Christians of the Orthodox faith will observe Palm Sunday on April 20 to mark the beginning of Holy Week. Pascha (Easter) will be celebrated April 27.

When Christians were united, the date of Easter was fixed by the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. It decreed that thereafter the Resurrection of Christ be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon occurring after the vernal equinox, but always after the Hebrew Passover, in order that the consistency with biblical sequence be maintained.

Easter services at St. Nicholas Orthodox Catholic Church, 1000 Barber Lane, will be:

Saturday: 9 a.m., divine liturgy marking the resurrection of Lasarus; 5 p.m., Great Vespers, eve of Palm Sunday, Confessions of the Faithful.

Palm Sunday: 10 a.m., divine liturgy with blessing and distribution of willows.

Holy Thursday: 9 a.m., vesperal liturgy of St. Basil the Great with the preparation of the Reserved Sacrament; 7 p.m., Matins with the reading of the Passion Gospels.

Good Friday: 7 p.m., vespers with the procession of the burial shroud of Christ.

Holy Saturday: 9 a.m., vesperal liturgy of St. Basil the Great; 11:30 p.m., nocturn, Resurrection Matins followed by divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom with the blessing of paschal foods.

Easter Sunday: noon, paschal vespers with the gather of the children for an Easter egg hunt on the parish lawn after the service.

Bright Monday and Tuesday: 9 a.m., divine liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.