Easter 2013

[mendeleyev]

(www.MendeleyevJournal.com) Easter this year in parts of Europe and Asia, including Russia and most of the previous Soviet countries, will be observed on 5 May.

In Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union, greeting the New Year is by far the biggest holiday. Coming in second, and observed by both believers and many non-believers, Easter is the main liturgical focal point of Russian Orthodoxy with the Christmas liturgy not far behind. Prior to Easter comes the 40-day Lenten fasting period:



Easter is the most widely acknowledged religious holiday in the country according to a 2003 poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation and reported by Russia Beyond the Headlines who says that "for the vast majority of Russians, celebrating Easter is not so much a question of faith as it is one of national identity."




Христос воскрес! (Chris-TOS vas-KRES)

Literally, "Christ is risen!”Unlike Lent fasting in the West which encourages a believer to give up a valued food item or habit during the fast, Eastern Orthodox fasting is far more comprehensive, with the goal of taming the flesh and imitating the 40 day fast observed in the desert prior to his crucifixion.


Foods not permitted during the Lenten fasting period:
 - Alcoholic beverage are not permitted during the fast.
 - Meat, including poultry, and any meat products such as lard and meat broth.
 - Fish (meaning fish with backbones; shellfish are permitted).
 - Eggs and dairy products (milk, butter, cheese, etc.)
 - Olive oil. A literal interpretation of the rule forbids only olive oil. Especially where olive oil is not a major part of the diet, the rule is sometimes taken to include all vegetable oils, as well as oil products such as margarine.


The Lenten fast is designed to call the flesh into subjection to the spirit and as believers are tempted to break the fast they are reminded to call on God for the power to tame the flesh and for the grace to allow the spiritual to triumph.




(photo: Irina Malinovskaya)

Many government offices convert to a fasting menu in work cafeterias as do many public school cafeteria menus. Many restaurants offer Lenten dishes as well.

The very young, the elderly, those sick and with conditions such as diabetes are exempted from the fast in consultation with their priest. When traveling the fast is exempt and so as not to make a public show of fasting, the fast is exempted when non-believers visit your home.

[mendeleyev]

Mendeleyev Journal readers in the West may have never heard of Maslenitsa, but for Russians it is an ancient tradition wrapped up in the coming of Springtime, food and the beginning of Christian Easter.  It is a festival dating back to pagan times when Russians would celebrate the end of winter and beginning of spring.





In pagan times, Maslenitsa marked the beginning of spring and was celebrated on the vernal equinox day. Symbols were about nature and the sun.

Later the Church would christen the tradition, using Maslenitsa to mark the period of Lent and the 40 days of fasting prior to Easter. In modern times the celebration is a week long and represents one last chance to enjoy the delights of spring before the Lenten fast.



As explained recently on a recent Russia Today television and radio programme, the name of the holiday, Maslenitsa (derived from maslo, which means butter or oil in Russian) owes its existence to the tradition of baking pancakes (or blini , in Russian). They are essential to the celebration of Maslenitsa.

On the one hand, hot, round, and golden, pancakes, as people believed, embody a little of the sun’s grace and might, helping to warm up the frozen earth. In old days pancakes were cooked from buckwheat flour, lending them a red color, making the significance even more evident.

Russians don't cover pancakes with sugary syrup as a rule, opting instead for things like ice cream, sour cream, butter, jams and caviar to name but a few.  There are three weeks of Maslenitsa, with the second week called "Meatfare" week and the last chance to enjoy meat products prior to Easter.




The third and final week which began on 11 March, is called "Cheesefare" week and Russians enjoy dairy products, usually with a week long diet of pancakes.  As most Russians typically love pancakes, called "blini" in Russian, this isn't a restriction as much as it is a party.

"Cheesefare" week culminates on Sunday, 17 March, called "Forgiveness Sunday" and it is on that day that the strict 40 Lenten fasting period begins.  Forgiveness Sunday is the day to ring up all those you've offended or hurt in some way and to ask for their forgiveness.  A popular way for some Russians is to spend "forgiveness Sunday" is to visit relatives and friends with an exchange of kisses and asking for forgiveness from each other, if by chance an offense had been made by words or deeds.





We'll cover the Lenten fast in the coming days as the calendar approaches the 40 day event.

[mendeleyev]

Some newer readers may not understand some of the comments and questions from their ladies at this time of year so here is a small primer:

- Easter in the East this year is 5 May, not the same date as Easter in the West.

- The Lenten fast is more comprehensive than Lent in the West. It is much stricter as participants abstain from meat, dairy products, cooking oil, and alcohol during the 40 days.

- While in the West generally only practicing Christians participate in Lent, it is also a cultural event in the East.  One Russian news organization recently equated it with Russia's national identity.  Of course not all Russians will observe the 40 day Lenten fast, but many non-believers do so for reasons of culture, tradition, and perceived health benefits as well as believers who do so for spiritual reasons. 

- Yesterday, 11 March, began the third and final week of Maslenitsa.  Last week was "Meatfare" week accompanied by eating lots of meat prior to the fast and this week is called "Cheesefare" week in which pancakes and dairy products are consumed at many meals during the week. If your lady asks if you're eating cheese or pancakes this week, you'll understand her question.

- Pancakes are called "blini" (блины) in the FSU and are popular both as a home meal or any thousands of small fast-foot blini kiosks found in every city of any size.  They are much thinner, almost the size of a crepe, and are often topped or stuffed with caviar, sour cream, ice cream, salmon, mushroom, cheese, etc.  Rarely is sugary syrup used for a Russian pancake although in some cases a sweet fruit syrup, the kind added to flavour tea, is used on a blini.  The most popular toppings/stuffing ingredients are caviar, salmon and sour cream.

- In the link provided below you can learn more about Maslenitsa which began as a pagan festival of the Sun in Russia's pagan pre-Christian days and was eventually christened by Orthodoxy as a pre-Lenten fast celebration.

- The link below serves as a primer to this period of the year and will also be updated to include information as we begin the fasting period, called a "post" in Russian (пост) and then moving forward to Pussywillow Sunday (Palm Sunday in the West) and Easter itself on 5 May.  The Easter celebration itself is the second most observed holiday in Russia and the FSU, second only to the New Year celebration.

- At the end of this week the strict fast will begin at sundown on Saturday, 16 March.

- Sunday, 17 March, is the beginning of the "post" (fast) so you'll know what she means if your lady asks if you plan to "make a post" or observe the fasting period.

- Sunday, 17 March, is also called "Forgiveness Sunday."  Don't be surprised is she asks for your forgiveness.  Instead of replying with "what should I forgive you for?" simply say yes and ask her to forgive you.  Russians, including many non-practicing Russians, use "Forgiveness Sunday" as a way to make sure everything is okay between relatives and friends and is designed to offer forgiveness for slights and offensives whether known or unknown.






We'll update this thread throughout the Easter season.

[Pando]

Wonderful thread, educational and with a wealth of interesting info. I want to thank you for taking time to post this and other threads about Russian culture - always very enjoyable to read.

[mendeleyev]

Pando, glad that you are enjoying them and thanks for your very kind words.

[mendeleyev]

On Monday, Orthodox Christians began to observe the Lenten Fast, sometimes called "Great Lent" and the period that will last approximately seven weeks leading up to Easter Sunday.  Easter this year on the Eastern religious calender falls on 5 May.





The purpose of Great Lent is to prepare the faithful to enter into the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus as preparation for the celebration of the resurrection.

Fasting during this period includes abstinence from certain foods, intensified private and public prayer, self-examination, confession and repentance, and some couples choose to abstain from or curtail the frequency sexual relations during Lent.  Since the beginning of Christianity the early Church Fathers have taught that the period before Easter should be marked by an extended time of prayer, penitence, and fasting.

Fasting from certain types of foods is intended as spiritual preparation for an experience of deeper prayer and communion with God and the foods traditionally abstained from are meat, eggs, milk, cheese , wine (all alcohol), and oil. In the Orthodox world the two longest fasts are prior to Easter and before Christmas.

When traveling, Orthodox believers are exempted from fasting as are the very young and the elderly.  When entertaining guests Orthodox hosts should not fast unless the guests are also observing the fast.

The Orthodox community that fasts the most during a calendar year is the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church with over 200 fasting days annually.

[mendeleyev]

As reported in the Mendeleyev Journal, the Easter weekend has arrived in the Eastern world. At this posting Good Friday is over and it is on Saturday that we prepare eggs by boiling them in brown onion skins, then they'll be decorated.


Egg decorating kits like this one are becoming more popular. (photo: varjag-227.livejournal)

Churches in the East refer to the day as "Holy Friday" and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, led divine services - vespers and matins - in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral on Holy Friday.

Meanwhile a Russian delegation left Friday for Jerusalem to get Holy Fire. Upon their return it will be delivered in time for the Easter service at Christ the Savior Cathedral. The Easter liturgy begin at midnight and lasts into the early morning hours on Sunday.



(Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill.)

The Holy Fire is lit every year in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on the day preceding Orthodox Easter. Orthodox Christians believe it to be a miracle.

For 40 days before Easter Orthodox believers observe the Great Lenten fast in which no meat, meat products, milk, eggs, alcohol or oil is consumed in meals.  This tradition which is marked by all the Orthodox churches worldwide calls believers to prayer and repentance and is a small picture of the isolation and plain diet which Christ experienced during the 40 day period prior to his resurrection. The strictest day of the fast is the day before Easter with no food consumed after Noon on Saturday.

Click here for full Easter coverage on the Mendeleyev Journal special Easter pageto learn and see how Easter is celebrated in Orthodox traditions outside of the Western world.




Христос Воскресе!  Воистину Воскресе!