Let Us Rejoice

Let us rejoice on this day of Resurrection

for Christ, yesterday heaped with scorn, crowned with thorns, hung on the wood,

today arises from the tomb.

Let us rejoice for Christ bathes in his brightness

those held captive by the darkness of hell.

Let us rejoice for in this springtime of life

hope has sprung up amongst war victims,

amongst those afflicted in body and soul.

Let us rejoice for through the cross all sadness is banished,

and joy floods the world.

Let us rejoice for The Lord has descended to the very depths

of men’s hearts where anguish lies in wait;

he  has visited them, he  has enlightened them,

and torment, anguish, hell are vanquished,

engulfed in the chasm of love opened in the pierced side of the Lord.

Let us rejoice for he is risen, Christ, eternal joy!

              Michel Evdokimov, theologian and Orthodox Priest