Great (Illumination) Saturday

Lent was a journey to the Light. After today, what remains of it for us? To carry with us what He had graciously bestowed upon us, meaning to live our entire lives with Pascha set before us. The Holy Fathers have depicted, with definite eloquence, that, during Great Lent, we are journeying to Pascha with Pascha, journeying to God with His strength and the signs of His triumphs over ignorance, sin, and death. This is our journey on earth, before and after Pascha. The requirements of Great Lent are all a rehearsal for life, for the entirety of life. On this day, which we name (in Arabic), in our tradition, after the Light, we do not speak of any worldly light, but we declare our faith that Christ has granted us, with His grace, to perceive His presence with us forever in the midst of this world and the hell of this world. Perhaps the best memory we keep from the Saturday of Illumination is that we are baptized, meaning that we belong to God. This is the absolute Light. Without this, lies death, absolute death. Arise, let us await Christ in His Church tomorrow. The Living Christ is the epitome of our lives, today and tomorrow!