Orthodox Easter

Today was our 2nd Easter!  This Sunday was Orthodox Easter in Russia as they follow the Julian calendar, and it does not always coincide with our celebration of Easter according to the Gregorian calendar.  Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas by a 40 day fast, somewhat similar to the Catholic period of Lent.  The Saturday before Easter they follow a strict fast until midnight and spend the day preparing for Easter by cooking, decorating eggs, and preparing their hearts to receive Easter communion.  At midnight the faithful Orthodox go to church services which last for 3 hours.  The next morning they have another Easter service in the morning.  Some traditions which we learned about besides the painting of Easter eggs is the blessing of the Easter baskets by the priests.  People bring baskets of special Easter "Pashka" bread and painted eggs to be blessed by holy water.

Another tradition is the ringing of the Easter bells which takes place after the Easter services on top of the "crom"or church.  We climbed the 200+ steps to the top of the church and participated in the ringing of the bells.  Here is a funny set of pictures of Cool-J with a lady helping him ring one of the smaller bells.  It was VERY loud!  Too bad we didn't get a picture of the bell itself.

The Orthodox church is a beautiful place inside and out with its beautiful gold domes and beautiful painted icons inside, but I felt a sense of great emptiness inside.  The services are done in Greek and Russian, but I wondered if most Russians could not even understand what was going on.  There are no pews or chairs, and everyone is standing in mass during the services while the priest is in the back room preparing the bread and wine for communion.  Orthodox Christians, like Catholics and Lutherans, believe that during communion the bread and wine actually become miraculously the bread and body of Christ as opposed  being a remembrance of Christ's blood being shed and His body being broken on our behalf.  There are booths inside of the church service with workers selling icons and other religious books and people standing in line to buy icons and candles to light in honor of various saints.   From my perspective, it brings to mind the story of Jesus overturning the tables as he entered the temple and found moneychangers and people selling animals.  

After Easter services we were invited to our friends' home for wonderful Russian hospitality and a beautiful table of food, drink, and Easter cakes and eggs.    We all had a great time reconnecting with friends, and enjoying Russian culture and a special day.