Orthodox Easter

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Easter in Russia – Лазарева суббота (Lazarus Saturday) and Вербное Воскресенье (Pussy Willow Sunday)

This past Saturday Orthodox Churches remembered the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus by Jesus Christ, a week before Easter.

Righteous Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was brought back to life by the spoken command of Christ four days after his death. The event, the last among the supernatural miracles of Christ in his earthly life, testified to His divine nature and promised a future resurrection of every person to eternal life. The miracle convinced many to place their faith in Christ, but also aroused indignation among Jewish elders.

According to historical records Lazarus lived 30 years after the miracle and served as a bishop in Cyprus, where he was buried. At the end of the 9th century, his tomb was found with the inscription “Lazarus, a friend of Christ”. Upon his tomb’s discovery the Byzantine emperor moved his relics to Constantinople (present-day Istanbul, Turkey).

Of course palms are not grown everywhere in the world so Orthodox peoples who live in areas without palms use pussy willow branches in place of palms for this event. Russian Churches call this Sunday as Вербное Воскресенье (Pussy Willow Sunday). Some churches hand out small crosses made of palms to be kept in the icon corner of your home.

Saturday Lazarus services are timed in Orthodox churches to mark the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia led the Russian service in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. In Russia the Saturday before the week of Easter is also named Willow (Palm) Sunday in memory of the greeting of Christ with branches of trees. During the liturgy, pussy willow branches are blessed with sprinkling of holy water.


(photo: from pravmir by just-melanie)

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Easter surprises:

- Visitors are often surprised that Easter is often considered the 2nd most popular holiday period in the FSU, behind New Years. Easter is the most important holiday of the Orthodox church worldwide.


- Where else can you find public schools, government offices, grocery markets and restaurants that modify their menus and stocked inventories to reflect the 40 day fast (no meat, no dairy, no alcohol, etc) before Easter?


- If your friend asks if you are keeping or observing the "post" do you know what she/he means? (Post is пост, the term for "fasting")


- Why do some folks who aren't normally considered as being that "religious" now faithfully keeping the 40 day Easter fast?


If traveling around Moscow this week, this link has a partial list of popular restaurant chains that offer menus for those observing the fast: http://www.restoran.ru/msk/news/velpostmsk/postonrestmsk


And here is a vegetarian menu:

[Kuna]

For those not familiar with strict Orthodox Fasting during Great Lent here's a link to a calendar for 2011:

http://www.holytrinityorthodox.com/calendar/index.php?tzo=10

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Nice link, Kuna.

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How to say Easter phrases in Russian:

As we’ve written previously, the Russian word for Easter is taken from Greek and is Пасха (“pahsh-ka”), so today we’re going to link to one of my favourite places to learn and listen to correctly spoken Russian: http://www.listen2russian.com

In lesson 5 of the free lessons, you learn how recognize and correctly speak some of the more common phrases used in Easter services. The link to this lesson is here: http://listen2russian.com/lesson05/d/index.htmlt


Let’s practice. The most common phrase is Христос воскрес! (Chris-TOS vas-KRES) Literally that means, “Christ is risen!” Whether Христос воскрес (Christ is risen) is said as a greeting from one person to another or when in a service is shouted by the priest, the congregation responds with Воистину воскрес (va-IST-in-oo vas-KRES) which means “truly risen!.”

Another greeting is c Пасхой (SPAS-khee), literally meaning “with Easter.” It could be also understood as “with Christ” or “with Christ’s resurrection at Easter.” In historic Christianity the early Orthodox church understood that the only way to participate personally in the hope of resurrection was to be “with” or “in” Christ. To be found outside of Christ, outside of the resurrection, was to be without hope of eternal life.


So as we approach the final days of holy week here are some phrases you may wish to learn.

Христос воскрес! (Christ is risen)

Воистину воскрес! (Truly risen)


(Христос воскрес! Christ has risen! photo: Tatyana Alekseeva Shino)

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal--

Easter reflection on the Jordan River

This past 19 January President Medvedev observed the Russian Orthodox Day of Epiphany while on a two-day state visit to Jordan and Palestine. Epiphany is celebrated in the Eastern world 13 days after the traditional Western observance on 6 January.

His primary mission was to meet in Amman with King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of Jordan and then in Palestine with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to offer assurances that Russia has not forgotten the 1988 Soviet pledge for an independent Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem. But while in Jordan, Mr. Medvedev visited a national and religious park which honours the traditional site of John's baptism of Jesus. Quite something special considering Jordan is a Muslim country!

A stark contrast however is just across the Jordan at the site traditionally recognized as the spot where John performed the baptism of Jesus. That site is on the Israeli-controlled western side of the river. Unlike the Jordanian park, the Israeli site is closed to the public and surrounded by land mines and barbed wire.

And so there on Epiphany Day, Dmitry Medvedev, a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church cupped his hands and dipped them into the Jordan River. Taking the water he briefly bathed his face and made the sign of the cross on his forehead, a traditional Christian gesture of participation in the baptism of Christ.

Orthodox Churches celebrate Epiphany as the beginning of the earthly ministry of Jesus and for President Medvedev the opportunity to visit the site was symbolic of his mission of peace. It was also a message to both Christians and Muslims back in his own country. The Muslim population in Russia today is over 25 million and Russian officials say that given current birth rates in Muslim communities, Muslims will likely account for one-fifth of the Russian population by 2020.

On that same visit while across the border in Palestine, presidents Medvedev and Abbas participated in the formal opening of the Jericho Museum, built by Russia on land returned to Russia in June 2008. Once owned by the Tsar, the museum which sits on 105 dunams (26 acres) had been abandoned during the Communist revolution. Recently the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society arranged for the land to be returned to Russian ownership.

Peace, although often elusive, is worth the effort on any day of the year. But especially at Easter.


(photos: Presidential Press Service/The Mendeleyev Journal)

[mendeleyev]

Pashka bread.  The term Пасха “pashka” means Easter.  It is a cognate (borrowed word) from Greek to Russian. 

Here is a great recipe for Ukrainian Pashka (Easter) bread (this recipe should produce a very light and fluffy bread inside with a crusty exterior.)

Ingredients
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast 1 pkg.
3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
5 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins

Preparation
In a small saucepan over low heat, heat the milk and 1 tablespoon of the sugar until very warm (120 to 130 F).  Pour into a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle over the yeast.  Allow to stand until foamy, about 15 minutes.
 
Sift 1 cup of the flour over the yeast mixture and with a wooden spoon, stir until a batter forms.  Cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and leave in a warm place (80 F to 85 F) until mixture looks puffy and spongy, about 1/2 hour.

In another bowl or a 4 cup measure whisk the eggs and egg yolks together with the rest of the sugar, vanilla extract, grated lemon zest, and salt.
 
Sift another 2 cups of flour over the risen yeast flour mixture, and make a well in the center.  Pour in the egg mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture becomes a soft, sticky dough; the dough should be as soft as possible, so do not add more flour unless it is very wet.

Using your hand, spread the butter over the dough and work into the dough, folding it over itself and kneading into the dough until the butter is completely incorporated.  Cover with the dish towel and leave to rise again in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 3 hours.
 
Butter a 2 pound coffee can.  Line the bottom with nonstick baking parchment, and butter again.

Punch down the dough and turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Sprinkle the raisins, golden raisins over the dough, and knead until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
 
Form the dough into a ball shape, and ease into the coffee can.  Cover and leave to rise again until the dough reaches the top of the can, about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Brush the top of the dough with a little milk and if you like sprinkle with about a tablespoon of sugar.  Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 F. and bake about 1/2 hour longer; if the paska browns too quickly, cover with foil.  Remove to a wire rack to cool in the can for about 5 minutes, then carefully unmold, top side up, to cool completely.  Makes 1 loaf.

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Inside the main chapel of one of the largest Orthodox churches in the world, Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. It was blown up at the order of Joseph Stalin but rebuilt to exact specifications after the fall of the Soviet Union. It is considered to be the main Cathedral of Russia.

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What? No sunrise Easter service on Easter Sunday morning?!

No, at least not in the way we calculate days in the West. You see, Orthodox believers follow the Jewish calendar in this respect and Sunday morning begins at sundown on Saturday night. The Orthodox around the world have already finished their Sunday morning liturgy just about the time the rest of Christianity is waking up.

Orthodox churches hold a midnight mass, with a procession around the church.  Generally the service starts at night somewhere around 10 or 11:00 pm Saturday evening, and there is a sermon right before the midnight procession, where brilliantly robed clergy and everyone else go outside and walk around the church, holding candles, singing and shouting that Christ is risen, while the bells peal out the glad tidings. This represents the disciples running to tell others the Christ was risen.

As Saturday midnight approaches, worshipers light candles and then, at the strike of 12 o’clock, church bells announce the resurrection of Christ. An intensely joyful Orthodox liturgical chant along with the ringing of bells can be heard until the conclusion of Easter Mass at 2 or 3AM.

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‘Pysanky’ are Ukrainian Easter Eggs, decorated using beeswax and dyes which are written on the egg in layers.  The term Pysanky (писанка) comes from a Ukrainian verb “pysaty” which means ‘to write’, so a pysanka is an egg that is written on.  Pysanka is one egg (singular=писанка) and Pansanki is more than one egg (plural=писанки).

The gorgeous folk-art Easter eggs created in the same manner for centuries as a traditional Ukrainian folk art are easily identified by their intricate patterns and colour patterns of red, black and golden-yellow. Equally impressive are the images of the bejeweled and bedazzling enameled eggs created by court jeweler and artist Karl Fabergé. Fabergé eggs were first commissioned in 1884 by Tsar Alexander III as a special Easter present for his wife the Tsarina.

Ukrainian Easter Egg decorating has been handed down through generations in the Slavic nations as Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, etc. Ukrainians are especially known the world over for their colorful Easter Eggs called “Pysanky”.  The designs are not painted on but written with beeswax.

Pysanka is often taken to mean any type of decorated egg, but it specifically refers to an egg created by the written-wax batik method. Several types of decorated eggs are seen in Ukrainian tradition.

With the advent of Christianity, Easter eggs symbolize the Resurrection and a promise of eternal life. Legend has it that as long as pysanky are decorated, goodness will prevail over evil throughout the world.

It should be noted that Orthodox Christians in Russia and other Slavic countries also decorate Easter eggs in this style but it is the Ukrainian tradition which stretches back the longest.

As the chick emerges from the confinement of the shell, so Christ was resurrected from the tomb. Some traditions say that Mary Magdalene appeared to Tiberius Caesar and greeted him with an egg and the words, “Christ is Risen!” Caesar laughed and replied that Christ was no more raised that the egg in hand was red. The egg changed colour at that moment and is the reason why the priest will hand each person a red egg at the end of the Easter liturgy.

Whether the story is real or mere tradition, the eggs painted in the East are very beautiful!

[mendeleyev]

Orthodox Easter Baskets


A typical Orthodox Easter basket might include hand-painted eggs, a bottle of wine, ham, sausage, cheese, and a special Easter bread like paska, etc. These items are significant because the family has been “fasting” (no milk, alcohol, eggs or meat products) for 40 days. Thus, the Easter basket represents a feast!

On Holy Saturday, Slavic people everywhere will be taking baskets loaded with holiday foods to church for the traditional Easter blessing, which is a must prior to eating those exquisite foods.

Neatly arranged in many of the baskets will be ham, slanina (bacon), chrin (beets with horseradish), salt, paska, kolbasi, hrudka (sirets), butter, pysanky (ornately decorated eggs) for decoration, colored eggs for eating and kolachi. Some people may add candy and a bottle of wine to their baskets. Many add special varieties of fruit.

The word for Easter is “Pascha” (Greek) and so these baskets are called “Paschal baskets.” Baskets have been carefully prepared with many of the foods from which we’ve been fasting for the past month and a half during Great Lent. Baskets are often covered with a decorative linen and a lighted candle during the service of blessing.

There are several foods traditionally included in the basket. These are: a yeast bread, a bitter herb, cheese, meat, butter, salt, and a red egg. Each item in the basket has symbolic significance.

Pascha: The Easter Bread, a sweet, yeast bread, rich in eggs and butter. Symbolic of Christ Himself, who is “the Bread of Life.”  John 6:35. This bread is usually a round loaf baked with a golden crust and decorated with a cross.

Cheese and Butter remind us of the Promised Land, which has been reopened to us by Christ’s Resurrection and which we find in the Church, is “a land of milk and honey.”  Exodus 3:17

Meats – Usually ham or lamb (lamb was always offered in the Temple and eaten on the Passover), meat comes as a rich reward after our season of fasting. Lamb reminds us of Christ, whom John the Baptist calls, “the Lamb of God” John 1:36.  The meat is usually cooked so the festivities of the day will not be burdened with preparation.

Sausage: a spicy, garlic sausage of pork products is indicative of God’s favor and generosity. Smoked and fresh kielbasa are customarily included in the basket.

Hard Boiled Eggs: As the chick emerges from the confinement of the shell,  so Christ resurrects from the tomb. St. Mary Magdalene appeared to Tiberius Caesar and greeted him with a red egg and the words, “Christ is Risen!”

As we crack our hard-boiled eggs on Easter, it is traditional for two people to crack together. The first says, “Christ is Risen!” and the second replies, “Indeed, He is Risen!”

Those who are able often include psanki (Ukrainian-decorated eggs) in their baskets as well. Horseradish, often colored with red beets is symbolic of the passion of Christ, still in our minds, but sweetened with some sugar to remind us of the Resurrection.

Bacon: A piece of uncooked bacon cured with spices, the fattest of foods, symbolizes the super-overabundance of Him who says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundance.” John 10:10

Salt. Christ calls His disciples “the salt of the  earth.”  Matthew  05:13. To be followers of Christ, we, too, must spread the ‘seasoning of Christ’, the good news of His Resurrection throughout society.

While this is generally what is contained in the traditional Slavic basket, an Easter basket may contain your own preferred items—especially those favorite foods from which you have abstained throughout the Great Fast.

[mendeleyev]

From the Mendeleyev Journal

70+ years of Communism could not extinguish over 1,000 years of Christianity, as evidenced once again all over Russia as normally crowded churches were faced with long lines of worshipers outside, hoping to get in for a least a part of the Easter liturgy.

Russian Easter services begin in late evening with a special Vespers service which leads into the Orthodox Easter liturgy at midnight. Most services end around 3-4am on Easter morning. Standing outside, one family commented that they sincerely hoped that those who had made it inside would give those waiting a chance to also experience some of the service before the night was over. That could be a problem in a tradition where church doors are closed once the traditional midnight liturgy has begun.

As expected in at least one instance witnessed, even though some earlier worshipers left so that others could join, many families waited outside and remained there until the service was over. For them, even the opportunity to enter the church as others were leaving and to light candles at the icons at 4am Easter morning was better than having no opportunity at all to be in church on Easter.

[Rubicon]

Kristos Vaskryes Mendy!!

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He is indeed, my friend, and I wish you and your family a wonderful celebration.

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As has been his custom each year, President Dmitry Medvedev and Mrs. Svetlana Medvedeva attended the Easter service at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, led by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Since becoming President, Mr. Medvedev has made no secret of his personal Christian faith.

From the official residence in Gorki, Russia, the president congratulated Orthodox Christians and all those celebrating Easter on Resurrection Sunday.


"I sincerely congratulate you on this happy holiday of Easter Sunday.

Easter celebrations contain the bright light of faith and goodness, fill our hearts with hope, joy and feelings of good-will towards others, and draw us towards the eternal spiritual values ​​of Orthodoxy and centuries-old traditions of our people, which remain the basis of our unity today.

The Russian Orthodox Church plays an important constructive role in consolidating the moral foundations of our society, as well as strengthening international and interfaith cooperation. Its fruitful interaction with the state promotes our country's continued development.

I wish Orthodox Christians and all citizens of Russia celebrating Easter peace, happiness and prosperity."

(The Mendeleyev Journal)

[mendeleyev]

Before exiting this topic, for those interested in gaining the flavour of an Orthodox Easter liturgy, here is a 10 minute video from 2008 at Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The liturgy is led by the late Patriarch Alexi (may His memory be eternal) and is a brief overview of how a full 3+ hour Easter liturgy is done.