The Presidential Library’s materials illustrate Easter festival

“The greatest and most significant event in the history of the universe from the beginning of the world is the bright and salvific Sunday of Christ”, - writes theologian Eustathius Voronets in the journal review The Resurrection of Christ in Modern Icon Painting (1889), presented on the Presidential Library’s portal. – The victory of life over death, of good over evil was expressed in the fullest and most solemn way; the properties of God shine brightly in all their splendor: Omnipotence, Truth, Grace and Love".

Easter Sunday is celebrated by all Orthodox Christians on May 2. The Presidential Library’s portal provides rare materials dedicated to Easter celebrations.

…Jesus, according to the sources, was outwardly an ordinary person. The publication Twelve Feasts of the Orthodox Church or Flower Garden of the Church Garden (1892) quotes a letter from Publius Lentulus, who was proconsul (senator) of Judea at the time of Octavius ​​Augustus. This ancient document says: “Here is the exact translation of this letter sent by the proconsul to the Roman Senate at the time when Christ was about twenty-five years old: “At the present time a man has appeared - He is still alive - with high qualities, who calls Himself Jesus Christ. The people say that He is a powerful prophet in his deeds; the disciples call Him the Son of God. He raises the dead and heals from all sickness and relaxation. This man is tall and slender....Those who look at Him are unable not to love Him and not be afraid at the same time. His blond hair goes down smooth to the bottom of his ears and from there falls in wavy curls on his shoulders ... <...> The look is pleasant and open. <…> The eyes are blue and extremely lively. <…> He was never seen laughing, but he was seen crying. <…> His speech is important and fluent, but He speaks little at all. Finally, having seen Him, one cannot but admit that this is one of the most beautiful men".

The 14th century Greek historian Nicephorus Callistus, in turn, confirmed that the Savior's face “was remarkable for its beauty and expressiveness. <…> He resembled His Divine and Immaculate Mother in everything…”.

Speaking about the indisputable Divinity of the Savior, the hieromonk of the Moscow Donskoy Monastery and the future church hierarch Arseny (Zhadanovsky) in the publication Divine Dignity of the Face of Jesus Christ (1905) writes: all public authority; The death of the cross awaited him Himself: this he foresaw; His teaching was directly contrary to the wisdom and morals of His contemporaries...He had only twelve disciples, who, according to his own prediction, awaited universal hatred, persecution and martyrdom... How was it possible, in spite of all this, to affirm with determination that the Gospel spread throughout the world, and that the followers of the gospel will constitute a society that will remain unshakable until the end of the age? <…> From this evidence presented above, it is clear that Jesus Christ the Redeemer is true God and true man, besides sin; that He performed great miracles; that He was crucified on the cross, was buried and laid in a tomb; that He rose from the dead, ascended to heaven ... "

The book Holy Week: (Great Monday, Great Tuesday, Great Wednesday, Great Thursday, Great Friday, Great Saturday) and Easter says: "The first news of the resurrection was heard from an angel sitting at the tomb of the Lord, St. myrrh-bearing wives. The appearance of an angel, rolling a stone from the door of the tomb, was accompanied by an earthquake, from which the warriors who were on guard were terribly frightened, fled from the tomb and were involuntary witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ before His enemies".

“In accordance with the event of the Resurrection of Christ remembered on this holiday, the name Easter in the Christian Church has acquired a special meaning and began to denote the passage from death to life, from earth to heaven”, - the mentioned publication explains the origin of the name of the holiday.

The celebration of Christ's Resurrection lasts, according to the church charter, up to 40 days; during all this time, each service begins with the singing "Christ is Risen"..."During 40 days after His resurrection, the Lord appeared to the disciples and talked with them about the peace heaven..." "Our Lord Jesus Christ completed the work of our salvation - he died and rose again: and here again he goes to his Father in heaven; He has always been with His Father according to His Deity, but now He ascends with the body that He received from the Blessed Virgin Mary", - writes Archpriest Vasily Nikolsky in the book Twelve Feasts of the Orthodox Church or the Flower Garden of the Church Garden - <...> Let's take the rule - to ascend more often with mind and heart to heaven...To heaven, as to his homeland ... to where the Lord promised to rest all those who work and are burdened...It is true that it is difficult for a person to live on earth: the adversity of everyday life is everywhere, - diseases, losses...his own falls...But here then, saddened, and remember your Savior Christ the Lord, Who, before His ascension to heaven, Himself walked the path of grief, the path of the cross..."