Easter on April 28
Easter is celebrated on April 28 in Romania this year. Over eighty percent of Romanians are Eastern Orthodox, so they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Orthodox calendar. (It is interesting, though, that Christmas is celebrated on December 25 here.) So last Sunday we celebrated Palm Sunday. After church we and a few others were invited to Mery's house for lunch. Mery loves to cook and have guests over and she told us that she wanted to celebrate Easter two Sundays in a row. We learned some interesting Romanian traditions.
Notice the colored eggs in the middle of the table. The meal began with everyone taking an egg, turning to someone else at the table, saying Hristos a înviat! (He is risen) to which the other responded Adevărat a înviat! (He is risen indeed). Then they tapped their eggs end to end to get them to crack. Everyone then peeled their egg and ate it.
Some people not only color their eggs, but paint them with intricate designs. They sell these for Easter decorations at fairs like the one that is in the street not far from our house.
Not only is Easter Sunday a holiday, Good Friday and Easter Monday are also public holidays and many businesses and offices are closed. Due to the holiday, we will not have our regular Friday Romanian lesson this week, but our teacher promised us extra homework so we don't forget what we have learned.
Our church, the Open Bible Church in Gherla, will have a Maundy Thursday service this week with a meal and a foot washing. Sunday morning will be a special Resurrection Day service. The Orthodox and Catholic churches, however, have Easter services that begin Saturday night at about 11 pm. After the mass, the priest lights candles parishioners have brought as a symbol of resurrection light. Then at midnight, the priest announces that Christ is risen and the Easter celebration begins.
It doesn't matter which week we celebrate it, we are thrilled that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
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| Palm Sunday Dinner. Our hostess Mery is fourth from the right. |
Some people not only color their eggs, but paint them with intricate designs. They sell these for Easter decorations at fairs like the one that is in the street not far from our house.
Not only is Easter Sunday a holiday, Good Friday and Easter Monday are also public holidays and many businesses and offices are closed. Due to the holiday, we will not have our regular Friday Romanian lesson this week, but our teacher promised us extra homework so we don't forget what we have learned.
Our church, the Open Bible Church in Gherla, will have a Maundy Thursday service this week with a meal and a foot washing. Sunday morning will be a special Resurrection Day service. The Orthodox and Catholic churches, however, have Easter services that begin Saturday night at about 11 pm. After the mass, the priest lights candles parishioners have brought as a symbol of resurrection light. Then at midnight, the priest announces that Christ is risen and the Easter celebration begins.
It doesn't matter which week we celebrate it, we are thrilled that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
posted by Mike and Nancy Juntunen @ 3:02 PM
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