The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom (c. 400 AD)

Traditional | 3/27/05 | St. John Chrysostom

[TFFKAMM]

The Easter Sermon of John Chrysostom

Pastor of Constantinople (~400 AD)

Is there anyone who is a devout lover of God?
Let them enjoy this beautiful bright festival!
Is there anyone who is a grateful servant?
Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!

Are there any weary with fasting?
Let them now receive their wages!
If any have toiled from the first hour,
let them receive their due reward;
If any have come after the third hour,
let him with gratitude join in the Feast!
And he that arrived after the sixth hour,
let him not doubt; for he too shall sustain no loss.
And if any delayed until the ninth hour,
let him not hesitate; but let him come too.
And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,
let him not be afraid by reason of his delay.

For the Lord is gracious and receives the last even as the first.
He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour,
as well as to him that toiled from the first.
To this one He gives, and upon another He bestows.
He accepts the works as He greets the endeavor.
The deed He honors and the intention He commends.

Let us all enter into the joy of the Lord!
First and last alike receive your reward;
rich and poor, rejoice together!
Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!

You that have kept the fast, and you that have not,
rejoice today for the Table is richly laden!
Feast royally on it, the calf is a fatted one.
Let no one go away hungry. Partake, all, of the cup of faith.
Enjoy all the riches of His goodness!

Let no one grieve at his poverty,
for the universal kingdom has been revealed.
Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again;
for forgiveness has risen from the grave.
Let no one fear death, for the Death of our Savior has set us free.
He has destroyed it by enduring it.

He destroyed Hades when He descended into it.
He put it into an uproar even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he said,
"You, O Hell, have been troubled by encountering Him below."

Hell was in an uproar because it was done away with.
It was in an uproar because it is mocked.
It was in an uproar, for it is destroyed.
It is in an uproar, for it is annihilated.
It is in an uproar, for it is now made captive.
Hell took a body, and discovered God.
It took earth, and encountered Heaven.
It took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.
O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is Risen, and the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is Risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is Risen, and life is liberated!
Christ is Risen, and the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

To Him be Glory and Power forever and ever. Amen!

[BellStar]

Amen!

[landorepub]

Praise God!!

[nevadarsmith]

I hear this at about 2:00 AM in church on Pascha. This year on May 1. Thanks for posting it. It is particularly moving after a full lenten fast. God bless.

[Little Bill]

Christ is Risen.

St. John Chrysostom doesn't translate well.

[BellStar]

TFFKAMM posted it I only responded. So much to learn out of the Eastern tradition. I was raised in the Anglican tradition unfortionantly it was the Episcopal Church USA.
I find myself drawn to the ORTHADOX tradition because it never felt the need to be politically correct. Thanks be to God!

[Kolokotronis]

"St. John Chrysostom doesn't translate well."

Actually he translates very, very well. This just isn't a very good translation. The Greek is beautiful and expresses Orthodox Christianity in a most profound and yet at the same time understandable to the modern Western mind, way.

[BellStar]

I saw your Icon "The Ladder of Divine Ascent"! Everyone needs to see it with your explanation captioning it..

[Beauceron]

Now THAT is old school!

Happy Easter.

[Little Bill]

×ñéóôüò áõîÜíåôáé

Krioros Ausanetai

[GMMAC]

The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
(Mass as said in Eastern Rite Catholic Chuches)

"Christ is risen from the dead, by death He conquering death, and to those in the graves, He granted life."

Happy Easter to All! - GMMAC

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/RESURRECTION.html

[this_ol_patriot]

Christos voskres!

Voistinu voskres!

Byzantine Catholic Church

[Kolokotronis]

You mean this one?:

"Here is the Icon of The Ladder of Divine Ascent which demonstrates the Orthodox view of "Theosis", what the West calls "Salvation". As you can see, it is an upward progress, but the icon shows that we can fall off the ladder through the efforts of the Evil One, which, by the way, is what the original Greek in the Lord's Prayer says, "but deliver us from the Evil One". The name of the icon refers to the book by St. John of the Ladder (Climacus) who wrote for his monks on how to attain theosis, becoming like God, about the year 600. St. John was the abbot of St. Katherine's Monastery at Sinai.

[texas booster]

Do you know of a link to the original Greek text of St. John's sermon? My son is studying Greek and is very interested in the original Greek.

Blessings!

[Kolokotronis]

I've just spent the better part of an hour trying to find the text in Greek on line but no luck, even with a search in Google in Greek. Tell your son to find a Greek Orthodox friend who has the Holy Week liturgy book (like a missal. The Greek text of the sermon is on page 481. Sorry. Good luck

[GMMAC]

Thinking to self:
D'oh, "this_ol_patriot" has gone and given me BOTH the Eastern Catholic Easter salutation AND it's appropriate response!

What to do now ?!?! (Grrrr ... stupid "this_ol_patriot"!)

Scanning personal massive couple of hundred words or so Ukrainian vocabulary for acceptable alternate response.

"Yakshi Mayesh?"

[MarMema]

It's a Paschal sermon. Just FYI.