Greek Orthodox Easter or Pascha brings relief and joy April 2, 2007
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In the crisp, early morning darkness, 25 families will walk briskly around their church, re-entering to find themselves enveloped in light, as if emerging into heaven.
This is how the congregation of the St. Innocent Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Everson will spend the wee hours of next Sunday morning. After Holy Week honoring the last days of Jesus, this is the beginning of Orthodox Easter, or Pascha, a day of celebration for the Eastern Orthodox churches.
“That’s our biggest celebration of the year, more important than Christmas or anything,” says the church’s Rev. Deacon Gregory Newman. “It’s a big deal. It’s the biggest deal of the year. We have a lot of feasts during the year, but Pascha is No. 1.”
Because its date is based on a different calendar, Orthodox Easter usually falls later than Western Easter. This year, however, both Easters fall on April 8, so churches throughout the county will likely swell with visitors.
“Usually Pascha follows Western Easter, so we get all the leftover stuff on sale. This year people have to pay full price for the candy,” Newman jokes.
Though members of both churches revel in decorating hard-boiled eggs, Orthodox churches eschew the playful pastels and dye their eggs a deep scarlet, a color inspired by the blood of Christ. Despite the serious connotation of these crimson eggs, they are often used in a traditional Easter game. People tap the tops of one another’s eggs, and the person whose egg lasts longest without cracking is considered lucky.
For Tasia and Nick Tsoulouhas, owners of Cascade Pizza in Bellingham, Easter is a family affair, especially the eggs, which are always dyed on the Thursday before Easter. Tasia, 50, says her three children loved decorating eggs when they were younger, and now as adults they still look forward to it. “They can’t wait,” she says. “We do eggs every year together. It’s fun.”
Another tradition for Greek Easter is roasting a lamb. The whole Tsoulouhas family gets together to barbecue on a spit.
“It’s fun to have everybody sitting around and having ouzo and wine and having fun,” she says of the cooking process. “You have to start early in the morning, and it takes four or five hours to cook the lamb and it’s fun to see all the guys sitting around watching the cooking.”
For the Tsoulouhas family and many other Greek families, Easter is a time to celebrate and to remember their Greek roots and heritage.
“I grew up in Greece, so it’s a big thing,” Tasia says. “This time of year I really miss it. I went there last year and it was really beautiful.”
For other Orthodox church members, Easter provides a much-needed lift after a week of worship.
“We’ve been through a really long Lent and a long Holy Week, and we’re ready to celebrate,” Newman says. “We are so serious during Holy Week and we work so hard that I love Pascha morning because it’s a real sense of joy and happiness. And I guess relief because all the work is over and the celebration can begin.”
