Why Three Days?

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Pascha - The Fourth Day (Bright Wednesday)

"Important too is the reason why Christ rose after three days and not in a shorter or longer space of time. Christ could have risen immediately after His death on the Cross, but He rose on the third day in order to make more credible the mystery of His death, which might otherwise have been doubted. He did not wait longer, letting the mystery of the resurrection be slandered in the intervening time. For the longer the delay, the more problems and questions would be created in the minds of the Jews and the Disciples. Therefore the time of three days was the most suitable for the mystery of death not to be doubted and the mystery of Christ's Resurrection not to be slandered."

From The Feasts of the Lord, by Archbishop Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos.