Bringing the Holy Light Home

At midnight on Easter Saturday the deep-toned voices of our Orthodox Liturgists all over the world, shout out the triumphal announcement, “Come receive the light, from the never-setting Light, and glorify Christ who has risen from the dead”! The faithful have awaited this moment from the beginning of Great Lent, when we have been urged as the Prodigal Son to return with deep repentance to the embrace of the loving Father.

We have been encouraged to pray as the Publican with humility, “Lord have mercy on me”. We have witnessed the thief on the cross and heard “Lord remember me when you come into your Kingdom”. We sit in darkness and wait because this world is in darkness. We await in anticipation for our Resurrected Lord, preparing ourselves, awaiting the uncreated brightness of the Lord to say, “in Thy light we shall see light”. We long to see Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, the final victory over death! No longer does death have its sting… it has been vexed! When the light of Christ comes out of the altar it is spread… how? By community of course… each person offers it to the other and soon hundreds of candles illuminate the darkness. By lighting our candle each one of us is part of the movement of Christ’s light to illumine the world!

We take this Holy light home, cross the threshold of our homes with the sign of the cross, light our vigil lamps with it and continue to use this flame without it ever blowing out. So it is with our lives… when someone looks at us do they see the light of Christ in us? Can we spread His light into this vast dark earth and share the news of Christ who said: “I am the Light of the World, he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of Life” (John 8:12). Let us pray that we may be found worthy to shine His light in this darkened world.

Source: Lychnos April / May 2017