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Easter Celebrations &
History
Religious Easter Traditions in Eastern Christianity
Easter is the fundamental and most important festival of the Eastern
and Oriental Orthodox. Every other religious festival on their
calendars, including Christmas, is at best secondary in importance to
the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. This is reflected in
the cultures of countries that are traditionally Orthodox Christian
majority. Easter-connected social customs are native and rich.
Christmas customs, on the other hand, are usually foreign imports,
either from Germany or the USA. Eastern Rite Catholics in communion
with the Pope of Rome have similar emphasis in their calendars, and
many of their liturgical customs are very similar.
This is not to say that Christmas and other elements of the Christian
liturgical calendar are ignored. Instead, these events are all seen as
necessary but preliminary to the full climax of the Resurrection, in
which all that has come before reaches fulfillment and fruition.
Pascha (Easter) is the primary act that fulfils the purpose of
Christ's ministry on earth—to defeat death by dying and to purify and
exalt humanity by voluntarily assuming and overcoming human frailty.
This is succinctly summarized by the Paschal Troparion, sung
repeatedly during Pascha until the Apodosis of Pascha (which is the
day before Ascension):
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing life!
Celebration of the holiday begins with the "anti-celebration" of Great
Lent. In addition to fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, Orthodox are
supposed to reduce all entertainment and non-essential activity,
gradually eliminating them until Holy Friday. Traditionally, on the
evening of Holy Saturday, the Midnight Office is celebrated shortly
after 11:00 pm. At its completion all light in the church building is
extinguished. A new flame is struck in the altar, or the priest lights
his candle from a perpetual lamp kept burning there, and he then
lights candles held by deacons or other assistants, who then go to
light candles held by the congregation. Entirely lit by candle, the
priest and congregation process around the church building,
re-entering ideally at the stroke of midnight, whereupon Matins begins
immediately followed by the Paschal Hours and then the Divine Liturgy.
Immediately after the Liturgy it is customary for the congregation to
share a meal, essentially an agape dinner (albeit at 2.00 am or
later!)
The day after, Easter Sunday proper, there is no liturgy, since the
liturgy for that day has already been celebrated. Instead, in the
afternoon, it is often traditional to hold "Agape vespers". In this
service, it has become customary during the last few centuries for the
priest and members of the congregation to read a portion of the Gospel
of John (20:19–25 or 19–31) in as many languages as they can manage.
For the remainder of the week (known as "Bright Week"), all fasting is
prohibited, and the customary greeting is "Christ is risen!", to be
responded with "Truly He is risen!"
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