Happy Easter to all of More To The Story’s readers!
For most Christians and Catholics, today is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
However, for Greek Orthodox followers such as myself, Easter comes on a different day and this year it is celebrated on May 5.
Greek Easter, also known as Orthodox Easter, follows the same principle of determining its date as Easter in other Christian denominations. It is calculated based on the spring equinox, usually occurring around March 20 or 21. The date is determined by the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox, as established by the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. This results in the date of Easter changing each year due to variations in solar and lunar movements.
The reason for the different date is due to the calendars used by the Eastern Orthodox Church (Julian Calendar) and the Roman Catholic Church (Gregorian Calendar). The Julian and Gregorian calendars currently differ by 13 days.
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Typical celebrations include Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the Passion weekend, commemorating Jesus' betrayal and arrest by Judas.
Greek Orthodox Christians celebrate this day by making or buying tsoureki, a sweet braided bread symbolizing the Trinity with its three braids and may be adorned with a boiled egg that has been dyed red to symbolize Christ's blood.
In fact, a lot of eggs are dyed blood red on this day in preparation for Easter Sunday. Additional eggs are also typically decorated with ornate designs or religious iconography.
Good Friday is a day of mourning for the crucifixation of Christ.
There are special masses held and the church may have an epitáphios (Greek for tomb or grave) on display, which is usually a cloth with iconography depicting Christ on the Cross embroidered on it. In Greece, following a mass, the epitáphios is typically part of a processional through the streets of a town.
Holy Saturday, the day Christ’s body was laid in his tomb, is usually a quiet day with family for reflection before heading to a midnight service at one’s church.
The service can sometimes have a symbolic candle lighting activity initiated by the priest after stating “Christos Anesti,” which means “Christ has risen.” In response, worshippers will say “Alithos Anesti,” which means “He has truly risen.”
The candle lit by the priest is then passed from person to person, lighting their own candle from it.
Jesus has risen from his tomb on Easter Sunday and there may be additional church services.
This is a big feast day for Greeks with a variety of foods but with a roast lamb as the main course. The lamb is also symbolic as Jesus was the lamb of God. This is also a day for a special tradition of tsougrisma, which is the cracking of the eggs dyed red earlier in the week.
So what’s the deal with the red egg cracking?
Well, as already mentioned, the red color is to symbolize Christ’s blood.
The cracking part is symbolic of Christ leaving his tomb.
Each person selects their egg then taps one end of it against another person’s egg. The goal is to keep your egg uncracked. Whoever has the least cracked egg is supposed to have good luck for the coming year.
Similarly, the sweet breads baked for Easter Sunday will often contained a coin baked into them. Whoever gets the coin in their slice will also have a year’s good luck.