The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior!!! Christ Is Risen!

Christ
– the central figure; He is robed in white to denote His Divinity. In
some icons you will see the aureole (elongated halo) encompasses Him,
this also symbolizes this brilliant Light; at His feet are the brass
gates of Hades which He has demol-ished. Also visible are the keys and
broken locks to these gates at His feet.

Adam our Forefather
– being pulled from his tomb by Christ; he is portrayed as an old man
with white hair and beard; the hymns of the Church speak of Adam being
"recalled" to his primordial innocence by the Incarnation.

Eve our Forbearer
– being raised from her tomb immediately behind the figure of Adam; she
is portrayed as an old woman; the hymns of our Church speak of Eve
being "set free" from her sin in Eden by the Incarnation.

The Righteous of the Old Testament
– the group of figures on the ex-treme left represents those righteous
individuals who lived and died before the Incarnation; the two figures
are the Holy Kings, Saint David the Psalmist and his son, Saint Solomon
the Wise.

The Righteous of the New Testament – the
group of figures on the ex-treme right represents those righteous
individuals who died after the Incar-nation but before Christ’s death
and resurrection. Saint John the Baptist and Forerunner is inf ront of
this group.

Scriptural References
Epistle: Acts 1: 1-8
Gospel: John 1: 1 – 17

From The Theology of the Church

The
Church teaches that while the body of Christ rested in the tomb on the
Sabbath (the day after the Crucifixion), His soul descended into Hades.
Prior to the Incarnation the gates of paradise were closed to mankind.
Therefore, Hades, not to be confused with Hell, was the place where the
souls of all went upon death. It was neither a place of reward nor a
place of punishment. It had been likened to Death’s "prison" where the
souls of both the just and the sinners were confined. Since Christ
actually died upon the Cross, Death claimed His soul for Hades.
However, Hades re-ceived more than it expected … it received the
Giver of Life, who destroyed the power of Hades. This icon of the
Resurrection portrays this concept and we have New Life and a Hope to live in this world!