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“Thank you, but my Easter is actually next Sunday,” I responded to a classmate who wished me a Happy Easter two Sundays ago.
She looked at me, confused. “What do you mean by ‘next Sunday?’ Today is Easter.”
I heave an all too familiar sigh, as I do every year. Every Easter season, there’s a shared sentiment amongst Orthodox Christians where we all feel just slightly out of place in a world that’s already moved on from a holiday we haven’t even celebrated yet.
Many people don’t know that there isn’t just one Easter. There is also Orthodox Easter, or Pascha, which is what I celebrate as a Greek Orthodox Christian.
The reason why the dates differ comes down to two different calendars. Western Christianity, Catholicism, and most Protestant sects follow the Gregorian calendar. On the other hand, the Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, which runs about 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar.
Both follow the same formula: Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. However, the first full moon falls on different dates depending on which calendar is used. The result is that Orthodox Easter can fall anywhere from one to five weeks after Catholic Easter. This year, it fell on April 12.
Even when I explain to people why I don’t celebrate Easter when most others do, they’re still confused. Many have no idea that different Christian sects follow different calendars, or that there are even calendars to begin with.
And this very phenomenon is why the world treats Catholic Easter as the Easter, while Orthodox Easter is completely forgotten about or unheard of. Catholicism has historically been the most culturally visible form of Christianity. Yes, although there are significantly more Catholics in the world than there are Orthodox, all sects of Christianity should respect one another (as should all religions). Christians are not only Catholic; they are Eastern Orthodox and Protestant, too.
Over the years, I’ve learned that instead of being frustrated over people’s ignorance, I educate them about my Easter.
I definitely am biased, but no one celebrates Easter like Greeks do, among many other things. In our church, Easter is more important than Christmas. To put it into perspective, Orthodox Holy Week is an immersive, week-long liturgical experience. There are services every day, often multiple times, each marking a specific moment in the Passion narrative.
On Palm Sunday, members of the parish council make palm leaf crosses, which the priest then hands out during church. Holy Thursday commemorates Christ’s crucifixion, and the church is kept very dim or completely dark during this solemn service. Holy Friday brings the Epitaphios, a flower-covered bier representing Christ’s tomb after his crucifixion, which is carried through the streets in a candlelit procession. We all exit the church, following behind the Epitaphios as we walk around the block holding candles. When the Epitaphios makes its way back to the church, we all walk underneath it.
During the Holy Saturday morning service, a fun tradition involves everyone loudly banging on the bench in front of them to symbolize Christ breaking the gates of Hades. The priest runs up and down the aisle, throwing laurel leaves as he chants. In Corfu, Greece, where I’m from, tradition involves throwing large red clay pots from balconies.
Then there’s the midnight Anastasi service that same night, which is, put simply, one of the most extraordinary communal experiences in any religious tradition. The church goes dark. A flame passes through the entire congregation, candle to candle. When midnight strikes, the priest proclaims «Χριστός Ανέστη» “Christ is Risen,” and the response from every person in that church is «Αλιθός Ανέστη» “Truly, He is Risen.” Bells ring, and fireworks explode outside. It feels like the whole world is waking up.
The best part is that I’m alongside my family and fellow Greek friends, as well as everyone else from my parish community that I went to Greek school or Sunday school with. It is such a united and spiritual experience.
After the service, we go home and break the 40-day fast with Magiritsa, a warm lamb soup that’s been waiting for us. On Easter Sunday, we all dress up, gather together, and spend the day eating lamb on the souvla and cracking red eggs. The eggs are dyed deep red to represent the blood of Christ. You tap yours against someone else’s, and whoever’s egg survives uncracked throughout the competition is said to have good luck for the year.
So the next time someone tells you their Easter is next Sunday, just ask them about it. I promise it’s a good story.
Χριστός Ανέστη!
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