Holidays Around The World � orthodox christianity

Orthodox Christians Celebrate Easter

Noel — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 10:00:21 +0000

Orthodox Easter: April 15

Orthodox Easter is a religious observance for Orthodox Christians all over the world.

Orthodox Easter, falls seven days after Catholics due to the difference in calendars followed by both churches. It is a day known as Pascha and is the most important celebration from all the Christian holidays, celebrating Jesus’ resurrection. Some years, both Orthodox and Catholic Churches will celebrate Easter on the same day.

History of Orthodox Easter

The celebration of Pascha is the most important celebration for the Orthodox Churches. It is the center of the Christian faith, the belief that Jesus Christ, after his death on the cross in Jerusalem, was resurrected.

The celebrations of Easter began very early in first century Christian communities, evolving from the sharing of the good news that Jesus won his fight over death and that he was the Son of God, the Savior that was awaited. It is connected with the Jewish traditions of Passover in which the Jews celebrated the passing over the river Jordan of Moses leading to the Promised Land of Canaa.

By the second century the celebration of Easter had spread to most of the Christian Churches, but one thing remained to be settled between Eastern and Western Churches: the day on which Easter should be celebrated. Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in 325 to come to an agreement about many things concerning the Christian faith and customs.

The day of Easter was declared to be the first day of the full moon following the Spring Equinox that occurs on March 21. The Eastern and Western Churches still ended up with a difference in celebration due to the use of the Gregorian calendar at first and later the Julian calendar.

The first celebrations of Easter included the remembrance of the Passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus in one day. During the fourth century, it was decided to move the remembrance of the Passion to Friday, the death of Christ to Saturday, and the resurrection to Easter Sunday, therefore giving even more importance to each moment and allowing Christians to ponder and reflect deeper on the meaning of the events that Jesus went through.

Orthodox Easter Traditions, Customs and Activities

Easter for Orthodox Christians begins with Great Lent, a fasting period of 40 days that precedes Pascha Sunday. The purpose of the Great Lent is to prepare all Christians for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. During this time, strict fasting is observed and almsgiving and prayer are practiced. Orthodox Christians typically abstain from entertainment or any worldly activities that may distract them from the path of self-discipline and focus on God.

At 11 p.m. on Great and Holy Saturday, Orthodox Churches go dark as all lights are turned off for one hour as the faithful wait for midnight. At that moment, a candle is lit on the altar by the presiding priest and is passed on to everyone else holding candles. When all candles are lit, the priest takes the cross and leads a procession around the church. This procession stops in front of the closed doors of the church, representing the tomb of Christ. Then after a reading from the gospels and chanting, the doors open, bells sound, and everyone enters the church.

The liturgy will follow with Paschal Matins, Paschal Hours and the Paschal Divine Liturgy. At the end of the Liturgy the priest will bless the congregation’s baskets with Paschal eggs and all the food that they were forbidden to eat during Lent. The day follows with a shared meal among all the faithful, and families gather with friends and neighbors. In the evening there is the traditional Agape Vespers during which a passage from the Gospel of John is read, and each Orthodox Christian Community reads a passage concerning the resurrection of Jesus in as many languages as they can to symbolize the fact that the blessings from the resurrection of Christ are universal and for all humanity. The week after Easter Sunday is called Bright Week, and fasting is prohibited.

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Orthodox Ash Wednesday Observed by Western Rite Orthodox Christians

Noel — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Ash Wednesday: February 29

Orthodox Ash Wednesday is a religious observance for Western Rite Orthodox Christians.

In general, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, i.e. Greek Orthodox, do not celebrate Ash Wednesday. The exception is the Orthodox Christians who follow the Western Rite. The day is celebrated the same as Western Ash Wednesday but on a different date that is 46 days before Orthodox Pascha. The same significance is given to this date; the ashes signify the fragile and humble human condition in front of God.

History of Western Rite Orthodox Ash Wednesday

Eastern Orthodox Christians do not celebrate Ash Wednesday, and the Orthodox Great Lent period begins with Clean Monday. Most Orthodox Christians follow the Byzantine Rite of liturgies that has dominated the Orthodox celebrations since the thirteenth century. From the end of the nineteenth century there were many Western Christians that converted to Orthodoxy but yet wanted to keep their ways of worship through the Roman Western Rite, and so was born the Western Rite Orthodox Churches.

Even though Orthodox, the Western Rite Churches celebrate Ash Wednesday following the customs and traditions of the Western Christians. And like these, Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Great Lent period before Easter. Ash Wednesday comes from Roman times and is known to be celebrated as early as the fifth century. It was called dies cinerum (day of ashes). Well before the celebrations of Ash Wednesday were institutionalized by the Catholic Church, there were many penitents that in sign of repentance and penance would cover themselves with ashes and seek forgiveness from God for their sins.

Since Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the season privileged for repentance, it was decided to be marked by a proper ritual during Mass. It starts before the Mass, when the priest blesses the Ashes which are kept from the Palms used from the previous year on Palm Sunday. The ashes are blessed with holy water and incense. This creates a kind of paste that then is used to make the sign of the cross on the forehead of all those attending Mass and who approach the altar to be ashed. The priest will repeat these words as he places the ashes: “Remember man that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

Western Rite Orthodox Ash Wednesday Traditions, Customs and Activities

Like the Western ritual of Ash Wednesday, the most significant tradition is the marking of a cross on the forehead of all the faithful attending the religious services on that day. These ashes are obtained from the burning of the palm leaves used during the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations and are blessed with holy water and fumigated with incense. The moment when one receives the ashes is filled with penitential meaning, as today in a symbolic way Christians follow ancient rituals when penitents would prepare themselves for Easter by bathing themselves with ashes as a sign of repentance, seeking forgiveness for their sins. Ash Wednesday is also the first day of Lent fasting. Along with prayer and alms giving, fasting is the privileged way through which Christians try to make a way of self-learning and discipline to arrive on Easter Sunday with a clean spirit to receive and celebrate the good news of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

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Orthodox Christmas Celebrated by Orthodox Christians

Noel — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:00:52 +0000

Orthodox Christmas Date: January 7

Orthodox Christmas is a religious observance for Orthodox Christians all over the world.

Orthodox Coptic Christmas isn’t celebrated on December 25 as in most of the Western world because Coptic Christians follow the Julian calendar which has a 14-day difference from the Gregorian calendar used by Western Christians. Calendars differences aside, it is the same holiday in which the birth of Jesus is celebrated.

History of Orthodox Christmas

Coptic refers to the Christian Church in Egypt that follows the traditions and teachings from the Alexandria school. Before even Jesus was born, there were celebrations on this day since it was the darkest of days in winter after which the days become longer and there was more daylight. In ancient Rome there was a pagan feast called Saturnalia dedicated to Saturn, god of Agriculture. Eating and drinking were the rules of this feast. Other feasts were also celebrated on this time; the feast of Juvenalia for children and the celebration of the birth of Mithra, the god of Sun, on December 25.

We do not know the exact date of Jesus’ birth, but we know the story from the Bible. In Nazareth, 2010 years ago, a young woman by the name of Mary gave birth to a baby that would be named Jesus by Joseph to whom Mary was engaged. Many years after, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Church officials decided that something needed to be done about the pagan feasts of winter. So it was decided by the Catholic Church to place the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25, not only because of the meaning of light and life, but also to put an end to all the pagan celebrations.

By this time the Julian calendar was still the official calendar that marked all the celebrations. But it was not an accurate calendar since it followed the phases of the moon and not the sun. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced a more accurate calendar to help determine the exact dates of Easter and Christmas. But Protestants and Orthodox Churches did not follow the Catholic calendar and created a gap between the celebrations of Catholic Christians on December 25 and Orthodox Christians on January 7. So today there is the celebration of Christmas and the celebration of Old Christmas.

Orthodox Christmas Traditions, Customs and Activities

Orthodox Christmas is a day of joyous celebrations and solemn rituals. In Russia and ex-Soviet republics, it is tradition to fast during the day until the first star appears in the sky and then have the Christmas dinner called Holy Supper. The meal is still very modest and it is mostly a celebration that gathers the family together to enjoy the birth of Jesus rather than the food. There is a white cloth covering the table and hay on the floor to remember the manger where Christ was born. A white candle is placed in the middle of the table to symbolize the light that Jesus brought forth by his word, and bread called pagach, a symbol of Jesus as the bread of life, is served. The bread is to be eaten with honey and garlic, symbols of the sweetness and the bitterness of life, and thanks are given for the year that has just passed. These are basic celebratory traditions not only in Russia but also around the Orthodox world. Even if in many countries the Orthodox faithful live in troubled areas like Kosovo, the West Bank in Jerusalem, or southern Egypt, Christmas is always a joyful celebration that gives more importance to the peace in man’s heart than the violence around him.

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Jesus Transfiguration

Noel — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:32:56 +0000

Jesus’s Transfiguration Date: August 19

Jesus’s Transfiguration is observed by members of Orthodox Christianity.

Jesus’s Transfiguration is the event in which the Jesus was transfigured upon a mountain. It was on 19th of August that this mournful even took place and the world was astonished to see the transfiguration of the Jesus. Jesus became glowing and spoke to Moses and Elijah (very important figure of the Judaism) and was called Son by God. Those, who show this incident, was asked by the Jesus not to reveal about the even to anyone until he rises in the cross and that would be done on the third day of his death.

History of Jesus’s Transfiguration

Jesus’ Transfiguration is not very easy thing to be accepted by the people. When Jesus went up the mountain, he was not alone but he took Peter, James and John along with him. They were the three before whom the Jesus was transfigured. As soon as this took place the cloth the Jesus was wearing soon got changed to a dazzling white and very soon the two very popular figures of the Judaism Moses and Elijah appeared in front of him.
Peter spoke and asked if he could put shelter for all the three but in no time the cloud appeared and surrounded them, a voice came from this cloud which spoke “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” After that, all of a sudden when Peter and all looked around they could only see Jesus and no one else. Jesus told them not to say about this happening to anyone until he rose from the death.

Why this Transfiguration did take place? This Transfiguration was mainly done to provide strength to Jesus for his long journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus was not afraid of death or resurrection, as it was after death it is transformed into victory over sin and the grave.

Transfiguration of Jesus brought about a great change in the focal point of Luke’s Gospel from Jesus’ preparation. The mountain, thus, becomes a symbol for God. There is a belief among the people that if they become divine, then they can be God. However, it is not so to remain as a human being and then being transfigures is like filling one life with the divine light.

Jesus’s Transfiguration Traditions and Activities

This day is one of the major festivals for the Eastern Orthodox churches. Jesus’s Transfiguration on 19 August every year is celebrated in all churches by lighting candles, making altars and many more. On this day, churches are decorated very beautifully and all come and pray and ask God to help them in their life. This day is the day when Jesus had given up his life for the good of the human beings. It thought us and gave inspiration on how to come out from the difficult situation. It is a very memorable day; a day when Jesus had revealed himself in front of the Peter, John and James. In some of the Armenian Churches, this is celebrated for a continuous three days preceded by a six day fast. Different church makes this day especially differently.

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