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Western Easter is on April 12th, 2009
Orthodox Easter is on April 19th, 2009
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Ukrainian Easter
Traditions &
Easter Folklore
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WHY IS ORTHODOX EASTER CELEBRATED
ON DIFFERENT DATES?
In determining the day to celebrate Easter, early
Christians faced a dilemma. It was known that Christ was crucified after
Passover and therefore the date Easter should fall on should be after
Passover. The date for Passover is the fourteenth day of Nisan
(thirst month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar, about the time of
the vernal equinox), a fixed date in the Jewish
calendar. This date, translated to the old Julian or solar calendar that
Christians used, became a floating date that fell anytime in a week, and
therefore made the date and day for Easter change yearly. To add
to the confusion, early Christians felt that Easter should always fall
on a Sunday. This was resolved at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. when
the date for Easter was set as the Sunday that fell after both the
fourteenth of Nisan and the vernal equinox.
ORTHODOX EASTER IS CELEBRATED ON APRIL 27th, 2008
Further controversy in the date of Easter began in 1582 A.D. with the
introduction of the Gregorian calendar. All countries
that did not
accept this calendar and even today, there are may churches that still
use the old Julian calendar.
Currently, churches on the Gregorian calendar calculate Easter as the
first Sunday after the full moon that comes on
or after the vernal
equinox (March 21). This means that Easter can fall within a 35 day
period between March 22 and
April 25 inclusive. Churches that still use
the old Julian calendar occasionally have Easter on the same Sunday as
those on the Gregorian calendar, but through the different method of
calculation may celebrate Easter anywhere from one to five weeks
later. This is due to a combination of factors and the tradition
that Easter must necessarily follow the Jewish Passover but never
precede or coincide with it.
In other words as the Old Testament becomes fulfilled with the New
Testament; as the Gospels follow the Mosaic Law;
as the New Pascha comes
from the old Pascha, so also the Christian Pascha must follow the Jewish
Pascha.
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THE SPRING CYCLE
The spring cycle begins with the "meeting of winter and
summer" which coincided with the feast of the Purification of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. It is called Stritennia in Ukrainian
(meeting, the meeting of Jesus with Simon and Hannah. This date falls on
February 15th. However, the spring period really begins with the
appearance of the first birds, which return to Ukraine in the beginning
of March around the feast day of the Recovery of the Head of St. John
the Baptist - March 8th. The Annunciation - April 7th begins the
true spring period. From this day spring work begins. Close to the
Day of Annunciation, usually at the end of March on the day of Alexis,
which is called "Warm Alexis" - March 30th, the beekeepers set
out the hives in the orchards.
April
7th - Blahovishchennia. Lady Day (Annunciation).
Tradition has it that this the biggest spring holiday in as far as on
this day God blesses all the plants. It is a big sin to work on
this day. Birds fly freely and begin to arrive, especially the
storks. Religiously, the Holy Spirit spoke to Mary that she will
conceive God's Son. In church very small pieces of bread - proskury
- are blessed and believe to have healing powers.
"Blahovishnyk" is what the peasants call Archangel Gabriel,
who is the master of lightning, while Illia is the master of thunder.
According to old beliefs thunder and lightning wake up after their
winter sleep and therefore Blahovishchennia one can expect
thunder everyday.
In this pre-Easter period,
the spring cleaning is done. The women whitewash or paint the interior
of the house and clean it from the "top to the bottom".
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EASTER WEEK
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The last Sunday before Easter (Palm
Sunday) is called Willow Sunday (verba). On this day
pussy willows are blessed and distributed among the
congregation. With these the people tap one another,
repeating the wish: "Be tall as the will, healthy as the
water and rich as the earth" or else say, "The willow
hits, not I: a week from now will be Easter.
According to old popular
beliefs the week before Willow Sunday (Palm Sunday) "one
should not either sow or plant anything which grows in the soil:
potatoes, beetroots, carrots, radishes, onions and garlic
because all these plants would grow tough as willow.
On Passion Friday -
Good Friday - no work is done and in particular no wood is
chopped; there is no sewing. Until Easter Sunday the
ringing of the bells is replaced by the beating of wooden
clappers (kalatala) or the striking of a mallet on a
board. In some localities, the Holy Shroud (plashchanytsia)
is carried solemnly three times around the church.
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EASTER is the principal spring festival and a series of rites
have become centered around it. Easter in Ukraine has preserved
traces of pre-Christian rites, which in general show a similarity
to those of Christmas and New Years. These rites are closely
related to agriculture, to the memory of the dead and to the marriage
season during which ritual songs are sung and there is much well
wishing.
Prior to
Easter is the Lenten period of fasting and abstaining from meat and
dairy products. Our relatives in Ukraine prepare Easter baskets just
like we do in Alberta, Canada filling them with sausage, garlic,
salt, smoked meats, butter, cheese, horseradish, pasky - paska -
traditional Easter bread, pysanky and krashanky - hard boiled
eggs dyed in one color. All these foods take on a symbolic meaning
which reflects the faith of the people. The baskets are covered with
beautifully embroidered linens saying Khrystos Voskres meaning
Christ has risen, to which the reply is Voiistynu Voskres - He is
truly risen.
At the
conclusion of the service, rows and rows of food-laden baskets with a
lighted candle in each are blessed by the priest. In favorable weather
the ceremony of blessing the baskets is done outside. In Ukraine young
boys light huge bonfires in the churchyard.
The most beautiful aspect of the liturgy is the joyful heralding of a
risen Christ in singing the traditional Ukrainian hymn "Khrystos
Voskres", Christ is risen. The people go very early to
church and return about 4 hours later. They break the fast by having an
early breakfast with the blessed food and then most of them lie
down for a rest or go sleep
- at least for awhile.
On Easter
Sunday relatives invite guests or go visiting. They also visit the
cemetery to light candles of the graves of their deceased love ones.
Easter Monday or "Sprinkling Monday" or "Dousing
Monday" is marked with a quaint custom, the origin of which is obscure
- of dousing young maidens with water by the village lads. Our cousins
were telling us that they were young they put buy expensive cologne to
add to the water when they sprinkled it on girls. They wanted to impress
the girls. Then on Tuesday - it's the young maidens turn. They sprinkle
the young lads with water. There is much merrymaking and laughter. This
old tradition dates back to pagan worship of water as the life-giving
element. Khrystos Voskres! |
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