Orthodox Easter (Pascha) is celebrated on May 5 this year.
Leading up to this day, we prepare all of our traditional foods, slightly varying with each culture, for a joyful togetherness with family. My husband and I will be hosting family all weekend.
Yet food is not the only way we prepare for Pascha. Like Passover, Pascha is a religious and somewhat solemn celebration, not a random occasion to throw a large party. I was once at a “Greek Easter,” celebration, hosted by a non-Orthodox, and it was not the same, since it lacked any religious context or meaning. Just a gathering of people eating and partying.
After celebrating with our own families, grandparents, aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers all of our lives, who knew the true meaning and proper celebration and passed it down to us, there was a definite void. My husband and I are both one hundred percent Greek, yet we, along with other Greek Churches and faithful, rightfully call it Pascha, or Easter, not “Greek Easter,” since it doesn’t belong to any single ethnicity and celebrated by Orthodox Christians throughout the world, whether Greek, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Albanian, Syrian, etc.
The celebration of Pascha is something Orthodox Christians lead up to all year round in prayer, action and particularly in our hearts. These traditions have significant spiritual meaning, which I have mentioned, passed down to us from our ancestors, particularly mothers and grandmothers, and also our churches. My husband and I have a shelf in our living room (Iconostasis) devoted to reminding us of this preparation, consisting of icons that belonged to his grandmother and mother, as well as my grandmother and mother, palms we have gathered from previous Palm Sundays and incense burner, Holy Water, Myrrh Oil and Frankincense. We also have a lit icon that turns on automatically every night at dusk. As Orthodox Christians, our homes are unique to our own family make-up and culture. A reminder of our faith and where we come from is always present in our household.
We prepare even more intensely during Lent, 40 days before Pascha, when we attend more church services, fast more, engage in bible readings and informative podcasts (yes, podcasts) in order to contemplate the upcoming Resurrection, for which Orthodox Christians, symbolizes renewed life, redemption, hope, goodwill and peace for all.
All established religions have their own built in mechanisms, promoting peace and love for humankind. In the Orthodox Christian faith, we believe that God has made all people in his image and that Jesus and the Resurrection, is proof of this belief. Jesus came to earth to free us mostly from oppression and dictatorship, offering love and redemption to us all, treating us as equals, including the thief on the cross next to Him who He showed compassion for as much as anyone else.
Jesus did not come to punish others, but instead, to give us all a chance at a new life. We get this chance everyday and every year. Yet, many people will take the Tenets and beliefs of a faith and turn them around to oppress others. That’s why Jesus showed such anger towards the money changers (Pharisees) at the temple, who were taking advantage of the faithful and getting their own selfish needs fulfilled.
There will always be fanatics in every religion, false followers and prophets, who will use the language of faith as a means to get what they want in this world, whether for status, or to oppress and silence others. We see it happening all over the world, including here in our own country.
I’ve also seen it first hand as a child and adult, in some church goers and priests who do not spread or live the message of the faith. But then, I’ve come across many who have. In addition to my favorite writers on Orthodoxy, including Arch Bishop Kallistos Ware, Father Hopko, and Father Meyendorf, there are several priests who have directly and personally served as living examples of what the faith should look like when properly executed. And as I’ve stressed for a third time now, our yia yias, aunts, mothers and elders where often living embodiments of the faith. I’m so grateful for them all.
What these renewed cycles in our faith offer us, like Pascha, is a chance to question false prophets and false beliefs, whether within, or around us, providing hope that the world will one day find true peace and harmony.
Blessed Pascha to all, especially to our fellow Orthodox in Ukraine.
