THE HOLY WEEK " Megali Evdomada" in Greek
During the Holly Week the churches hold services every day. People fast
and don't eat meat, fish or dairy products until midnight on Easter Saturday.
On Holy Thursday the faithful go to church to bow before Christ on the
Cross. Housewives prepare the Tsourekia (traditional Easter bread resembling
brioche), the Koulourakia (cookies) and color eggs with special red dyes, a custom that symbolizes the blood of Christ and also
the rebirth of life and nature. In the
evening after the
reading of the 12 Gospels, girls and women
start the decoration of the "Epitaph" with garlands of flowers. The
Epitaph is a wooden construction like a table and contains a piece of linen embroidered
representing the dead Christ.
Holy Friday -or Good Friday is the most sacred day
of the Holy Week, the day of the culmination of the passion of Christ with the
deposition from the Cross and Christ's burial. The icon of
Christ is taken off the cross, wrapped in linen and put in the Epitaph. The church bells are ringing
all day in a slow mournful tone, even flags are hug at half-mast . In the evening is the holy ceremony of the burial
of Christ. The procession of the Epitaph takes place at 9 p.m. for all the churches. The Epitaph is
carried on the shoulders of the faithful in a procession through the streets of
each community. In front of the procession is the
wooden cross of Christ , then follow the altar boys carrying the lanterns and church
banners , the cantors, the clergy and women bearing
myrrh. Further back four or more men carrying
on their shoulders the Epitaph. People follow the procession holding their dark-colored candles.
On Holy Saturday at the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Patriarch enters the Holy Sepulcher
alone to pray . There he receives the Holy Light in a miraculous way. The Holy Light is transferred by
plane from Jerusalem to the Athens Airport and from there it is taken all over Greece. Meanwhile
preparations start for the festive dinner of the night of the Resurrection and housewives
cook the traditional maghiritsa soup, which will be eatten after the midnights
service. In the evening takes
place the Resurrection mess. People
are gathering in the churches at 11 p.m. holding white candles. Children carry
special candles made for Easter that are called lambades and are given as gifts to them from their
God-parents. The lambades exist in a big variety of colors and designs and many times they are
sold together with a toy. Shortly before midnight all lights in the church are
turned off , then the priest is coming out of the church holding the candle which is lighted with the Holy Light . At midnight he announces the
resurrection of Christ . People tell each other Christos Anesti! (Christ is
risen!) and Alithos Anesti! (He
is truly risen!) and
exchange wishes. The church bells ring joyously and fireworks are let off. People, carefully,
take home their lighted candles . Before entering their houses they use the
smoke of their candle to make a cross on
top of the door for protection .Then they light
the oil candle before their icon-stand. They gather around the table for a
traditional meal which includes the mageiritsa (a soup made of the
lamb's internal organs: liver, heart, lungs and intestines with an egg-lemon
sauce), tsourekia (sweet bread), koulourakia (cookies).
During the dinner red eggs are
cracked. Every member of the family choose an egg and try to crack the eggs of
the others . At the end, only one egg remains uncracked and the owner will have
good luck. It's a game that children and adults are enjoying. The breaking of the eggs
symbolizes Christ breaking the Tomb and defeating Death.
Easter Sunday is also called "Lambri" (Brightness)
because the day of the Resurrection of Christ is a day full of joy . Everyone is getting up early to prepare the Easter Sunday 's table. In most
parts of the country lamb is prepared on the spit. On many islands lamb is stuffed with rice and herbs
and baked in the oven. The lamb of the Easter Sunday is symbolizing
the sacrifice of Jesus. There is
a festive atmosphere everywhere; people eat lamb, kokoretsi, kontosouvli
(pieces of meat on the spit). They
drink wine or ouzo (the national aperitif)
and dance until late at night.
Easter
celebrations are exciting all over Greece. Many places celebrate Easter in their own way, as apart
from the above mentioned rituals they have their local customs.
On the island of Corfu on Holy Saturday at 9 a.m. starts the procession of Saint Spiridon's relic, who is the saint
protector of the island . This procession , is in memory of the miracle St
Spiridon performed to save the town from starvation. At 11 a.m. takes place the famous "Pot Throwing" custom. Locals throw pots out of their windows,
smashing them onto the streets , a metaphor for throwing away the evil!
Believers and spectators come from all round the world to take part to the
parades and processions of Corfu.
On the island
of Patmos ,the Island where the Apocalypse of St
John has been written , on Holy Thursday morning takes place the ceremony of
the "Washing of the Disciples' Feet". It is a representation of Jesus washing the feet of his twelve Apostles. At the Monastery of
St. John on Holy Friday takes place the ceremony
of the Descent from the
Cross , while the "Liturgy
of Love" is held on Easter Sunday at 3 in the afternoon.
On the island of Chios the night of the Holy Saturday after the mess starts the famous rocket war at the village Vrontados between two rival parishes. Thousands of home-made
rockets are thrown and offer a magnificent
spectacle. This custom dates back to the
age of the Turkish occupation (15th-19th centuries)
On the island
of Crete on Good Friday night the Epitaph
processions from four different churches meet at the central square of
Heraklion. The Resurrection is
quite spectacular at Hersonissos, where big fires are lighted on the beach. At the
port of Agios Nikolaos, at midnight hundreds of fireworks explode in the sky and Juda's effigy is burned.
On the island
of Kythnos, on the evening of Holy Saturday, those who have
relatives that have recently died, are bringing roast meat, wine and bread to
the church to be blessed by the priest and then they
distribute them. On Easter Sunday the traditional custom of Kounies
(swing) takes place. Boys and girls wearing traditional costumes take
a swing in the town's main square .
On the island of Mykonos women whitewash the houses and bake "lazarakia" (doll-shaped cookies). On Easter Sunday locals burn Juda's effigy while series of spits are set in order to roast the lamb.
On the island of Paros, during the procession of the Epitaph there ar children dressed as Roman soldiers or disciples of Christ and react scenes from the entry into Jerusalem, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.
On the island of Santorini locals go around making sound by hitting metallic items in order to cast away the evil.
On the island of Sifnos, on Holy Thursday, the housewives bake the traditional "Easter birds" (sweet bread in the shape of birds). On Easter Sunday at the central square of Apollonia, takes place the burning of Juda's effigy.
On the island of Syros the communities of Catholics and Orthodox celebrate Easter together. The end destination of all Epitaphs is the central square. On Holy Saturday morning in the orthodox church of Resurrection faithful hit the pews of the church with all their strength.
On the island of Tinos, all the churches in Chora, assemble the Epitaphs at the harbor. The Epitaph of the church of Saint Nikolaos goes into the sea. On Easter Monday revives the traditional custom "Table of Love", a celebration with traditional food.
At Leonidio in Peloponnese the night of the
Resurrection the sky is filled with hot-air balloons released by the faithful
of each parish. This spectacular custom of the balloons is more than one century old.
At Kalamata the famous Saitopolemos takes
place on Easter. Men wearing traditional costumes carry the Saitas (a type of handmade
firework) and detonate them while they are in their hands. This custom dates back to the revolution fights of
1821, when the people of Kalamata used the Saitas (that make a lot of noise) to
scare the horses of the Turks and win the
battle this way.
At the mountain
village of Arachova the icon of the
local protector, St. Georges, is carried the second day after Easter
Sunday throughout the village and
a three day fest is organized to honor the saint. Locals dance wearing
traditional costumes and participate in
an uphill race. The winning prize is a living lamb.
In Thrace and
Macedonia young women in
traditional clothes, called the" Lazarins", go around the villages
singing traditional Easter songs.
