Christ is Risen until our soul rejoices!

 

                                                          Photo: Bill Chalikouras FB

 Aφιερωμένο στους αγγλόφωνους αναγνώστες μας

The crowd of secular Orthodox Christians usually leaves the holy temple after the first sound of "Christ is Risen". The devoted and hardworking hostesses of Valyra, exhausted all day of Holy Saturday, and not only, in order to prepare rich and varied dishes to delight their fasting family and their guests, with difficulty wear their Easter festive clothing and their kind smile... In order not to displease those around them, they generously keep up their pretenses. They step into the church with their elegant shoes, but they forget their minds on their kitchen counter and in the fleet of their dining room.

As I was waving my candle, ecstatic by the resurrection sounds, inside the holy church of Saint Athanasios of Valyra, I saw a friend of mine standing leaning against the bench and staring at me intently. She was troubled and subtly radiating a dose of melancholy... 

"I have to leave, I can't stay until the end of the midnight resurrection service. There are old people, young people, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren waiting at home," she told me silently.

I smiled at her comfortingly. 

-Yes, this is your duty...you will receive an amaranth crown for your contribution to this worldly life. You are fortunate to recognize what hinders you and keeps you away from your true personal happiness. Nevertheless, you follow with reverence and humility the path of your salvation, kicking daily poisonous thorns in your spiritual pasture.

Another friend, next to me, whispered softly: 

-Every year I leave  alone my husband at home...This year I can't stand it, I feel remorse. She didn't have time to finish her sentence and left the church like lightning. She didn't process the issue within herself, she took it for granted that she had to back down and that her partner was not responsible for his absence from church.

 A tasteful Valyrian daughter next to me approached me meaningfully and commented:

- Those of us who do not have marital obligations, we are free to enjoy the resurrection service until the end, to receive communion, and may our souls rejoice!

 Ultimately, the most coordinated couple turned out to be our venerable priest, Mr.  John Fotinos, along with his elder sister Sophia. What a great blessing it is for souls to be in harmony, for the attitudes, views and actions of the couple to be harmonized, for the partners to progress together spiritually!

- And what did you gain by staying until you were fired and eating the cold soup alone, a pained soul scolded us over the phone, on the afternoon of Easter Sunday.

-The resurrection sounds are spiritual wonders, they shock the being of the believer... I responded.

-Both the roasted obelias and the kokoretsi are delicious wonders, you cannot ignore them and take to the skies with the candles lit, against the wind, under the starry sky. Are you people or owls? You hear there they returned home at 2:00 a.m., with smiles from ear to ear! Which of you can bear to put the lamb on the spit at six in the morning on Easter Sunday? Do you want to have families? For everyone to die of hunger? A good mother must make great sacrifices. She sleeps early at night so that she can wake up when the rooster crows.

"We are single women, with significant losses but sought-after privileges and life opportunities," replied a divorced soul.

-Come on, let's go back to the other side and see who you're going to call Christ the Risen One, who forgot about cooking and is chasing outings outside your family home, the married friend remarked sharply over the phone and added: A woman's postgraduate degrees are those of a good wife and a good mother, for life, which you think you've already graduated from...

-The divorced woman then became angry and commented with pomp: Some serve like Martha and others choose the good fate of Mary.

"Where can I boil you," replied the married woman. "Isn't there a middle ground?"

-It depends on how much each of our souls is in love with the Lord.... Ask your soul to answer you!

-I don't have time, the coffee is boiling, see you tomorrow!

-Tomorrow, Monday, April 21, 2025, at 6:30 p.m., you will find us at the holy church of Agios Dimitrios, in the opposite village of Valyra.

We have been filled with His exceedingly brilliant and godly glory, which is manifested through His miracles and His teaching and the other splendor of His sinless and all-holy life (John 1:15).

--I will come!

Christ is Risen!

God is with us,

 Effie E.Kondopoulos

20-4-2025