The Orthodox Church and Easter

The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches split in 1054 over issues of theology, politics, clerical reform, and others more cultural in nature, when Pope Leo IX excommunicated the patriarch of Constantinople. One of the differences that remains today is the calendar used to determine the timing of Easter: Orthodoxy retained the Julian calendar when the Roman church adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582.

In most of the countries of east Europe, only the older generations are regular Orthodox church attenders. Easter is the exception, as the most important holiday in the year, where crowds of people flock to services. In many of the local languages, the word for Easter translates Passover – due to the strong connection with the Jewish festival of the same name. Hence, lamb is the preferred meat served on Easter, whenever it is possible financially.

In Orthodoxy, every Sunday service is a celebration of the resurrection, so Easter takes on special significance by honoring the 50 days prior to Easter ( similar to Lent in the Roman church ) as a time of strengthening one’s faith and devotion through prayer and fasting, and the 50 days after Easter as Pentecost, where the Spirit of God and union with Him is celebrated and enjoyed.

On the Tuesday of Holy Week, the day is devoted to reading Scripture. Wednesday is when believers are anointed with oil. Thursday is when eggs are colored, churches and homes are decorated, and the Lord’s Table is celebrated.

Eggs play a special role, representing the resurrection of Christ from the tomb to everlasting life. In some traditional areas, the hard-boiled eggs will all be colored blood red, elsewhere they are very colorful and used as decoration: hollowed out eggs are hung from newly-budding willow branches, wooden carved eggs adorn apartments as knickknacks, special egg breads with three braids are prepared – sometimes with an odd-number of hard-boiled eggs baked in … and now of course, chocolate and candy eggs are popular with the children across the region.

Services and public celebrations are held on Good Friday, often including lengthy funeral processions. The mid-night mass on Saturday is the most important moment in Orthodox communities. After a special sequence of service elements, including the blessing of the eggs and breads, the mass ends with the priest coming out from behind the altar into the darkened sanctuary with a lighted candle. He then lights one person’s candle, who lights another’s, until the whole church is awash with the light of the resurrection. At the stroke of 12:00, families gather together and kiss one another with a special fondness while saying “Christ has risen … He has risen indeed!” It’s a sort of linking of the generations, recognizing that the older generation may not celebrate another Easter and the younger will take on more and more responsibility within the faith and family structure. In many rural areas, the people then file out of the church, fanning out across the entire village, careful not to let their candles go out … in order to bring the light of the world to their neighborhoods. In some places, the candles are then used to commemorate the event, and mark people’s homes and families as “blessed”.

Sunday is for family and sometimes church-wide feasts. In Bulgaria, the eggs that are blessed at the mid-night mass are brought together, each person choosing one to tap against the egg of a neighbor or family member. This continues until only one egg’s shell is left unbroken, the owner of which is assured a blessed year. In other places, the consecrated eggs are cracked against the side of the church Saturday night, and are the first items eaten to break the long fast.

The solemnity and traditional celebrations of Holy Week will naturally occur more frequently in the smaller villages and out-laying areas, but even the largest cities of Orthodox east Europe will ring with bells on April 26th announcing it is time for the faithful to gather for mid-night mass.

Warren D. Carter

Orthodoxy & Easter

7.Mar.03