Easter is hope… Life’s triumph… Easter has joined us and we found how many many things we have in common Romania-Greece-Ukraine: Working together and sharing our traditions to celebrate the miracle of spring in nature and in our souls …in eTwinning project 2017-2018 “Welcome to our Feasts World”
ORTHODOX EASTER IN UKRAINE-GREECE-ROMANIA SHARING TRADITIONS OF ORTHODOX EASTER AMONG PARTNERS IN ETWINNING PROJECT 2017 -18 “WELCOME TO OUR FEASTS WORLD” LIVE EVENT ON 27 MARCH 2018
RESURRECTION OF JESUS “ If Christ didn’t resurrect, our faith is in vain” “Sf. Ap. Pavel ( I Corinteni 15, 17)”
The Orthodox teaching about the Jessus Resurrection isn’t separate from the whole
work of redemption, lifting of man, his removal from God.
THE CREED I believe in one God, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried; And He rose on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father; And He will come again with glory to judge the living and dead. His kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Creator of life, Who proceeds from the Father, Who together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets. In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.
THE LENT OF EASTER The Easter holiday is preceded by The Lent of Easter. This is the longest of the 4, because it takes 40 days plus The Holy Week. •Affinities: - Noah's Flood: it rained 40 days and 40 nights; - For 40 years, the Jews ate “ mană” in Egypt;
- The Lent of Jesus Christ ; • February 18: Leaving the shrovetide in the Lent; • February 19: The beginning of the Lent of Easter; • April 8: Celebrating Easter;
Δ In the first two days of the first week of the Lent, the post is black. Δ To eat fish only occurs Palm Sunday. Δ From a religious point of view, the Lent means the total or partial abstaining of certain beverages and elements, accompanied by the restraint of thoughts and bad things.
The church during The
HOLY WEEK ● The first Sunday is the Palm Sunday (Lord's entrance to Jerusalem). At the romanians it comes with shallow branches. ● In The Holy Week, the believers drinks only water. ● Thursday is the Lord's Supper. ● Thursday to Friday, our Lord Jesus Christ prayed in the Gethsemane forest. ● In Good Friday, He is crucified: dies afternoon, about 3 pm, April 14.
“Cina cea de Taină”
“DENIILE” •”Deniile” are effected begin with The Palm Sunday evening, until in The Good Friday when it sings “ Prohodul Domnului” . •”Prohodul Domnului”: the people sing, gather together and surround the church. • On the evening of the Resurrection, the priest stands with light, uttering the words "Come and take light!"
“Prohodul Domnului”
HABITS AND TRADITIONS
On the Resurrection night, the believers are encouraged to go to church and take light. The light is the symbol of the Resurrection.
In the morning, the believers wash themselves with water in which we put a red egg, basil, a coin and a nettle leaf, to be protected from evil, rough as a nettle and will smell like basil.
● The traditional Easter basket contains: “pască” ( traditional cheesecake), money, red eggs, “cozonac” ( traditional cake), candles, “ nafără “ ( holy bread) and a towel.
“Încondeierea ouălelor” is an ancient custom in Romanian tradition. “Ouăle încondeiate” are a testimony of beliefs and pascale habits. Representing a specific element of the Romanian spiritual culture.
EASTER TABLE
The red eggs The red color which the believers paint the eggs is on the one hand the fire and the blood of Jesus who has elapsed to save the world.
Easter Lamb The Lamb has always been considered a symbol of the Jesus Christ. At “ Cina Cea De Taină”, Jesus and the apostles ate lambs after the Jewish ritual.
“Cozonacul” “Cozonacul” is a sweet bread of the Resurrection and rebirth of all faith. “ Cozonacul” sends joy.
‘’Pasca’’ ‘’Pasca sfințită’’ ( holy cheesecake): has the role of eliminating diseases and troubles.
CONCLUSION In the end, we can say that the traditional Easter dishes are to a large extent a guarantee of the continuity of the culinary religious traditions.
C1 ICT class 11th Junior High School of Ilion Collaborative work on google drive 06/03/2018 and 20-02-2018
Easter in Greece
During Easter is a wonderful time to visit Greece and experience all the customs and traditions that the Greeks celebrate today that has changed very little in hundreds of years!
Easter in Greece is the biggest holiday of the year and is even more important than Christmas, with week long celebrations and traditions. The Greek Orthodox Church plays a large role in the Greek Easter, “Paska� celebrations.
Greek Orthodox Easter usually falls one week after the Western (Protestant, Catholic) Easter, while approximately once every four years it falls on the same date.
Greek Easter Traditions There are many traditions in Greece revolving around Easter and the week leading up to Easter plays a major role in these. This week is known as Holy Week or “Megali Evdomada� (literally meaning the Big Week)starting from Lazarus Saturday till Easter Sunday.
Greece plays host to religious festivals with deeply rooted customs and centuries-old traditions all year round. One of the greatest celebrations of Christianity is Easter. Orthodox Christians all over Greece follow the Holy Week ritual devoutly, giving themselves body and soul into the culmination of the Passion of Christ and finally rejoicing in His Resurrection. Let’s take a deeper insight into ancient-old rituals and traditions‌
SARAKOSTI fast for 40 days from carnival to easter As we fast this period the image has no mouth while hands are for praying. Seven legs are to depict seven weeks of fast.
Joanna & Zoe
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church (including Western Rite Orthodoxy) and the
Eastern Catholic Churches, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha(Easter).
In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity. Most years, the Eastern Pascha falls after the Western Easter, and it may be as much as five weeks later; occasionally, the two dates coincide. Like Western Lent, Great Lent itself lasts for forty days, but in contrast to the West, Sundays are included in the count. Joanna & Zoe
Lazaru’s Saturday Lazarus Saturday in the Eastern Orthodox Church is the day before Palm Sunday to which it is liturgically linked. It celebrates the raising of Lazarus of Bethany, the narrative of which is found in the Gospel of John.
Elina & Ariadni
Lazarus Saturday is the day when, traditionally, hermits would leave their retreats in the wilderness to return to the monastery for the Holy Week services. In many places in the Russian Church, the vestments and church hangings on this day and on Palm Sunday are green, denoting the renewal of life. In the Greek Church, it is customary on Lazarus Saturday to plait elaborate crosses out of palm leaves which will be used on Palm Sunday.
During Friday vespers the reading of Genesis (which began on the first day of Great Lent) is concluded with the description of the death, burial and mourning of Jacob (Genesis 49:33-50:26) and on Friday night, at compline, a Canon on the Raising of Lazarus by Saint Andrew of Crete is sung; this is a rare full canon, having all nine canticles.
PALM SUNDAY Palm Sunday is a Christian movable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event
mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Konstantinos & Antonis
Holy Monday (Megali Deftera) The first day of Holy Week. Throughout Holy Week the churches hold services at least once a day. Traditionally the people fast of meat, oil and dairy products until midnight on Easter Saturday, after the symbolic Resurrection.
Holy Tuesday Hymn of Kassia (also known as the Troparion of Kassiani), is chanted each year at Tuesday evening at the end of the aposticha.
On this day the Church commemorates the Parable of the Ten Virgins
Holy Tuesday (Megali Triti) At that day, in the morning Greek women bake Easter biscuits “koulourakia’ with oil and eggs, to be eaten when the fast is over on Saturday.
HOLY WEDNESDAY In Christianity, Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday is the last Wednesday prior to Easter Sunday; it is the
fourth day of Holy Week after Palm Sunday, Holy Monday, and Holy Tuesday. Eastern Orthodox churches,
typically mark it with readings of particular scriptures and the singing of relevant hymns.
Chris
HOLY WEDNESDAY
Holy Wednesday (Megali Tetarti) A special church service for worshippers to be blessed with oil. All household preparations must be finished today.
MAUNDY(Holy)Thursday (Megali Pempti) Communion services in church start early in the morning today.
Women dye eggs red to symbolise the blood of Christ, and bake Easter bread – Tsoureki. These will be placed on the Easter table to be eaten after Saturday.
eleni & timokleia
Ceremony in church in the evening is very important: 12 Gospels and Crusifixion. Churchgoers bow before Christ on the Cross and after the ceremony they stay in the church and they decorate the epitaph
THE TWELVE GOSPELS The twelve Gospels of the Christian Feast of the Twelve are essentially the twelve evangelical cuts, not separate gospels, which are read in the churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church on the evening of the Great Thursday, where the Good Friday serpent is celebrated. These cuts are long enough, especially the first ones, compared to those that are read in the services of the Sunday
Holy Friday (Megali Paraskevi) is a very holy day in the orthodox faith. It is a day of mourning and the church bells will ring slow and steady through the day.
Kostas
In Good Friday, millions of Orthodox Christians commemorate the events leading up to Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. For the Greek Orthodox Church, Good Friday is a day of mourning. The drama
of Jesus Christ’s death is followed with great devoutness. The icon of Jesus is taken off the cross, wrapped in linen and put it in the Epitaph, symbolizing his tomb.
People will be flocking to the church at all times of the day for prayers. It is a day of no work (or cooking).
In the evening, a procession with the epitaph will leave the church, headed by the priest and his close followers, going round the neighbourhood streets to eventually return to the church.
This procession represents the path that Jesus’ followers took, removing his body off the cross and taking it to the grave. The people gathered along the streets are lamenting the death of Christ. This procession is called Epitafios.
Holy Saturday (Megalo Savvato) The eternal flame is brought to Greece and passed on to the priests to take the flame back to their churches, where a main candle in the church is lit with this flame.
Irene Basilopoulou Dimitra Giannopoulou
On this day, people will be preparing the celebrational meal, they will cook any foods that can be prepared a day ahead and will also prepare and cook in the early evening.
Just before midnight, everyone, including children will head to their local church. There will be so many people there that they will just gather outside of the church, often with speakers to be able to hear the priest inside.
Everyone will bring along with them a thin white candle decorated that is called lambada.
Lampades The candles are bought by Godfathers or Godmothers for their godchild; common with the candles is given a gift, like new shoes or money or toys
Kostas
After midnight, the priest calls out, “Christos Anesti�, which means Christ is Risen. He will then take the flame and light the candles of those closest to him with the eternal flame.
These people will then pass the flame on to others and so on, until it has reached all the people gathered outside, and everyone’s candle is alight.
People will greet each other with “Christos Anesti”Christ is risen and reply with “Αlithos Anesti” – Truly He is Risen.
Usually a lot of fireworks follow
The crowds will then return to their homes, protecting their flames so that they don’t go out until they reach their homes. It is a wonderful sight, to see the dark night, lit up by thousands of flames moving slowly down the streets, disbursing different ways to their homes.
Once they arrive home, it is a custom to create a cross on the front door of their homes, made with the smoke of the flame. It is believed that their home will then be blessed for that year.
As midnight ends the period of lent, the Greeks will go home and traditionally sit down to a bowl of Mayiritsa – a Greek Easter soup that is always eaten on this evening.
This soup will have been prepared earlier in the evening and kept warm whilst at the church ready to eat on their return, along with tsoureki bread and the red cooked eggs.
Spiced bread, fresh cheese and traditional boiled red eggs complete the event.
The eggs are used for a special game this time of year.
On Easter Sunday a gastronomic marathon takes place. At the crack of dawn a lamb or a goat, the superstar of the Easter meal, begins to roast on the barbecues of Greece, some of which are improvised affairs constructed over holes dug in the ground
Easter Game with the Red Eggs A Greek Easter tradition is the game “tsougrisma”. Two players take a red egg each. One player holds their egg in a fist while the other player taps the end of their egg against the end of the other player’s egg. The egg which cracks is the loser. The winning egg goes on to play with other players / eggs. The last player to keep their egg intact is the winner.
When Greeks talk about Easter they are referring to the whole holiday period, but it is on the actual day of Easter (Easter Sunday) that the partying takes place.
In Central Greece they opt for lamb, whereas on the islands they prefer goat stuffed with spices, rice and chopped entrails.
Some skill is required to cook some of the dishes and it is usually the experienced ones who will prepare the “kokoretsi”, a dish made with lamb’s entrails wrapped around a spit with its bowel, and the “spleenántero”, i.e. lamb’s bowel stuffed with its spleen.
While the meat is cooking, housewives take fresh, unsalted cheese out of its cheesecloth and everyone starts nibbling away at finger food, salads and appetisers, such as the famous Greek dish “tzatziki�.
Now is the time for all the neighbours to prove themselves as accomplished amateur winemakers. Remember that “retsina�, although widely consumed in Greece, is not generally regarded as a particularly classy wine.
But there is more to come to make your mouth water and give your eyes a feast when dessert is served: Easter plaited cookies and “tsouréki”, a kind of brioche with a red egg in the middle, are sure to enchant everybody with their sweet aroma.
Delicious honey pies made of honey, eggs and mizithra cheese (a traditional, unpasteurized fresh cheese) round off the gastronomic orgy.
Easter celebrations are exciting all over Greece; some of the most famous destinations to celebrate Easter are considered to be Corfu, Skiathos, Patmos, Chios, Leonidio and Monemvasia. There you can have the oneof-a-kind opportunity to delve into an overwhelming spiritual atmosphere and participate into sacred rituals, ancient-old
Easter destinations in Greece
Spending Easter on Skiathos, the island of “the saint of the Greek literature� Alexandre Papadiamantis, is definitely a spiritual experience, as the locals observe the monastery ritual of Mount Athos, and live the Passion Week in devoutness and deep contemplation. The sound of the funeral bells ringing, and the scents of the nature in blossom blend harmoniously in sweet melancholy.
Easter in Leonidio, Peloponnese with balloon custom
In Corfu the “Pot Throwing� custom takes place on Holy Saturday at 11am and the local people throw pots of their windows, smashing them onto the streets below.
In Crete children make an effigy of Judas which they burn on a huge bonfire outside the church after the Sunday afternoon service.
Apart from being the Island of Aromas in the Northeastern Aegean, because of masticha, Chios is well known for the magnificent Easter festivities too.
On the night of the Holy Saturday the villagers of Vrontados are ready to set the night on fire! A rocket war breaks out here, which dates back to the age of the Turkish occupation (15th-19th centuries) and turns this village into a virtual battlefield.
Easter in fortress town of Monemvasia, Peloponnese
Typical Easter dishes Greek Sweet Bread, Tsoureki
RECIPE Ingredients: ●
135g butter, from cow’s milk, at room temperature (4.7 oz.)
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135g milk, at room temperature (4.7 oz.)
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200g sugar (7 oz.)
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4 medium eggs, at room temperature
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870g bread flour (30 oz.)
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21g dry yeast (0.7 oz.)
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100g lukewarm water (3.5 0z.)
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zest of 1 orange
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3g ground mastic (0.11 oz.)
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4g ground mahleb (0.14 oz.)
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1 egg and 1 tbsp water, for glazing the tsoureki
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almond silvers for garnish
Easter Eggs Traditionally in Greece, we paint eggs are mostly red, while in other countries the eggs are stained in more colors, several times with elaborate shapes. The eggs are traditionally stained on Holy Thursday and begin to be consumed on Easter Sunday.
EASTER COOKIES In
Greece
we
have
many
traditions, one of them are easter cookies with many eggs
and vanillia, they are crispy and delicious.
We treat our guests with them. We wish we could offer you some of them!
eleni & timo
Magiritsa is eaten to break the fast of the Greek Orthodox Great Lent, the 40 days before Easter. Its role and ingredients result from its association with the roasted lamb traditionally served at the Paschal meal; in its traditional form, magiritsa consists of the offal removed from the lamb before roasting, flavored with seasonings and sauces. Prepared on Holy Saturday along with the next day's lamb, magiritsa is consumed immediately after the midnight Church Ceremony.
Drawing Easter cards for our partners
Presenting during the live event that we had with partners, on 26 March 2018
Since the old times a pysanka has been the symbol of the spring sun which is the source of light, warmth and life.
It is very popular all over Ukraine to use the sun symbolism on pysanka.
The sun is shown like a circle or an octagonal star sometimes with curled up tips called “the sun” or “spiders”.
”trident”, ”three horn”, “curled horn” belong to the most ancient images of the sun. “Svarog”,
These symbols picture the sun as a sky fire having been praised and celebrated by people since the old days.
The pysanka decorated with solar signs used to possess miraculous power.
It could work wonders and ask the sun for protection against ailments and an evil eye for its owners.
Thank you for watching!