Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first spring new moon. It usually falls on April. Everything renovates – grass, animals, water and man himself. YearWestEast 2008March 23April April 12April April April April 8April 15

the Great Lenten - Великий пост Willow Sunday - Вербное Воскресенье feast - пир, празднество

For 40 days before Easter many Russians observe the Great Lent. Holy week, beginning with Willow Sunday, is a time of great activity in Russian homes, including spring cleaning and baking Easter bread (Kulitch). On Holy Thursday Russians paint Easter eggs. On Holy Saturday, a strict day fasting in which no food may be eaten at all, families are busy preparing for the Easter feast. On that day they make Paskha. The Orthodox Easter liturgy begins on Saturday night and flows through Sunday morning. The feast begins after the Midnight liturgy.

Resurrection - воскресение (из мертвых) revival - возрождение renovation - обновление incarnation - олицетворение to consecrate - освящать service - служба the egg was worshipped as… - яйцо почитали как … chute - лоток, желоб to smash - разбивать remembrance - память, поминовение cemetery - кладбище souls of ancestors - души предков

Resurrection is a revival of life, spiritual renovation, and this belief has its incarnation in the feast of Easter; the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ - Our Lord. It is typically the most well- attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches. On meeting each other people exclaim: “Christ is risen!” The response: “Christ is risen indeed."

Resurrection is a revival of life, spiritual renovation, and this belief has its incarnation in the feast of Easter; the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ - Our Lord. Resurrection - воскресение Revival - возрождение Renovation – обновление Rebirth - возрождение

Consecrated hard-boiled painted eggs are the most important symbols of Easter. Since time immemorial the egg was worshipped as a symbol of life. People believed that the egg could save you from the evil eye.

During Easter people exchange painted eggs so that only good would stay in people’s souls and that all that was evil, like the egg shell, would disappear. A tradition of giving Easter eggs is a token of friendship, love and good wishes.

There is a famous painting by Russian artists V. Vereshchagin and S. Ivanov. It tells us a story about Mary Magdalena. Mary went to the Emperor of Rome and greeted him with “Christ has risen.” The Emperor didn’t believe it. He pointed to an egg on his table and stated, “Christ has no more risen than that egg is red.” After these words the egg immediately turned blood red.

Traditionally, Orthodox Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed Tomb of Christ—the cracking of which symbolized his resurrection from the dead. A popular colour can be achieved by boiling the eggs with onion skins.

In old Russia the favourite pastime at Easter was egg rolling. Chutes would be made out of wood and hard-boiled eggs would be rolled one after another. If it struck another egg at the end of the chute and smashed it, the one who rolled it took the smashed egg as his prize. It is also a tradition to hit the other player’s egg with your own. The winner is the holder of the last intact egg.

Easter week passed… The Tuesday of the next week is marked as a day of remembrance. It is called radonitsa, from a Russian verb (радовать) meaning “to make happy”. It means remembrance of near ones, of one’s own family, so that the souls of ancestors would be settled down. Slices of Easter kulich and painted eggs are taken to the cemetery and left for the dead.