Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!
The myrrh-bearing women are a constant presence in the hymns of the Resurrection, both during this bright Paschal season and on Sundays throughout the year. These holy women appear to us as those who receive the message of the Resurrection, both from angels (as in the hypakoe of Pascha) and from Christ himself (as in the kontakion of the feast), and also as those who declare that message, both to the apostles (as in the Paschal aposticha) and to the world (as heard again in the festal hypakoe). More to the point, we might say that they – as a group, at least – receive the message of the Resurrection from Christ through his angels. Likewise, they declare that message to the world through the apostles, who received the myrrh-bearers’ glad tidings and incorporated that joyful proclamation into their apostolic preaching. The myrrh-bearers’ good news is enfolded into the Gospel received and read throughout the churches. Hence, these holy women testify to Christ’s Resurrection throughout all times and seasons, even to the end of the age. Through their prayers, may we always behold his Resurrection and faithfully venerate his Cross, tomb, and Rising from the dead.