Easter in Greece and Cyprus
March 18, 2007
Depending on the date of Greek Orthodox Easter, we usually enjoy the fun of Apokries, the beginning of Lent or Sarakosti in Greek, 40 days prior to Easter Sunday > the excitement of the central market in Athens in the early hours, where seafood and halva is sold all night long before Clean Monday, or the kites flying from the hills on that day. However, allow us to share the traditional activities which mark the progress of the forty days towards Holy Week (Megali Evdomada) and Easter. Greek Orthodox Church celebrates Easter Sunday on April 8, 2007.
I love the different ways in which the gradual approach of Easter becomes apparent. Shops which earlier in the year were selling costumes for Apokries, then the kites, now have windows filled with toy rabbits, chickens and ducks, or with Easter candles, which are given as presents and taken to church for the midnight service on Saturday leading to Easter Sunday. These are usually beautifully decorated, and presented in special boxes, but it never seems incongruous to me that some of the ones given to children have toys attached to them, like a Barbie doll, or Superman, or even cars and spaceships! In food shops, especially bakeries and patisseries, you see new notices attached to the trays: ‘Nistisima’ means that the food has been made without animal products. Fasting certainly doesn’t mean ‘no food’! Some of the pastries and sweets made now are more delicious than at any other season; seafood is allowed and at this time of year it has been freshly caught.
The music associated with Orthodox Easter is beautiful, particularly the hymns of mourning sung on Good Friday. On the first Friday evening of Sarakosti there are the first of the Chairetismoi (Salutations): these are prayers of devotion to the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, rather like the ‘Hail Mary’ of the Roman Catholic Church. A different group of these prayers is chanted on each of four Fridays; on the fifth Friday all four are chanted as the Akathistos Hymn. ‘Akathistos’ literally means ‘not sitting’, as the congregation stands while the verses are chanted. To listen to the Hymn in the church of Saint Dimitrios, in the Psyrri area of Athens is a really special experience. This church is rather unusual in having a choir as well as chanters, and in parts of the hymn there is an unobtrusive musical accompaniment. Another church in Athens is Saint Aikaterini (St. Cathrene) in Plaka.
A week after this comes Palm Sunday (Kyriaki Ton Vaïon), when the Church services celebrate the entry of Christ into Jerusalem. In many churches, especially on the islands and in villages, little crosses have been made in the days before Palm Sunday and are given to the people at the end of the service. In Athens it is more likely to be some sprigs of bay leaves, but they are equally prized: people sometimes put them in purses, or keep them in their homes to bring good luck for the next year. For those who have been fasting there is a respite on this day, as fish is allowed.
Now the most important week of the Orthodox calendar begins: this is Megali Evdomada (Literally ‘Great Week’), when the pillars in the churches are covered with purple cloth and the services follow the Passion of Christ. Most Greeks, even if they haven’t fasted in the previous weeks, will do so now. During this week Athens steadily becomes empty, as people leave to go to their family village or island. For those who remain, and for visitors to Athens, this has the advantage that it’s easier to get an unrestricted view of activities!
On Megali Pempti (Holy Thursday) the people remember the Last Supper and the Betrayal of Christ. Although so many people have left the city, the churches in Athens are always crowded: you have to go really early if you want to have a place to stand inside. A place to sit will be almost impossible to find! In the evening service the account of the Passion of Christ in all four gospels is read, and a cross with the figure of Christ on it is carried in a procession around the church, while the beautiful hymn ‘Today He … is hung upon the Cross ….’ is chanted. Finally the crucifix is placed prominently in the middle of the church.
On this day the red eggs which are traditionally associated with Easter in Greece, are prepared. Packets containing the red dye are on sale everywhere this week. Also blue and green! In the homes hard boiled eggs are died red in memory of the blood of Christ.
Megali Paraskevi (Holy Friday) is the most solemn day of Holy Week. The shops are closed till 1.00 p.m., so that everyone can go to the church to venerate the crucifix. It’s impossible not to be affected by the atmosphere of mourning: the church bells toll all morning, and the flags on official buildings are at half mast. The chanting from the cathedral is relayed by loudspeakers, so the people sitting in the cafés around the square are conscious that something memorable is taking place. After the evening service on Thursday, the women of each parish will have decorated a funeral bier with garlands of fresh flowers. During the Friday morning service the figure of Christ is taken down from the Cross and wrapped in a white cloth, which is then placed in the sanctuary. An embroidered cloth, the Epitaphios, is placed on the bier; this is then sprinkled with flower petals. The priest places the Gospel (Evangelion) upon the Epitaphios. This word is also used to refer to the bier itself.
During the rest of the day, the churches are filled with people paying reverence to the Epitaphios. I like to visit some of the beautiful churches in the centre of Athens, to see the different ways each Epitaphios has been decorated.
In the evening comes the service of the Epitaphios (Funeral Service). The bier is taken out of the church and carried round the streets in solemn procession, while a Lament, mourning the death of Christ, is sung. This is one of the most moving parts of the Easter rituals: a band comes first, playing solemn music; the Epitaphios congregation follows the with lighted candles, while people in the flats which the procession passes watch from their balconies, holding candles or incense burners. In Athens, the processions from the Cathedral of the city as well as from different churches around the area, will converge in Syntagma Square: the sight of several processions coming together, each with its own Epitaphios, is really impressive. Finally the procession returns to the church. This used to be a signal for people to descend upon the Epitaphios and to strip it of most of the flowers. Everyone has a reminder of the occasion to take home.
On the next day, Megalo Savvato (Holy Saturday), the sorrowful mood of Friday has abated. Now the people concentrate on the final preparations for Easter itself. This is the last chance to buy the Easter lamb, and the atmosphere in the meat market is frenetic as people try to secure a last minute bargain. At home, the mageiritsa is being prepared. This is the traditional Easter soup, which will be eaten after the midnight liturgy, the first meal to break the fast after nearly fifty days. It’s very rich, made from a variety of herbs and the intestines and offal of the lamb which will be roasted for celebratory lunch on Easter Sunday. This soup, is an essential element in the ritual, and no Easter table would be complete without it!
At about 11.00 p.m. the churches are full again for the service of the Anastasis, the Resurrection of Christ. There is a feeling of anticipation as the people stand waiting, holding white candles.
Many of these will have a sort of plastic cup fitted to the top, designed to prevent the hot wax from falling on to hands, or the church floor, and to prevent the candle blown-out by wind while it is carried lighted to homes. Just before midnight the lights in the church are extinguished, then the priest comes from the sanctuary holding a lighted candle. This Holy Light comes from Jerusalem by special flight and is distributed to churches around Greece. From this, at the stroke of midnight he lights someone else’s candle; people begin to light their candles from each others’ and the church gradually becomes bright with the light of the candles. All over the city, church bells are pealing, as the priest chants ‘Christos Anesti’ ‘Christ has risen from the dead, by his death trampling on death …. ‘ There is a feeling of relief and happiness, as people repeat ‘Christos Anesti’ to each other and the reply is given ‘Alithos Anesti!’ – ‘He is risen indeed!’ Outside, the noise increases until all the bells are pealing. Not all the churches reach midnight at exactly the same moment! Fire crackers are set off, and in Piraeus and other seaside towns, the ships in the harbour sound their horns. The chanting continues outside the church, but now most people begin to make their way home, in groups of family or fiends, holding their lighted candles. The aim is to get your candle home without losing the flame, but this can be difficult, especially if there’s a wind. People are constantly stopping to relight strangers’ candles and this adds to the jollity, it’s always a memorable experience to be walking throught the streets in the early hours, surrounded by people carrying candles. Even the interiors of the cars that pass are glowing with them! When the people reach home, the head of the family makes the sign of the Cross three times over the door with the candle. The smoky mark of the Cross will remain until next year.
Now the Easter feasting begins, but in the churches the Easter liturgy, or mass, is still going on. We like to stay until the end of the service, the chanting is beautiful, and now you can be sure of finding a seat.
The red eggs are an essential part of the Easter tradition. A game is played with them in which each person tries to crack someone else’s egg with his own. The winner is the person whose egg lasts the longest: the prize is good luck all year!
Although the family will have shared the eating of the mageiritsa, eggs and Easter bread on returning from church, the real Easter feast takes place at lunchtime on Easter Sunday (Kyriaki Tou Pascha). In the country, people will spend the morning roasting whole lambs or Ovelias in Greek, turning them slowly on spits over charcoal fires in the open air. Even in Athens, people roast their lamb in the streets, there’s very little traffic in the city on Easter Day!
To experience Easter on the Greek islands is absolutely fantastic! For example, in Sifnos island in the Cyclades, the tradition there is to prepare the Easter lamb as a kind of casserole, called Mastello, which is also cooked slowly for hours in the oven. It is certainly delicious!
The church celebrations do not end with the midnight liturgy: on Easter Sunday there is another service in the morning, called Vespers of Agape, Love. This is really beautiful in the Cathedral in Athens: it is celebrated by the Archbishop and literally dozens of priests, all in gorgeous robes. The hymn ‘Christ is risen from the Dead’ is repeated, as it will be in every church service for forty days, until Ascension Day. Sometimes a choir sings Byzantine hymns, but for me the most memorable part is the chanting of the Gospel, which on Easter Sunday is the story of the disciple Thomas, who didn’t believe that Jesus had appeared to the other disciples after the Crucifixion. This is traditionally chanted in different languages, usually in 12 languages representing the 12 Nations according to the Gospel.
The computerised signs on the front of the city buses also have a message. On Saturday it was ‘Kali Anastasi’ (Literally ‘Good Resurrection’); on Sunday it is ‘Kalo Pascha’ or ‘Happy Easter’. I don’t think there are many countries where you’ll see that on public transport!
Multicultural St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin
March 18, 2007
Dublin was transformed into a sea of green as hundreds of thousands of people thronged its streets for the annual St Patrick’s Day parade.
At least 650,000 adults and children, over 250,000 more than last year, grabbed every available vantage spot to view the parade along its 3km (1.9 mile) route. The festival is celebrated in more countries around the world than any other national holiday and in the Irish capital over 3,000 performers from across the globe, including fire throwers, Samba dancers and US marching bands, took part.
At Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral, President Mary McAleese delivered a reading and later joined Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and other VIPs including film director Neil Jordan and the Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon for their seats across from Dublin’s famous landmark, the GPO.
Christine Quinn, the first openly gay leader of the New York City Council, was also present as guest of the Irish government having boycotted the annual Manhattan parade because of a ban on gay and lesbian groups marching.
Dublin’s parade was led by sports broadcaster Micheal O’Muircheartaigh and his six grandchildren. Similar events were staged in cities and towns across Ireland, including Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Belfast.
In Dripsey, Co Cork, the world’s shortest St Patrick’s Day parade, measuring just 100 yards, was held between two pubs in the tiny village. In Dublin, festival spokeswoman Alison Kelly said: “It’s been a fantastic day. Everybody really enjoyed themselves.”
Rick Hoger, from Montreal in Canada, on holiday with his wife Nora, daughter Carla, sister Shirley and friends Daryl and Barbara Kari, said: “So far this has been a wonderful trip, with a lot of Guinness.
“We celebrate St Patrick’s Day every year at home with an Irish friend with lots of singing and dancing. We started celebrating this year last night and haven’t stopped. We are expecting the same tonight.”
Seven-year-old Conor Curtis, from Athy, Co Kildare, got a bird’s eye view of the event from his father’s shoulders, saying: “My favourite was the bands, and I liked all the costumes too.”
And despite Ireland losing the RBS Six Nations Championship by a matter of points, its cricket team has celebrated the day in style with a superb performance in the field to dismiss Pakistan for 132 and raise hopes of a major World Cup shock.
New Yorkers crowd 5th Avenue for St. Patrick’s
March 18, 2007
Bagpipers, high school bands and politicians made their way up Fifth Avenue for the 246th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade Saturday, despite a late-season storm and a last-minute controversy.
The parade route was cleared of snow and ready to go just in time. Crews stayed out all night plowing and shoveling to make way for marchers. Organizers say more than a million people lined up to watch the parade. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani were among those who marched.
The parade kicked off at 44th Street at 11 a.m. and ran all the way up to 86th Street. The parade went off without a hitch despite some controversy over where firefighters would march.
Earlier this week, the parade chairman moved firefighters back from their usual spot near the front, saying an unauthorized banner they used last year caused delays. He also accused firefighters of showing up drunk.
“We want to see the Fire Department back way up in the front where they belong,” said a parade goer. “They’ve served our city for so long and sacrificed their lives for us and we want them back up front. It’s an insult where they are.”
In response to the controversy, the fire unions called for the parade chairman to step down. On his radio show Friday, Bloomberg took the fire department’s side.
“My advice to the guy running the parade is: Look, nothing’s perfect. Lighten up! You have rules. Rules are there to be guidelines. Don’t enforce ‘em at this level,” he said.
Before the parade kicked off, worshipers gathered early Saturday morning to honor the man who brought Catholicism to Ireland at the Manhattan Cathedral that bears his name. Thousands packed into St. Patrick’s Church for the annual St. Patrick’s Day morning mass.
Edward Cardinal Egan presided over the services. Governor Elliot Spitzer, who is Jewish, was on hand for mass, as was the parade grand marshal former Boston Mayor and Vatican Ambassador Raymond L. Flynn.
Tokyo’s Irish fans parade for St. Patrick’s Day
March 18, 2007
For a city with far more Sakamotos than O’Sullivans, Japan’s capital still manages to go all out to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Although many Japanese know little about Ireland, some even confuse it with chilly Iceland, the small European nation has nonetheless attracted a band of die-hard fans halfway around the globe.
Again this year thousands of Tokyoites took the streets on Sunday to watch what may be the world’s most unlikely St. Patrick’s Day parade. Dressed in green clothing and sporting shamrocks painted on their faces, many of the onlookers appeared unfazed by the fact that they weren’t Irish, or that the parade was held a day after the Irish national holiday.
“Irish people are friendly,” said Masahito Aitsuki, a 45-year-old man who was wearing a luminous green blazer and emerald-coloured shoes. After visiting Ireland on a business trip, Aitsuki said he was charmed by the country and its people. “They have something spiritual about them, which is kind of like the Japanese spirit,” he said.
This year the event drew a crowd of around 40,000 onlookers, according to Masayuki Kishi, one of the organisers. Now in its 16th year, the parade shows how enamoured some Japanese have become with Irish culture. Participants included a kilt-clad pipe band, Irish dancers and even the local contingent of the Irish setter club. Strikingly, nearly all the members of the different groups were Japanese.
“This year was great,” said Kimie Nagahama, an Irish dancing teacher who participated in the parade together with several of her students.
Like many women who practise the traditional dancing made famous by the “Riverdance” show, Nagahama wore an elaborate dress. But she had to buy her costume second-hand, as such costumes aren’t readily available in Japan.
“This is the first year I wore my costume in the parade. I was always a little shy to do so because the design of my dress is a little out of date.”
Some Japanese got interested in Ireland through its music or sports: many at the parade sported Ireland rugby shirts, and even a handful wore the jerseys of Gaelic football teams.
“I like Irish artists such as the Pogues,” said Tsuyoshi Amagasa, a 29-year-old clad in a green T-shirt. “Because I like Irish music I became interested in Ireland. I definitely want to go there some day,” Amagasa said.
While the parade may not have been on St. Patrick’s Day, organisers said they wanted to stick with tradition and hold it on a Sunday, Tokyo’s Ireland fans got another treat this year, the illumination of Tokyo Tower. The massive steel tower in central Tokyo was bathed in a brilliant green on Saturday night to celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
“This year we had the illumination of Tokyo Tower,” said Kimihiro Asano of the Japan office of Tourism Ireland. “Every year more and more Japanese are becoming aware of Ireland and becoming interested in Ireland.”
Proof everyone actually is Irish
March 18, 2007
This will be the 20th St. Paddy’s Day parade in Toronto. But that’s not the only number that matters.
• Irish was the fifth most frequently reported ethnic origin in Canada on the 2001 census, behind Canadian, English, French and Scottish.
• 3,822,665 The number of Canadians who claimed Irish ancestry in 2001. That’s 13 per cent of the population, nearly equal to Ireland’s population (3.9 million).
• 26,210 Canadian residents born in Ireland. Three of five have been here more than 35 years.
• 3,850 Canadian residents who first learned a Celtic language as a child and can still understand it.
Sure, just about any pub worth its Irish is going to fête St. Patrick on Saturday night, but how about a little Irish for the non-Irish?
Try George’s Play (504 Church St.) tonight, where the Imperial Court of Toronto is scheduled to party for St. Paddy.
That means, “Her Most Imperial Sovereign Majesty The Opulent, Ethereal, Jade Hummingbird, Resplendent in Gems of Change, Integrity and Decadence, Empress XX of Toronto” will be on hand.
In other words, gay community icon Nikki LeBlanc will reign over an expected 250 revellers.
The fundraiser for local charities will feature a men’s choir, traditional Irish music and, as owner George Pratt hastens to add, “green beer!”
Forty people have signed up for a St. Patrick’s Day séance tonight. According to meetup.com, where like-minded socialites hook up for various around-town pursuits, a loft has already been rented in the St. Clair Ave. and Keele St. area. While the theme is determinedly green in honour of St. Patrick, it’s yet to be determined whether the old saint himself will attend.
Karaoke kicks off at 9:30 p.m. at the Groundhog Pub (410 Bloor St. E.) among a handful of Irish pubs serenading St. Patrick.
St. Patrick’s Day celebrated worldwide
March 18, 2007
In the recent past, Saint Patrick’s Day was celebrated only as a religious holiday, but now March 17 is a day of traditional celebration in many parts of the world, especially in New York City, which hosts the largest parades in the world, St. Patrick’s included.
This year was no exception, with the usual problems of large events that involve around 2 million spectators and 150,000 spectators. The New York City parade faced again nonsensical controversy about such things as the move of firefighters from the front to the middle it, because of a delay last year.
“If you have a party at your house,” Mr. Dunleavy, who has run the parade for 14 years said, “and you invite guests in, and that’s exactly what they are, they’re guests of the parade, and if some of them misbehave, you’re not going to invite them in again, or you’re going to take some course of action.” He added there were complaints last year about delays caused by the firefighters. The delays were given different explanations, ranking from skipping planning meetings, ignoring direction to spending the day getting drunk.
“I just have a problem with members of the uniformed services drinking in uniform. My job is to preserve and protect the parade, and present Irish America in its best possible light.”
Either way, after 246 years of practice, the parade came out pretty impressive, especially to tourists and outsiders. Without some fighting and arguing, it wouldn’t be completely Irish, after all.
“It’s more than I could imagine,” said Dr. Gurinder Singh, an ophthalmologist visiting from Kansas City, Kan. “This Irish culture is marvelous, and it is still being represented after so many years of immigrants being here,” said Dr. Singh to NY Times, who is originally from the state of Punjab, in India.
Saint Patrick (Latin: Patricius, Irish: Naomh Pádraig) was a Christian missionary and is the patron saint of Ireland along with Brigid of Kildare and Columba. Uncritical acceptance of the Annals of Ulster would imply that he lived from 373 to 493, and ministered in northern Ireland from 433 onwards. Other dates used for his earthly life are 385-461.
March 17, known as St. Patrick’s Day, is believed to be his death date and is the date celebrated as his feast day. The Church celebrates the saints on their death date, because that’s when it believes they ascend to their full life in God.
The day became a feast day in the universal church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding, as a member of the commission for the reform of the Breviary in the early part of the 17th century.
For most of Christianity’s first thousand years, canonisations were done on the diocesan or regional level. Relatively soon after the death of people considered to be very holy people, the local Church affirmed that they could be liturgically celebrated as saints. As a result, St. Patrick has never been formally canonised by a Pope, but he is still widely venerated in Ireland and elsewhere today, as he is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, especially among English-speaking Orthodox Christians living in the United Kingdom and Ireland and in North America. There are even Orthodox icons dedicated to him.
Two Latin letters survive which are generally accepted to have been written by Patrick. These are the Declaration (Latin: Confessio) and the Letter to the soldiers of Coroticus.
(this article contains excerpts on St. Patrick taken from Wikipedia)
What’s behind St. Patrick’s Day
March 18, 2007
To everyone who isn’t Irish or Catholic, St. Patrick’s Day is just an excuse to wear green clothing, imbibe virid beverages and pinch each other.
But what does the holiday mean to those who originally started observing the day? And if Patrick really didn’t drive all the snakes from Ireland, what did he do to deserve his own day?
Not too much is known about Patrick, and many of the tales associated with the man seem to be the result of 1,500 years of creative storytelling. According to American Catholic.org, Patrick is the first person from Ireland or England to appear in written records, no historical document mentions England or Ireland prior to Patrick. Most of what we do know comes from his own writings.
Interestingly, Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish at all. Born into a wealthy English family in roughly 460 A.D. (some say earlier), Patrick was taken prisoner at age 16 by a marauding band of Irish raiders who took him with them back to the Emerald Isle.
Debate persists regarding where in Ireland he was taken, but most historians agree Patrick spent six years in captivity. While working as a shepherd for his captors, Patrick became a devout Christian. Patrick’s own writing admits he was not particularly religious in his youth. After six years in Ireland, according to Patrick’s own writing, he experienced a vision where God told him it was time to leave.
After escaping and returning to England, Patrick entered the clergy and spent the next 15 years in biblical study. After this time, he received a second divine revelation, this time he was to return to Ireland to evangelize amongst the heathen Irish. Patrick was once credited with being the first person to bring Christianity to Ireland, but it is now believed that the gospel had reached Ireland before Patrick, in very limited amounts.
After traveling to Rome and acquiring the rank of bishop, Patrick returned to Ireland. Using traditional rituals to teach the lessons of Christianity to the druidic Irish, he spread the new faith to the masses. According to legend, he even converted King Laoghaire, the highest king in all of Ireland.
Most of the stories concerning Patrick’s time in Ireland are now believed to be false. He did not remove Ireland’s snakes, like New Zealand and the Hawaiian islands, Ireland never had any snakes. It is also claimed that he made it snow to show the power of his God, and that he was supposedly tempted by the devil during a pilgrimage, these tales can neither be proven or disproven.
Patrick died at age 76 on March 17. The location of his grave is unknown. While full conversion of the Irish people would take several centuries, it is believed that Patrick did live to see the end of both human sacrifice and the slave trade in Ireland. The date of his death took immediate religious significance to the Irish people, who have observed it for nearly 1,500 years. Patrick is seen as a central figure in Irish history.
It wasn’t until the Irish began migrating to America in the 18th century that word of Patrick spread beyond Europe. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in America, and predates our nation itself. The first recognized St. Patrick’s Day parade occurred March 17, 1762, in New York City, back when America was still an English colony. This first parade amounted to little more than a few English soldiers of Irish descent marching through the streets of New York.
Today, St. Patrick’s Day is observed in every corner of the world as a celebration of all things Irish. In Ireland until 1970, Irish law mandated that all taverns, bars and pubs be closed March 17 in honor of Patrick. In 1995, the U.S. Congress proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month.
Despite his central role in the conversion of an entire civilization, Patrick has never been canonized by the Catholic Church.
