Traditions of Greek Orthodox Easter

Easter time, from the carnivals that come before the Lenten fast through Holy
Week and the celebrations of Easter, is a special season in Greece.

The streets of Greece and Greek Orthodox communities throughout the world ring
with happy voices sharing Chroni Poll! - Easter Wishes...

Since the date of the Greek Orthodox Easter is based on a modified Julian
calendar (while the Western world uses the Gregorian calendar), the festivities
sometimes do not usually occur at the same time as other Christian Easter
celebrations.

In 2012, Greek Orthodox Easter is celebrated a week later than Easter

observances in the Western church this year - on Sunday, April 15, 2012 - and
marked by unique traditions that make Easter in Greece different than Easter
celebrations in other lands.

Greek foods and traditions mark the season as uniquely Hellenic. The history of
Greece traces back far past the beginnings of Christianity, but from the very
earliest days of the Christian faith the Islands of Greece and the Greek people
have embraced these beliefs and made them part of the Greek heritage. Of all the
Christian feast days, Easter is the greatest time for foods, feasting and celebration
to people in the Greek Orthodox faith.

The celebrations for Easter truly begin two months before with Mardi Gras. The
Carnival or Apokria season starts on the Sunday of Teloni and Farisou and ends
on Shrovetide Sunday with the Burning of the Carnival King...setting fire to an
enormous paper mache effigy of Judas in the early evening. The fireworks and
feasting continue throughout the night. The next day, Kathara Deftera or Kathari
Deutera, is known as Clean Monday or Ash Monday

For Greeks, Clean Monday is one of the most festive holidays of the year.
Decorated with the colorful local almond trees and mimosas bursting into bloom,
nature invites children and their parents into the hills of Athens and the Greek
countryside. Flying kites and feasting at local tavernas or outdoor picnics is how
Lent begins in Greece.

Htapothi Octopus and calamari or squid, prawns, Soupies Giahni - cuttlefish

stewed in wine, rice pilaf with mussels, varieties of bean stews and salads, Lenten
dolmades - rice stuffed grape vine leaves, Halva a semolina pudding, plenty of
meat free salads and the once-a-year lagana, a yeastless bread, are a small
portion of the unique tastes of the day accompanied by joyous music.

If Apokria, Kathari Deutara and Lenten Sunday feasts are the preliminaries for
Greek Easter, Holy Week is the peak of these activities. On Holy Thursday the
bright dyed red eggs that are symbolic of Easter in Greece are prepared. Tradition
says that the Virgin Mother, Mary, dyed eggs this color to celebrated the
Resurrection of Christ and to celebrate life. Every Greek family prepares these
eggs as part of the Easter Sunday Resurrection Table.

Otherwise, the women in Greek families are busy baking koulourakia - butter twist
cookies and tsoureki - traditional sweet bread for the Easter feast.

On Good Friday or Great Friday, flags at homes and government buildings are set
at half mast to mark the mournful day. The Procession of the Epitphios of Christ,
the Ritual Lament that has survived from Homeric times, mourns the death of
Christ on the Cross with the symbolic decorated coffin carried through the streets
by the faithful. On Corfu, the procession of St. Spyridon is held on Easter
Saturday.

Holy Saturday is filled with anticipation of the religious celebration of Easter and
the Resurrection. People begin to gather in the churches and squares in cities,
towns and villages by 11 p.m. for the Easter services. Large white candles are
carried by just about all of the faithful. At midnight the church bells toll as the
priests announce Christos Anesti!...Christ is Risen! Fireworks are set off, in some
areas gunshots are fired and the each person in the crowd answers with the joyous
responses of Aliths Ansti - Truly He is risen.

A Time for Family

The people leave the churches and crowded squares and make their ways to homes
of friends and relatives. The candles they carry are placed in each home and burn
through the night to symbolize the Light returned to the world. Celebrations
continue with the cracking of eggs and The Resurrection Table. The Kokkina -
pasxalina avga - dyed red Easter eggs that are found on the Resurrection Table
become pieces of a traditional game. Each person takes an egg and challengers
attempt to crack each others' eggs. The breaking of the eggs is meant to symbolize
Christ breaking from the Tomb. The person whose egg lasts the longest is assured
good luck for the rest of the year.

The traditional foods on the Resurrection Table: hiromri - smoked salted pork;
cheeses; magiritsa - a creamy, lemony soup made from the lamb sweetmeats;
koulourakia - Greek Easter bread; Tsoureki; Lambropsomo and other Easter
breads and plenty of Greek wine, retsina and ouzo insure a feast which will last
throughout the night.

After the night of feasting and celebration, everyone is still up early on Easter
Sunday morning. The Easter Sunday table is prepared and the festivities continue!
The Easter meal is truly a feast. Salads of beans, greens and seafood, vegetable
dishes that are grilled or cooked to be served with the rice dishes, Kokoretsi,
breads, cakes, cookies, wines, ouzo...

The main dish at the Easter Table is the lamb or goat (usually kid). Served in
honor of the Lamb of God who was sacrificed and rose again on Easter, a whole
spiced lamb roasted over a charcoal fire is the most traditional of Greek Easter
foods. The Easter Sunday celebration lasts through the day while visits are made
to family and friends and the Easter feast is shared with every guest.

Each person that enters the home is greeted with Gia to kal tis imras! - "For the
good of the day!" with a plate of food and an invitation to join in the feast. Besides
bringing insult and bad luck to a host who is rejected, the foods are so
delicious...who could refuse?

Easter Monday is a much more relaxed day when everyone gets ready to return to
work and school. The main work of Easter Monday is to finish the foods that were
not eaten the day before!