Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church

05/07/2026

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." (Luke 24:5-7)

05/07/2026

We are often too paralyzed in our own habits to accept the fullness of life that our Lord Jesus Christ offers us.

"The idea of immortality has accompanied man in all times and civilizations, and still does. Despite his discovery that this earthly life is unfulfilling for him, he does not want to replace it with what he does not know." -- His Eminence Metropolitan Saba, Thoughts on the Fullness of Life, Part One

Read more about the Sunday of the Paralytic at https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/73

04/28/2026

04/26/2026

"Love drove these women to do what they thought was their duty, to honor their teacher and Lord. He entrusted them with a greater task—the greatest task—to proclaim the news of His resurrection from the dead: 'Go and tell the disciples' (Mark 16:7)." - His Eminence Metropolitan Saba, "He is not Here"

On the third Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the feast of the holy Myrrh-bearing Women, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus.

Read more at https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1589

04/22/2026

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!

“It is I,” says the Christ. “So come all families of people, adulterated with sin, and receive forgiveness of sins. For I am your freedom. I am the Passover of salvation, I am the lamb slaughtered for you, I am your ransom, I am your life, I am your light, I am your salvation, I am your resurrection, I am your King. I shall raise you up by My right hand, I will lead you to the heights of heaven, there shall I show you the everlasting Father.”…

He it is who made the heaven and the earth, and formed humanity in the beginning, who was proclaimed through the law and the prophets, who took flesh from a virgin, who was hung on a tree, who was buried in earth, who was raised from the dead…This is the Christ, this is the King, this is Jesus, this is the Commander, this is the Lord.”

—St. Melito of Sardis, On Pascha

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived thereof. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; He gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour…

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

—St. John Chrysostom

04/08/2026

Ecumenical Patriarch: ‘Pascha Is the Feast of Freedom, Joy and Peace’

As Great and Holy Pascha approaches, those who seek to gain a more complete grasp of the central importance of this Feast of Feasts, and to explore the fullness of its meaning, will find no greater guide than His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. In his annual Patriarchal Encyclicals for Holy Pascha, His All-Holiness has given us a series of thoughtful and moving reflections upon the Holy Resurrection of Christ, reflections that retain their value to instruct and illuminate our hearts, souls, and minds not just in the Paschal season of the year in which they were issued, but throughout our entire lifetimes.

In his Patriarchal Encyclical for Holy Pascha 2025, His All-Holiness reminds us that “the Resurrection is not the remembrance of an event from the past,” but a transformation that God promises to the faithful: it is “the ‘good change’ of our existence, ‘another birth, an alternate life, a different kind of living, the transformation of our very being.’”

This is because “in the Risen Christ, the entire creation is renewed together with humanity. When we chant in the 3rd Ode of the Paschal Canon, that ‘Now everything is filled with light—heaven, earth, and all things beneath the earth; therefore, let all creation celebrate the resurrection of Christ, in which everything has been established,’ we proclaim that the universe is founded on and filled with unfading light. The phrases ‘before Christ’ and ‘after Christ’ ring true not only for the history of the human race, but also for the sake of all creation.”

That in turn is why Pascha is the center and heart of our faith: “The Lord’s raising from the dead constitutes the nucleus of the Gospel, the stable point of reference for all the books of the New Testament, as well as for the liturgical life and devotion of the Orthodox Christians. Indeed, the words ‘Christ is Risen!’ summarize the theology of the Church. The experience of the abolition of the dominion of death is a source of ineffable joy, ‘free from the bonds of this world.’”

As a result of the Resurrection, the Christian life is fundamentally joyful: “All things are filled with joy upon receiving the taste of resurrection.” The resurrection is an explosion ‘of great joy’ and permeates the entire life, ethos and pastoral ministry of the Church as the foretaste of the fullness of life, knowledge and life of the eternal kingdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Orthodox faith and pessimism are contradictory phenomena.”

In his Patriarchal Encyclical for Holy Pascha 2024, the Ecumenical Patriarch elucidated the link between the Resurrection of Christ and our own future resurrection: “The glorious Resurrection of the Lord Christ from the dead,” he wrote, “is a shared resurrection of the entire race of mortals and a foretaste of the perfection of all, as well as of the fulfilment of the Divine Oikonomia in the heavenly Kingdom.” It is through the Church that we share in His Resurrection: “We participate in the ineffable mystery of the Resurrection in the Church, being sanctified in its sacraments and experiencing Pascha, ‘which has opened to us the gates of Paradise.’”

This Paschal spirit, His All-Holiness explained in his Patriarchal Encyclical for Holy Pascha 2023, permeates the entire existence of the Church on earth: “In all of its dimensions,” the Ecumenical Patriarch explained, “the life of the Church is invigorated by the ineffable joy of the Resurrection. The ‘experience of resurrection’ is witnessed in the labors of the Saints and Martyrs of our faith, as well as in the liturgical and sacramental life, the proclamation of the Gospel ‘to the ends of the earth,’ the devotion and spirituality of the faithful, their sacrificial love and Christian conduct, but also in their expectation of a world where ‘death will no longer exist, nor will there be mourning, wailing or suffering’ (Rev. 21:4).”

Read more here: https://archons-of-the-ecumenical-patriarchate.visitlink.me/YCoUkB

04/08/2026

Come, O faithful, let us work zealously for the Master, for He distributes wealth to His servants. Let each of us, according to his or her ability increase the talent of grace …

(Sung with the Aposticha at Matins and Vespers on Holy Tuesday)

During Holy Week, our penitence is brought to a high level of intensity, at a dosage that we cannot tolerate for long. But here we are pushed to our limits, because our Lord Himself, the King of Glory, who made the heavens and the earth, is on His way to being betrayed, abandoned, and slaughtered. Matters do not get any more serious than that, so we have to make sure we are paying full attention. ...

The hymn encourages us to goad each other to work zealously: Don't almost do something; don't just think about doing it, don't do it in a half-baked way. Do it, and do it well, for the sake of God.

The hymn reminds us that God gives the wedding garment; God gives the talent. Without His initial gift, we have nothing, we are nothing. But once we realize that God has filled our otherwise empty vessels, it is very much up to us to take up His gift, and to act on it.

—Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, “A Hymn of Invitation,” in Holy Week: A Series of Meditations

03/28/2026

“Almsgiving soars over everything—it journeys through the air, across the moon, over the sun, reaches to Heaven itself; but it does not stop there—it stretches over Heaven too—soaring over the Angels and Archangels, over all Heavenly Powers and presents herself before the very Throne of the King of Kings!” ~St. John Chrysostom

Great Lent is a time of contemplation and action. Give alms today: iocc.org/lent26

03/28/2026

To be united with Christ means to suffer and die with Him before being raised to eternal life.

As we prepare ourselves for the Kingdom through faith, repentance, and service to others, we draw near to God.

May we continuously seek to become like our Lord, seeking not to be served but to serve.

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📸 Department of Religious Education (DRE)

03/28/2026

"The Annunciation" (1898), by Henry Ossawa Tanner, Philadelphia Museum of Art