Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"From its very beginning Christianity has been the proclamation of joy, of the only possible joy on earth. It rendered impossible all joy we usually think of as possible. But within this impossibility, at the very bottom of this darkness, it announced and conveyed a new all-embracing joy, and with this joy it transformed the End into a Beginning. Without the proclamation of this joy Christianity is incomprehensible. It is only as joy that the Church was victorious in the world, and it lost the world when it lost that joy, and ceased to be a credible witness to it. Of all accusations against Christians, the most terrible one was uttered by Nietzsche when he said that Christians had no joy." -- Alexander Schmemann (b. 1921-09-13, d. 1983-12-13), For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy (1970)

[I wouldn't say it's "the only possible joy on earth", as I've seen a lot of non-Christians I know experience & share very real, magnificent joy as well. But I do particularly like, "Without the proclamation of this joy Christianity is incomprehensible." With that in mind, and knowing I've just quoted an Orthodox priest for Western Easter, I wish that joy upon all who celebrate Easter on the Western calendar today! Christos anesti -- He is risen!]