“And having been given eternal life; we worship His third-day resurrection”.

So, it is sung at the end of the Paschal service after the last greeting of “Christ is Risen” by the priest. And thusly, the sisters of the Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives thanked the Lord at the end of the Divine Liturgy on the day of the leave-taking of the bright feast of Christ’s Pascha.

The observance of the celebration of apodosis of Pascha on the Mount of Olives is served according to the order of bright week. On Wednesday morning, with the royal gates open, the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky), holding the Paschal candlestick and censor in his hands, proclaimed the Paschal verses: “Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered”, with which the choir sang the troparion of the feast “Christ is Risen from the dead”, and greeted the sisters and worshipers with a joyful “Christ is Risen!” to which they replied, “Truly He is Risen!” Paschal Matins followed, during which the clergy of the monastery – Archimandrite Vasily (Druzhinets), Igumen Iona (Galishnikov) and Deacon Vyacheslav Batalsky also repeated their joyful greetings.

After Matins, the Divine Liturgy was served during which the abbess of the monastery, Mother Varvara (Novikova), with the sisters of the convent received Holy Communion.

After venerating the cross, the Head of the Mission went in the middle of the church and, with incense, brought the icon of the feast into the altar. Then censing the Holy Shroud, which has been lying on the alter since the holy paschal night, together with Fr. Vasily raised the Shroud and with Fr. Jonah carrying the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, processed with the chanting of the troparion of the Ascension: “Thou art ascended in glory Christ, our God,” and carried the Shroud to the monastery sacristy where it is kept until the next Holy Week.

 

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