The Easter period is the most sacred and important time in the calendar of the Christian Orthodox Church. It is a moveable feast as it falls on a different date each year. Easter Sunday, similar to Christmas, is not held on the same day as celebrated by Catholics and Protestants. The Orthodox Church follows the early Christians that commemorated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, or the first day of the Jewish Passover because, according to the Gospels, it was during the Passover period that Christ dies and rose from the dead. The Easter period in Orthodox Christianity begins with Lent which is a 40 day period of fasting starting seven weeks before Easter on “Clean Monday” and ends on “Lazarus Saturday”. I first day after Lent is Palm Sunday and for the next week, known as Holy week, devout Orthodox Christians fast up to the morning of Easter Sunday. Throughout the week, starting from Palm Sunday, Church liturgy commemorates the passion and death of Jesus Christ with many beautiful and spiritual liturgical ceremonies at Church, which culminate with Paschal Divine Liturgy in the early hours of Easter Sunday. This is a most joyous event at which worshippers greet each other with “Christ is risen!” to which the traditional response is “He is risen indeed!” (Fairchild, Mary. “Orthodox Easter Dates.” Learn Religions, May. 21, 2019, learnreligions.com/orthodox-easter-dates-700615.) Easter is a joyous day for Orthodox Christians and is normally also celebrated at home with a special Easter meal and the decorating and giving of eggs (real eggs) in bright colours.
