www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.

Happy Easter to all.
We have celebrated the Blessing of Light and the Vespers of Pascha about 8 hours ago. We are preparing the church now for Mesonyktikon, Orthros, and the Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection.
The light has come. The door to the door has opened with such force, that it shook the (bay/laurel) leaves from the trees. But we are still a few hours away from being able to proclaim again that Christ is Risen.

Actually, I guess I did declare Him risen. At the Latin church where I am music director, a certain family is late for every service. At the Good Friday service last night, I walked downstairs during the gospel reading. Sure enough, there they were in the vestibule waiting for the reading to end so they could enter. I said to one of them, "He is already risen, and you missed it. "Come back next year."