*’Here are some of the things that non-Greeks may not know about Greek Easter: We don’t do bunnies. We don’t do chocolate. We don’t do pastels. We do do lamb, sweet cookies, and deep red. The lamb is roasted and not chocolate, the sweet cookies are called Koulorakia and are twisted like a braid, and our Easter eggs are dyed one color only: blood red.
‘Holy Week, for a Greek Orthodox, means you clear your calendar; you don’t make plans for that week at all because you will be in church everyday, and you fast…’ You don’t eat meat, fish, oil, eggs or drink wine. Then we burn things like dried up palm crosses and oily cotton balls. Sometimes hair gets lit on fire, but that burning always happens by accident. Then we crack eggs against one another. It’s just how we do.
‘I have to say, the Greeks know how to do Easter. Make no mistake — this is the most important holiday in our church. It is a beautiful week. I haven’t even begun to touch on what the week is really like… It is so much deeper, so much richer than I have written here. But one thing is clear — It is a powerful, beautiful, mysterious, humbling, healing, and moving week. It is filled with tradition and ritual. It is about renewal and faith. And even though it is still too early to say, Xristos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!’
See you all in Irvine my Orthodox family. And as a special Pascha gift to you St. Paul’s go-ers, Lovato Images will be offering a 33% discount to all print orders and family portrait sessions booked this week through the end of Bright Week. Because 33 is Trinitarian, right? And come Saturday, we’ll all be glorifying our Three by saying together Xristos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!!!
*italicized quotations written by Rita Wilson in The Joys of Greek Easter
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