Why Eastern Christians call the days after Easter “Bright Week”

[Michie]

And why in some places it is called "White Week."
On Easter Sunday the atmosphere of the Church switches gears, and instead of a focusing on death and sorrow, the Church is alive and resplendent with joy. Jesus is risen!


This is emphasized in a particular in many Eastern Churches. The week following Easter Sunday is called “Bright Week,” and refers to the light that Jesus has brought into the world.

In biblical terms, Jesus rose on the “eighth day,” which symbolically represents the new creation and the promise of Heaven. Eastern Christians reflect on this promise of future joy by referring to “Bright Week” as “one continuous day.” Roman Catholics have a similar custom, treating each of the days in the Easter Octave as if it were Easter Sunday.


Fasting is strictlyprohibited during this time, and it is in many ways a small foretaste of the glories of Heaven.

Continued below.

Why Eastern Christians call the days after Easter "Bright Week"

The whiteness of the robes and the wearing of white vestments also contributed to the name "Bright Week," radiating a bight white inside the church.

aleteia.org

 

[The Liturgist]

Some Russian Orthodox churches use white vestments during the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil on Holy Saturday and at Paschal Matins, and after the procession on Pascha switch to red vestments.

Also some churches use bright vestments of different colors throughout bright week (and also use dark vestments of different colors during Lent).

The Typikon only specifies light or dark vestments, so everything else comes down to the preferences of local churches. Ruthenian Catholics if I recall pioneered the use of orange vestments during the Apostles Fast, which have now become more common.

 

[RileyG]

Thanks for posting

 

[The Liturgist]

Thanks for posting

No problem. At some point soon I hope to visit the rare example of a Russian Greek Catholic parish in Los Angeles, and also a Syriac Catholic parish, and when I do I will make a post comparing their liturgics with their Orthodox counterparts (in the case of the Russians it will be very close, as Byzantine Catholic liturgies are basically the same as the Orthodox, and any differences are minor; many Byzantine Catholic churches use the Gregorian calendar, perhaps most, but some EO churches do as well, for example, the Finnish Orthodox Church*

*This is an autonomous church (that is, not independent, but rather in a relationship like that of the sui juris Eastern Catholic churches to Rome) under the omophorion (literally “Great Stole,” but meaning aegis, or more literally, pallium) of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Speaking of the Pallium, some Eastern Catholic bishops tend to wear an Omophorion decorated like a Roman Pallium, but larger. Basically, the Omophorion is a larger version of the Pallium but the two vestments are of a common origin. In Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic usage, all bishops will wear one (except for Chorepiscopi, whose episcopal powers are extremely limited and who are usually married, basically, glorified archpriests, although I am not sure if there are any Chorepiscopi in the EO or EC churches; right now I think they exist only in the Indian Maphrianate (vice-Patriarchate) of the Syriac Orthodox church, and the schismatic Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and in the Assyrian Church of the East**) not just Metropolitans and Primates.

**This is useful, because any number of routine and difficult to prevent liturgical accidents will desecrate an Assyrian altar, and one thing a Chorepiscopi can do is re-consecrate it. I would be interested to know if the Chaldean and Syro Malabar canon law was adjusted to correct this peculiarity; I would assume so since my understanding is that all Eastern Catholic churches regardless of Rite are now under the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Catholic Churches, but if anyone is interested I will make a note to look this up, as I am about to conduct an in-depth comparative study of Orthodox and Catholic canon law, with a focus on identifying canons that are held in common between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.