Why do we have Easter day Holiday?
By: Rahul Modhgil
Tags: Easter Egg, Easter, Eastern Europe, Festivals, Europe

Why do we have Easter day Holiday? Orthodox Easter Day in Russia is a holiday that is so important that people celebrated it even during the atheist Soviet period. To this day, Russians discover many Easter traditions, just the way their forefathers did.

Easter is a time when the faithful and atheists alike, young and old, city citizens, and country folk attend Easter Mass. But Easter in Russia is a lot more than just a celebration of the renewal of Jesus Christ. It’s a long and robust tradition that even the communists couldn’t get rid of. Easter cleanses souls and thoughts, bringing peace, joy, and hope. And it’s a period when Russians look ahead to a happy family dinner with lots of exceptional Easter food like Easter bread, traditional cheesecake, Easter eggs, and other tasty treats.

Easter in Russia is calling as Paskha. The name probably develops from the Jewish holiday of Pesach, which dedicates to the rescue of Jews from Egyptian slavery. The word indicates transitioning with Christ from death to eternity and from earth to heaven by Christian tradition.

It’s a shifting holiday.

Russian Easter changes yearly because it falls on the first Sunday after the first religious full moon. Paskha usually is celebrates later than Catholic Easter because the Russian Orthodox Church attends the old Julian calendar, unlike the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, which have been using the Gregorian calendar since the 16th century.

People fast before Easter.

Paskha comes before 40 days of Great Lent, the most important event in the Orthodox church year. Those who examine it are not supposed to eat meat, dairy, and, on some days, even vegetable oils. No food or drink should be eaten until the evening on the final Friday before Easter (Good Friday).

Preparation

Russians suppose to do all their pre-Easter tasks during the last week before the holiday, also known as the Holy Week. Houses should be clean entirely before “Clean Thursday, “when Russians color and decorate eggs. On Saturdays, everyone cooks popular Easter food and those who fast do not taste it while cooking. It is also popular to honor the food at church during the night ceremony.

Easter customs

There’s a church ceremony at night

In Russia, the Easter church ceremony starts on Saturday evening and lasts until daylight. This usually a stunning ceremony with candle lights and liturgical chants, attended even by those who don’t attend mass frequently. At midnight, the bells jingle to announce the renewal of Christ. In history, only men were allow to ring church bells. Bell-ringing could hear everywhere, creating a joyful environment. There was a lot of playing coming to pass.

Church of Christ the Saviour at night

Eggs are more important than you think

Easter eggs are an essential part of the holiday. Hard-boiled eggs traditionally paint red using onion skins; they signify renewal and new life. Eggs exchanging are one of the most popular Easter customs. The following small standard process keeps the eggs until Easter, which supposedly helps protect the house from floods, fires, and other natural disasters.

Easter Cake

Traditional food is still popular

On Easter morning, most families in Russia, no matter how religious they are, will maybe enjoy a traditional breakfast of eggs, kulich, a special kind of yeast bread, and Paskha, a pyramid-formed cake made of cottage cheese and raisins. Many food shops give ready-made kulichi and paskhas, but people like to make them using family recipes approved from generation to generation.

There’s a special greeting.

Russians hardly stay at home on Easter; this holiday is all about family gatherings and festive dinners. So that the day people exchange Easter eggs, kiss each other on the cheek three times.

Easter Eggs

Painted eggs are an international Easter symbol. In Russia, Easter eggs believe in maintaining magic powers. They suppose to protect crops against rain damage, keep cattle healthy and prevent evil spirits. An Easter egg hidden in the organization of a house would bring the landlords happiness and success. It should even be likely to make yourself look younger by rolling an Easter egg over the face. So it’s no surprise that painted and blessed Easter eggs kept as lucky charms for a long time. The most wonderful ones probably the Great Easter Eggs designed by the world-famous jeweler for the Russian Royal Family.

Traditional Easter eggs are red. As it is not compulsory to use red, it is also possible to use other colors. In Russia, eggs are always cooked together with onion skins or wrapped in colorful fabric remnants. Spinach colors egg green, and beetroot gives them a red color. Easter eggs get an excellent glow if rubbed with vegetable oil.

Easter has its games. Russian Easter celebrations include various games, which unsurprisingly involve Easter eggs. The most popular one is rolling the eggs along the floor or down a slope, and the one that reaches the base without breaking wins. People also try to hurt each other’s eggs, and the one whose egg breaks down last is the winner.

Easter lasts 40 days.

The first week after Easter, they were supposed to be holy. During this period, church services were held with their holy doors open, symbolizing Christ opening the kingdom of heaven to all people. The 40 days between Easter and Ascension Day refer to as paschal.

The trumpet fanfares heard multiple times throughout, adding to the overall excitement in the Easter holiday musical description. Easter also applied to as ‘The Bright Holiday’ in Russia, as it offers hope to those who may need it. This is a familiar feeling throughout the Russian Easter Festival Overture, particularly at the end, where the whole costume comes together to create a vast celebratory sound to represent the ending, if you will, of the Easter holiday.

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