This week, until next Sunday, it's a week of mourning and sorrow.
We call it "Great Week" or "Week of Suffering" and it's the last week of Great Lent and a week before Easter.
These days, which the Church calls Great and Holy have within the liturgical development of Holy Week a very definite purpose. They place all its celebrations into the perspective of End. They remind us of the eschatological meaning of Pascha.
It begins from Palm Sunday (Κυριακή των Βα'ί'ων) and lasts till Great and Holy Saturday(Μεγάλο Σάββατο).
Palm Sunday: The entrance in the Holy City and announces the acceptance by the world of its only King, Jesus Christ.
Great and Holy Monday (Μ. Δευτέρα): On this day the Church commemorates the withering of the fruitless fig tree, a symbol of judgement that will befall those who do not bring forth the fruits of repentance.
The hymns on this day also recall Joseph, the son of Jacob, whose innocent suffering at the hand of his brethren, and false accusation are a type of the Passion of Jesus.
Great and Holy Tuesday (Μ. Τρίτη): On this day the Church commemorates the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The five of them were ready to accept Jesus but the other five weren't.
We must always be prepared for Jesus.
Great and Holy Wednesday (Μ. Τετάρτη): On this day the Church commemorates the sinful woman who washed Jesus's feet in the house of Simon.
We sing the Hymn of Kassiani the Nun (the previous night).
Great and Holy Thursday (Μ. Πέμπτη): On this day the Church commemorates The Last Supper after Jesus washed Apostles feet, the prayer in the Garden of Getsemani (Γεσθημανή), the betrayal of Judas and Jesus's trial.
Great and Holy Friday (Μ. Παρασκευή) : On this day the Church commemorates the Crucifixion and the Burial of Jesus.
The women decorate with flowers the epitaph (Επιτάφιος), which symbolize Jesus's grave.
The hymns of this day are mournful and the fast very strict.
We don't cook, we don't set the table for lunch or dinner and we don't eat oil or drink wine.
Great and Holy Saturday (Μ. Σάββατο): On this day the Church commemorates the descent to Hades and Jesus's Resurrection.
Death is Overcome by Life and we understand why God desires that death, why the Father gives His Only Begotten Son to it. He desires the salvation of man. Hence the necessity of the Incarnation and the necessity of that Divine death. Death was not only destroyed by God, but was overcome and trampled down in human nature itself by man and through man.
At noon we celebrate The First Resurrection (Πρώτη Ανάσταση).
At noon we celebrate The First Resurrection (Πρώτη Ανάσταση).
Some minutes before midnight, we recieve the Eternal Flame from our priest and we pass it to others. It's the Holy Light (Άγιο Φως), the Light of Love.
At Midnight we all sing "Χριστός Ανέστη" ( Christ is risen) , we kiss each other and we bump red eggs.
The liturgy ends two hours later.
During the Holy Week, the Godparents go to their godchildren with new shoes or clothes, a taper (λαμπάδα) and a bun (τσουρέκι).
It's a tradition to make buns, Easter cookies (πασχαλινά κουλούρια) and to paint eggs in red colour, the colour of Jesus's blood.
Happy Easter to all the Greek Orthodox and i wish good health, happiness and prosperity to all mankind.
42 σχόλια:
Thank you, Antigoni, for sharing you and your Church's celebration of Easter. It is very moving and very beautiful! Enjoy the Spring!
Great entry, Thanks for sharing. Beautiful photos, colours.
Have a wonderful week
Mary ElizabethBlog.
Antigoni: A wonderful post on the week of Easter you are celbrating. The red eggs are an interesting symbol.
This is very interesting and very personal to share such a special time of the year for you.
Fascinating post. Thanks for educating me.
This was a wonderful Holy Week post about your traditions.
This is a good post. I enjoyed looking at all of the images you presented. For Easter it was fabulous.
Thanks too for visiting my blog and for your comment there.
Thanks for teaching us your Church's week before Easter beliefs and traditions. I'd never heard of the red egg tradition. Very interesting.
Thank you Antigoni for sharing your traditional Easter celebrations. Have a nice week, I'm sure Spring has come to Greece already:)
Thank you for a very informative and interesting post. I very much enjoyed learning about your Holy Week traditions. Some are quite similar but others are interestingly different. I wasn't aware of the red egg tradition.
The food looks delicious!Thanks for stopping by my blog.How'd you get a picture of the Tampa skyline?
Thank you for taking us through your world for a whole week. I once attended a Greek Orthodox Easter service here in the US and remember how beautiful it was.
The red eggs are delightful - a sign of spring and colorful flowers as well as their religious meaning
I do enjoy reading about your meaningful traditions. I have never seen red dyed eggs. They are beautiful!
Beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to share this with with world. I love traditions - they seem to be falling away from so many.
your post was wonderful and i enjoyed reading about holy week so very much. traditions are important in our lives and appreciate you sharing yours with us. the photos were great.
take care
Thanks for sharing these lessons from your church. I feel that I learned something today.
beautiful post, so rich with tradition, thank you for sharing!
bravo for the very good description of what happen in greece in every household during the holy week
kalo pasxa
thank you for sharing all the details leading up to the resurrection! Is this fast as symbol of "sorrow"?
I like the symbol of the red eggs!
This is the best post I have read today! Your Easter is far more festive than ours! We have the 40 days before Easter as mourning time and this is symbolized by the colour purple. Our protestant churches are very sober. On Palm Sunday the children carry crosses into the service, which they decorate with flowers and on top a bun in the shape of a rooster. The week between Palm Sunday and Easter is called the Silent Week. We can go to church each night to pray or meditate. On Thursday we have Holy communion, which is a very beautiful service. Good Friday we have another service. I didn't go because I listened to St Matthew Passion by J.S.Bach, which is the greatest tribute ever to the death of Jesus. Thanks again for your beautiful post and photos!
A very beautiful and meaningful Easter celebration.
A wonderful post. Great traditions.
Wow. Nice post.
So interesting, Antigoni! Happy Easter.
What do you dye the eggs with? The red is very bright!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful traditions for Easter. What I love about your culture is there is a special food stuff for every event!
I have known something about your Easter, but this your post was excellent, I also thank you for this!
I have always wanted to be in your country just during Easter, perhaps I will still some day :)
Now I wish you and your wonderful family happy spring days, I will go to a long journey next week, we will "see" at least after three weeks again here in "blogosphere"!
Dear Antigoni,
I understand, what you mean in your comment on my site!!
I have read and heard plenty of a history of this building and also your country history. Hagia Sophia is much more than just a building, we both know it.
We were there many hours and I have almost hundred photos from inside. It is marvellous still now, what it has been then a long time ago, we can only imagine!
Oh Antigoni, that was beautiful! I have seen those gorgeous deep red eggs before from my Greek friends here. So pretty! ~ Lynn
Thanks Antigoni to remind us all these stages in this most important holy week. I like this weaved palm. Here, in Paris, we use box branches instead.
And to share your specific traditions.
Thankyou for a most informative blog. You have a very different and strict and reverent way of celebrating Easter in Greece. Had never heard of the red eggs probably much better idea than chocolate eggs like we all have. Though the choc ones are yummier!
Wonderful pictures to tell the story.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing your way of celebrating Easter
lovely post
The icons are very moving. Thanks for sharing your traditions with us. Holy Week is a sacred time.
Hi Antigoni!
Happy Easter!
we don't have a custom to celebrate Easter.
I wish we had such a fantastic celebration.
by the way many drawings on your post are really beautiful.
They look like old drawings.
Everything looks Beautiful!!! I Love the red eggs! Happy day sweetie!hughugs
The most wonderful post Antigoni. All our photos were fantastic, the most beautiful images.
I'm sorry for the typo. That was supposed to say "all YOUR photos" :) The keys on my keyboard are sticking a bit these days. Have a great weekend.
καλη ανάσταση και καλό πάσχα σε όλους...
Your presentation was fantastic! Good work sis!
It has been busy here in Canada for the easter weekend as well.....selling lots of spring plants :) I have still not sent my gift in the mail because there is not one minute in the day to get to the post office but I promise it will happen!
thanks for sharing...have a great week
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