Archiepiscopal Encyclical on the Great and Holy Pascha, 2026 

Prot. No. 132/2026

Unto the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Hierarchs, Pious Priests and Deacons, the Monks and Nuns, Presidents and Members of Parish Councils, Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Members of Leadership 100, the Day and Afternoon Schools, Philoptochos Societies, the Youth, Greek Orthodox Organizations, and the entirety of the Christ-named Plenitude of the Holy Archdiocese of America

Yesterday I was buried with You, O Christ; today I arise with You in Your Resurrection …. 

(Canon of Pascha, Ode Three) 

Beloved Sisters and Brothers in the Risen Christ,

Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη! Christ is Risen!

The difference in the Triduum (Gk. Τριήμερον) – the Three Days from the Death in the Flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Glorious Resurrection – may truly be the greatest span of time in the history of the world. It cannot be reckoned in mere seconds, minutes, or hours. It extends from the very beginning of time itself, and stretches all the way to the ages of ages. It is the Eternal Now that, as the Canon of Pascha reminds us, is also a timeframe into which we fit, in which we belong in virtue of our Baptism. As Saint Paul challenges the Christians at Rome: “Or do you not understand that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, have been baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3) [Gk. Ἤ ἀγνοεῖτε ὅτι ὅσοι ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Χριστὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν, εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθημεν;]

And so, on the Night of the Holy Pascha, we sing in a first-person voice which includes everyone: “Yesterday I was buried with You, O Christ….” We are part of the story; we are living in the historical reality of the Death and Burial of our Lord. Our Baptisms may have occurred as infants, or as children, or as adults – in far-off churches and lands. It makes no difference. Our destiny has been forecast by our Immersion in the Waters of Re-Birth. In Holy Week, we embrace that moment anew and cry out, “Yesterday!”

But we do not remain in the past. We also affirm and sing: “… today I arise with You in Your Resurrection!” Here is the bridge between Earth and Heaven, between yesterday and the everlasting tomorrow, between the infinite space and timespan separating Creator and Created. This is our Eternal Now, when, as Saint Paul says, we can seize this day in order to “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). It is the hour of our transformation by grace into the persons we were created to be. Therefore, beloved Christians, let us embrace the mystical moment offered to us in this Holy Kairos, and raise our voices to the skies, as we proclaim:

Christ is risen from the dead, by death trampling down upon death, 

and to those in the tombs He has granted life! 

Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς Ἀνέστη! Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

†ELPIDOPHOROS
Archbishop of America