Easter, Feast of Triumph

By Joseph Kreuter, O.S.B.

Christmas and Easter, the outstanding festivals of the Church Year, commemorate two great mysteries of Christianity that have been heralded by angels from on high in these words: "This day is born to you a Savior" and: "He is risen, He is not here."

Both days are days of intense supernatural joy, a joy that cannot be experienced but by souls possessing supernatural faith. For this reason, gloom was characteristic of ancient paganism, and the pagan of our age seeks his joy in the resurrection of Mother Nature all about him this time of year. But many and fruitful are the thoughts that surge upon the mind of us Christians as we reread the simple yet sublime recital of the Evangelist recounting the resurrection of God made Man.

True, they are old; still, as we dwell upon them at each recurrence of this glorious festival, they seem to tell us more of life, conquest, victory and triumph than they did when we were in the prime of life. Perhaps the reason for this is because modern paganism, representing death, defeat, slavery and inward misery, is growing apace in the world today and the Easter joy of Christians stands in solemn contrast to the gloom of this new paganism. We are carried back in spirit to the first Easter morning, and, as we stand before the hallowed tomb, we see the great stone rolled back and the grave cloths lying about; we behold

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Easter, Feast of Triumph

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the angels clad in white robes, guarding the empty tomb; we catch the echo of the exultant message they proclaim to the holy women, who had come out of Jerusalem to anoint the dead Christ’s body: "Be not affrighted. You seek Jesus of Nazareth. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid Him"— and at the gladsome tidings our hearts are filled with holy joy.

At the same time, we cannot help but feel for the many millions of men, women and children living in this Christian era, who are yet not ready to accept the joyous message of their Savior’s Resurrection, not a few of them even striving to undo the work of the Redeemer of mankind. Julian the Apostate in the early centuries of Christianity had endeavored to annihilate the power of the Christian religion, but had lost his battle, and, dying an infamous death, had cried out: "Galilean, Thou hast conquered!"

Many centuries have since passed, other enemies of Christ came, failed miserably and died. Because they refused to accept the Christmas message: "This day is born to you a Savior," they were deemed unworthy to receive the Easter message: "He is risen": they continued to walk along in the shadow of death until death overtook them and laid them low without the hope of ever rising unto new life. Their lives were dismal failures as must be the lives of all who fail to follow Him who said: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

On Friday before Easter, when Christ hung dead and in shame upon the cross, His life was a failure, so at least it seemed. Today He turns that failure into triumph and rises in glory, a conqueror over the grave, a victor over death, thus assuring His followers that He was all that He had professed Himself to be, and that He would do all that He had pledged Himself to do. This is Christ’s day of victory, and because we wish to return Him love for the great love He manifested for us, we rejoice with Him in His triumph and glory, crying out with His Church: "This is the day the Lord had made, let us rejoice and be glad therein. Alleluia!"

Easter is a day of victory—victory so complete it knows no equal in the long history of the world. It is a day of conquest—conquest so tremendous that no thought of ours can compass its grandeurs. There have been many conquests as recorded in the annals of the world; but all man’s conquests are incomplete, many of them even pave the way to utter defeat later on. There is one enemy that as yet knows no defeat, that could boast of universal conquest.

He has laid low billions of human beings in the long history of mankind, and day by day, hour by hour, he leads his victims captive to the grave. He spares no one; he makes the earth a huge cemetery for men, women and children, for the learned and the ignorant, for the hero and the coward, for the saint and the criminal—all silent witnesses to the complete sway of this universal conquer—Death.

One might expect that mankind in general and each thinking man and woman in particular throughout the centuries should have looked out for Someone who had the power to conquer Death and thus by a singular triumph and unique victory prove himself to be the Lord over life and death. Thus would a real meaning be given to man’s life on this earth and true and lasting joy be afforded to countless souls that are still groping in the darkness and gloom of paganism. Easter is the triumphal festival of Him who alone has conquered Death and who alone was able to carry out such a conquest. He who proclaimed Himself the Truth, the Life and the Resurrection, the Omnipotent God, has proved that He has power over life and death, that He is the Son of the Most High. On Good Friday we saw Him die in ignominy and agony on the cross. With hearts full of grief, we silently watched Mary and the rest of the faithful followers prepare the dead and mangled Body for His burial: in spirit we accompanied the little funeral procession to where they laid Him in His alien tomb. How strange it all was! He seemed to be the Lord over life and death. Once He had stopped a small funeral procession near the village of Naim and restored the young son to his widowed mother. Again He had conquered Death at Bethany when He called Lazarus, in whose body decomposition had already set in, back to life with the words: "Lazarus, come forth!" But now He Himself had died and been buried. Is He really dead?

There cannot be the least doubt on this score. Will He remain dead? He cannot remain dead, because He is the Author of life and the Conqueror of death.

He had said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away. I am the Resurrection and the Life." His tomb is no like other tombs. His tomb on the glorious Easter morning was empty. It is the tomb of the triumphant Conqueror of death. It is the tomb that is guarded by His angels who declare: "He is risen, He is not here."

Never before was such a message given to man.

Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.

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