From Fr. Angelo
Epikranthi (It is vexed)?!
Once again, during the Saturday night Paschal service, we will hear the beautiful Easter sermon by St. John Chrysostom. You know the one, where we all respond Epikranthi! (which means “it is vexed” or “embittered”). But, have you ever paused to consider what is vexed? Well, at the end of his sermon, St John tells us,
“Let no one grieve over his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed; let no one weep over his sins, for pardon has shone 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 has despoiled Hades by going down into its kingdom.”
The linchpin of our Christian faith is at the center of Christ’s redemptive action in conquering this death. Christ, as the God-Man, took on humanity, lived among His creation, died and resurrected in His glorified body. St. Paul tells us the connection of this to death when he says…