Archbishop Alexander's 2023 Archpastoral Pascal Letter
PASCHA 2023
Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
Dearly beloved in the Lord,
“Now He Who has raised Him from the dead will raise us also, provided we do His will, make His commandments our rule of life, and love what He loves...” St. Polycarp of Smyrna
On this radiant day of our Lord’s Pascha, we celebrate the triumph of life over death, and the promise of eternal life for those who believe. As we have heard in the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great celebrated over the Sundays of Great Lent and on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, Christ “became the first-fruits of the fallen asleep, the first-born of the dead, so that he is first all things in all.”
As we celebrate Pascha, let us remember the words of the Holy Apostle Paul, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we too are made new and given the possibility to live a life of righteousness and eternal life.
In greeting our Lord’s radiant Resurrection, let us also be mindful of the importance of living a life that honors God as his new creation. We are called to love one another, to serve others, and to share the Good News of the Resurrection with those around us. Let us embrace this season of Pascha with open hearts, ready to receive the blessings and grace that God has for us, as we look forward to the promise of eternal life.
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection fill our hearts and minds, and may we be renewed for service to God and neighbor in our Risen Lord’s grace and love for mankind.
With love in the risen Christ,
+Alexander
Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese
PASCHA 2023
Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!
Dearly beloved in the Lord,
“Now He Who has raised Him from the dead will raise us also, provided we do His will, make His commandments our rule of life, and love what He loves...” St. Polycarp of Smyrna
On this radiant day of our Lord’s Pascha, we celebrate the triumph of life over death, and the promise of eternal life for those who believe. As we have heard in the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great celebrated over the Sundays of Great Lent and on Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday, Christ “became the first-fruits of the fallen asleep, the first-born of the dead, so that he is first all things in all.”
As we celebrate Pascha, let us remember the words of the Holy Apostle Paul, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we too are made new and given the possibility to live a life of righteousness and eternal life.
In greeting our Lord’s radiant Resurrection, let us also be mindful of the importance of living a life that honors God as his new creation. We are called to love one another, to serve others, and to share the Good News of the Resurrection with those around us. Let us embrace this season of Pascha with open hearts, ready to receive the blessings and grace that God has for us, as we look forward to the promise of eternal life.
May the light of Christ’s Resurrection fill our hearts and minds, and may we be renewed for service to God and neighbor in our Risen Lord’s grace and love for mankind.
With love in the risen Christ,
+Alexander
Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese
PASCHA 2023
Metropolitan Tikhon’s 2023 Paschal Message
To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,
My Beloved Children in the Lord,
Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!
“Let us purify our senses and we shall see Christ shining in the unapproachable light of the Resurrection. We shall clearly hear him say: ‘Rejoice.’” (Paschal Canon, Ode One)
When the myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb, they were met by the words of an angel: “He is not here. He is risen.” Mary Magdalene and the other women in turn brought this message to the apostles. And down through the centuries, that message has been passed on by their successors, even to us: the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—this is the heart of the Gospel, and the Resurrection of Christ is the irruption of the heavenly kingdom into our fallen reality, the demonstration and proof that the kingdom is at hand. The Resurrection of Christ is not a distant and ancient event. It is a new reality to which we in the Church already have access.
For the message of Christ’s Rising is not merely passed down from generation to generation, like other teachings or stories. It is passed down through experience: in baptism, we die and rise with Christ. In chrismation, we receive his Spirit and share in his anointing. In the Eucharist, we eat his deified Body and Blood, offered for us on the Cross and taken up into heaven through the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Through the mysteries, we enter ourselves into a personal and eternal relationship with the Risen Lord.
This is why, in Saint John Damascene’s Paschal canon, the figure who announces the Resurrection to the believer is none other than Christ himself—“we shall see Christ shining in the unapproachable light of the Resurrection. We shall clearly hear him say: ‘Rejoice.’” He has chosen mortal ministers to serve at his mysteries and offer them on our behalf, but through the mysteries—if we repent, “purify[ing] our senses” of sinful preoccupations with worldly things—then we will encounter Christ himself.
And this encounter fills us with joy, because it is a foretaste of the kingdom, where the righteous will always delight in the clear light of the Resurrection, where the Resurrection’s transformative power will be known in full, where Christ will be seen, not as in a mirror darkly, but face to face.
Christ is risen, beloved children! Death, sin, hell, the world, the devil—these are all fleeing in defeat. Christ himself goes before us into the kingdom, the new heaven and the new earth, and we sing the song of victory: “Christ is risen!”
May we, all of us, keep that anthem in our hearts all the yearlong, and throughout the years, knowing that Christ’s Resurrection is the conquest of all trouble and sorrow, the end of the rule of Satan and sin and brokenness, and the beginning of a new reality that knows no end: the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, lasting unto all ages.
Greeting you with the unfailing, invincible, and unending joy of the Lord’s Pascha,
I remain,
Yours in Christ,
+ TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
My Beloved Children in the Lord,
Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!
“Let us purify our senses and we shall see Christ shining in the unapproachable light of the Resurrection. We shall clearly hear him say: ‘Rejoice.’” (Paschal Canon, Ode One)
When the myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb, they were met by the words of an angel: “He is not here. He is risen.” Mary Magdalene and the other women in turn brought this message to the apostles. And down through the centuries, that message has been passed on by their successors, even to us: the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—this is the heart of the Gospel, and the Resurrection of Christ is the irruption of the heavenly kingdom into our fallen reality, the demonstration and proof that the kingdom is at hand. The Resurrection of Christ is not a distant and ancient event. It is a new reality to which we in the Church already have access.
For the message of Christ’s Rising is not merely passed down from generation to generation, like other teachings or stories. It is passed down through experience: in baptism, we die and rise with Christ. In chrismation, we receive his Spirit and share in his anointing. In the Eucharist, we eat his deified Body and Blood, offered for us on the Cross and taken up into heaven through the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. Through the mysteries, we enter ourselves into a personal and eternal relationship with the Risen Lord.
This is why, in Saint John Damascene’s Paschal canon, the figure who announces the Resurrection to the believer is none other than Christ himself—“we shall see Christ shining in the unapproachable light of the Resurrection. We shall clearly hear him say: ‘Rejoice.’” He has chosen mortal ministers to serve at his mysteries and offer them on our behalf, but through the mysteries—if we repent, “purify[ing] our senses” of sinful preoccupations with worldly things—then we will encounter Christ himself.
And this encounter fills us with joy, because it is a foretaste of the kingdom, where the righteous will always delight in the clear light of the Resurrection, where the Resurrection’s transformative power will be known in full, where Christ will be seen, not as in a mirror darkly, but face to face.
Christ is risen, beloved children! Death, sin, hell, the world, the devil—these are all fleeing in defeat. Christ himself goes before us into the kingdom, the new heaven and the new earth, and we sing the song of victory: “Christ is risen!”
May we, all of us, keep that anthem in our hearts all the yearlong, and throughout the years, knowing that Christ’s Resurrection is the conquest of all trouble and sorrow, the end of the rule of Satan and sin and brokenness, and the beginning of a new reality that knows no end: the kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, lasting unto all ages.
Greeting you with the unfailing, invincible, and unending joy of the Lord’s Pascha,
I remain,
Yours in Christ,
+ TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
Great Lent 2023 Archpastoral Letter
Dearly beloved in the Lord,
As we enter the season of Great Lent, I encourage you to remember these words of St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Lent is a time to return to our first love, to rediscover the joy of our salvation, and to renew our commitment to Christ.”
At the threshold of this year’s Lenten journey, let us remember the words of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2, which say, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Let us also be inspired by the examples of saints such as St. Mary of Egypt, who lived a life of great humility and repentance, and St. Basil the Great, who taught us to “fast not only with our mouth but with our eyes, our ears, our feet, our hands, and all our members.”
In short, our fasting must be understood as an opportunity, not a burden. We have before us a great gift, a time set aside for an intentional and intensified pursuit of spiritual healing and ascent. These are the “most-holy days for the cleansing of souls and bodies, for control of passions, and for hope in the resurrection.” (Divine Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts)
Let us, therefore, enter this Lenten season with humble and joyous hearts overflowing with anticipation for our Lord’s radiant resurrection. May we be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and may our Lenten journey lead us closer to the kingdom of God.
with love in Christ,
+Alexander
Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese
DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE
As we enter the season of Great Lent, I encourage you to remember these words of St. Cyril of Alexandria: “Lent is a time to return to our first love, to rediscover the joy of our salvation, and to renew our commitment to Christ.”
At the threshold of this year’s Lenten journey, let us remember the words of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2, which say, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Let us also be inspired by the examples of saints such as St. Mary of Egypt, who lived a life of great humility and repentance, and St. Basil the Great, who taught us to “fast not only with our mouth but with our eyes, our ears, our feet, our hands, and all our members.”
In short, our fasting must be understood as an opportunity, not a burden. We have before us a great gift, a time set aside for an intentional and intensified pursuit of spiritual healing and ascent. These are the “most-holy days for the cleansing of souls and bodies, for control of passions, and for hope in the resurrection.” (Divine Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts)
Let us, therefore, enter this Lenten season with humble and joyous hearts overflowing with anticipation for our Lord’s radiant resurrection. May we be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and may our Lenten journey lead us closer to the kingdom of God.
with love in Christ,
+Alexander
Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese
DOWNLOAD THE PDF HERE
Nativity 2022 Archpastoral Letter
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THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 2022
Christ is born! Glorify Him! Dearly beloved in the Lord, “For truly you did not turn away from your creature whom you had made, Good One, nor did you forget the work of your hands... when the fullness of time had come, you spoke to us through your Son himself...” (Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great) Although our first parents turned away from the Lord God in Paradise, the Lord did not abandon them to their decision. In his mercy, God provided them and their descendants a way back to him, the Way Who is his incarnate Son. The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord is one of the great landmarks of human history, as God the Father fulfills the promise that he made to man so long ago. It is with hearts overflowing with gratitude that we greet the Lord on the day of his birth. We are also grateful for all of the other expressions of Divine mercy that we encounter in our lives – “those we know and those we do not know, benefits manifest and unmanifest, all done for us,” as we say in that other great Eucharistic celebration of our Faith, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Let us open our hearts to be receptive to all of God’s great gestures of love for us. And having received such great blessings in our own lives, let us use them for the well-being and sanctification of those around us, especially those in the deepest need of our comfort and support. With love in the newborn King, +Alexander Archbishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese –Orthodox Church in America |
DOWNLOAD THE PDF
NATIVITY 2022 ARCHPASTORAL LETTER |
On Thursday, May 5, at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Fort Wayne, IN, our diocese will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Consecration and Enthronement of our Archbishop and Father, Vladyka Alexander. Pontifical Divine Liturgy will begin at 10:00 am, with an anniversary luncheon following.
Special room rates available at two Fort Wayne hotels. For hotel details and to RSVP, please contact diocesan chancellor, Fr. Andrew Jarmus (ajarmus@bdoca.org).
A blessed Holy Week and Pascha to all.
Archpastoral Letter from His Eminence Archbishop Alexander -
24 February 2022 Ukraine - PDF Download
Archpastoral Letter from His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon
Nativity of our Lord 2021
Archpastoral Message from His Eminence Archbishop Alexander
Nativity of our Lord 2021 - PDF Download
Nativity 2021-English
Archpastoral Message from His Eminence Archbishop Alexander
Pascha 2021 - PDF Download
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Pascha 2021 -English
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Pascha 2021- Bulgarian
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Pascha 2021- Romanian
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Archpastoral Message from His Eminance Archbishop Alexander on Great Lent 2021-PDF Download
Great Lent 2021 English |
Great Lent 2021 Bulgarian |
Great Lent 2021 Romanian |
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His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon offers statement on recent
events - January 7, 2021
Click here to download the 2021 Kanonion PDF
Nativity Letter 2020 - Archbishop Alexander
