FIRENZE-NUOVA ROMA 9 April 2023 (NRom)
H.H. Papa-Knyaz Rutherford gave his annual Paschal allocution and blessing ex urbe, with plenary indulgence, on the Latin Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord.
The video of the allocution (text is below):
English Translation:
Carissimi, Christus resurgens est! Христос воскрес! Воистину воскрес! Today is a day of great joy, peace, hope, and fulfillment. It is the day that we celebrate the triumph of Christ over the grave. Without this day, our faith would mean nothing, and without the suffering of Christ on the Cross, this day could not exist.
Without Christ on the Cross, and without the Resurrection, the values would not exist. God is the source of all good, and therefore nothing without God can be called good. Although it is not easy, we who join Christ on the Cross received the benefits of the Resurrection must always and everywhere preserve and promote the values of our heritage, the values Christ. Today in the world, many have abandoned their values, heritage, culture, and faith. Instead they preferred to chase the ever-changing ways of the world. Almighty God created the world, and therefore the world is good. Yet, to follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God, who created the world, is in fact to follow the ways of Satan.
The world today says that absolute values under God no longer exist. Instead, there are these values and those values, which are said to be equal. The values of Almighty God that once were the core of Christendom are now pushed aside in favour of these false values of modernism. This is nothing more, however, then old heresies. We must, therefore, dear brethren, always and everywhere promote and preserve the values of Christ the heritage of Christ’s holy kingdom on earth. We must do so even when and even where it is not popular. We must serve as an example to others, that Christen-dom may be reestablished in its full glory, which is nothing more than the reflection of the glory of God. Indeed, we are nothing with-out Christ.
Also, dear brethren, this day I wish to say again that Our See will have for the first time two celebrations of Pascha. This day is the Lat-in celebration of Pascha. Next week we will celebrate the Eastern Pascha. This is a great and historic moment for Our See as we collec-tively realise and employ the completeness of our great heritage, which is both Eastern and Western. Our faith and our heritage is Roman, Byzantine, Russian, Armenian, and Syrian. It is not right that we should forget this for any reason. Rather, we should and we must embrace it fully.
Now, on this day of great and joyous celebration of the Resurrec-tion of Christ, We wish each of you a blessed and joyous Pascha.
