which all mutually influenced each other).
It was noted by researcher Gabriel Bertonière in Orientalia Christiana Analecta (193) that the service was attested in only three extant documents of the Studite tradition:
“In only three documents of this tradition do we find Ps. 23:9-10 in connection with the entrance into the church. Vat. Gr. 1537 of 1573 A.D. and the printed Horologion of Grottaferrata of 1677 A.D. indicate that immediately after the final repetition of X. A.,[6] the hegumen[7] (or priest in Vat. Gr. 1537) knocks on the door of the church with the cross three times saying Ps. 23:9. Afterward, a monk from within responds with v. 10a of the same psalm. The hegumen responds with v. 10b, opens the door, and finally all enter. A marginal note in Mess Gr 115[8] indicates after the Royal Doors have been shut following the priest’s entrance into the narthex: ‘και μετά του … λγ άρατε πύλας.”[9]
Famous liturgist A. Dmitrijevskij notes[10] that the dialog with these psalm 23 verses during the entrance was attested in two 12th century Triodia on Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos (Codices 5 and 18). Tragically, those books were since lost in a fire, and thus we cannot say if these books were of Studite (Constantinopolitan) or Sabbite (Jerusalem/Palestinian) origin,[11] and in any case, this is beyond the scope of this paper.
It is worth noting that in the Roman Rite, there is a similar tradition that happens on Palm Sunday, in which the subdeacon strikes the doors of the church with the baring (processional) cross. The service was described by Dom Guéranger as follows:
At the close of the procession, a ceremony takes place, which is full of the sublimest symbolism. On returning to the church, the doors are found to be shut. The triumphant procession is stopped, but the songs of joy are continued. A hymn in honor of Christ our King is sung with its joyous chorus, and at length, the subdeacon strikes the door with the staff of the cross; the door opens, and the people, preceded by the clergy, enter the church, proclaiming the praise of Him, who is our resurrection and our life.[12]
As I understand the question, there are three main theories as to the origins of our beloved custom.
That the service is of Antiochian or more likely Jerusalem (Sabbite) origin, which is this author’s opinion considering how especially prevalent the service is in that part of the world. A Jerusalem origin would be particularly relevant given the obvious aspect of the location, and indeed, it does seem that the most ancient and brightest Paschal traditions tend to come from these lands, as it was here the Resurrection took place.
Another theory is that the service is of Constantinopolitan origin. Proponents of this theory note that Matins in Hagia Sophia traditionally began at the narthex doors (the narthex of the Great Church being larger than some churches), and on Pascha, we tend to return to our most ancient forms of services, hence for example the singing of “As many as having been baptized…” in place of the Trisagion as on Christmas. As noted, rubrics for this tradition were attested in twelfth-century Athonite books, which attests to its venerability.
In the opinion of this author, who is not admittedly, a liturgist, it is likely that the service developed as did many of our services, via the symphony of different liturgical and ecclesiastical traditions from “the empire and the desert”, as Fr. Georges Florovsky characterized the interaction between Constantinople and the desert around the Holy Land. The Orthodox Church has always been served by the interaction and symphony of these great traditions, as history shows, despite especially modern tendencies of extremism (i.e. overemphasizing the role of “empire” (Orthodoxy in great cities) or “desert” (ascetic monasticism), our church is at our best when these traditions work together. Actually, it is worth a moment examining how this interaction relates to Rusyns.
Transcarpathia — Where Empires Meet Monastic Desert
Transcarpathia, the Subcarpathian region of Ukraine, is a perfect example of a place where monasticism and, admittedly, hardly imperial cities, but royal cities like noble Mukachevo flourishes with surrounding monasteries like the famous St. Nicholas (Green) Monastery and Krasnohirsky Monastery, situated on the hills above the road between Uzhhorod and Lviv.
The Transcarpathian model, great monasteries besides the central cities, and the way in which villages often grew up around monasteries (we see this especially in Romania as well) is an excellent example.
Likewise, we must also mention the Kyiv Caves Lavra which is most definitely situated in what may be regarded as historically an “imperial” city, though Kyiv was never the seat of a true empire, and never had imperial ambitions, preferring instead to be a Second Jerusalem, and thus the proximity of the Mar Sabba Monastery to Jerusalem is perhaps another analog.
Rusyn and Carpathian Culture always flourished around monasteries. We see for example perhaps the earliest works of Rusyn history were written and compiled in a monastery and by monastics and priests as opposed to secular writers.
The close historical development of Carpatho-Rusyn Culture around monasteries is in the opinion of this author one of the best models for future growth, as these were a people innately connected to the foundations of these holy sites.
On A Traditional Vision for Rusyn Culture
Preserving the deep connections between Rusyn Culture and the monastic environment would help preserve a traditional trajectory for Rusyn Culture, and while integration into the EU can provide great socio-economic benefits, retaining this traditional approach to Rusyn Culture, will help keep it developing along the lines of similar nations in the region of the Intermarium between the Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean seas, which also have traditional culture views.
My position on this issue can be summarized in layman’s terms in that I simply want to see more cultural development between nations that bless Easter baskets filled with colored eggs, as opposed to those that think Easter is about egg hunts. I don’t believe any nation should be truly isolationist, and thus I think Rusyns must engage the world around them, however, it would be best if they tried to develop along the lines of similar cultures and not adapt too many alien influences.
Thus, I would hope Rusyns during Paschaltide would become interested in learning their liturgical tradition and not simply perceive Pascha as some cultural holiday for family get-togethers.
This is all very good, it’s good for us to be there, but we have to remember why we’re here — because Christ trampled down death and gave us life.
And this beautiful paschal tradition is a visible example of that.
Differences in Local Practice
Returning to the topic of the Zautrenia, it’s worth noting there are several local variations to this service.
As noted, the cross used may be the hand cross or the large processional cross. In some cases, simply the hand is used, as Patriarch John of Antioch has been seen doing.
In some Greek traditions, the Gospel book can be used in essentially this same dialog and entrance on Holy Friday with the priest holding the Gospel book over the epitaphion shroud and striking the door with the gospel.
It’s worth noting, that in general, this custom survived overall more as a custom than in the realm of written manuscripts. While instructions do exist, as noted, it is often simply passed down traditionally and not included in rubrics books. For example, many Greek books simply say after the gospel and litany that the priest and people simply “enter the church”, even though this tradition is widely practiced there, it is left unmentioned and up to the famous “desire of the rector”, as it were. As we will see, the Slavic tradition is also quite vague in terms of rubrics.
Subcarpathian and Ruthenian Practice
In the Subcarpathian Rusyn and Galician Tradition, it, unfortunately, seems that there is no dialog whatsoever. Here we can examine several documents.
The primary source for historical Subcarpathian Rusyn liturgics is, of course, Alexander Mikita’s 1901 Typicon for the Diocese of Mukachevo (available here). In his rubrics for the Paschal Zautrenia, Mikita does not describe any dialog whatsoever. The service goes as typical for the Slavic rite:
The Priest fully vested, takes the holy cross,[13] and opens the royal doors, and exits the altar into the church, beginning the procession which goes outside the church. “Thy Resurrection o Christ our Savior…” is sung during this time, and they process singing around the church, stopping at the main doors which are now closed. The Priest, holding the cross in his hand, gives the usual beginning exclamation “Glory to the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-creating and Undivided Trinity, now and ever and unto ages of ages.” Christ is Risen is sung, with the verses of “Let God Arise…” and finally the doors are opened, and the priest enters with the cross and the people follow him.
Interestingly enough, it does not even describe the doors being struck with the cross, it only says the priest: «…отверзаетъ св. крестом двери…» (“…opens with the holy cross the doors…”).[14]
Thus, the instructions here are rather vague and do not make it clear how he opens the door, or really what role the cross plays. For example, does he strike the door with the cross, does he simply touch the door with the cross, does he simply approach with the cross and the door is opened? The rubrics leave few specific instructions.
This is a pattern we will see repeated in other documents in the region, however, it seems in practice, the priest usually strikes the door with the cross, and there is no dialog.
The Galician 1899 Lviv Typicon of Isidore Dolnitsky was in general an influence on Mikita’s contemporary work for the Subcarpathian Diocese of Mukachevo. Dolnitsky’s rubrics for the entrance into the church or rather the opening of the doors are even vaguer. While he gives a very detailed description, more so than Mikita, of the order of service in general (which goes as typical), when it comes to the actual opening of the doors, he simply writes “…отверзаетъ двери…(…[the priest] opens the doors…)” and the service continues as usual.[15]
It is very valuable, however, that the astute Dolnitsky describes in detail the Greek custom with the dialog in a long footnote, demonstrating his extensive knowledge of Orthodox liturgics outside the Slavic rite. In this sense, Dolnitsky’s Typicon is the most informative.
While his noting of the existence of the custom is very good, his knowledge of its origins is perhaps less so. Dolnitsky describes this as a “new custom of the Greeks, which Slavs do not receive…” and thus perhaps he was unaware of the surviving books which mention the custom. He does however describe the dialog and includes the text of psalm in Slavonic, Greek, and Latin (siting a quote by Nilles), and he notes this practice exists “among the Greeks, Greco- Melkite, and Vlachs (Romanians),” as well as “in different churches of the Latin rite…” (perhaps referring to the Roman Palm Sunday tradition?).
Thus, we can commend Dolnitsky perhaps above all the given ustavščiki[16] for at least his awareness and description of this powerful rite. Even if his actual instructions do not specify the way in which the entrance to the church occurs, at the very least he is thorough and extensive enough to provide a note on this important custom in Greek rite Christianity.
We see virtually the same vague instructions in the 1852 Typicon from Przemyśl by Doskovsky “и отверзаетъ врата” with no specification of how the doors are opened.
As noted, however, it does seem to be the case, that some entrances with the cross, typically banging or striking the door (without the powerful dialog, unfortunately), are very much common practice among Rusyns in the region. Thus, it’s a fair question to ask, if it’s common practice, why is it that in these examples we don’t see any reference to how it’s done.
This can be for several reasons. Firstly, it can be the case that the instructions are left vague precisely because it is such a common practice, and thus the writers of the type wish to leave the rubrics open for local variations.
Secondly, we should bear in mind, that the practice of liturgical uniformity is relatively recent in Orthodoxy, roughly coinciding with the rise of the printing press and the epoch of Peter Mohyla among the Slavs. His famous liturgical works were created for the very purpose of establishing some standard. Prior to this, outside the great cathedrals and monasteries, practice varied dramatically, especially in the countryside. Eastern or Greek Rite Christianity was always noted for the diversity of its ornate liturgical rites compared to the more uniform and direct Roman Rite.
There is the famous saying, well known among Ruthenians in various local variations (and indeed in the whole Orthodox world) as skolko popikov, tolko i tikikov — “for as many priests as there are, there are so many typica, or rather “every priest is his own Typicon”.
Thus, works especially such as these typica, and for example, the Bokshaj Prostopinije, were often developed not to record the established standard, but very often to try and standardize a very diverse tradition, usually based on the rite of the most influential local cathedral or monastery.
Thus, the instructions may have been left vague as a new rite like this is deeply personal to both the priest, and region, and often down to the specific village or parish, and thus, rather than trying to canonize one particular tradition, they leave the custom here open-ended, as it is not a matter of liturgical doctrine exactly how it is performed, and as we see, local variations remain even after attempts at standardization.
As Dolnitsky noted, in the Romanian tradition, also from the Carpathian region, the priest does perform the dialog as in the Greek/Antiochian tradition, and as an interesting anecdote, it was known that Ruthenian chanters were sent from as far as Przemyśl to train at Putna Monastery in Bukovina. The custom also appears to exist among Serbs as well.
I would humbly suggest that Ruthenians and all peoples adapt the Antiochian style Rush with the dialog, as it is a beautiful and powerful Paschal tradition.
Power of the Symbolism
This custom is one of the most powerful Paschal traditions. Normally in church, we stand silently or sing the Liturgy orderly, and everything is done in a very intentional and ceremonial way, one would hardly say violent or aggressively but dignified and mysterious. In this custom, however, all these changes, instead of a quiet and intricate rite, we see the doors of the church struck with the cross, we yell Christ is Risen, after having finished the procession and 40 days of fasting, we prepared all holy week, we are both tired and excited, and the visceral and sometimes forceful, and always triumphal way in which this custom is performed really emphasizes the meaning of Pascha.
This is not simply a holiday, it is not only the victory of good over evil, which is often seen in a gentle context, but this also marks the literal moment when Hades was overthrown when the doors of hell were broken down, and when death was put to death.
In a time when Christianity can be considered by some as weak, this is a reminder of what it truly means, and what’s to come in the end — the final destruction of death.
This is the Bright Resurrection of Christ.
Even though Christ did rise from the dead at a particular moment in the past, his resurrection is always actual for us, it’s always now. This is why we don’t say Christ was Risen but Christ is Risen!
The symbolism of this moment is among the most powerful moments of the Paschal service. This clearly symbolizes the Harrowing of Hell, Christ’s conquest of death. The striking of the doors with the cross represents Christ and the angelic hosts breaking down the gates of hell.
As our tradition and hymnology tell us, it would be fair to say that up until this moment, death (or the devil) did not fully understand what had happened at the Crucifixion. Only in this moment did he realize the magnitude of his folly.
The gates of death had long been a prison for man since the fall and the ancestral sin. Thus these gates were in many ways, up until this moment eternal, whereto all mortal men are doomed to go. And thus, in that moment, symbolically death heard the unthinkable and was mortified.
The eternal gates of Hades have broken asunder, and that good man, the Son of Man revealed himself as the Pre-Eternal God in all his omnipotence. Precisely in this moment, death was trampled down and the power of the devil was abolished.
And all of this is beautifully communicated to us in this service. The people have left a dark church walk around the church and come to its gates, «зѣло ранно утром», that is, very early in the morning, like the myrrh-bearing women. And thus do we and every generation follow in their footsteps.
Then the priest taking the cross, the weapon by which death was destroyed strikes the door and proclaims that the King of Glory — Jesus Christ, has come, and gloriously has he been glorified, the firstborn of the dead.
The way the door is struck, in many cases often violently by enthusiastic priests in our “Mediterranean” or “Balkan” custom viscerally reminds the people that Christ truly conquered and destroyed death.
And then the people enter the church joyfully singing Christ is risen, often in one of the quicker melodies.
This Paschal rite helps us remember everything that happened before in one moment. The Cross, the doors of the church — the Grave, and the Resurrection, when the cross forces the doors open, and we find the dark church we left is now brightly lit and filled with joy, just as Christ’s tomb became brighter and more beautiful than any bridal chamber. The Cross, once a symbol of death is now a symbol of life. The tomb, once a pit for the dead is now the place where eternal life is bestowed. The Ascension — the priest ascends into the open doors of the altar representing both the open tomb and the gates of paradise opened again to man. On Great Lent, we commemorate the expulsion of man from paradise and now we see the gates open to us again. The seating in glory — Christ is present in the Eucharist enthroned on the altar table. And the Second Coming — we commune the precious Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist during the Liturgy, which we offer in his memory until he comes again.
On Pascha we can think back to the very first messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15, and find it fulfilled, the son of the woman, the son of Mary, crushed the skull of the snake. This was foretold from the very beginning. The lamb of God was slain from the beginning of time (Revelation 13:8). Since the fall, God never abandoned us, but immediately began his plan for salvation, and did not cease to do all things until he delivered us from the maw of Hades to the eternal gates of paradise. Thus, there was never a moment in which the devil could win. Even his strongest weapon, death, was used as a weapon against him by God to bring life.
It was a prophecy fulfilled at the time of Christ’s resurrection 2000 years ago, as the King of Glory, came, saw, and conquered.
And this remains a prophecy for us, until the end of time, until the end of the world, when the last enemy to be destroyed is death.[17]
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!
[1] Paschaltide is celebrated on Easter (Pascha) to Accession forty days after Easter. The week between Pascha Sunday and the next Sunday is called Bright Week and fasting is forbidden on this week.
[2] By “little ‘c’ catholic”, this means in general ancient churches which confess in the Nicene and/or Apostles Creed “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,” and thus have an Episcopal structure and sacramental beliefs, and consider themselves to be the Church founded by Jesus Christ and led by his apostles. Thus this refers to the Roman Catholic (as well as the churches under the Pope), Eastern Orthodox, some high church Anglicans, etc.
[3] In the paschal epistle reading (Acts 1) the Apostles even themselves as Jesus if it is now, after His Resurrection, time for him to restore the Kingdom of Israel to which he replies: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
[4] In the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome, it says “she” shall bruise— ipsa conteret.
[5] Hosts.
[6] The Greek abbreviation for Christ is risen (Χριστὸς ἀνέστη – Christos Anesti), just as Slavs abbreviate Christos Voskrese as X.B.
[7] The monastic superior.
[8] The Typicon of San Salvatore di Messina (1131 A.D.) in Southern Italy. For more information see Arranz M., Le Typicon du Monastère du Saint-Sauveur à Messine: Codex Messinensis gr. 115, AD 1131 in Orientalia Christiana Analecta, (185), Rome, 1969.
[9] Bertonière, Gabriel. “The Historical Development of the Easter Vigil and Related Services in the Greek Church”, in Orientalia Christiana Analecta 193, Rome, 1972, p. 201
[10] Дмитріевскій, А. Професор. Богослуженіе Страстной и Пасхальной Седмицъ во св. Іерусалимѣ IX-X в. Казанъ: Типографія Императорскаго Университета. 1894. С. 414.
[11] Bertonière, Ibid.
[12] Guéranger, Prosper. The Liturgical Year, Vol. 6. Passiontide and Holy Week. Pg. 199
[13] In the instructions, Mikita clearly notes the cross.is taken.
[14] Руководство въ Церковный Типиконъ. Второе Издание. Унгваръ (Ужгород): Книгопечатня Общества св. Василія Великаго. 1901. С. 110
[15] Типікъ Церкве Руско-Каѳоліческїя. Львов. 1899. C. 462.
[16] Уставщик — an expert on church rubrics or the typicon (ustav in Slavonic)
[17] 1 Corinthians 15:26.