Just wanted to post Chrysostom's Easter sermon. It is read at Resurrection Matins. Unfortunately, we had to leave last night before it was read.
Saint John Chrysostom's Easter Sermon
Let every pious and God-loving soul enjoy this splendid and luminous feast; let every faithful servant enter joyfully into his Master's joy! Let the one who has borne the burden of fasting now receive his pay, and the one who has toiled since the first hour, let him obtain his due reward! If anyone came after the third hour, let him gratefully join in the feasting; and the one who tarried until the sixth hour, let him not be afraid of missing anything. If there is one who waited until the ninth hour, let him come unhesitatingly; and even the laborer of the eleventh hour, let him not fear for his sloth. For the Lord is generous and receives the last even as the first. He has pity on the last and serves the first; he rewards the first, and gives freely to the last. He receives the fruits of labor, and accepts good intentions; he honors the deed, and praises the effort.
And so, enter into your Master's joy: you the first and you the last will receive the bounty. Come together, you rich and you poor: abstinent or indulgent, honor this day. You who have kept the fast and you have not, be joyful now: the table is laden, take of it all of you without any scruple. There is enough of the fatted calf for all: let no one go away hungry. All of you, come and taste the banquet of faith; all of you enjoy the abundance of mercy. Let no one bemoan his poverty, for the Kingdom of us all has appeared to us; let no one complain about his sins, for pardon has risen from the tomb; let no one be afraid of death, the Lord's death has delivered us: He has destroyed it by enduring it; He went down into the Abyss and stripped the abyss; He made it bitter for having tasted of his flesh. That is what Isaiah had foretold: the Abyss he said, was made bitter when it met You beneath the ground; it was made bitter because it was reduced to naught; it was made bitter because it was fooled; it was made bitter because it was put to death; it was made bitter because it was annihilated. It seized a corpse, and lo! discovered God; it took hold of earth, and behold! encountered heaven! It captured the seen, and fell before the unseen.
O death, where is your sting. Abyss, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are cast down; Christ is risen, and the demons are crushed; Christ is risen, and the angels sing for joy; Christ is risen, and life has overcome; Christ is risen, and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ the Resurrection has become the first fruits of the dead. To Him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
