St Peters Orthodox Church

When our Lord gave up His Spirit, He immediately descended into the darkness of the prison for every soul up to that point called Hades. There the darkness gave way because the Light of the World had come. He broke asunder the gates of Hades and crushed the head of Satan, the serpent. And upon His Resurrection, the darkness of the tomb became brilliant with the Resurrection light. Tonight we consider that Christ's descent into Hades and His Resurrection in the tomb is the story of us all. He has, at our Baptism, descended into our Hades to release us. And, the tomb of our soul is now filled with His life.