Easter
Description:
Someday, perhaps, the highest hierarchs of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches will remember the covenant of Pope John Paul II and converge on a permanent unified date for the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. After all, despite the difference in dates and insignificant differences in attributes, the meaning of Easter among Western and Eastern Christians is the same: the victory over the death of the risen Jesus is celebrated as the basis for the salvation of all mankind. But so far, the discord prevailing around the world in this matter prevents Christians of different faiths from uniting annually on this holiday in a single joyful impulse to pass the procession across the Earth.
The procession is the most spectacular part of the Easter service. Received by the universal reverence of believers, the priests, under a clear reading and singing of prayers, leave the temple and go through the procession of the cross in order to sanctify people and everything they need for life, i.e. houses, roads, water, air and the earth itself, as trampled and defiled by the feet of sinners. This custom is a kind of reminder of the biblical history, of the myrrh-bearing wives who came out to meet the risen Christ.
The procession of the cross is an event that concludes the seven-week Lent for Orthodox Christians. The break-up after fasting begins with the eating of cakes, painted eggs and herders - offerings consecrated in Orthodox churches the day before. Unlike the “sanctification of previously brought gifts” practiced in Catholic Christian churches, the Orthodox rite prohibits believers from bringing meat products and hot drinks to the church for consecration.
After seven weeks of fasting, Christians will celebrate Easter for seven days. The Orthodox Church equates any day of Easter week with Sunday.
The joyful Easter greeting reminds Christians of the rejoicing of the ancient apostles: when the news of the Resurrection of Christ spread, they exclaimed in amazement, “Christ is Risen!” and answered, “Truly Risen!” Orthodox believers still greet each other and, according to custom, kiss each other, give each other Easter eggs.
Unlike the celebration of Catholic and Protestant Easter, held in Canada under the auspices of the Easter Hare, the celebration of Orthodox Easter quite does without this charismatic character: its main attribute is a dyed (most often red) egg. The egg is a symbol of life, and the red color is intended to remind us that a new life was acquired at the price of the blood of Jesus Christ. Breaking an egg, painted red, symbolizes the opening of the tomb of Jesus on the Resurrection.
Orthodoxy in Canada, although the predominant religion of Canadians of Slavic origin, is very heterogeneous in composition. In the multinational Toronto and surrounding province of Ontario there are Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian Orthodox churches. In the west, from Saskotun to Vancouver, the most common parishes are those subordinate to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Churches, monasteries and hermitages of various Russian religious sects are scattered throughout Canada: there are Dukhobors, Molokans, Shtundists. And each of the branches of Orthodoxy has its own tradition of coloring and painting Easter eggs. Russian Christians traditionally paint Easter eggs in a uniform dark red color with a strong decoction of onion husks. Serbs and Bulgarians paint them with colored patterns. And according to the strict geometric coloring, you can easily recognize “Pisanki” – Easter eggs painted by Ukrainians.
In Canada, in the town of Wegreville, located east of Edmonton and populated mainly by ethnic Ukrainians, there is the world’s largest Easter egg: its length is 8, and its width is 5 m. This “pysanka” weighing about 2270 kg is made from the wreckage of aircraft. It turns in the wind like a giant weather vane, and is visible for many kilometers. Cover this masterpiece can only be doubled, and smash - except with heavy artillery. However, the most remarkable thing about it, apparently, is that in its production not a single chicken was injured.