Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!
The Leavetaking of Pascha is often understood, on some level, to be a sorrowful occasion; we take our leave fondly, looking forward to next year. More truly, the leavetaking of Pascha is anything but sorrowful. We leave behind the celebration of Pascha so that we can embrace the celebration of Ascension, and then Pentecost, and then All Saints. Christ came and suffered and died and rose, not so that he could remain alone, but so that he could bear much fruit. He, the Firstborn of the dead, now prepares to ascend so that he can send his Spirit, so that his apostles can reap the bountiful harvest of the sowing of salvation, so that he can become the firstborn of many brethren, glorified in the council of his saints, reigning as God in the midst of gods - deified human beings - his friends and children and disciples. It is the icon of All Saints that gives us the image of the future age, in which all the saved partake of Christ, the true Pascha, forever.