Sunday was Greek Easter so we took a trip into London to attend Mass at the beautiful Ayia Sofia Church.  The plan was to meet up with my aunt, her husband, a couple of cousins and the two children of one of them and then to picnic in Hyde Park afterwards.  I'd spent much of Saturday preparing the food to take, including koulourakia (Greek biscuits), bourekakia (cheese filled pastry diamonds rather like samosas), and good old organic sausage rolls.  My aunt brought along some coloured eggs which are in keeping with the Greek Easter tradition, and some Greek Easter cake.  Despite the journey into London taking quite a short amount of time once we got into the city it slowed down dramatically.  We got to the Church late, missing much of the service including the Holy Communion, and it poured with rain.  Once we got to the park we did get a window of good weather to allow us to have a quick picnic and for the children to have a run around.  However, we did have to keep an eye on the time as £8.00 for every two hours of parking dictated that we couldn't hang around for too long! 

Back home and the garden is coming along nicely.  I really can't wait for the weather to improve so I can get on with my first season as a vegetable gardener!  Still, we've been getting on with hardening off the tomatoes and cucumbers which have been growing on each available windowsill and they seem to be surviving ok at the moment.  A couple of the tomato plants have begun flowering already which I wasn't expecting just yet.  Outside, one of the raised beds containing radishes, cut and come again salad, parsnips, carrots and spring onions is coming along extremely well.  The broad beans planted directly in the flower beds have suddenly shot up a few inches and need me to re-fashion the protective mesh covering that is around them.  We have several plants growing in containers including peas which have just started peeking through, blueberry bushes planted in a tub of ericaceous compost due to their liking of acidic soil, and a supply of garlic and onions as well as a couple of hanging baskets containing strawberry plants.  I still need to prepare the second raised bed and plan where things will grow.  I feel so proud of having achieved a little bit of greenery from scratch that so far looks promising especially considering I've never attempted anything like this before.  I wonder if anyone else felt the same when they first started out or am I just so sad with nothing else in life to look forward to?!  I can't wait until the day we have a truly homegrown meal made from nothing but our own vegetables and eggs.  That will provide a real sense of achievement to me! 

The chickens are doing well and providing plenty of eggs for us.  Most evenings we let them out of their run to wander in the garden before it gets dusky and they put themselves back into their house and off to bed.  I never realised what characters the little birds are and how much enjoyment I get from watching them.  It does make me laugh when one finds a worm and seems to get pleasure out of parading her find in front of the others before making a run for it, with the other hens chasing her tail!  They definitely have their own personalities and I am so glad we made the decision to get them.  If anyone out there is debating getting their own hens I'd strongly recommend it without a moments hesitation.  Of course, the eggs are an added bonus too!  I often read how chicken keeping becomes addictive and didn't quite understand until now.  Now we have plans of extending the run for the existing hens, and then a few months down the line making a second house within it for a couple of ex-battery hens to be rehomed.  Oh, and there is always the hope that I'll get a couple of Buff Orpingtons too but they seem to be very popular... and quite expensive too. 

In the kitchen things have been pretty quiet.  I have tried a couple of bread recipes.  One was Egg Bread  which was fantastic and went down very well with everyone in the house.  Another one I have just taken out of the oven but not tasted yet is this Oat Bread recipe which smells gorgeous!  In fact, it smells so good I think I'm going to sign off now and have a slice with some of my Pear and Lemon jam!

Tomorrow is Good Friday, a day of respect and mourning for Christ. In the evening is the service of remembrance when the priest takes down the icon of Christ off the cross, wraps it in linen and places it in the casket. The casket is called the Epitaphion which has, this week, been decked with flowers by local women and girls. After the service, the Epitaphion is carried around the village or town as in a funeral procession. Back at the church the Epitaphion is often raised high over the doorway so that the congregation can pass underneath it. To pass between the dead Christ and the ground is considered to be very lucky.

On Saturday, the fast that so many take just leading up to Easter is continued. In the late evening towards midnight there is the Church service that celebrates the rising of Christ. At midnight all light in the church is extinguished. In the darkness at the alter the priest turns with a single candle crying ‘Christos Anesti’, Christ is risen. All the people have brought their unlit candle to the church to receive the light of Christ, brought all the way from the cave of Christ’s nativity in Jerusalem, from the priest. They try to carry their light back with them to their house which will bring luck for the family for the year. Also they make a cross over the doorway in candle smoke to bless the house.

Then the great bonfire is lit as well as crackers and maybe even gunshots may be heard as the celebrations begin. Here in Crete a guy is dressed and burned on the fire as Judas. Now that midnight has passed the fast is over and meat and so on can be eaten again. In the morning of Holy Sunday the spits are fired up and whole lambs are roasted. After the meal one takes the red eggs and cracks them against the next person’s egg saying Christos anesti. If your egg is the last to crack then you will have very good luck.

We call this festival Easter but for the Greeks it is called Pasxa. This literally means the passing over of Christ from here on earth to the Kingdom of Heaven. Greek Easter is often on days different to our own date of Easter. The reason for this is that the date of Greek or Orthodox Easter is still calculated on the Julian calendar, which is some 13 days behind the more modern Gregorian calendar. Greek Orthodox Easter should fall on the Sunday that follows the first full moon after the spring or vernal equinox. Also Greek Easter is always after the Jewish Passover.

Kalo Pasxa, Happy Easter.

I've never been to Greece during Easter but I have celebrated a few in backyards filled with Greeks! It's a lot of fun.  Since I am about to finish the new menu designs (yes I've been working on them forever now) and then I'm heading out of town, I won't be writing all about the traditions here. But follow the links above and learn lots of interesting things. OR call us, 722.2226, and get some delicious TOTALLY GREEK! food delivered to you for your weekend outtings!

Holy Annunciation Orthodox Church on Prospect Street in Maynard invites everyone to share our celebration of the central acts of our salvation. Services, with special music for the season, are all in English.

Monday, April 21 and Tuesday April 22 at 6:30 p.m. Bridegroom Matins warns us to prepare for the wedding banquet of The Lord.

Wednesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m. Holy Unction is offered to all Orthodox Christians for healing of body and soul.

Thursday, April 24 at 9:30: a.m. at the Vespers and Liturgy of Holy Thursday all prepared Orthodox Christians may receive communion as we commemorate the Last Supper. Then at 6:30 p.m. Matins of Holy Friday is served with the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels.

Friday, April 25 at 9 a.m. Royal Hours of Great and Holy Friday brings us psalms Bible readings, and prayers to guide us to the heart of the celebration. At 4 p.m. comes Vespers of Holy Friday, when the Plashchanitsa is placed in a flower-decked tomb in the center of the church. At 7 p.m. Matins of Holy Saturday is celebrated with the singing of the Lamentations before the tomb and a procession around the church.

Saturday, April 26 at 10 a.m. Vespers and Liturgy of Holy Saturday are celebrated with 15 Old Testament readings and communion for Orthodox Christians.

Saturday/Sunday April 26 and April 27, Nocturns is sung in the dark church at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed at midnight by the Procession of the Cross around the church, then Matins of Holy Pascha and the Paschal Divine Liturgy, with communion for Orthodox faithful. These glorious Paschal services are followed by the blessing of baskets of food, which can immediately be shared in a community meal of celebration.

On Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. the joyful Vespers of Pascha is sung, and on Monday at 9:30 a.m. the Paschal Liturgy is celebrated again, with a procession.

For further information call Father Robert Dick: 978-897-7695.

Father George Zervos, who has been a priest for 40 years, has spent the last four years of his service at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Jamestown. ‘‘The Great Lent is a spiritual preparation for all those who are Orthodox Christians to receive the resurrection of Christ,’’ Zervos explained. ‘‘That includes fasting, attending more services, doing more good deeds and the greatest challenge of all, to show love to our fellow man as Christ has loved us.’’

The Sunday prior to the beginning of Lent, is called Forgiveness Sunday. The idea is to embrace one another and ask for reconciliation. Following the beginning of Lent, each Sunday service has a different theme to celebrate Christ’s resurrection. ‘‘The first week emphasizes Jesus’ assuming human flesh, and this is a mystery only known by God,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘So he remains God, but also becomes the perfect man, meaning he is sinless. The second week we emphasize when the son of God came to earth and reunited us with God in his divine love.’’

The second week follows parts of the Bible’s Book of Genesis, where Adam and Eve fell from paradise for eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. However, Zervos explained Christ came to redeem humans, which leads into the third week, the celebration of the Holy Cross. ‘‘When Christ was on the cross he washed away our sins, today we make the sign of the cross to use as a weapon against evil,’’ Zervos explained. ‘‘The fourth week calls our attention to the necessity of personal forgiveness. Lastly the fifth and final week, we practice the joy of experiencing forgiveness through good works and the grace of God, which leads us into Holy Week.’’

Additionally, each Friday in Lent is celebrated with a special service dedicated to Mary, which the church refers to as Salutations to the Mother of God. Throughout the 40 days, there are also strict rules regarding fasting, meaning no meat, cheese, dairy or eggs. On Saturdays, with the exception of Holy Saturday, wine and oil are allowed. Confession is also practiced at this time, and members are encouraged to come to church and use confession as a spiritual medicine.

During Holy Week, services are held every day and every evening. The Greek Orthodox refer to each day as Great Monday, Great Tuesday and so on, because Christ went through great suffering to redeem his people. ‘‘The first two days of the Holy Week we have the bridegroom services, because Jesus was the bridegroom of the Church,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘Just like the love a husband and wife should have for one another, Christ had for the church, so we use that idea.’’

During the Thursday morning of Holy Week, the Church has a Divine Liturgy service. Zervos explained that emergency Holy Communion is prepared and kept throughout the entire year in celebration of Christ’s own Holy Communion. It is hardened to ensure it lasts, and is distributed to the sick or others who are unable to attend service. Following the morning service, Thursday afternoon the wooden icon of Jesus is removed from the cross inside the church. ‘‘Congregation members will walk around the church with an empty cross, symbolizing Christ’s entry into the tomb,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘Our services are very show-and-tell, Jesus is taken down Thursday, wrapped in a sheet and put in the tomb, and we leave the empty cross to tell people the story. We then read Gospel readings referring to his suffering and crucifixion.’’

Finally on Friday a Lamentations Service is held, and readings from the prophets of the Old Testament are read, which are called the Royal Hours. Zervos said now Christ has been put in the tomb and the congregation sings lamentations hymns while holding candles. ‘‘The Saturday liturgy in the morning is called the First Resurrection, and we throw out flowers,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘We believe Christ is in Hades and is preaching salvation to those who have died. Then at midnight we have the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which we celebrate with lighted candles and by singing hymns.’’

The traditional hymn sung by the Greek Orthodox Church at this time reads as follows: “Christ is risen from the grave, and through death he has trampled on death, and to those in the tombs he has bestowed.” This hymn is also sung throughout the pentecostal season, the 50 days following the resurrection of Christ. ‘‘On Easter morning, we have our Pascha service at 11:30 a.m., our Agape service, which is the Greek word for Christ’s Love,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘This signifies the unity of all races and people, there is no division. We pass out Easter Eggs during this service which are dyed red to symbolize Christ’s blood. After the final service, members crack the eggs with one another, representing Jesus escaping from the tomb.’’

From Easter on for the next 40 days, strick Greek Orthodox members will replace their common greeting of ‘‘hello’’ with ‘‘Christ has risen,’’ and the proper response is ‘‘truly he has risen.’’ This is practiced throughout the Pentecostal season. Also, during the renewal week, which starts the Monday after Easter, there is no fasting allowed. ‘‘After resurrection our body will be reunited with our soul and we will be one again,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘Our goal is to go to heaven by following the commandments of God. This is an ancient service of which all churches are an off-shoot of. If we, during the Great Lent, are fasting it is because we are trying to become more holy.’’

He explained that from the ancient times, the Greek Orthodox church practiced a wholeness or totality. ‘‘The whole source of the Orthodox Christian faith is the holy tradition in which scripture is written. The words of Christ are maintained and kept in the Bible. It’s both the written and unwritten tradition the church keeps. We use the same Bible as other Christian religions, the communion of saints, sacraments of the church are all interrelated and the purpose is to obtain ones salvation.’’

Pentecost Day marks the ending of the post-Easter season, and is the day when the holy spirit ascends to Earth. The following day the church has a liturgy just for God, the father, son and holy spirit, or the Holy Trinity. Zervos said in today’s world, sometimes keeping up with the traditions can be difficult, but it is important to have a form of religion in one’s life. He urges anybody interested in learning more about the Greek Orthodox Church to attend one of their services.

‘‘Everybody is more than welcome,’’ Zervos said. ‘‘Throughout Holy Week services are at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and we would love to have people at the 11:30 a.m. service on Easter Day. We pass out eggs and read the Bible in different languages. If anybody can speak a different language, be it German or Arabic, they’re welcome to come and share in the light of Christ.’’ For more information, contact St. Nicholas’ at 483-0022.

This year, the East (Greek and Russian Orthodox) and the West (Roman Catholic and its breakaway Protestant faiths) have booked the same banquet room, as it were, for Easter. The last time this happened was 2004. It will happen again in 2010. That date sounds marvelously futuristic. 2010.

As a child, I loved Easter-- it meant candy, cannoli, watching Judy Garland and Ann Miller and, quite possibly, money. My family's Easter rituals were nearly interchangeable with our Thanksgiving ones. We just traded in the turkey for a ham and wore brighter colors. Of course, there was one notable, Easter-specific activity...

The Easter Egg Hunt.

There was a certain lack of enthusiasm for the hunt at my house. My brother and sister were much older than I and, therefore, largely bored by it. While Betty Ford was busying herself on the South Lawn showing children how to roll Easter Eggs, the only things rolling at my house were the jaded eyes of my siblings. At least they were kind enough to humor me.

Saturday night was spent breaking out the Paas egg dyeing kit, creating two-toned eggs and trying to somehow work the accompanying decals onto the eggs without tearing them. My brother sometimes attempted to create narrative tension on the surface of his eggs, which is a challenge when pastel colors and bunnies are involved. I believe one year my sister dyed one egg blue and painted the original movie poster from Jaws onto it. If anyone could make an Easter egg look menacing, it would have to be my sister. Once finished, we would admire our handiwork until the nausea induced by the acrid smell of the Heinz white wine vinegar wafting up from the egg dyeing cups finally drove us away. And then, at some point during my sleeping hours, the eggs would go into hiding.

I never really understood why the eggs felt the need to hide themselves-- it's not as though anyone in my family really enjoyed eating hard boiled eggs. They were in no real danger. I would have preferred to decorate my bookshelf with them or plant one in the back yard and pray that something interesting grew from it. Perhaps they were afraid of being buried alive.

So they hid. Usually in the same places every year. One always found its way into the piano bench, another in the chandelier which I could never quite reach. We always made an even dozen. When ten or so were found, the already low level of enthusiasm would wane. My mother always stepped into the Judas role, betraying the hiding place of one of the eggs. Eventually, one hiding under the living room sofa or concealed in a recycled Country Crock margarine container would betray itself by its own putrefaction. Usually sometime in May. Or June.

This year, thanks to my new-found interest in things Greek (or, at least, my interest in one particular Canadian of Greek descent), I am embracing the Greek Easter egg. I made a dozen of them yesterday. Why I keep making an even dozen, I'll never know. I suppose it would be more correct to make thirteen, since there were thirteen people present at the Last Supper and that, it would seem, is what got this whole Easter ball --or egg--rolling. Remind me to do that next year.

The traditions involving the Greek Easter egg are much different from our own, and much more no-nonsense than, say, the Russians'. The Russian Easter egg is far too expensive to be produced yearly, but they are a good investment if you have the money. The Greeks don't bother to hide their eggs. Why hide food you know you're going to eat later? Unless, of course, one is re-enacting an historical event and therefore hiding it from the Turks or the Germans. No, they just dye them blood red and put them in the middle of their dinner table. There's more to it than that, of course. There's a power game involved.

What to do when confronted with a Greek Easter egg.

1. Show no fear. This egg will most likely be presented to you by a Greek person. They can smell fear almost as well as they can smell lamb or a bargain. Just keep calm, smile and say "Kalo Pascha."
2. This egg now in your possession will be given to you after a dinner of spit-roasted lamb and many glasses of wine or ouzo. Take it and partake in a symbolic and faintly violent game of egg smashing.
3. One person will turn to another participant seated next to him and say something in Greek. The other person will respond, also in Greek, and they will smash the pointed ends of their respective eggs together. The participant whose egg emerges uncracked moves on to his next victim.
4. If that next victim is you, he will say to you "Christos Anesti!" (Christ is risen!) to which you must respond, "Alithos Anesti!" (He is truly risen!") and smash your egg into his.
5. If you are victorious, repeat this process until all eggs except one are cracked. If that egg is yours, it means that Jesus likes you better than anyone else in the room and that you will have good luck throughout the year.

What it all means.

The red coloring of the eggs represents the Blood of Christ to the Greeks. I just happen to think they are highly attractive.

The cracking of the egg symbolizes Christ breaking out of his tomb as he rises from the dead. If this is true, then I don't really understand why the person with the uncracked egg is favored. If there is a crack anywhere, in my opinion, it is in the logic of this game. Perhaps the others are simply masking their grief for the damned soul of someone who is now certain never rise to heaven.

If you decide to play the game but are somewhat uncomfortable with so much Jesus talk, you might try substituting your own ritual call-and-response during the game. Something non-religious, yet still meaningful. One person shouting out a love for corduroy while his challenger announces his preference for suede is one such suggestion. I find the Greek tradition of being in such strong verbal agreement with each other while engaging in such aggressive behavior unconvincing and lacking in any real dramatic tension. I suppose if the first person shouted out the usual "Christ is risen!" and the second person responded "Actually, I think he's still napping" or "Christ was a Turk", there might be some tension. It is undoubtedly to my own advantage that I don't know how to say those things in Greek. But it might be exciting to witness, nevertheless.

How to make Greek Easter eggs if no one else is willing to make them for you:

First off, I must implore you not to follow my example. I read the badly translated instructions off the back of a Greek Easter egg dye package, which called for a cold dyeing. I was unwilling to go out and buy more eggs and dye them properly. I already have more hard boiled eggs than I know what to do with. As a result, my eggs look more like the pocked surface of Mars than the pure life force of a Savior whose blood is said to have come directly from King David on his Mother's side and, well, whatever flows through His Father's side of the family.

Here is a better recipe:

Ingredients:

12 uncooked eggs
Water
3/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 package of Greek Easter egg dye
Olive oil

Preparation:

1. Carefully wash and dry each egg (I missed this part, so it must be important).
2. Set a large pot of water to boil. Add egg dye and vinegar to the water and bring to a boil to dissolve dye.
3. Set water aside and let cool. Refrigerate for all I care. It seems that every recipe I've read calls for putting uncooked eggs into boiling or near-boiling water. This sound plain crazy to me. Perhaps it is some odd, Greek act of faith. Perhaps it is precisely because I lack that faith that my eggs came out spotty.
4. Set now-cooled water over stove and carefully add the eggs. Bring water to a boil and turn off heat.
5. Let eggs sit for 10 minutes, remove them carefully and allow to cool and dry.
6. Wipe eggs with olive oil-soaked paper towels.
7. Wipe now with a clean, dry soft cloth to remove excess oil and to polish.
8. Place them on your Easter table and let the fun begin.

I'm not Orthodox Christian and normally spend Pascha outside of Greece, so I'm not accustom to the familial wrangling involved in deciding where and with whom to spend this holiday of all holidays. My best guess is that it's much like the politics of who to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with in America...family, food (a lot!), fighting (more than enough), fodder and hurt feelings.

Back in February when news came out I wasn't jet-setting, my friends' dad called his ex-wife and announced that his sons (my friends) and I were spending Pascha in his village. Uhhhh, what? First of all, no one asked us. Second, I found it hurtful that their dad would make this announcement in front of his ex-wife as if it were a competition he'd just won by likening us to the front seat of a car and calling 'shotgun.'

Of course we had no plans, it was February for gosh sakes! But wise people should know better than to tell me what to do without asking first because that's just wood for a fire called "he!! no!"

In their dad's village, I hear it's a depress-fest because no music, dancing and smiling are permitted since their cousin Kosta died 6 years ago in a car accident. So basically, it's eating, sleeping, fighting, eating, drinking coffee and the dispensing of unsolicited advice. Woo hoo!

There have been daily calls (sometimes 5 times/day I'm told) over the past weeks to inquire what we're wearing to church, the candles being bought for us and how things are going to go. In addition to the fact I'm not Orthodox and I think it's wrong for people to go only once a year for Pascha if they don't truly believe or regularly practice, there's a rumor that their dad wants me at church so he can show me off as his sons' "exotic and beautiful foreign friend." Add to this a dash of being insulted by their aunt for being a "lower person" because I'm foreign, "poor" because I own no farmland and "not of good character" because I have an American education and traveled the world alone. I've kept quiet, but others apparently have not.

We're going to their mom's village now.

Pascha-friendly advice

If you're going to attend church for Easter service, ladies must make sure to wear a skirt to show respect to Orthodox Christian customs and men are expected to wear suits. Many people use the event to pose and posture, it sometimes isn't about God, resurrection and bringing home the light...although it's supposed to be.

Wish everyone "Kali Anastasi" or Good Resurrection from Thursday to Sunday and "Christos Anesti" after that; if someone greets you with "Christos Anesti" or Christ has risen, the proper response is "Alithos Anesti" or truly He has risen.

Related posts

"Easter in Athens"
"Death and resurrection: Paschal journey, life journey"
"Countdown to the thing"