Paschal Epistle of Archbishop George of Sydney, Australia & New Zealand
Pascha 2026

Yesterday I was buried with Thee O Christ;
today I rise with Thine arising.
Yesterday I was crucified with Thee;
Do Thou Thyself glorify me with Thee,
O Saviour, in Thy kingdom.
(Pascha Matins, Third Ode.)

Beloved in the Lord, Clergy and Faithful
of the Australian and New Zealand Diocese!

Christ is Risen!

While we greet one another with these joyous words in which we proclaim the Bright Resurrection of our Saviour from the dead, the Church does not cease to remind us in Her holy hymns that the resurrection is inextricably bound to the cross. Christ patiently endured the suffering on the cross, opened the gates of hell, rose from the dead, and changed the cross from being a symbol of damnation and punishment to a symbol of triumph and victory. Throughout the liturgical year, and especially during Great Lent, this is brought to our attention.

In the Lenten Synaxarion for the Sunday of the Cross, we were reminded how Moses plunged a branch into the bitter waters of Marah and made them sweet. Similarly, if we bear our cross with patience, humility, and thanksgiving, the bitterness of our trials and temptations become sweet. We will then be able to understand the words of St. Paul: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14). In this way we will be like those ascetics described by St. John of the Ladder when he says that by conquering their flesh and the passions, they have experienced the resurrection already in this life.

Daily life in today’s society is becoming more and more difficult for everyone, not just for Christians, with the wars, fuel and food shortages, and travel restrictions. We must make every effort to love and support our neighbours, trusting in Divine Providence in our lives, patiently bearing whatever trials that God may give us for our salvation.

“In this you rejoice… if you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1: 6-7).

I sincerely greet all of you, the clergy, monastics, parishioners, and all worshippers in the churches of our diocese, with the grace-filled feast of Christ’s Holy Resurrection! May the peace of Christ be with you!

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

+George
Archbishop of Sydney &
Australia-New Zealand