Happy Easter! ... wait, what, again?'
It's tradition to dye eggs red and other colours for Easter
You've probably finished all your chocolate eggs now, but did you know that some people will be celebrating Easter just this week?
Orthodox Christians use a different calendar to work out what day Easter should fall on. This year, they will celebrate on Sunday 5 May.
Andra Craig, Academic Administration and Quality Assurance Manager in Birmingham Law School, explains what it's like celebrating as a Romanian Orthodox Christian.
Traditions
‘Happy Easter!’
‘Happy ... wait, what, again?’
Yes, that’s right. In most years, for theological, mathematical, and political reasons I’ll let you discover for yourselves not all Christian churches celebrate Easter on the same date.
These days, many of the traditions are the same, including egg hunts and family meals, which on Easter Sunday always start with egg tapping.
Egg tapping
In Romania, it’s customary to crack the shells of hard-boiled eggs by tapping them against each other. Whoever keeps their egg intact wins the egg fight and is said to go on to live the longest life.
You may also tap eggs with close friends the first time you see them after Easter, or you could exchange decorated eggs as gifts which you then display for guests – a bit of a mantlepiece item as it were.
It’s traditional to dye eggs red, to signify the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross, although blue, yellow and green are also popular. People also paint hollowed-out egg shells with intricate patterns.
For me, the best memories are about colouring the eggs – we took a shortcut with shop-bought dye but added a personal touch: we stuck flowers and leaves onto the eggs beforehand, so that the pattern would show in the natural eggshell colour in contrast with the bright paint. No two eggs were the same and no two batches were the same. Since the date changes every year, the plants we pick are different each time.
Miracle
Growing up we didn’t go to midnight mass for Easter, but I do remember vividly the first time I went as a teenager.
Orthodox Christians believe that a holy flame ignites spontaneously the night Jesus rose and that they can be part of this miracle by lighting their candles from it during service. The candles are carried in a procession around the church whilst singing a simple hymn and then taken home until they burn off.
Imagine the smell of spring blossoms in the air on a quiet night, and the pockets of light breaking the darkness of the streets as people head home. The groups get smaller and smaller, but their light spreads farther and farther into the city, until daybreak arrives in full – and with it eternal hope.
Happy Easter, everyone!
People paint hollowed-out egg shells with intricate patterns for Easter.
Photo credits: With thanks to Andra's friend Sorina Stallard and to local not-for-profit organisation DOR – Romanian Diaspora