my big fat greek easter
It’s Easter time. Get out your red eggs. Oh wait, you ξένοι have already celebrated the rising of the Lord with marshmallow peeps, chocolate, and pastel colored eggs. Well I got news, mah peeps sez teh Lord rizes dis Sunday! Srsly. Why? Well let me tell you.
Greek Easter, a primer for the ξένοι.
In the Orthodox faith, the holiest of the holies is the Resurrection of Christ. Bigger than the Birth of Jesus, the Resurrection represents the largest and most involved holiday of the Orthodox calendar. I’ll quote Wikipedia here because they do a brilliant job of distilling the significance of the day.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified and died, descended into Hell (Hades in Greek), rescued all the souls held there through sin; and then, because Hell could not restrain the infinite God, rose from the dead, thus saving all mankind. Through these events, he released mankind from the bonds of Hell and then came back to the living as man and God. That each individual human may partake of this immortality, which would have been impossible without the Resurrection, is the main promise held out by God in his New Testament with mankind, according to Orthodox Christian tradition.
That’s a pretty big deal if you ask me.
Whether or not you believe in God, the moral of my tale today is to understand WHY we Greeks make a big deal out of Easter, and not to explain the belief system of the Orthodoxy. I don’t think I could ever do that.
There are three basic criteria for determining the date Orthodox Easter. First, it must be based on the Julian Calendar, not the Gregorian. I’m not going to explain the difference between the two, but that’s how it is. Julian, not Gregorian.
Second, Orthodox Easter must follow Passover. There is a complex explanation behind this fact that has to do with the vernal equinox, the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the dispersal of the Jews, and a lot of other complex history which I haven’t studied in years. Needless to say, Orthodox Easter follows Passover.
Third and final rule is that Orthodox Easter must fall on the Sunday of the first full moon after the spring equinox. A little contentious that rule is, given Gregorian vs. Julian, but it’s a rule nonetheless, despite how you determine the equinox. It’s *usually* dated around March 20something.
Got all that?
Given how the calendars converge and diverge (Julian = Orthodox, Gregorian = Christianity) at times we share the same Easter Sunday. And some years, like this one, we are over a month away from each other. Bad news for all the little Greek kids in the US because there is no Easter candy left by this time, unless their Moms decided to horde candy during the 50% off sale the day after Easter.
Anyway.
Today is Holy Friday, when mourning happens all over the Orthodoxy. We are mourning the death of Jesus on the cross. Nearly every Greek community will parade around their parish, raising an effigy of Christ that represents his dead body. That’s a traffic tip for all of you who live near an Orthodox church. I’m not sure if the other flavors of the Orthodoxy do the parade, but the Greeks definitely do.
By tomorrow, Holy Saturday, the mood has lifted and people are preparing for the biggest church service of them all. Tomorrow night, me included, Greeks will flock to church for the service that begins at 11:00pm. The ritual chanting, the incense, the ceremony of it all is beyond beautiful, and at midnight we celebrate the rising of the Lord with a candle ceremony where all the lights are extinguished in the church. Then, as the flame of resurrection blazes to life, it is passed from parishioner to parishioner (who all hold candles) until everyone has shared the flame. We sing together, and celebrate the rising of the Lord.
Holy Sunday is party time. More church, more celebration, more feasting. Good times.
There are a couple key words you can share with your Greek friends. Right now, before the midnight mass on Saturday, we say “Kali Anastaci” which means “Good Resurrection”. But after He is risen, we greet each other with “Christos Anesti!” and respond with “Alithos Anesti!” “Christ is risen!” and “Indeed, He is Risen!” That sort of talk goes on for a week or so, maybe longer depending on who you see.
I have many more tales to tell about Orthodox Easter, but for now, I’ll wish you Kali Anastaci.
