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Directions:Easter (Velykden), the most glorious and radiant event in all history , commemorates the Resurrection of Christ. Preparations for Easter began six weeks earlier with the observance of the Great Lent. This was a time of spiritual purification, of fasting, abstinence from "pleasures of the flesh", a time of penance and forgiveness. No meat was eaten on Fridays and Holy Saturday during this forty day fast. Today, most people eat no meat or dairy products on the first day of Lent and on Good 'Friday. During this time, no dances, weddings or other joyous celebrations were held. In self-sacrifice, many people refrained from activities which brought them pleasure. The faithful went to confession to partake of Holy Communion, in expectation of the Resurrection of Christ. A series of faith-renewi ng talks called recdektsyi were attended.
The last week of Lent was known as Holy Week and was marked by various religious services throughout the week. Palm or Willow Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, symbolized Christ's journey to Jerusalem and was observed by a special service at which branches of pussy willows (symbols of the first sign of spring) were blessed by the priest and distributed to the worshippers. Members of the congregation gently tapped each other with the blessed pussy willows, which expressed wishes for good health, happiness and wealth.They were then put above a holy picture at home or put in a vase . Old branches were taken down and burned. It was believed that the blessed pussy willows would protect the house from disease, fire and other disasters.
Strasty or Passion Service was held on the night of Holy Thursday . All heavy work in the gardens and fields had to be completed by Holy Thursday . On this day, services recalling the Passion of Jesus Christ were conducted . An old custom was that a lighted candle was carried carefully home after the services, so the flame did not go out. Once home, it was extinguished and was kept in the home to use in lighting candles at other ritual times and was also placed in the hands of the sick and dying. Good Friday (Velykodnia Piatnytsia), the day of crucifixion, was a solemn time. No manual labour of any kind was allowed. Plashchanytsia or the Holy Shroud procession and Burial Service took place. Everyone visited the symbolic tomb and knelt to kiss it. Many people, in self-sacrifice, began to fast until Easter Sunday. On Saturday, Nadhrobne (Adoration of the Holy Grave) was observed. Kraskanky (dyed, hard-cooked eggs) were also prepared later on this day. All these services prepared the believers spiritually for the coming Resurrection, Christ's victory over death.
In the last week of Lent, every housewife was busy cleaning her home, providing new clothes for the family and preparing special traditional food. On Holy Thursday, the baking of the Easter breads began. The fire was started by last year's loza (pussy willows) . The paska, an ornately decorated round loaf, and the babka, a sweet leavened bread, were baked with meticulous care. On Saturday, a basket of food, which would be taken to church, was readied. In good weather, these baskets were set outside as the congregation walked in procession around the church. In the Ukraine, the basket used for blessing the Easter food was special and never used for any other purpose. Careful attention was paid to the preparation of the food to go in the basket. It was a matter of great pride for the women to produce the most beautiful paska possible through the use of dough ornaments on the top of the loaf, for everyone would compare the contents of the different baskets after Resurrection service, when the blessing of the baskets would be held outside the church. In addition to the paska and babka, the basket included boiled eggs, cheese, sausage , horseradish, butter, kraskanky and pysanky (painted Easter eggs) . When the basket was packed, a leaf from a periwinkle plant was placed in the basket. It symbolized eternal life. In olden times, a needle was also included. A candle was placed in the middle and the basket covered with a beautifully embroidered cloth. This covering was symbolic of the great beauty of the "New Life" given all believers through Christ's suffering and Resurrection . During a short service, candles were lit to symbolize Christ - the Light of the World. After the service, the baskets were uncovered and blessed with holy water. The congregation would then greet and embrace each other and exchange or give pysanky . Children, especially, were presented with krashanky and ptashky (small bread birds). Some of these rituals have become an integral part of our Easter traditions; others have been modified. For example, the baskets are often blessed after the liturgy on Easter Sunday.
At midnight Saturday or early Sunday morning, people attended the Easter Service. It began with the ringing of the church bells and with a procession around the church.The procession circled the church three times and during this, the church doors remain closed to symbolize the closed tomb of Christ. The church bells would be rung again and the congregation then re-entered the church. The most profoundly moving moment of the Divine Service came with the announcement by the priest..."Khrystos Voskres!" (Christ is risen), to which the gathering joyfully responded, "Voistyno Voskres!" (Truly He is risen). The choir and people sang the hymn three times in unison throughout the service.
After the early morning church service, the family returned home and some of the blessed food was taken to the animals. The table was set and the delicious Easter breakfast was most welcomed. After grace, the head of the household divided a blessed boiled egg and each person at the table received a portion. This ritual symbolized family unity . The members of the family at this time exchange the customary greeting and response . When all have eaten this morsel in silence, the mother would cut the paska, and first meal of the Easter season would begin. The meal symbolized family unity and expressed the hope for a happy and prosperous year. Traditionally, the foods for Easter breakfast were served cold.
Many Easter customs remaintoday. A red krashanka (hard-cooked dyed egg) and some money were placed in a bowl of water. Girls washed in this water, hoping to bring them health, beauty and riches. Later the girls gave boys pysanky . Many games were played with the eggs...tapping each other's eggs to see which was the strongest, guessing which of the opponents had a person's egg and rolling the eggs in an attempt to crack the eggs of the opponents. All activities were family centred and no visiting was done on Easter Sunday, except between families.
On Easter Monday. a courting custom took place in the morning until noon. The young women were sprinkled with water (which was regarded as life-giving) by the young men, then the young maiden had to pay a price to the young man by presenting him with one of her best pysanky. Today this custom would only be carried out as a prank.
The first Sunday after Easter, called Provida Nedila, was a day for remembering the dead. After the church service, a requiem called Panakhyda was sung for the peace of the departed souls. The faithful were anointed and received a piece of blessed paska. This Sunday reflected the ancient cult of the dead and was the most important feast in their honour. All primitive agricultural people believed that the dead could bring disaster if they were not honoured. In Old Ukraine, people believed that the dead came back to earth on Holy (Passion) Thursday, stayed throughout the Easter Week and departed on the first Sunday after the Resurrection. Their arrival on Holy Thursday was honoured after the evening church service with a meatless supper. The day before Providna Nedila, all graves were cleaned and planted with flowers. The next day, women brought food to the cemetery and after a long requiem service (Parastas), the entire congregation participated in the communal dinner to honour the deceased in the family. Afterwards, people visited their family graves, bringing the dead Easter food, whiskey (horivka) or wine, and blessed salt. They held a tryzna in which they tasted the food, sprinkled the blessed salt over the grave and poured some whiskey or wine on the grave, saying "Eat, drink and enjoy this and remember us sinners". Some rolled a krashanka around the grave, others broke it on the gravestone or gave it to the poor. These customs are slowly changing. Sometimes the religious ceremonies observed in the cemetery are observed on Pentecost (Zeleny Sviata); some have omitted the tryzna or moved the ceremony to the parish hall. Others do not take food to the grave and only pray for their dead.
Velykden (Easter) to Ukrainians is truly the fulfilment of the hopes and faith of mankind. The preservation of time-honoured traditions and rituals ensure that it shall be so for ages to come.
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