Day by day there are different themes regarding the services people attend at church every evening. Until we get to Holy Thursday where things get quite dramatic and mournful for the faithful. But, at the same time, preparations for the big day of Easter Sunday start and every year the Greek households are busy with certain things which have to be done on certain days during the Holy Week.
On Palm Sunday, the morning service, includes offering of the "vayia", small branches of bay leaves commemorating Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem. And the evening service "officially" starts the period of the week of the Passion of Jesus. We are allowed to eat fish that day.
Usually, Holy Monday and Tuesday are dedicated to making the Easter cookies and the forthcoming Easter shopping begins... There are relative services at church in the evenings.
Holy Wednesday, the service of Holy Unction is performed while the faithful kneeling before the priests are anointed with the Holy Oil to receive forgiveness. In the evening at churches, the centre of the ceremonies and services is the "Washing of the Disciples' Feet" that takes place at many areas. For example, in Patmos island, a platform is set up in the square of the main town, which is always crowded for the occasion. During the ceremony, which lasts about an hour and a half, the Bishop, who "plays the part" of Christ, washes the feet of twelve monks -the Disciples- in imitation of the action of Christ before His Crucifixion
Holy Thursday is when the "tsourekia", a traditional Easter semi sweet bread, is to be baked.
Most important though is the preparation of the dyed red eggs. You can find households without any homemade Easter cookies or tsourekia but you will not find many households without having prepared their own Easter eggs. And Holy Thursday is the day to prepare them. Not before then and if, for any reason, you don't have the time to prepare them, then you have to wait until Holy Saturday.
Nowadays, you can find eggs dyed in various cheerful colours but in general the red ones are significant to the Easter feeling. Red because it is the colour of life and also represents the blood of Christ and because the egg always was a symbol of the renewal of life- it is also a message of victory over death...
Holy Thursday evening, church services last longer than the previous evenings because all the 12 Gospels are being read. Just before the 5th Gospel is about to finish the enactment of Christ's Crucifixion is taking place inside the church. The faithful offer wreaths to Him at the bottom of the Cross and the period of mourning begins. In many places - villages but even in big cities - women will stay in the church throughout the night in traditional mourning and when Holy Friday dawns they start preparing Christ's "Epitaphio" (the bier) with flowers.
Holy Friday, the most dramatic and mournful day in the Holy Week. The day of the culmination of the passion of Christ with his burial. It is a day of mourning, everything is closed (public services, schools, shops) and the housewives do not do any house chores. It is not that they are not allowed, it is just that they don't feel like doing it. Everybody feels numb that day, they really have that feeling of Loss in their hearts, as if somebody in the family has died. So, no housework that day and not even any cooking.
But if they do cook, the food of that day is something very simple. Maybe a bean or lentil soup, just boiled in water (since that day oil is not allowed, they are still in Lent phase) with some vinegar added to it (the vinegar has it's significance, vinegar was what they gave to Jesus when he was thirsty while on the cross...). Flags are hung at half-mast and church bells ring all day in a slow mournful tone.
In the church that morning they keep preparing Christ's bier and the morning service includes the deposition of Christ's body off the cross. The Epitaphios is lavishly decorated with spring flowers and they place a symbolic image of Jesus's body on it. Nowadays, mainly for practical reasons, the shops open only after the morning service is finished, around 12 p.m.
In the evening service the Lamentations are chanted, followed by the exit of Epitaphios which is carried on the shoulders of the faithful and a procession takes place going through the parish streets and back to the church. In small towns or villages this procession also passes by the local cemetary and then back to the church. In both cases members of the congregation follow, carrying honey coloured candles.
On Holy Saturday, everybody is anxious for the big night service at midnight. During the day time the households continue preparing the traditional food for that evening and also for the Easter Sunday. The mageiritsa soup is prepared, which will be eaten after the midnight service of Resurrection and the fast will finally break.
That day a morning prayerful church service is performed. The priests are dressed in white, scatter balm leaves and rose petals while church bells ring happily and chanters sing hymns in praise of Lord. At many areas the custom of 'the earthquake' is carried out. This is a re-enactment of the earthquake that took place after the Resurrection, as described in the Bible. The congregation beats the pews rhythmically, while outside chaos reigns, with gunfire, firecrackers and fireworks. This is a part of the 'First Resurrection' ceremony. Another custom is to close the doors of the church, and the priest, having made three circuits of the church while chanting, kicks open the central door and enters, singing the psalm "Arate pilas" which means "Open the Gates".
Another special tradition of the morning service is the 'Pot Throwing' custom that takes place at some Ionian islands, especially Corfu. Local people throw pots out of their windows, smashing them onto the streets below. Some times pots are filled with water to make a louder crash.
The midnight Service of the Resurrection is a big occasion attended by almost everyone while they are holding white candles. The white candles are only used for one Easter midnight service.
Shortly before midnight, all lights are switched off in the churches and you can see only the Holy Flame on the altar held by the main priest of the church. Every year this unique flame comes directly from the Holy Grave of Christ in Jerusalem and it lights miraculously without any human involvement. He passes it then to the congregation and one by one the faithful get their own Holy Flame (the light of the Resurrection) with the aim to bring it home safely for good luck and a blessed rest of the year.
When the clock hits midnight, the Priest calls out "Christos Anesti" (Christ is risen).
The night air is filled with the singing of the Byzantine Chant "Christos Anesti," and the "kiss of love" and wishes are exchanged between family members and friends and neighbours. Everybody exchanges the same wishes- "Christos Anesti" (Christ is risen) says the one and the other replies "Alithos Anesti" (Truly, he is risen) or "Alithinos o Kyrios" (True is the Lord). And these wishes and greetings go on for the next 50 days, until the Pentecost day, when Jesus appeared again to his people.
The tradition has it, as soon as "Christos Anesti" is called out, the church bells start ringing joyously non-stop, ships in ports all around Greece sound their horns, floodlights are lit on large buildings, canons in Lecabetus hill (in Athens) bang and great and small displays of fireworks and noisemakers are set off. It is a representation of the noise that sounded when Jesus rose out of his tomb...
People then return home to have their traditional midnight food and enjoy the happy feeling of the Resurrection. The message in their hearts is that of the victory of life against death.
Once home, family and friends gather around the table for the traditional meal to break the fast, which includes the mageiritsa soup, the tsoureki and of course the red eggs. But before the eggs are eaten, there's a traditional challenge: the "tsougrisma", the cracking of the eggs!!
Holding your egg, you tap the end against the end of your opponent's egg, trying to crack it. Eggs are often made in very large quantities since the game continues on the next day with more friends and family.
On Easter Sunday whether it is a city or a village people get up quite early. It is a big happy day and in the case of being in a village or small town, it means you might have the chance to enjoy some traditional lamb or goat on the spit and other delicious Easter food.
In the afternoon of that day the "Second Resurrection" takes place, at which the Gospel of the Resurrection is read at churches in seven languages. This is the "Service of Love" and expresses the fact that the message of Christ's Resurrection transmits it's redemptive Power to the people of the world.
Later on, in many areas of Greece, the custom is to burn an effigy of Judas. The young people make an effigy of Judas out of old rags, put into it's hands the price of betrayal (a bag containing 30 pebbles) and hang it in the courtyard until the rags catch fire and go up in flames.
So, the preparations of the food for the day start early in the morning. First to prepare the fire in the right way so to be sure that the lamb and the rest of the meaty meze will be cooked thoroughly and nicely. The customary main attraction of the day is a whole roasted lamb or goat (kid) to represent the Lamb of God. But for those who are not so lucky there is always the home oven. Great Greek wines, ouzo, and other drinks flow freely, and preparations for the meal turn into festive celebrations even before the main eating begins. These high-spirited gatherings often last long into the night.
On Easter Monday processions take place at many areas. Early in the morning, after the services, each church brings out its standard and its Cross. In other places the main icon of each church is placed in another church for a period of time, during which daily prayer services are held. Depending on the calendar of the year, if Easter is celebrated after the April 23rd, then the Easter Monday is dedicated to Saint George, a beloved Saint for all Greeks. Many festivals take place on his memory and if it happens that April 23rd is during the Lent or the Holy Week, then no celebration can be performed and is moved to Easter Monday which is a National Holiday anyway.
Other than that Easter Monday also is meant for people to take things slowly.... Nothing is open beside cafés and restaurants and people, while trying to recover from the previous day's big feast, continue eating whatever was not eaten on Sunday!!! All those delicious leftovers! They never learn...
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