We haven't updated this page in some time and as we have been in Rhodes for Greek Easter, we feel it's time for an update, particularly with some of the photographs. The text about the actual festival of Easter remains the same.
During our last Easter visit, we were very lucky to stumble across a celebration in Lindos, Rhodes. The square, where the buses, taxis and cars turn round, was full of people and a band was warming up. Bread was being given out, plus a rose for every female.
As we waited, more and more children, ranging from the very young to teenager, started gathering, most dressed in traditional island costumes. Then the dancing began. We were treated to two hours of various groups of children dancing, ending with the older teenagers doing the sort of dance you're most likely to see in Greek restaurants. At the end of all this, there was a tremendous firework display. An Easter to remember. Please click on the thumbnails to see some photos of this occasion.
ΚΟΙΜΗCΕWC ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΥ EASTER 2001
Church in main square at Easter
Easter is the most
important festival in the Greek Orthodox calendar. It is celebrated at a time of
year when nature is emerging in a riot of colourful fragrant flowers and
spreading
vegetation from its bleak winter lethargy – a perfect setting for a
religious festival that celebrates Christ's crucifixion, burial and
resurrection. One of the plants that come into bloom in Greece at Eastertide is
the lilac –
η πασχαλιά
or Easter bush.
Throughout Easter Week, Christ's passion is commemorated in both morning and evening services. These are attended by huge congregations, augmented by many who do not normally go to church. Large numbers of people often have to listen to the service outside the church. This is especially the case with the Good Friday and Easter Saturday evening services.
By Thursday
anticipation is running high. The domestic preparations are in full swing: the
male heads of households purchase whole lambs and proudly carry them home; the
housewives bake
λουλουράκια
and
τσουρέκια and on
this day it is traditional for them to boil large quantities of eggs, which
they then
dye bright-red to remind everyone of the blood which Jesus shed on the cross.
Numerous volunteers among the womenfolk then spend Thursday night and the early
hours of Good Friday morning decking their local church with vast amounts of
spring flowers such as hyacinths and daffodils in time for the first service of
the day. The Good Friday services are centred round the Epitaphios, the visual
representation of the sepulchre, made of carved wood, inside which an effigy of
the dead Christ can be seen lying on an embroidered cloth. The helpers lovingly
decorate the Epitaphios with a profusion of freshly cut and fragrant flowers and
blossoms. The fragrance from all these flowers inside the church, combining with
the smell of incense, contributes to the bitter-sweet tone of the Orthodox Good
Friday experience; and this is maintained by the mournful tolling of church
bells. They go on ringing throughout the day.
The highlight of the
Epitaphios services on Good Friday is the Epitaphios Threnos, the Lament at the
Tomb, which the grieving Mother of Christ addresses to her dead son, with its
haunting melody and poignant words. Towards the end of the evening
service the Epitaphios or Sepulchre is carried outside the church and through the streets of
the local parish to the chanting of the
Γλυκύ μου
Έαρ
Επιτάφιος Θρήνος.
The procession behind the Sepulchre is usually headed by the mayor and other
local dignitaries, followed by at least one brass band, a contingent of scouts
and most of the parishioners holding lighted candles.
Then Easter Saturday dawns. The excitement becomes more and more intense, as people throw themselves into the hustle and bustle of completing their arrangements for their Easter Sunday celebrations, while family members arrive from all over Greece and beyond. You can sense the pent up excitement during the evening Resurrection Service (Αναστάσιμος Ακολουθία) on Easter Saturday. As the service approaches its climax the priests call out Δεύτε λάβετε φως! Come and take of the light! Members of the congregation go up and present the candles which they have ready and light them from the priest's candle, which represents the light of the resurrected Lord. The lighted candles have to be taken home after the service so that the holy light can be transmitted to the oil lamp in front of the icons in each house. Care has to be taken not to let the candle do out on the way home. At midnight the church bells ring out joyfully, announcing the good news that Christ is risen – yes truly risen! The service is resumed outside the church, where the clergy now chant the Αναστάσιμος Ύμνος (the Resurrection hymn).
However, often the words are barely audible against a background of exploding fireworks, pealing church bells and excited calls of Χριστός ανέστη! (Christ is risen!) and answering calls of Αληθώς ανέστη! (Truly he is risen!).
By the end of the
Resurrection Service it is already Easter Sunday, usually referred to as
Λαμπρή
(Bright Day). The fast, which began on
Καθαρή Δευτρέρα
(Clean Monday) at the beginning of Lent is now over. It's official and everyone
goes home with their candles making sure that they don't go out as
this is
regarded as a bad omen and conversely if the candles reach home safely luck will
ensue for the next 12 months. Traditionally a light meal is now in order. First
a bowl of
μαγειρίτα
or Easter meat soup. A little wine and if required a hard boiled egg or two. The
eating of the eggs is preceded by a game of knocks, or conkers with the eggs
that had been prepared and painted earlier. Any unbroken egg will have to be
left uneaten to 'fight' later that day. Then it is time for rest in readiness
for the celebrations on Easter Sunday.
On Easter Sunday morning the festivities will get under way with lambs roasting on spits and in the public squares lots of singing and dancing followed by feasting on lamb, bread, salad and cheese.
Clean the eggs with a damp cloth and immerse them in a large saucepan of cold water. Boil the eggs very gently, as the egg shells tend to crack easily. Boil an extra 3 or 4 eggs to have as spares as any egg with even a slight crack is of no use. Boil for at least 10 minutes until the eggs are hard.
Remove the eggs from the saucepan while still hot and dissolve enough red food colouring in the boiling water to turn it bright red. Add about half a cup of vinegar and carefully return the eggs to the coloured water one by one. Simmer gently, turning them over and over with a wooden spoon until the shells have absorbed the colour. The eggs are ready when the shells are a rich red colour, if necessary add more colouring to the water to attain the desired colour.
The intention is to see who had the egg which survives the most 'fights'. To play: hold the egg in one hand with one of ends exposed between the palm and the fingers. Decide who is to strike and who is to receive, the striker has one attempt to crack the shell of the receiver. Usually one egg breaks on the first strike (not always the strikers egg!) but should this fail then the striker and the receiver change roles and continue until a winner has been decided. Winners are allowed to challenge other winners to determine a supreme egg.
The champion of champion eggs is usually kept for a year as mark of good fortune and the losers are usually eaten in salads.