"Thy Resurrection, O Christ Our Savior,
The Angels in Heaven Sing!"
The celebration of the most joyous Christian holiday, the Resurrection of Christ, began with the Paschal matins at the Church of the Holy Prohpet St Elijah in Corby. In the early morning, the Holy Plaštanica (Shroud) was taken from the grave to the sacred throne in the altar, and then with the solemn ringing of bells and chanting of the serves of Voskresenije Tvoje Hriste (Thy Resurrection, O Christ Our Saviour) rescued ... a procession began around the temple. The whole congregation encircled the Church. After reentering the temple, Paschal matins continued with joyful chanting of the hymn: Vaskrsenja je dan, prosvetimo se ljudi ...! Along with the faithful, Protinica Seka sang the responses admirably, as she does for every Divine Liturgy.
At the end of matins, Proto Radmilo blessed the Paschal eggs and food, that the faithful had brought along. They were joined for Paschal celebrations, as has become our traditional, by our Orthodox brothers and sisters from other jurisdictions (Russians, Romanians, Poles ...).
At the end, Proto Radmilo shared the Easter Eggs amongst the faithful with the greeting: "Christ is Risen - Truly He is Risen"!
Once celebrations were completed in Corby, the Paschal Liturgy was served in the English Church of St. Paul's in Bedford, where it has been regularly held for 50 years.
With the chanting of the Paschal hymn, "Hristos Vaskrse iz mrtvih, smrću smrt uništi ..." (Christ is risen from the dead, Trampling down death by death), the Liturgy was served by the parish's Proto Radmilo Stokić, with beautiful responses by the parish Choir. The Epistle was read by Dragan Simić and assisting at the altar were Petar and Danilo Simić. Despite St. Paul's Church being rather spacious it was nevertheless filled with the faithful, children and adults.
At the end of Divine Liturgy, Proto Radmilo blessed the Easter eggs, which the faithful brought home, to continue the celebration of this "The Feast of All Feasts" within their family circles.
May the joy of the Resurrection of Christ be upon you all:
CHRIST IS RISEN + TRULY HE IS RISEN !!!