Thursday. The Annunciation and the institution of the sacrament of the Body and Blood. What a combination! We partake of the true Body and true Blood of Christ, the very same that in the Incarnation were received from the immaculate blood of the Most-Pure Virgin Mother of God. Thus, in the Incarnation, which took place at the hour of the Annunciation, the foundation was laid for the mystery of the Body and Blood. And now this is brought to the memory of all Christians, so that, remembering this, they should honor the Most Holy Theotokos with their true matter, not only as a woman of prayer and intercessor, but also as the nourisher of all. Children are nourished by their mother's milk, and we are nourished by the Body and Blood, which are from the Most Holy Virgin Mother of God. Eating in this way, we drink essentially milk from Her breasts.

Friday. The Crucifixion of Christ the Lord and the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel! A new comforting combination! Gabriel foretells the birth of the Forerunner; Gabriel preaches the Gospel to the Virgin; he also probably proclaimed the joy of the birth of the Saviour; no one else proclaimed to the women about the Resurrection of Christ the Lord. Thus, Gabriel is the herald and bringer of all joy. The Crucifixion of Christ is the joy and joy of all sinners. The sinner, who has come to the sense of his sinfulness and the all-righteous truth of God, has nowhere to hide but under the shadow of the cross. Here he accepts the assurance that he has no forgiveness as long as he stands alone before God with his sins and even with tears for them. For him, the only salvation is in the Lord's death on the cross. On the cross, the handwriting of all sins is torn. And everyone who accepts this with full faith becomes a partaker of this sacrament of pardon. With the suspicion of this faith, the certainty of mercy matures, and at the same time the joy of entering into a state of mercy for all ages. The cross is a source of joy, because the sinner drinks from it by faith the joy of mercy. In this respect, he is a kind of archangel who preaches joy.

Saturday. (Romans 6:3-11; Matt. 28:1-20). The Lord sleeps in the grave with His body, but with His soul He descended into hell and preached salvation to the spirits who were there. All the saints of the Old Testament were not in paradise, although they remained in the consoling faith that they would be brought there as soon as the Promised One, in Whom they had lived, came to earth. His coming was foreshadowed by the Forerunner there as well. When the Lord descended, all those who believed cleaved to Him, and were raised up to paradise by Him. But this paradise is only the threshold of the real paradise, which is to be revealed after the general resurrection and judgment. In it, too, all the New Testament saints, although blessed, await even greater and more perfect blessedness in the age to come, with a new heaven and a new earth, when God will be all in all.

The Bright Resurrection of Christ

(Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17). Pascha, the Lord's Pascha! The Lord brought us from death to life by His Resurrection. And now this Resurrection is "sung by the angels in heaven," having seen the brightness of the deified nature of man in the glory predestined for him in the person of the Lord the Redeemer, in whose image by the power of His Resurrection all those who truly believe in Him and cling to Him wholeheartedly had to be transformed. Glory, O Lord, to Thy most glorious Resurrection! The angels sing, rejoicing in us and foreseeing the replenishment of their host; vouchsafe us, O Lord, to glorify Thee Risen with a pure heart, seeing in Thy Resurrection the cessation of the corruption that devours us, the seeding of a new life of the most radiant and the dawn of the future eternal glory, into which Thou didst enter as a forerunner through the Resurrection for our sake. Only inhuman, but at the same time angelic tongues are not able to express Thy ineffable mercy to us, O most gloriously risen Lord!

Monday. (Acts 1:12-17; 21–26; John 1:18-28). Announcing the Incarnation of the Lord, the angel says: "Rejoice, full of grace!" and, announcing to the pastors the birth of Christ the Savior, he also says: "Behold the great joy that preaches to you." But, announcing to the women about the Resurrection of the Lord, the angel only says: "He is not here, He is risen!" He does not add "rejoice," for joy will fill the heart by itself, as soon as the confirmation comes that the Lord is truly risen. At that time this assurance was tangible: the angel prepared it, the Lord completed it by His appearance. And everyone's joy was inexhaustibly complete! Now we have a church, dwellings and squares — everything is clothed in the garment of joy, and everyone is carried away by the general flow of joy. But move your thoughts a little away from the outward and, gathering yourself in your heart, raise up the truth of the Resurrection in all its breadth, depth and height, so that you may not only outwardly appear rejoicing, but also carry within yourself the spirit of joy emanating from within, like a spring of bright water gushing out of the bowels of the earth.

Tuesday. (Acts 2:14-21; Luke 24:12-35). Then the Jews tried to obscure the light of Christ's Resurrection with a light fog of lies: "The disciples stole." This insignificance was easy to overcome, and the truth triumphed. But even to this time the enemy does not cease to befog before the Sun of the Resurrection, hoping to eclipse it. Let no one be confused! What can we expect from the father of lies, except lies? He taught many of his minions to write whole books against the Resurrection. This book fog is dispelled by books. Do not take a bad book and you will not lose your mind, but if you happen to accidentally attack such a book, take a good book as an antidote and refresh your head and chest. There is another fog from the enemy — in thoughts. But this one will immediately dissipate, like smoke from the wind, from the sound reasoning of Christians. Consider all that has happened, and you will see clearly as day that all this could not have been accomplished otherwise than by the power of Christ's Resurrection. This conviction will then be for you a stronghold, on which you will easily begin to repel and defeat the enemies of the truth.