FEATURE An eastern Easter
EASTER WITH A DIFFERENCE BUT WITH THE SAME MESSAGE
Major Annette Rieder-Pell explains how Easter is celebrated in the countries of the Eastern Europe Territory
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OLLING green hills, fields bursting with radiant sunflowers, families travelling on horse-pulled carts, old ladies bent to the waist working their gardens, hillsides filled with heavy vines, villages flaunting brightly coloured wells and roads that have seen better days – all conjure a picture of life in Moldova, a small, ex-Soviet country situated in eastern Europe. With Ukraine flanking its right and Romania bordering its left, this tiny strip of land-locked country, boasting little more than three million people, is a largely unknown presence on the world map. It has an ageing population, is a country far down the list of those with wealth and has little to offer its young people, who are often forced to seek work abroad to feed their families. Yet this is a society where family is hugely
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Salvationist 20 April 2019
important and valued, and where traditions are held high. The mix of cultures stemming from the Soviet era and the potpourri of languages – despite Romanian being the official language of the country – add flavour to the experience of the land for those living and working here. After a period of two years as divisional leaders in Ukraine, my husband and I serve at the Eastern Europe Territorial Headquarters, situated in this unique country of Moldova that we now call home. As an officer of British descent and a child of officers, my childhood and then officer service have been spent adapting to new surroundings, new friendships, new cultures and new ways of doing things. Living in Moldova is no exception to this – especially when it comes to traditional celebrations such as Christmas and Easter. Although homesickness can kick in, the strangeness in the way things are done causes me to reflect on the reason for the season. I now recognise that each tradition, each way of celebrating, has its own value and can be beautiful in its own way. Moldovan society has been influenced by the Orthodox Church for many hundreds of years. Numerous brightly painted, onion-domed churches and monasteries are dotted throughout the country, often providing a stark contrast to the houses occupied by villagers. Eastertime is generally celebrated according to Orthodox tradition, including the date, with each part of the celebration a meaningful reflection of what, to the Western mind, can sometimes seem a mystical faith. Val, a young woman from Moldova, chats with me about life in a Moldovan
village when preparing for Easter: ‘During Lent, especially in the last week before Easter, the women clean the outside of the houses, while the men are responsible for cleaning the inside. Usually on the Thursday before Easter special Easter bread, pasca, is prepared by the women; this is made with cottage cheese and sweet bread called cozonac. On the Friday before Easter the women dye eggs, mostly a red colour, which represents Christ’s blood that dripped onto the basket laid at his feet near the cross. ‘On the Saturday before Easter Day, food is prepared for the great celebration, which mostly consists of meat, such as meatballs, baked lamb and meat jelly, and is adorned with various salads. Families also prepare a basket which they will take to church to be consecrated by the priest. In times gone by the basket would have contained the Easter bread, some coloured eggs, salt, a bottle of wine and
