The Gift of Easter

"By far the strongest poison to the human spirit is the inability to forgive oneself or another person."  - Caroline Myss

~~~

Luke 23:34 KJV:
 "Then said Jesus: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do ..."

~~*~~

You cannot know what being forgiving is until you are able to do.

For your own well being and that of others, practice forgiving.

To practice forgiving is to practice unconditional love.

To practice unconditional love is to practice Being.

To practice Being is to Work.

Know that to forgive is not to allow those you forgive to continue to abuse you.

Know yourself
Know your boundaries,
Honor value, cherish and respect yourself - not from ego but from Being in an awakened, and conscious state.

To Know yourself is to Be present.

To Be, you must practice the Work every day, in every way.

Nothing is more important. 

Easter

Stations of the Cross ~ la via Dolorosa

Judas played his part well

Gethsemane - an angel came to keep Jesus company while he waited for what he knew was to come

Arrested in Gethsemane

On trial

Mocked, taunted, tortured and beaten, and crowned with thorns

He dedicated himself to doing and enduring all this for all of us for all of eternity

Crucified

La Pieta ~ the pity

Resurrection

Women at the tomb

Ascension

The Octave of Easter

Russian Icon  16th Century

This entire post is taken from Wikipedia:

"The term Octave of Easter [can] refer to the eight day period from Easter Sunday until the Sunday following Easter, inclusive; or it may only refer to that Sunday after Easter, the Octave Day of Easter sometimes known as Low Sunday.

That Sunday is also known historically as St. Thomas Sunday St. Thomas Sunday is so called because the Gospel reading always relates the story of "Doubting Thomas," in which Thomas the Apostle comes to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus only after being told by the resurrected Christ to place his finger in the nail marks and his hand in His side. In the Gospel accounts, this event takes place on the eighth day after the Resurrection, hence their significance for this Sunday (John 20:19-29

In the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox and certain Eastern Catholic churches, the first Sunday after Pascha (Easter) is known as Thomas Sunday, after the Gospel passage read that day (John 20:19-31) which recounts the story of Christ appearing to the Apostle Thomas in order to dispel his doubt about the Resurrection. It should be noted that among Eastern Christians Thomas is not so much remembered as "doubting Thomas," but is rather remembered for his confession of faith: "My Lord and my God," thus being the first to publicly proclaim the two natures of Christ: human and divine.

The entire week from Pascha to Thomas Sunday, known as Bright Week or Renewal Week, is considered to be one continuous day. The hymns chanted every day are identical to those chanted on the Sunday of Pascha, with the exception of a few parts that are taken from the Octoechos (the "Book of the Eight Tones"). Each day has a different tone: Easter Sunday is Tone One, Bright Monday is Tone Two, and so on through the eight tones (skipping Tone Seven, the "Grave Tone"). On Bright Friday, in addition to the normal Paschal hymns, special stichera and a canon in honor of the Theotokos (Mother of God) are chanted in commemoration of her Icon of the "Life-giving Spring." During all of Bright Week the Royal Doors on the Iconostasis are kept open—the only time of the year when this occurs. The doors are closed before the Ninth Hour on the eve of Thomas Sunday. However, the Afterfeast of Pascha will continue until the eve of the Ascension.

Be Peace

Be Love

Be Good

BE

Good Friday

After Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, he was brought before Caiaphas, high priest and chairman of the Sanhedrin, and the elders and scribes. Painting of Christ being tried in front of Caiaphas Peter followed at a safe distance and sat in the crowd to (Matt 26:57) "see the end". Caiaphas "sought false witness" against Christ, he was accused of blasphemy and sentenced to die. He was tormented, ridiculed, beaten and spit on and taunted by his captors.  

Painting of Christ being tried by Pilate

The next morning (now observed as Black Friday or Good Friday) Jesus was taken to Pilate, the Roman governor  who questioned him further.  Judas, seeing what was happening to Jesus returned to the temple priests and elders and said, Matthew 27:4 that he had, "sinned in that I have I have betrayed the innocent blood." The elders replied, "What is that to us? See thou to that". Judas threw the 30 pieces of silver down in the temple and then went away and hanged himself. Pilate passed off the the responsibility  of condemning Jesus to death to the people by giving them the choice of liberating Christ or another prisoner in honor of the feast day. At the persuasion of the priests and elders the people chose Barabbas, the other prisoner. Pilate asked the crowd what he should do with Christ; they all said, Matthew 27: "Let him be crucified". Pilate asked them, "Why? For what evil hath he done?" but they insisted again that he crucify Christ.  Pilate symbolically washed his hands in water, washing his hands of the deed saying, 27:24 "I am innocent of the blood of this person, see ye to it." thus passing responsibility back to them. The people accepted saying, 27:25 "His blood be on us and on our children" Pilate gave the people Barabbas, had Jesus  27:26 "scourged" and handed him over to the soldier to be crucified.  27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus to the common hall and gathered together the whole band of soldiers. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and made a crown of thorns and put it on his head, they mocked him by bowing and saying "Hail King of Jews." They spit on him and hit him.

Once the sadistic brutes were done making sport and tormenting Jesus, they put his own clothes back on him and took him to Golgotha to be crucified. There, they nailed him to the cross, and 27:34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He tasted it, He would not drink. They took his clothes and gambled for them - fulfilling another part of the old prophecy. 27:36 And sitting down they watched him there.

 

 Painting by Albrecht 

27:39 Many passersby and people in the crowd taunted him and challenged him to get God to take him down from the cross. The chief priests, elders and scribes stood in the crowd mocking him. They said, 28:42 "He saved others but cannot save himself; if he is the King of Israel let him come down from the cross now and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now for he said , 'I am the son of God'. " Even the two thieves being crucified the same day taunted him with the same words.

27:45 Now, from the sixth hour there was darkness all over the land unto the ninth hour, 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, "My God, My God, Why hath thou forsaken me?" John 28-30 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

  Matthew 27:51 And behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake and the rocks did rent; 52 And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. 55 And came out of their graves after his resurection and went into the city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and they that were watching Jesus saw the earth quake and those things that were done. they feared greatly and said, "Truly this was the Son of God." 55 And many women were there beholding afar off which followed Jesus from Galilee ministering to him : 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses (now known as the Virgin Mother), and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Matthew 27: 57, 58, 59. When evening came Joseph of Arimethae, a disciple of Christ, went to Pilate and begged him for the body of Christ; Pilate commanded the body be delivered.  Joseph wrapped Jesus in a clean cloth, laid him in his own tomb, rolled a huge stone in front of the opening to the sepulcher and left. 61 And mary Magdeline and the other Mary stayed sitting over by the tomb. 62 The next day the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate 27: 63, 64, 65, to get him to post a Roman guard over the tomb so Christ's followers could not take the body away and then claim Christ's prophesy that he would be resurrected in three days came true. Pilate sent guards and the priests sent guards and they sealed the tomb and set a watch on it.