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