This week is the traditional Orthodox Easter 2022. In Ukraine, the Julian Calendar is observed. This puts Easter a week later than the Gregorian Calendar. The traditional way of greeting someone on Easter is to say, “Christ is Risen” And traditionally the correct response is “Indeed He is Risen.” A drunk stumbling down the street, (which there are plenty of on holidays) will greet you with a hearty “JESUS IS RISEN!”. I remember my Russian teacher constantly telling me what all the ‘holy’ holidays were, and that I was not to clean my house on these holidays because it would bring bad luck.
In preparation for Easter, The Russian Orthodox church has a tradition similar to the preparation for the Jewish Passover. The day before Good Friday, they call Holy Thursday, they thoroughly clean the house, much like Jews clean all the leaven out of their house. (According to Exodus 12:15) Ukrainians clean the house and prepare the “Pascha” bread. Theirs is leavened or baked with yeast, and not according to the Jewish commandments.
As you mark their inconsistency, we should pause to reflect on the fact that most of you celebrated the death and resurrection of the greatest Jew of all time by eating ham. Back to our story.
I remember walking down the street the day or two before Easter with all the homemade bread being baked. And the smell wafting out of the windows was delicious. The traditional Easter dinner, among other things, will usually include kielbasa, and ham. and a dish called Salo, which is like salted smoked bacon fat (with no bacon)
We have borrowed our tradition of boiling eggs and coloring them from early Orthodox Churches in Eastern Europe. The egg’s association with spring goes back as far as the Persian empire. This influence was borrowed by the eastern orthodox church In ancient Turkey. Why the connection to Easter (or Passover if you prefer)? Chickens do not lay eggs in winter. Longer daylight hours in spring prompt them to start laying again, so the egg became a symbol of fertility among many pagan nations. because of its closeness to Passover, many of these traditions were transferred to the Christian faith as symbols of new birth and the resurrection.The Orthodox church implemented the tradition of boiling the eggs with onion skins to give them a red tint, to remind us of the blood of Jesus.
My kids remember the epic ‘egg battles’. in Ukraine Two children each took an egg and beat them together, and whoever’s egg lasts the longest, wins. They also roll them down a hill, and whoever’s egg is still intact at the bottom is the winner. We introduced Ukrainian children to the Easter egg hunt. We had to hide actual eggs because they don’t have plastic eggs in Ukraine. So by the time the eggs had been through all the games, they were pretty dirty. My kids ate them afterward and earned a stern scolding from Ukrainian grandmothers.
This coming Sunday, many Ukrainians will wake up in a different Ukraine from the day they woke up on February 24, 2022. Many lives are forever changed. So many have fled from their homes, many will never return. Many left everything they had worked for their entire lives, unable to carry anything more than a grocery bag with a change of clothing. They have learned in a very real sense to have all things in common. When they have evacuated to a safe place, they tell their friends and neighbors to go to their house and take whatever they need. While enemies rob and destroy them, they give to those who are in need. Hardship leveled their social status, those that have, give to those that do not. No one cares about their social profile and getting lots of likes on posts. The war has strengthened their relationships. They show genuine concern for each other’s welfare. Soldiers pray without ceasing from the trenches as they defend their country. They go to church, despite having to load sandbags in front of the windows, in case of an explosion. Every day they fear could be their last. “Christ is risen” holds a deeper meaning. The war has resurrected spirituality in the hearts of Ukrainian people like never before. The tomb is empty! Let this hope infect us in our churches, in our homes, and our families. He is risen indeed!
Thank you for your perspective on this holiday in Ukraine. As you say, I am seeing how God is working in the Ukrainian people to bring out their loving and caring in such practical and self-sacrificing ways. God is certainly working in hearts and lives of people. Not only in Ukrainian people, but their neighboring nations, as well. And they are affecting others everywhere, too. I find myself reconsidering my own attitudes about things. They have become examples to me…lights that show my own weaknesses and lacking. Once more I find your insights very revealing and inspiring. Thank you.