Greek Boys Clothes: Holidays--Easter/Pascha


Figure 1.--This altar boy was photographed in the 1960s. A HBC reader reports, "The cassock does not look like those I wore."

A HBC reader tells us that Easter is a very important holliday in Greece. While Easter is a Christian celebration, many Greeks continue to adhere to beautiful old symbols, rituals and customs of mostly pagan origins. Many Greek Easter traditions in fact have origins which significantly predate Christianity. originated long before the beginning of the Christian era. The early Church in fact grafted Christian holidays on existing pagan celebrations in a conscious effort to gain acceptance for the rising new Church. As with Christmas which is connected to pre-Christian winter festivals, Easter is connected with pagan rituals that associated with the end of winter and beginning of spring. Thus the Christain celebration of Jesus rising from the dead is celebrated when new life and growth springs from the earth--powerfukl symbolism for the agricultural societies of the day. The origin of the term "Easter" is not fully unferstood. Some believes that it originated with Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of springtime. Easter is also associated with the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach. The "Happy Easter" gretting in Greek is Kaló Páscha. The term "Pascha" in Greek and "Pascua" in Spanish , meaning "Easter", has evolved from the name of the Jewish festival of Passover, as are the names for Easter in other Latin-based foreign languages. Eastern Orthodox Christains regard Easter as the most important religious festival followed by Christmas. "HBC readers will want to know about some customs and what boys do. Well, a lot become altar boys for the holiday." Greek Orthodox Christians do not always celebrate Easter on the same date as the Roman Catholic and Protestant Christains. The reason is the differet calendars that are used. As would be expected, Greek Christains share many of the symbols of Easter with other Christians, but their are some differences and destinctive features of the Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations.

Origins

A HBC reader tells us that Easter is a very important holliday in Greece. While Easter is a Christian celebration, many Greeks continue to adhere to beautiful old symbols, rituals and customs of mostly pagan origins. Many Greek Easter traditions in fact have origins which significantly predate Christianity. originated long before the beginning of the Christian era. The early Church in fact grafted Christian holidays on existing pagan celebrations in a conscious effort to gain acceptance for the rising new Church. As with Christmas which is connected to pre-Christian winter festivals, Easter is connected with pagan rituals that associated with the end of winter and beginning of spring. Thus the Christain celebration of Jesus rising from the dead is celebrated when new life and growth springs from the earth--powerfukl symbolism for the agricultural societies of the day.

Terminology

The origin of the English term "Easter" is not fully unferstood. Some believes that it originated with Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of springtime. Easter is also associated with the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pesach. The "Happy Easter" gretting in Greek is Kaló Páscha. The term "Pascha" in Greek and "Pascua" in Spanish , meaning "Easter", has evolved from the name of the Jewish festival of Passover, as are the names for Easter in other Latin-based foreign languages.

Importance

Eastern Orthodox Christains regard Easter as the most important religious festival followed by Christmas.

Dates

Greek Orthodox Christians do not always celebrate Easter on the same date as the Roman Catholic and Protestant Christains. The reason is the differet calendars that are used.

Symbols

Lamb

One important Christian symbol associated with Easter is the lamb. A lamb is commonly shown with a banner that bears a cross, and is known as the "Agnus Dei", meaning "Lamb of God" in Latin. This symbolism has Jewish origins cnnected with Passover which occurs as about the same time as Easter. Jews traditionally sacrificed a lamb during the passover festival. The first Christains were almost all Jews and natuarally associated the sacrifice of the lamb with Christ's sacrifice on the cross. They symbocially connected the joyous Passover festival, commemmorating the liberation of the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage, with Christ's Resurrection. Lamb as a traditional Easter food is thus related to its importance as a Christian symbol. Roast lamb during the medieval era became the traditional main course of the Pope's Easter dinner. It is still commonly served on Easter Sunday in many European countries and America.

Eggs

The Easter Egg also associated with beliefs of ancient origin. The humble egg, in fact, has been an important symbol in the mythologies of many ancient civilizations, including those of India and Egypt. One belief was that the universe developed from a sinle enormous egg and that the halves of its shell represent Heaven and earth. Mythologies rarely reveal just who laid the egg to get the whole process started. The egg was also commonly connected with the Springtime fertility rituals symbolizing birth and regeneration for many pre-Christian and Indo-European peoples, including the Minoeans on Crete. Thus the egg in Christian belief became a symbol of the Reserection. The Egyptians and Persians both colored eggs as part of their Spring rutuals. While Ameicans now use all kinds of colors for eggs, Greeks mainly color eggs red (scarlet) to represent Jesus' blood. They hard-boil the eggs and paint them red on Holy Thursday. They are then baked into twisted sweet-bread loaves or distributed on Easter Sunday. Greeks tap their eggs against their friends' eggs and the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered a very lucky individual.

Religious Celebration

Holy week

Holy Week is the week before Easter. HolyWeek in the Greek Orthodox Church ends when Easter celebrations commence, glorifing the Resurrection of Jesus. Every Sunday in the Greek Church is dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, but 100 days are especially dedicated to Easter, 50 before and another 50 after. Easter in the Greek Church is considered, the "Feast of Feasts". The 50 days before Easter are known as a part of the period of 'Triodion', to be used to strengthen faith in Christ. The 50 days following Easter are signified by the Pentecostarion--dedicated to the spiritual enjoyment in beliefing that God is with all men in everyday life and thoughts. Church services and processions are held on Good Friday and the Saturday Anastasi (resurrection) midnight mass highlights the celebration. Many congregants receive communion during the Holy Week. In big cities where the churches are crowded with people wishing to receive communion, smartly uniformed Boy Scouts are often present to keep things in order.

Epitaphios/Holy Sepulchrae

Greek Easter festivities include the procession of the "Epitaphios (Holy Sepulchrae), held on the evening of Good Friday.

Resurrection Service

Greek Christians on Saturday at midnight church services celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. This Midnight service is called the Resurrection Service and is the single most important day on the Greek Orthodox calendar. The same ritual is enacted in Churches all over Greece. The lights in the Church are extinguished. The officiating priest emerges from behind the doors on the altar carrying a lighted candle. He proceed to the front pew of the congregation and lights the candels of those congregants waiting to receive the light of the resurrection. The candel light is itself a symbol of Christs the resurrection. The worshipers then pass the light from candle to candle until light envelops the the entire church. This candle custom is a pan-Hellenic custom. The worshipers wear their very best clothes for this service. For many Greeks this is the onlt church service tey attend all year. Easter is far more important than Christmas. A reader writes, "I don'tnormally go to church. Sometimes I dont even go at Christmas, but I never missed a Midnight Service in my life so far.

Worshipers leave the church just before midnight, solenly singing that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. At midnight at the precise momment of the Resurrection all the families that have gone to church together, stand huddled in family groups. They all kiss eachother and say, "Christos anesti, Christos anesti, Christ has risen, indeed He has risen." It is a very solemn scene. While celebrating Christ's conquest of death, Parents kiss the grandparents who are the soon to be oast knowing that they will soon be losing them. Next they kiss their children who are the future. Some foreigners find this strange. A HBC reader writes, "To me kissing and hugging relatives and friends its the most natural thing in the world (and not only during Easter)." There is feling of tradition and the continuity of centuries as generations have repeated the same celebration in the same church, saying the same prayers that have for centuries remained unchanged.

Easter Sunday

Young people on Easter Sunday enjoy building a bonfire in the churchyard to burn Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus. After the Easter Service at 12:00 noon, Greek families enjoy traditional entertainments. Greeks have many traditions on Easter Sunday, but by far the most important is gathering the entire family together and roasting a lamb, rotisserie-style, ('Arni Pashalino tis Souvlas': Easter Lamb on the Spit) in their front yards. Fasting has ended and huge dishes of lamb are enjoyed by all. This occurrs all over the country and everywhere you encounter smoke and a wonderful smell. Before the 1960s in poor villages, boys (and sometimes girls) had fun with parts of the lamb. The stomach of the lamb could be transormed into ... a football ball/balloon. In an isolated poor village of the 1940s, plastic ballon were a very rare if not unknown thing and the knee cap bones (kotsia) were used year round to play a variety of trick games.

Children's Roles

During Holy Week its customary for a lot of boys to become altar boys and help the priest with the ceremonies, especially in villages. During Holy Week a lot of ceremonies are held in and outside the temples and its important for the priest to have as much help as he can get. Altar boys are dressed in an ornated cassock-like garment usually in white or yellow color.

Children also sing carols at Easter. At the Saturday before the Holy Week children sing from door to door about "Lazarus" and Good Wendesday sing "Mavros Ouranos" (Black sky) about the death of Jesus Christ. Children receive candies, a traditional red-colored egg or money. We suspect that the red egg is not the favorite gift. In some villages the Carols are gender specific. Girls should sing the Lazarus and boys Mavros Ouranos dressed in black clothes, holding a cross. But in cities and most villages the carols are unisex.

On Good Friday it is also customary for women to dress their little children in their best clothes, take them to the "Epitaphios - Holy Sepulchrae", tell them to kiss it and let them crawl under it on all fours. As you can imagine this is only for very small children as a big person would not fit). There is a parade with Epitaphios. The band (in cities) marches first playing a sad tune, then the priest with the altar boys march next to him holding lamps, icons and other religious symbos called "exapteryga", then Epitaphios and then the rest of the people holding candles.

Modern Treds

Easter obsevances are increasingy less traditional in Athens and other urban areas, like Thessaloniki. Many Greeks now use Easter for another holiday break.








Christopher Wagner






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Created: April 25, 20021
Last updated: April 25, 2002