Dear in Christ Brothers and Sisters,

This evening at the Мatins service of Great Saturday, we will hear, along with all the other wonderful and deeply-meaningful hymns, the following words: “To earth hast Thou come down, O Master, to save Adam: and not finding him on earth, Thou hast descended into hell, seeking him there.”

This short troparion, in an especially beautiful and poetic manner, tries to express in human words that love which our God has for not only the first created man, but for the entire race of mankind and for each of us personally as individuals. Truly the Lord loves man so much “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3: 16). Although the passion on the cross and descent into Hades are the pinnacle of the earthly ministry of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to reconcile sinful men with the Creator, we see His desire to complete this mission in all His actions. To be convinced of this, it is enough to attentively contemplate all those Gospel excerpts read this week.

This special care for the salvation of mankind extends not only to the kind and the holy, but to traitors and apostates. Even Judas was not left without attention, for the Lord communed him of His Holy and Live-giving Mysteries, washed his feet, and, in the moment of treachery, named him a friend and called him to repentance with the following words: “Wherefore art thou come?” (Matthew 26: 50) and “Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?” (Luke 22: 48). In like manner Peter, who out of fear denied the Son of God thrice, was not abandoned by the Saviour; at the exact moment of betrayal Christ looked upon his disciple and stirred up with His divine glance warm tears of repentance (Luke 22: 61).

We can say with certainty that the Lord cares about our salvation no less than about the salvation of His disciples. When we sin against Him, He is undoubtedly standing close by and calls us to repentance, although we may not notice this. During such moments, we have the choice of following the example of Judas and ignoring the sweet and loving voice of the Saviour, or turning to Him with deep repentance.

Today, when we mark our Saviour’s death on the Cross, His burial, and the descent into hell, let us remember that He accomplished these struggles personally for each one of us. Let us nail our passions to the cross so as to resurrect from the mire of sin and inherit a place in the Heavenly Kingdom.

priest Alexis