Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Order of St Stanislaus.
Easter is the time of grace and redemption. In Christianity, we believe that Jesus Christ redeemed us through his death on the cross and overcame death through the resurrection, thus solving our problems in the world.
If we look closely, we realise that not a single problem has been solved and we find ourselves in a world and society that throws up one problem after another and we seem unable to solve them and despair and despair.
But Jesus Christ showed us a way, the way of love and mercy, the way of grace and letting go and thus of redemption.
If we accept the grace, the power to allow something, we will be able to forgive and let go. For it is only through forgiveness, through letting go, that we become partakers of the true redemption of Jesus Christ.
And it is only through loving letting go and merciful help in times of need that the problems of the world and humanity can be solved and redeemed.
As Ladies and Knights of the Order of St Stanislaus, we are in this world of imperfection, like lighthouses standing on rocks in the surf, in the raging sea of the world’s impurities. In this way, we humbly serve our neighbour and are real role models that many people look up to.
By living our chivalrous rules on a daily basis, namely by acting graciously and mercifully, we not only help to alleviate need with material values. Rather, we are also a light in this dark world for our fellow human beings, giving them guidance and showing them the easy path of goodwill and love.
No matter how bleak and hopeless the world may seem due to countless disasters, such as earthquakes or floods and wars, as is currently the case in Ukraine or in Israel-Gaza and much more, and the end of the world is imminent tomorrow, let us take Martin Luther’s view.
He said:
„If the world ends tomorrow, I will still plant a little tree today“
With this seed of hope of life, let us start the new year.
Ice and cold and stagnation will now be shaken off and our hearts will open joyfully and fly towards spring and be caressed by the warm sunlight.
This is also what Goethe says:
…Everyone loves to bask in the sun today.
They celebrate the resurrection of the Lord,
For they themselves have risen…
….From the streets of squeezing narrowness,
From the churches of venerable night
They are all brought to the light…
…Here is the people’s true heaven,
Satisfied rejoice great and small:
Here I am human, here I may be!
Let us stand up, step out of the night into the light, let go of our vanities and sensitivities, accept ourselves and be in the now, then we will find the true heaven.
Therefore, let us now let go of the old and open ourselves to the new, open ourselves to the bubbling spring of life. Let us open ourselves to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and accept it, only then can we ourselves rise again in Christ.
So let us rise and let us be true ladies and knights,
role models and servants in one.
With warm and blessed Easter greetings
Your Herald of the Order
Joseph
Ritter- Groenesteyn
Outside the gate
Rivers and streams are freed from the ice
By the spring’s fair, revitalising gaze,
In the valley green hopeful happiness;
The old winter, in its weakness
Retreated to the rough mountains.
From there it sends, fleeing, only
Faint showers of grainy ice
In streaks across the green meadow.
But the sun tolerates no whiteness,
Education and endeavour stir everywhere,
It wants to enliven everything with colour;
But flowers are lacking in the district,
She takes clean people for them.
Turn round, from these heights
To look back to the city!
From the hollow dark gate
A colourful crowd emerges.
Everyone likes to sunbathe today.
They celebrate the resurrection of the Lord,
For they themselves have risen:
From the dull chambers of lowly houses,
From gangs of craftsmen and tradesmen,
From the pressure of gables and roofs,
From the squeezing narrowness of the streets,
From the churches‘ venerable night
They are all brought to light.
Look, look! how nimbly the crowd
Through the gardens and fields,
How the river in width and length
Many a merry barge moves,
And, overloaded to the point of sinking,
This last barge moves away.
Even from the mountain’s distant paths
Colourful clothes flash at us.
I can already hear the hustle and bustle of the village,
Here is the people’s true heaven,
Satisfied rejoice great and small:
Here I am human, here I may be!
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust I)
