Forgotten Ground Regained
Forgiveness Is Arisen from the Garden’s Grave
Chrysostom’s Paschal Homily in Alliterative Verse
Are there any here who are ardent for the Lord?Let them enjoy this beautiful, bright festival!Are there any who are glad and grateful servants?Let them rejoice and enter into the joy of their Lord!Are there any hungry ones, weary with fasting?Let them now receive their sumptuous wages!
If from the first hour any have toiled,let them receive the reward their work is due.If after the third hour any has come,let him with grateful joy join in the Feast!If after the sixth hour any has arrived,let him not doubt, for nothing will he lose.And if until the ninth hour any delayed,let him not hesitate but hasten in.And he who arrived only at the eleventh hour,let him not be reluctant now for his delay.For the last as the first our Lord receives,giving rest to him who arrives at the eleventh,as well as to the one who has worked from the first.He gives to the one His gracious gifts;to the other likewise He delivers blessings.
Let us join together in the joy of the Lord!Let first and last delight as one!Both rich and poor in this place exult!Sober and slothful, celebrate the day!Whoever has fasted and all who have not,together partake at the table today!Feast royally on the fatted calf;let none go hence in hunger and want.With cheer partake of the chalice of Christ:All His goodness get inside you!
Let none regret or grieve his poverty,for here is revealed the universal kingdom.Let no one mourn his many falls:Forgiveness is arisen from the garden’s grave!Let no one cower at the clutch of death,for from death’s jaws has Jesus’ deathdelivered His beloved to everlasting life.Death is conquered by our Christ enduring it.Hell is destroyed by His descent below:It tasted of His flesh and fell into an uproar!Hell rioted, its rebels rampaged,they ran amok for they were mocked.They gnashed their teeth for they were nullified, annihilated.They madly rave because they are made captive.Hell confronted a human bodyand found it was facing the Father’s Son!It swallowed earth and was seized by heaven.It took what it saw and was taken overby what it did not know and recognize.O wicked death, where is thy sting?O wanton hell, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen and wretched deathis killed and cancelled! Christ is risenand the evil ones are all cast down!Christ is risen and the radiant angelsworship and laud the worthy Lamb!Christ is risen and the reign of lifewill last forever and ever. Amen!Christ is risen and the catacombs are emptied;for Christ, having risen from the realm of death,is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.To Him be glory and power and praise and blessingunto the ages of ages. Amen!
Copyright © 2023 Kathryn Ann Hill.
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