How is the day of resurrection to be celebrated by Christians?
According to the Lord Jesus Christ (Mrk 12:10–11), the prophecy of the Psalm has been fulfilled in him: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psa 118:22–24 [117 LXX], the Paschal psalm; see Q542).
From the very time of Christ’s resurrection, his disciples have remembered it every week. The book of Acts records the disciples coming together “on the first day of the week… to break bread” (Act 20:7; see Q537, Q607); and in the Apocalypse the Apostle John writes that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (kyriakē)” (Rev 1:10; see Q055, Q537), the day on which the memorial of the Lord’s death and resurrection is celebrated (1Co 11:26; see Q210, Q343).
Except for a cause ‘worthy of a blessing’, such as illness or other grave impediment, Orthodox Christians are to “assemble as church” on the Lord’s Day, having properly prepared themselves to partake of the Holy Mysteries.
In addition to the weekly observance of the Lord’s Day, the resurrection is celebrated once a year with surpassing solemnity, on the great feast called Pascha, the Feast of Feasts.
