Metropolitan Konstantin of Cairo and Northern Africa sent Paschal Epistle to the priests, deacons, monastics and all the faithful of the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa.
Dear fathers, brothers and sisters!
Christ is Risen!
I wholeheartedly greet you on the main feast of our Church, the Pascha of the Lord, the Bright Resurrection of Christ!
Through his suffering, death, and three-day Resurrection, Christ has conquered death, shattered the gates of Hades, and gave the opportunity to every believer to become a partaker of a new life in Him, here on earth.
What is this life? What do we know about it?
On the one hand, we know very little. The Apostle Paul says: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
On the other hand, we know that this is eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It is not momentary, not fleeting. It is given to us forever.
Eternal life is blessedness, joy, and true happiness. These are not merely human emotions, but a genuine state of being, whose source is the grace of God. It is the happiness of eternal communion with our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.
Eternal life with God is composed of love. “He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).
How can one become a partaker of eternal life? Through faith, by following the commandments of God and through union with Christ in the Communion of the Holy Mysteries.
And how can we know that this life is within us? “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35), says the Lord.
Love is readiness for self-denial, self-sacrifice, and service to one’s neighbour. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).
May the Risen Christ help us perform deeds of love, bearing witness to Him before the world, and to the life which He graciously grants us!
The grace of God be with you all.
Metropolitan of Cairo and Northern Africa,
Patriarchal Exarch of Africa of the Russian Orthodox Church
Easter, 2026
