Easter Message 2025 of His Eminence Metropolitan John, Archbishop of the Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition in Western Europe

o their Excellencies, the clergy, the monks, the nuns and the faithful of the Archdiocese of the Orthodox Churches of Russian Tradition in Western Europe.

Christ is risen!

Today humanity and the whole world have been filled with heavenly light (Easter Canon, Ode 3). We give thanks to the Giver of life and glorify the Savior of the world. Through his Cross and Resurrection, we share in the reconciliation between man and God (Galatians 3:26-29).

The man who weeps and suffers injustice, the man who seeks and doubts, let him take courage! For He, the Bridegroom of Life, came in the middle of the night and comes out of the Tomb, the Conqueror of Death. This is the new beginning that has been revealed to us.

Let us act freely; with Peter and John let us run to the Tomb. There, weeping with Mary and all those who suffer, and we will meet the Risen Lord. With the Disciples of Emmaus, let us confess our despair and discover with joy that even though we may not see him, the Risen One walks beside us. In explaining the Scriptures to us, he reveals to us that Christ had to suffer all this in order to enter into his glory (Luke 24).

In the sadness of the contemporary world, Christians bring the light of joy and the abundance of the Lord’s mercy, because Christ restores joy and hope to the human soul tormented and violated by daily trials and wounds (Matthew 11:29-30).

He gives us the strength to live the pain of history with gratitude and faith in the Risen One. For it is He who directs the destiny of the world (Psalm 103). We live the trials and misfortunes of our personal lives trusting that the Lord of Glory is always at our side, as the companion and comforter of our lives (John 16:20).

Then, as we discover the unfathomable mystery of His love and mercy, we will walk in the light of His face (Psalm 88:16-17) and recognize Him as the perfect God and perfect man, the Alpha and Omega of human history (Revelation 22:12-13).

Having now experienced the Resurrection, we are sure that the Lord, who died and rose again, will remain with us all the days of our lives until the end of time. He is the only hope of our salvation and the hope and salvation of all men (Matthew 28:20).

Christ rose from the dead and life became possible again (Troparion of the Feast). To Him be the glory, the kingdom, the power and the love for ever and ever. Amen.

Paris, Easter 2025

† Metropolitan John of Dubna,

Archbishop of the Orthodox Churches of the Russian Tradition

 in Western Europe