Customs of Pascha

[Suzannah]

Since the dreaded Easter Bunny will raise it's wiggling nose out of its hole again this year, as always, I thought it would be fun to start a thread about non-religious ethnic customs of Pascha from Orthodox people of different ethnic backgrounds...okay, so maybe it's not you who is Greek, but your Church in general....


Please share your non-religious customs for Pascha time, ie. handpainted eggs, and so forth if any!
:)

[Philip]

Does spring-cleaning count? With my wife, it takes on a near-religious status.

[Suzannah]

It only counts if you participate! LOL!

[Momzilla]

At our house we periodically burst into song...

The bunny, the bunny, whoa, I love the bunny
I don't love my soup or my bread, just the bunny
The bunny, the bunny, whoa, I love the bunny
I gave everything that I had for the bunny.

I don't want no health food when it's time to feed
A big bag o' bunnies is all that I need
I won't eat no green beans, and I won't eat tofu
That stuff is for sissies but BUNNIES ARE COOL!

Gotta love Veggie Tales.

[Matrona]

I won't eat no green beans, and I won't eat tofu
That stuff is for sissies but BUNNIES ARE COOL!ROTFL!

At my parents' house, I have a pet bunny. He has dark brown fur and his name is Tyler. He is, indeed, quite cool. :)

My parish is primarily converts, and since I've only been around for one Pascha, I'm not really sure what kinds of Pascha traditions we have among our members.

However, I know one popular tradition among Orthodox is to dye eggs red. Each person gets one Pascha egg, and we hit our egg against another person's, until only one is left unbroken, and that person is the winner. As the story goes, St. Mary Magdalene was evangelizing a pagan emperor. Mary held up an egg and declared that the Christian God could turn it red, and it did exactly that--it turned red right in her hand.

And of course, one of our favorite traditions is being able to get palms and Easter lilies for huge discounts in Western countries. ;)

[Momzilla]

I should probably add that "The Bunny Song" quoted above is about a chocolate bunny.

[Oblio]

Don't make me quote the Troparion to the Pascha Bunny

:D

[Sergius_Lucius]

It seems that Russian Paschal customs consist mostly of food :) We bake special cake called kulich, piramidal curd dish called... guess how... pascha and of course eggs (traditionally you boil them with onion hull to dye). Priest blesses all this at church after the service.

http://www.mega.kemerovo.su/WEB/IMAGE/18'-12-1.JPG

During Paschal week churches' bell-towers are open for everybody and you can pull the bells.

At the Great Friday you bring the candle that you held during the service of 12 Gospels to home burning (use special small lantern) and, if you don't care about your white walls, make with the fire a cross (simple +, not three-bar) on the upper doorpost (to do it accurately cut the cross out of a sheet of paper, soak it in water, stick on the doorpost and draw the candle near). Hmm... I think if you manage to do all this you can bear the title of Real Russian Orthodox ;)

BTW, could you, please, explain me who's that Easter Bunny you always mention?

[Sergius_Lucius]

Don't make me quote the Troparion to the Pascha Bunny

:D

He has risen from the hole, I guess?

[Oblio]

Ahhh pascha :)
I feel my cholesterol going up as we speak :yum:

[Oblio]

He has risen from the hole, I guess?


Bug's has risen from the hole,
trampling down Sam the pest.
And upon those watching many laughs ...


With apologies to Mel Blanc

:D

[Matrona]

BTW, could you, please, explain me who's that Easter Bunny you always mention?
The Easter Bunny is a kind of western tradition. Parents tell their children that the Easter Bunny will come to the house on the night of Easter and leave them candy. The children wake up on Easter morning and find a basket full of candy just for them. (Of course, it's the parents that actually do this--they fill a basket with fake grass and put candy in it the night before.) It's just fun for kids.

Oblio made a reference to Bugs Bunny--I don't know if they have Bugs Bunny in Russia, but he is a popular cartoon character over here, he's been popular for over fifty years. Bugs Bunny lives in a hole underground. Yosemite Sam tries to hunt down Bugs, but Bugs always manages to outsmart him. :)

[Sergius_Lucius]

Thanks, Matrona!

[Suzannah]

ahhh...but you see in the wild, wild west of America, he takes on a much more ominous and frightening appearance...here he is!!! All Hail the Wicked Bunny, complete with horns


Now you know why this Bunny worship is such a dangerous thing...

Truthfully Sergey, there are people in the west who think this is "pagan" and we should not do this..:rolleyes: .but its so much fun for the children...and there is nothing more loveable than a bunny! :)

[countrymousenc]

Noooooooo!!! A jackalope!

[Suzannah]

Noooooooo!!! A jackalope!

:D

You knew I had to do it...I must tell the truth about these "pagan" customs of Americans!!!

You know that in Ireland, all bunnies lay green eggs right???? :angel:

[countrymousenc]

:D

You knew I had to do it...I must tell the truth about these "pagan" customs of Americans!!! ROTFL!

You know that in Ireland, all bunnies lay green eggs right???? :angel: Why of course they do! Is there any other color?


Hmmm.... I'm beginning to think that fasting makes everybody a little punchy! ;)

[Photini]

Those bunnies look like they have reindeer antlers.....

[Suzannah]

They do! They're called "jackalopes"...we go jackalope hunting out here...late at night...with small flashlights and burlap bags...
:D

[countrymousenc]

Those bunnies look like they have reindeer antlers.....

That's because you get jackalopes by crossing jackrabbits and antelopes. ;)

[Photini]

somehow i don't think they'll be making stuffed animals that look like those to put in easter baskets.

[Moros]

Usually we get the "family" together (all 4 of us still living) and have some kind of triptothan laced turkey and 'taters.

[prodromos]

http://www.christianforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8821

[prodromos]

Yes we dye the eggs red and crack them together to see whose egg will survive uncracked (note to self: Must prepare egg filled with plaster :evilgrin:). As Matrona mentioned, this tradition is in memory of the miracle performed by Mary Magdalene when she was dining with the emperor. After relating Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the emperor replied that there was as much chance of a man rising from the dead after crucifixion as there was of one of these eggs (on the table) turning red. Mary Magdalene picked up one of the eggs and it immediatly turned red in her hand!

Last year we roasted a whole goat on the spit :yum:. Just as tasty as lamb without the strong smell. We also make a traditional Paschal soup called Margiritsa which is traditionally made with the entrails of a lamb with lots of shredded lettuce and rice, but we've discovered it tastes exactly the same (and requires infinitely less preparation) if we only use the liver and kidneys instead of all the entrails (small intestine has to be thoroughly cleaned inside and out).

One of the most important traditions at Pascha is the receiving of the Holy Fire. Immediately after the coming of the Holy Fire at Jerusalem, special lamps lit from the same are quickly flown to Orthodox countries around the world and the flame is distributed to all the churches. At the service on Saturday evening of Pascha we eagerly await midnight when the glorious words Christos Anesti! (Christ is Risen) are cried out, to which we all respond, Alithos Anesti! (Truly He is Risen / He is Risen Indeed). Then the Bishop brings out the Holy Flame and we all light our lambadas (large candles) from the same, lighting each other's candles from the centre outwards until everyone in the church and everybody outside (there are always huge crowds, too many to fit in the church) has their candle lit from the Holy Fire. The majority of people (the Christmas and Easters) then take the flame home while the rest of us stay for the remainder of the service, after which we take the flame home, light our lamps with it and then eat Margiritsa and crack eggs. We probably don't get to sleep until after 2am. Our aim then is to keep the flame burning for the entire year (or at least until the Summer holidays), something we have not had much success at so far :(.

For the next 40 days after Pascha, instead of greeting each other with "Yeia sas" (the standard greeting in Greece) we greet each other with "Christos Anesti" and respond with "Alithos Anesti". Unfortunately, for many people this gets old after a couple of weeks and it is only the pious christians who continue this way for the whole of the 40 days. We really stick out.

John.

[sniperu]

IANAO (i am not an orthodox :) ) but seems that i am the only romanian arround here . Orthodox tradition is complex and different from place to place (especially in the rural areas , each village has it's own customs) .

But we all (orthodox and evagelical alike) salute each other with "Hristos a inviat" (Christ has risen) and reply with "Adevarat a inviat" (He has trully risen) . We all paint eggs (each family with it's own tradition , in some villages and monasterys there are really complicated designs , each egg being a work of art ; my family paints each egg in lots of colours) .
At Easter midnight orthodox people go to the church and get the light from the priests . They sing (and we also sing this , but in the morning when we go to church) : "Christ has risen from the dead , stepping over death with his death" three times .
There's a lot of specialized food . My mom takes care of it , and i have nothing to do with it (i eat it of course :)) ) .
Priests come to bless the houses (though this has degraded in the cities) .

P.S.1 What was the name of that russian cartoon bunny ? Zaietz ? I used to ROTFL watching those cartoons . Note to myself : must start collecting those cartoons from the internet .
P.S.2 IMHEO (in my huble evanghelical oppinion :) ) the easter bunny and santa are not the most christian of traditions .

[Sergius_Lucius]

You mean "Nu, pogodi" about a rabbit and a wolf? Yes, they're Zayats and Volk (just Russian words for jackrabbit and wolf). I didn't know the cartoon is widespread outside of Russia :)