History of Easter for children
Orthodox Christians call Easter “the feast of feasts and the triumph of solemnities.” On this day, the Orthodox Church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This holiday symbolizes the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and preserves the historical memory of the redemptive voluntary sacrifice in the name of humanity of Jesus Christ and His Resurrection.
Christian Easter celebrated not according to the sun, but according to lunar calendar and therefore does not have a constant date.
How did the Resurrection of Christ from the dead happen? One of the evidence of this greatest miracle belongs to the historian Hermidius, the official historiographer of Judea. On Sunday night, Hermidius personally went to the tomb to make sure that the deceased could not be resurrected. IN low light At dawn he saw guards at the door of the tomb. Suddenly it became very light and a man appeared above the ground, as if woven from light. There was a clap of thunder, not in the sky, but on the earth. The frightened guard jumped up and immediately fell to the ground. The stone that blocked the entrance to the cave rolled away. Soon the light above the coffin disappeared. But when Hermidius approached the coffin, the body of the Buried One was not there. The doctor did not believe that the dead could be resurrected, but Christ, according to his recollections, “really was resurrected, and we all saw it with our own eyes.”
Easter traditions
Easter is preceded by a strict seven-week Lent, when believers abstain from certain types of food. The week before Easter is called Holy Week. Every day of the week is associated with events last days from the earthly life of Christ.
On the day before Easter - Holy Saturday - old and young believers gather in churches for prayer. Special Easter food is brought to the temple to bless it. On the day of the Resurrection of Christ, special dishes are placed on the table, which are prepared only once a year - Easter cake, Easter cottage cheese, Easter colored eggs. Midnight comes, the churches begin procession. Holy Saturday is replaced by Easter Sunday.
But the Easter holiday is not only about prayers. This holiday has always had another side - a worldly one. While I was walking Easter service, no one dared to indulge in festive entertainment. But when the “icons passed,” the Easter festivities began.
What kind of entertainment is accepted for Easter? Firstly, the feast. After a seven-week fast, one could again afford any food whatever one’s heart desired. Except Easter dishes There are many traditional delicacies of Russian cuisine on the table. There were (and still are) all sorts of games with Easter eggs, round dances, and swing rides.
On Easter it was customary to celebrate Christ. Everyone exchanged colored eggs and kissed each other three times. Christening is to congratulate each other on the holiday, and colored eggs are a symbol of life.
Long before the appearance of Christ, ancient peoples considered the egg to be the prototype of the Universe - the world was born from it, surrounding a person. U Slavic peoples Those who converted to Christianity, the egg was associated with the fertility of the earth, with the spring revival of nature. This is a symbol of the Sun and Life. And to show respect to him, our ancestors painted eggs.
Festive Easter omens
The Orthodox believed that miracles could be seen on Easter. At this time, you are allowed to ask God to fulfill your desires.
Since pagan times, the custom of dousing yourself with well or river water on Easter has remained.
At Easter, old people combed their hair with the wish that they would have as many grandchildren as there were hairs on their heads; old women washed themselves with gold, silver and red eggs in the hope of getting rich.
On Easter, young people climbed onto the roofs to meet the sun (there was a belief that on Easter “the sun is playing,” and many tried to watch for this moment).
EASTER TREATS
Boiled Easter
Ingredients
➢ 2 kg of cottage cheese,
➢ 1.5 kg sour cream,
➢ 1.5 kg butter,
➢ 12 eggs (yolks),
➢ 1.5 kg sugar, vanillin.
Preparation
Easter is prepared from Thursday (best) or Friday.
Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve. You should not pass the cottage cheese through a meat grinder, otherwise it will become denser, but it needs to be saturated with oxygen. Grind sour cream, butter, raw yolks with half a glass of sugar. Mix everything together in a saucepan, put on fire and stir.
When the mass has melted, add the rest of the sugar, stirring, heat, but do not bring to a boil.
Add vanillin at the tip of a knife, mix, cool. Place the mixture in a gauze bag and hang it to drain. Leave for 10-12 hours. After this, transfer the mass into a beaker and press down with a press.
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Easter nuts
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Ingredients:
➢ 1.2 kg of cottage cheese,
➢ 1 glass of sugar,
➢ 200 g butter,
➢ 200 g pistachios or peanuts,
➢ 4 cups heavy cream, vanilla sugar.
Preparation
Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve, add sugar and vanillin, stir well. Add eggs, butter, chopped nuts. Mix everything thoroughly and pour the cream into the cottage cheese. Mix the mixture again, place it in a mold lined with damp gauze, and place a press on top.
Place in a cool place for a day.
The main holiday of Orthodox Christians - the Holy Resurrection of Christ, Easter - is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon - between April 4 (March 22, old style) and May 8 (April 25, old style).
On Easter Day, we remember the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion on the cross.
Easter is the crown of Lent
Easter is celebrated immediately after Lent, the last week(week) of which is the strictest, Passionate.
Easter is celebrated for seven days, all week. Every day of the week is called Light. On Bright Week Divine services are performed daily with the Royal Doors of the iconostasis open (which are closed during the usual liturgy) as a sign that Jesus Christ has forever opened the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom to people.
The entire period before the Feast of the Ascension, which is celebrated on the 40th day after Easter, is considered Easter, and Orthodox Christians greet each other with the greeting “Christ is Risen!” and the answer “Truly he is risen!”
Painted eggs, Easter cake and cottage cheese
It has long been accepted that the first meal after Lent should be blessed colored eggs, Easter cake and Easter cottage cheese.
An explanation of the custom of painting eggs red for Easter can be found in early Christian literature, but is not included in the biblical canon. These sources talk about conversion to Christian faith Roman Emperor Tiberius. Wanting to stop the preaching of St. Mary Magdalene, Tiberius declared that he would rather believe in the transformation of a white egg into red than in the possibility of reviving the dead. The egg turned red, and this became the final argument in the controversy, which ended with the baptism of the Roman king.
The custom of exchanging colored eggs became firmly established in the life of the church. The red color of the egg symbolizes all-conquering Divine Love.
© Sputnik / Konstantin Chalabov
Easter cake its shape resembles an artos. Easter artos is a symbol of Jesus Christ himself. The Easter cake, transferred to the festive table, contains baking, sweetness, raisins and nuts. Properly prepared Easter cake is fragrant and beautiful, it does not go stale for weeks and can stand without spoiling for all 40 days of Easter. Kulich on the festive table symbolizes God's presence in the world and in human life. The sweetness, richness, and beauty of Easter cake express the Lord’s care for every human being, his compassion and mercy for people.
Sweet cottage cheese Easter is a prototype of the Kingdom of Heaven. Her “milk and honey” is an image of endless joy, the bliss of saints, the sweetness of heavenly life, blissful Eternity. The shape of Easter in the form of a mountain symbolizes the foundation of the new heavenly Jerusalem - a city in which there is no temple, but, in the words of the Apocalypse, “The Lord God Almighty Himself is its temple and the Lamb.”
Divine service and procession
Since apostolic times, the church has celebrated Easter services at night. Like the ancient chosen people, who were awake on the night of their deliverance from Egyptian slavery, Christians are awake on the sacred and pre-holiday night Happy Resurrection Christ's. Shortly before midnight at Holy Saturday The Midnight Office is served, during which the priest and the deacon approach the Shroud (a canvas depicting the position of the body of Jesus Christ in the tomb) and take it to the altar. The shroud is placed on the throne, where it must remain for 40 days until the day of the Ascension of the Lord.
© Sputnik / Igor Russak
The clergy put on festive vestments. Solemn before midnight bell ringing- good news - announces the approach of the Resurrection of Christ.
The procession of the cross means the procession of the church towards the risen Savior. Having walked around the temple, the procession stops in front of its closed doors, as if at the entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. Then the priest, holding a cross and a three-branched candlestick in his hands, creates with them sign of the cross at closed doors temple, they open, and everyone, rejoicing, enters the church, where all the lamps and lamps are burning, and sing: “Christ is risen from the dead!”
The subsequent service of Easter Matins consists of the singing of the canon composed by St. John of Damascus. Between the songs of the Easter Canon, priests with a cross and censer walk around the entire church and greet parishioners with the words: “Christ is Risen!”, to which the believers answer: “Truly He is Risen!”
At the end of Matins, after the end Easter canon, the priest reads the “Word of St. John Chrysostom,” which describes the celebration and meaning of Easter. After the service, all those praying in the church greet each other with Christ, congratulating each other on the great holiday.
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Immediately after Matins, the Easter Liturgy (worship) is served, where the beginning of the Gospel of John is read. On Easter, all those who pray, if possible, partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Before the end of the liturgy, Easter bread - artos - is blessed.
After the end of the festive service, Orthodox Christians usually break their fast with blessed colored eggs and Easter cakes at the temple or at home.
History of Easter celebration
The word "Easter" originates from the name of the Old Testament holiday of Passover, which was named from the Hebrew word "passover" ("passes by") - in memory of the ancient event of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt and from Egyptian slavery, when the angel who struck the Egyptian firstborn When he saw the blood of the Passover lamb on the doors of Jewish homes, he passed by, leaving them untouched. Another ancient interpretation of the holiday connects it with the consonant Greek word for “suffering.”
IN christian church the name "Easter" acquired a special meaning and began to denote the transition from death to eternal life with the Savior - from earth to heaven.
This ancient holiday of the Christian Church was established and celebrated in apostolic times. The ancient church, under the name of Easter, combined two memories - the suffering and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - and dedicated the days preceding and following the Resurrection to its celebration. To designate both parts of the holiday, special names were used - Easter of suffering, or Easter of the Cross, and Easter of the Resurrection.
© Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov
The resurrection of Jesus Christ testifies that he was “risen like God.” It revealed the glory of His Divinity, previously hidden under the cover of humiliation, shameful for that time, death on the cross like the criminals and robbers who were executed along with him.
Having risen from the dead, the Savior sanctified, blessed and approved the general resurrection of all people who, according to Christian teaching, will also rise from the dead on the general day of resurrection, just as an ear of grain grows from a seed.
In the first centuries of Christianity, Easter was celebrated in different churches V different time. In the East, in the churches of Asia Minor it was celebrated on the 14th day of Nisan (March - April), no matter what day of the week this date fell on. Western Church celebrated Easter on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. An attempt to establish agreement between the churches on this issue was made under Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, in the middle of the 2nd century. First Ecumenical Council 325 he decided to celebrate Easter everywhere at the same time. This continued until the 16th century, when the unity of Western and Eastern Christians in the celebration of Holy Easter and other holidays was disrupted by the calendar reform of Pope Gregory XIII.
The entire 2000-year history of Christianity is the preaching of an event that occurred on the spring morning of the month of Nisan, when Jesus Christ was crucified, and the day of His Resurrection immediately became the main holiday of Christians.
Although it all began much earlier, and the tradition of celebrating Easter is rooted in the deep Old Testament past.
Long before the birth of Christ, the Jewish people were enslaved by the Egyptian pharaoh for several centuries. Pharaoh invariably ignored the requests of the Israelis to let them go. IN last decades, preceding the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, slavery became unbearable for them. The Egyptian authorities, concerned about the “excessive” number of Jews, even decided to kill all boys born to them.
The Prophet Moses, at the command of God, tried to achieve liberation for his people. And then the so-called “10 Egyptian plagues” followed - the entire Egyptian land (except for the place where the Jews lived) suffered from various misfortunes that befell the Egyptians here and there. This clearly spoke of Divine contempt for the chosen people. However, the pharaoh did not take the prophesied signs seriously; the ruler really did not want to part with free labor.
And then the following happened: the Lord, through Moses, commanded each Jewish family to slaughter a lamb, bake it and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and ordered the blood of the slain lamb to anoint the doorpost of their home.
This was supposed to serve as a sign of the inviolability of the marked house. According to legend, the angel who killed all the Egyptian firstborns, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh's family to the firstborn of cattle, passed by Jewish houses (XIII century BC).
After this final execution, the frightened Egyptian ruler released the Jews from his lands that same night. Since then, Passover has been celebrated by the Israelis as the deliverance, exodus from Egyptian slavery and salvation from death of all Jewish firstborn males.
Old Testament celebration of Easter
The celebration of Passover (from the Hebrew verb: “Pesach” - “to pass”, meaning “to deliver”, “to spare”) lasted seven days. Every devout Jew had to spend this week in Jerusalem. During the holiday, only unleavened bread (matzo) was eaten in memory of the fact that the Jews’ exit from Egypt was very hasty, and they did not have time to leaven the bread, but took with them only unleavened bread.
Hence the second name of Passover - the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Each family brought a lamb to the Temple, which was slaughtered there according to a ritual specially described in the Law of Moses.
This lamb served as a prototype and reminder of the coming Savior. As the historian Josephus testifies, on Easter 70 A.D. 265 thousand young lambs and kids were slaughtered in the Jerusalem Temple.
The family baked the lamb, which was called Easter, and was sure to eat it completely on the evening of the first holiday. This meal was the main event of the celebration.
Bitter herbs (in memory of the bitterness of slavery), a paste of fruits and nuts, and four glasses of wine were required. The father of the family was supposed to tell the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egyptian slavery at the festive dinner.
Easter after the covenant
After the coming of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament celebration of Easter loses its meaning. Already in the first years of Christianity, it was understood as a prototype of the death and Resurrection of Christ. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “Our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).
At present, it is difficult to determine exactly what date (in our chronology) the event of the Resurrection occurred.
In the Gospel we can read that according to the Jewish calendar, Christ was crucified on Friday, the 14th day of the first spring month of Nisan, and resurrected on the 16th day of Nisan, in the “first week” (after Saturday). Even among the first Christians, this day stood out from all the others and was called “the Day of the Lord.” Later in Slavic it was called "Sunday". Nissan corresponds to March-April.
The Jews lived not according to the solar calendar, but according to the lunar calendar, which differ from each other by 11 days (365 and 354, respectively). In the lunar calendar they accumulate very quickly compared to the astronomical year, and there are no rules for adjusting them.
In the 1st century A.D. date of celebration Christian Easter no one cared, because for Christians of that period, every Sunday was Easter. But already in the II-III centuries. The question arose about the most solemn celebration of Easter once a year.
In the 4th century, the Church began to celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the spring full moon (no earlier than April 4 and no later than May 8 according to the new style).
The Bishop of Alexandria, on behalf of the Council, notified all the Churches with special Easter messages about the day on which, according to astronomical calculations, Easter falls. Since then, this has been the “holiday of holidays” and the “triumph of celebrations,” the center and pinnacle of the whole year.
How to celebrate Easter
Prepare for Easter in advance. The most important holiday is preceded by a seven-week fast - a time of repentance and spiritual cleansing.
The celebration itself begins with participation in the Easter service. This service is different from the usual church services. Each reading and chant echoes the words of the catechumen word of St. John Chrysostom, which is read already when outside the windows Orthodox churches morning wakes up: “Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory?
At the Easter liturgy, all believers try to partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. And after the service is over, the believers “share Christ” - they greet each other with a kiss and the words “Christ is Risen!” and answer “Truly He is Risen!”
The celebration of Easter lasts forty days - exactly as long as Christ appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection. On the fortieth day He ascended to God the Father. During the forty days of Easter, and especially in the first week - the most solemn - people visit each other, give Easter cakes and colored eggs.
According to legend, the custom of dyeing eggs dates back to apostolic times, when Mary Magdalene, who arrived in Rome to preach the Gospel, presented an egg as a gift to Emperor Tiberius. Living according to the teacher’s commandment “do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matthew 6:19), the poor preacher could not buy a more expensive gift. With the greeting “Christ is risen!”, Mary handed the egg to the emperor and explained that Christ had risen from the tomb, like a chicken that would hatch from this egg.
“How can a dead person rise again? — followed the question of Tiberius. “It’s the same as if an egg would now turn from white to red.” And before everyone’s eyes, a miracle happened - the eggshell turned bright red, as if symbolizing the Blood shed by Christ.
Days of celebration should not be spent only in carefree fun. Previously, for Christians, Easter was a time of special feat of charity, visiting almshouses, hospitals and prisons, where people greeted “Christ is Risen!” brought donations.
Meaning of Easter
Christ sacrificed Himself to save all humanity from death. But we are not talking about physical death, because people have died and are dying, and this will last until the Second Coming of Christ in His power and glory, when He will resurrect the dead.
But after the Resurrection of Jesus, physical death is no longer a dead end, but a way out of it. The inevitable end of human life leads to a meeting with God. In Christianity, hell and heaven are understood not as places, but as states of a person who is ready or not ready for this meeting.
The meaning of the New Testament Passover is well expressed in iconography. Now more familiar is the icon of the Resurrection, where Christ stands in shining white robes on a stone rolled away from His tomb.
Until the 16th century, the Orthodox tradition did not know such an image. The festive icon of the Resurrection is called “The Descent of Christ into Hell.” On it, Jesus leads the first people out of hell - Adam and Eve - they are from those who kept true faith and waited for the Savior. This also sounds in the main Easter hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs.”
The significance of the resurrection of Christ makes Easter the most significant celebration among all other holidays - the Feast of Feasts and the Triumph of Triumphs. Christ conquered death. The tragedy of death is followed by the triumph of life. After His resurrection, He greeted everyone with the word: “Rejoice!”
There is no death. The apostles announced this joy to the world and called it the “Gospel” - the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This joy overflows true Christian when he hears: “Christ is risen!”, and the main words of his life: “Truly Christ is risen!”
A special feature of the Gospel of Christ is the accessibility of its understanding and fulfillment of the commandments of eternal life for any culture, any age and condition. Everyone can find in it the Way, the Truth and the Life. Thanks to the Gospel, the pure in heart see God (Matthew 5:8), and the Kingdom of God dwells within them (Luke 17:21).
The celebration of Easter continues throughout the week after Easter Sunday - Bright Week. Fasts on Wednesday and Friday are canceled. These eight days of celebrating Christ's Resurrection are, as it were, one day belonging to eternity, where “there will be no more time.”
Starting from the day of Easter until it is celebrated (on the fortieth day), believers greet each other with the greeting: “Christ is Risen! “Truly He is Risen!”
Easter or the Resurrection of Christ is an ancient holiday for everything Orthodox world. It is considered the most important religious holiday of the year. On this day, festive services and breaking the fast after Lent are held.
This is a holiday that moves by date. Calculated according to the lunar calendar. Passover is celebrated after the Jewish Passover, on the first Sunday after the full moon, which in turn first came after spring equinox. The holiday falls on the time interval from March 22 to April 25 according to the Julian calendar. Easter commemorates the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel says that Holy Week on Friday the Lord was crucified on the cross and buried. On the night from Saturday to Sunday, women came to the Holy Sepulcher. One of them was the sinner Mary Magdalene. They discovered that the coffin was empty. Then two men came down to them and asked why they were looking for the living among the dead. In addition, the holiday is associated with pagan beliefs about the revival of nature after winter, life and renewal. You can learn the history of the holiday from the primary source – the Bible, in the book “Exodus”. The name "Passover" comes from the Hebrew word "passover", which means "to jump over something." So the Lord “jumped over” the houses of the Jews when He sent troubles and struck the firstborn of Egypt because the Egyptian Pharaoh did not want to free the Jewish people from slavery. This day began to be called Easter. The word acquired a new meaning after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ on the eve of the Jewish Passover. Divine services in the temple take place at night from Saturday to Sunday. The service consists of several parts:- "Midnight Office" Dedicated to the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Midnight Blagovest - the ringing of bells announces the Resurrection. Candles and lamps are lit. Priests in white rank sing “Angels in Heaven...”. Then a religious procession is held. Eggs and Easter cakes are blessed, cottage cheese Easter and everything that is prepared for the festive table.
- “Matins” begins after returning to the temple and opening the “gates of heaven.” Prayers are fulfilled proclaiming the resurrection and victory of Christ. After the hymn they say the Easter greeting - “Christ is Risen!”, and answer - “Truly He is Risen!”. They kiss three times and exchange colored eggs.
- Following Matins, the festive liturgy begins. It ends with illumination of kvass bread - artos.
IN different countries There are a wide variety of traditions for celebrating Easter. They dance, dance in circles, sing folk holiday songs, beat and roll eggs at speed, and make wishes. Easter collects for festive table close and distant relatives, different ages and social levels, grievances and misunderstandings remain forgotten in the past. The holiday unites souls, gives hope and love to people.
Most main holiday in Orthodox church calendar– this is Light Christ's Sunday, also called Easter. This day is the center of the entire tradition, history and philosophy of Orthodoxy. Symbolizes the victory of life over death in the broadest sense.
The date of celebration is calculated every year according to the lunar calendar. There are Gregorian and Alexandrian Paschals - complex astronomical calculation systems exact date. The Russian Orthodox Church adheres to the Alexandrian Paschal and uses the Julian calendar. Sometimes these systems give one date, then Catholics celebrate Easter together with Orthodox Christians. In all calendars and traditions, the date of Easter always falls on Sunday. This day of the week got its name from the holiday.
Name of the holiday
According to the four Gospels, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ occurred on the Jewish holiday of Passover. On this day, the Jews celebrated the exodus from Egypt. IN Old Testament it is said that the last “Egyptian execution”, which finally persuaded the pharaoh to decide to release the Jews, was the killing of all the firstborn by an angel. The angel did not touch only those who slain the lamb and smeared its blood on their doors. Thus, the blood of the lamb saved people from death. In the New Testament, Christ played the role of the Lamb who saves people.
Gradually, the Hebrew word “Pesach” was transformed into the Russian “Easter”. And people began to use the abbreviated name of the holiday more often instead of the full name.
History of Easter celebration
The first Christians believed that they were living at the end of time and expected the Second Coming every year. In memory of the sacrifice of Jesus, they began to celebrate the liturgy, remembering all the events - from the Last Supper to the Resurrection. Every Friday turned into a day of mourning, and Sunday into a day of joy. This bitterness and joy reached their climax on the day of Jewish Passover. This is how Easter was born in our modern understanding.
Easter in Rus'
The holiday came to our region along with Christianity. After Saint Prince Vladimir baptized Rus', Easter became the most important state event. Celebrations have since lasted at least three days. Sometimes Russian princes, after successful campaigns or the birth of an heir, extended the celebration for a whole week.
Resurrection Day preceded Lent, which lasted at least forty days. Our ancestors used this period of time for spiritual cleansing. Pilgrimage to monasteries was very popular. Simple peasants set out on foot many kilometers to arrive at the monastery during Lent. There they confessed and celebrated Easter already cleansed.
Celebrations in New Times
At all times, right up to the end of the first quarter of the 20th century, Easter remained not only the main spring holiday, but also the most central event in the calendar. This was the case until the early twenties, when atheism turned into public policy. The authorities banned Easter liturgies, contrasting the Resurrection of Christ with its counterpart - Workers' Solidarity Day.
But already in the early nineties of the last century, all prohibitions were lifted and several red days in the spring again appeared on the calendar. As in the old days, Easter occupies a dominant place among all religious events. Even the head of state attends a service on this day in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Folk customs and traditions
Since until Easter Christians long time They abstain from fast food; many Easter traditions are of a culinary nature.
Kulich or Paska
The main dish of the holiday is butter cake, which is now commonly called “paska”. Easter cakes are baked in advance and illuminated in the church the day before the holiday. Our ancestors called paska a completely different dish - cheese baba. To prepare it we used a lot chicken eggs and selected cottage cheese. Easter cakes were baked separately. The paska had the shape of a pyramid, which symbolized Mount Golgotha, where Jesus Christ was buried. Eating Easter symbolized Christ's victory over death.
It is customary to carry Easter cakes to church in wicker baskets, made of wicker or other material. In some parishes, paskas are blessed in the evening before Easter, in others - already on Sunday.
A separate tradition is decorating baskets. Now we have come to many Western attributes that were previously unusual Orthodox tradition. These symbols include rabbits, yellow flowers and confectionery products made in the shape of a heart.
Painted eggs
Along with the Easter cakes, it is customary to put eggs in the basket, painted bright red or covered with an intricate pattern. They are also intended to symbolize the victory of life over death. There is a version that this tradition is dictated by the shape of the egg - there is life under the dead shell.
After the Easter meal begins, the children take the eggs in their hands and try to break their friend's egg. This game was called “Christification”, since when the egg was hit, the Easter greeting was usually pronounced: “Christ is Risen.”
Church service - Easter Liturgy
Worship in Orthodox churches begins in the evening of the previous day and continues throughout the night. Although most believers come only in the morning to get to the main part of the action - the Holy Liturgy. In ancient times, it was customary to baptize catechumens on this day. Then, in order to become a Christian, you had to prove your piety over a long period. Such candidates were called catechumens and were not allowed to be present in the church during the celebration of the sacraments.
During Lent, priests wear either passion vestments in red or mourning vestments in purple. In such clothes they begin the Easter service. But as soon as the joyful “Christ is Risen” sounds, they dress in the most beautiful outfits, made of white fabric with an abundance of gold.
Immediately after the end of the festive liturgy, festivities begin. On this day it is customary to wear best clothes and do not restrain yourself in expressions of joy. Young guys explode crackers and set off fireworks, large fairs open where not only goods are sold, but also various competitions are held. For example, on main square a pole is placed, to the top of which a valuable object is tied. To win the competition, you need to reach the top of the pillar and remove this item, receiving it as a prize.
From time immemorial, craftsmen have used festivities to show off your best products. For example, on this day bakers baked a gigantic Easter cake right on the square and divided it among everyone.
The Sunday of Christ was also considered an excellent occasion for charity. On this day, the imperial couple could visit a shelter for orphans or the poor. Poor people were received in the houses of rich people or food was taken out to them on the street.
In the evening, towards the end of the festivities, it is customary to light the Easter fire. On the main square settlement laid out a happy fire big size and set it on fire at nightfall. Now, for obvious reasons, this tradition has been forgotten. Although in some villages bonfires are lit, not in the main square, but near the church.
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